CAGED

Chapter 1: Taken

The sun is beating down with a ferocious heatwave today, and the in ground pool my dad installed last year is out of service. Something about a broken pump. The lake is over crowded with little kids screaming and running around, and I refused to be seen covered in sand and swimming in that disgusting fish pee water. As hot as it is outside, it's still better than dying of boredom inside, so I called my best friend Kaitlyn up and told her to come tan with me in my backyard. There's a repair guy working on the pump and I'm desperately hoping he finishes today so that we can go swimming to cool off. I changed into my bubble gum pink bikini and called Kat to come over. An hour later and we were dragging the lawn chairs off of the back porch and towards the edge of the yard. The yard isn't that big, but between the oak tree shading half of it and the repair guy working on the pool, it was pretty much the only space we could claim to ourselves. We stretched out, put on some playlist she made, and have been baking in the sun for the last half hour.

"Rissa," Kat calls to me when 'Me Too' by Meghan Trainor ends. "It's so hot out here, I think my skin might actually melt off if we stay too much longer." I turn my head to her and see her skin has a nice glow to it under the sweat and contrasting her white two piece. I glance down at my slightly paler stomach and shake my head. I have spent too much of this summer white as a ghost and I'd like something to show for my efforts.

"You're right," I agree with a heavy sigh. "It's way too hot out here but I'm not tanning as fast as you!" I watch Kat for a moment before I add, "Your hair has some highlights now."

Kat's hand goes to her hair, fingers twisting it down into her view. "They do look cute," she agrees as she flings it behind her again. "Seriously, though, I'm going to burn at this rate. Can we go in?"

"You can," I tell her. "I'm gonna sit for another fifteen, then I'll come in." Kat stretches her long legs over the side of the chair as she stands up. She grabs her phone from the seat and looks at it for a moment.

"Mind if I grab a shower?" Kat asks. "This sweat smell is going to be my death if this heat isn't."

"What time is it?" I ask, not bothering to check the phone in my hand.

"Four?" Kat answers after glancing at her phone again.

"Sure," I tell her. "Dad won't be home for another hour or two, and mom's on some girls trip for the week." Mom being away isn't really a new thing, and dad was usually working long hours. I know Kat doesn't want to shower when dad's here because she doesn't want to risk him seeing her tiny infinity sign tattoo she got a few months ago. She's too afraid dad will call her mom and tattle on her.

"Okay!" Kat grins. "I'm raiding your closet for something to wear!" Kat runs off towards the house, passing the repair guy and the pool, before disappearing inside. I unlock my phone and go through my playlists, looking for some music now that Kat took her phone with her. I find a random summer playlist that someone put together and click shuffle, lowering my phone to the chair beside me. I close my eyes and relax, feeling the heat of the sun kiss my skin.

Halfway through the second song I feel a shadow over me, blocking the sun from my face. I open an eye, expecting to see some clouds moving in, but instead I see the repair guy standing over me and staring down at me. I jump at the unexpected closeness of him before I take a breath. I sit up against the chair, swinging my legs over the edge as I watch the man closely. He isn't bad looking for his age, which I'm guessing is thirty-something. He has choppy brown hair and a slightly crooked nose, like it had been broken and not set right. The way his eyes pierce into my, like dark brown voids, is unsettling and a shiver crawls down my spine.

"Need something?" I try to calm my nerves. "You should have my dads number, he's the one to talk to." I assume this is related to the pump for the pool, but the way he just continues to watch me is unsettling. The man turns his head a little and I glance down. He has a tool in his hand, I think it's a wrench. "What do you need?" I try again, this time beginning to stand up in hopes of putting some distance between us. My eyes dart to the house where I know Kat is, but if she's in the shower then there's no way she would hear me call for her. My phone is still on the chair, but I would have to get closet to him in order to grab it, and I doubt he would let me. Before I can take a step away the man lunges at me, his arm swinging the tool down on my temple. I scream in pain as I feel the skin above my eye split open, blood dripping down my eye in a matter of seconds. I try to turn, to run away, but the man grabs my arm and keeps me in place as he brings the wrench down against my head once more. I feel the grass prickling against my skin as I fall and blood covering my face, but my eyelids feel heavy and I know I'm about to pass out. The last thing my brain registers is being lifted from the grass into the air, a floating feeling, as I lose consciousness.

*** Hello to any new readers, and welcome back to my existing readers! I know it's been a hot minute since I've worked on this story, but there's been a ton that's happened in the last few years. I am finally getting around to the re-write while I also work on the official ending of Caged. Please bear with me while I post these updates, and to those who stuck around, thank you! ***