Man Hunt

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1-

I gasp as the scratchy burlap sack is flung roughly over my head. My phone is ripped from my hand and I hear it smash to pieces onto the floor. Strong arms fold under my armpits and wrap around my shoulders. I'm pulled backwards and I feel my feet being dragged along in front of me.

I scream as loud as I can and fling my body around in an attempt to loosen the hold on me. I curl into a ball, lifting my feet off the concrete sidewalk and kick around blindly.

Our pace slows slightly before my attacker knees me hard in my lower back. My body goes rigid and We continue on.

I am placed on my knees and rough hands squeeze my wrists together painfully behind my back. Scratchy rope is twisted into knots around my wrists, binding me.

Again, I am lifted away from the ground. I am flung effortlessly through the air. I brace myself for the hard impact of the street but find myself landing on something fleshy. A person. I hear two metallic slams: the undeniable sound of van doors closing.

"Oh no." I murmur into the dark. The van makes a dull clank and sputters before it takes me away.

I hear a light sniffle to my left. "Hello?!" I call out, too loudly for the small space.

"Hi." A small, barely audible voice responds.

The voice belongs to a girl. A little girl. A sickening feeling fills my stomach and I feel as though I'm about to throw up.

"I'm Emma." I say, trying to stay calm.

"I'm Rosalie." She whispers.

"Are there others?" I ask, even though I know the answer.

"Yes, two... They're knocked out though. I think they hit their heads."

"All girls?" I ask, trying to figure out what our kidnappers have in store for us.

"Um... I-I don't know." Rosalie answers. I can tell she's becoming upset.

"Yeah, I guess that was kind of a stupid question. It's not like we can see." I say, trying to calm her.

The van suddenly comes to a screeching halt. My head whiplashes back and slams against the wall. Rosalie whimpers as we hear muffled shouting coming from outside.

We hear the car door open and I am hit by what feels like a truck. I screech and flail around weakly beneath the new victim. The doors slam shut once again.

"Ouch! Please get off!" I say as the person elbows me in the ribs. A boy's voice mumbles an apology as he squirms into a sitting position and off my legs.

"I'm Emma," I say as the van begins to move, "and this is Rosalie... Who are you?" My voice starts to waver as I hold back tears.

"My name is Liam." The boy says calmly. "How long have you two been in here?"

I pause in an attempt to calm down enough to speak. "I've been here for only about... maybe ten minutes." My voice cracks at the end. "B-but Rosalie has been here longer."

"About an hour." She says meekly.

Liam snorts in a disgusted way. "How old are you, Rosalie?" He asks.

"I-I'm eight." She breaks down crying then. I listen to her sob and try not to do the same as I slide around until our shoulders touch and try to comfort her.

"Hey," Liam says, "you never know. This could all just be one of those Fabreeze commercials." I hear him sniff the air. "Mmm... honeysuckle." He was kidding of course. The van actually smelled of gasoline and cigarettes.

Miraculously, I laugh, and so does Rosalie. I have no idea how he managed to be calm enough to make a joke, but he was, and I am thankful for it.

At last, the van slows and stops. The doors are opened and I try to push myself back against the wall. Rosalie shrieks and the presence of her shoulder against mine is gone. "No!" I yell, kicking blindly.

My legs are caught and I am pulled from the van. I am crushed into the arms of a man as I am carried up what must be several flights of stairs. Without warning, I am thrown into what feels like a box. The rope is cut from my wrists and I hear a deep voice. "Don't take the bag off until we tell you." Then I hear a snap and muffled steps as he walks away.

I have to sit with my knees against my chest in order to fit inside the cramped compartment. Minutes tick by slowly as I wait. Where is Rosalie? Where is Liam? Where am I?

"Remove your bags!" A woman's voice booms loudly. I obey. I am inside a glass box. Before me I see two men and one woman. One man and the woman hold a knife while the second man holds a hand gun.

The man with the knife is scarred and chubby. The man with the gun is muscular and angry looking. The woman is tall and thin. She sneers and whispers something to the fit man who laughs and nods.

There are others with me. There has to be about thirty of us. We are all kids. Some looking as young to be about five to some looking about eighteen. Each victim has their own glass box. We are arranged in a circle around our three captors.

Beside me there is a young girl with light brown hair in pigtails and freckles all along her nose. Our eyes meet and I mouth 'Rosalie' to her. Her eyes widen and she nods. 'Emma' She mouths and I nod.

I look around for Liam but I have no idea what he looks like. At least I found Rosalie.

"Well!" The woman's voice boons once again. "Welcome, children. My name is Sarah and this," She gestures to the fit man, "is Blain and this," she indicates the man with the knife, "is Matt. Today, we are going to play a game. A game of Man Hunt." She smiles.

"There is only one way out of this building. Your goal is to find the Escape before we find you. Because if we do, we will kill you." Sobs sound throughout the room. Rosalie's among them. Sarah closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as if she were smelling something sweet. She pulls a small controller from her pocket, a single black button on it.

"We will give you one minute to run and hide. Then we will come after you. Good luck. Let the game of Man Hunt begin." She presses the button and all the doors on the glass boxes pop open.