Difference

Chapter 3

They pull me outside and into the backseat of a red pickup truck, and I don't have it in me to fight them. Carrie slides in next to me. Peter takes the passenger seat and Joe drives.

For the first few minutes, we sit in silence.

"I know you have questions, Erinn. Feel free to ask us, We're not the bad guys," Carrie breaks the silence.

"That's extremely hard to believe," I say, then in a smaller voice, "Where are we going?"

"We're taking you to our boss. He wanted you to meet him before you turned eighteen, so we were going to take you to him today. It wasn't supposed to be this late, so we'll wait until morning, " Peter answered, turning around to glare at me. I shiver.

"What's his name?" I question. I'm going to get as many answers as I can while they're willingly answering.

"Mr. Orion," Joe responds this time, "Although he may just have you call him Jack." Jack is a strange name for someone who kidnaps people to run some tests on them. It's so normal.

"Okay, where is Mr. Orion at?" I ask, because they never really answered my first question.

"Jack lives in Georgia. So we're going to Georgia," Carrie replies.

"Georgia?" I whisper, feeling like I just got the breath knocked out of me. I live in Ohio, so they're taking me almost 800 miles from my home. If I can even call it that anymore.

"We're traveling in an airplane," Joe states, like it's the most obvious thing.

I need to find some way to get away. I have to get out of here. I'm not letting them take me.

We arrive at the airport at 10 p.m. They pull me out of the car and Peter grabs my arm. He leans down.

"You need to act normal. No funny business," He whispers into my ear. I nod, playing along. I don't know what these people could do to me if I don't behave.

"The next flight leaves in half an hour, but we'll get on the 10 a.m. one. That gives us some time to sleep and eat," Carrie says, and leads us to the entrance for the airport.

They wander around, dragging me with them, looking for a decent place to eat. Joe walks on the right side of me, Peter on the left, both with a firm grip on one of my arms.

The idea of making a run for it crosses my mind quite a few times. I outran Joe and Peter. I'm pretty sure Carrie isn't that fast.

The only reason I'm not already running away from them is that I don't know how I ran that fast earlier. I don't know if I'd be able to run like that again, and if I couldn't, there's no doubt they'd catch me. So I'm staying put for now.

We finally find someplace to eat, a little fast-food stand.

Carrie orders a hamburger and a water for all of us. It feels so normal. I think the only reason why I'm not terrified right now is my "mom" is here. She just makes me feel a little more comfortable, even though she's taking me to some guy who wants to do some tests on me. I don't know what's going on with me right now.

I don't want to eat anything they give to me, but I know I have to keep my strength up. We finish our food and head out to look for a hotel to sleep in.

After we find one, Peter and Joe separate to a different room than Carrie and I. There are two beds in our room, and I sit down on the one closest to the door.

"Erinn, I know you want to run," Carrie says suddenly, "But we can't let you do that. Joe and Peter locked the door from the outside. Try it if you don't believe me."