Witness

•CHAPTER 16•

Slowly, my eyes awoke and I still found myself on the dusty ground. I was laying on my side on my ribs against the wall, which made me sore.

I tilted my head up and sneezed.

"You dick." Ashley said and I whipped my head towards her. "I thought you were dead."

"Surprise." I croaked. She looked paler than before with bags under her eyes. But I dared not ask what happened to her during the night. I already knew. She was drugged and rapped again.

"We-we need to get out of here." I stuttered. "We need-" I stopped mid sentence and sat up frozen. The hallucinations returned and a girl was pointing at me.

"Hurrryy." She moaned.

"What?" I asked and I could see Ashley staring at me strangely through the wall.

"Huurryyy." She pointed at me again. "Tick tock." And with a blink she was gone.

The chain on my ankle prevented me from grabbing my knees, so I put my hands over my face and rubbed my eyes.

"Another hallucination?" Ashley asked. "You're actually starting to really scare me."

Ignoring her, I asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"About a day. Though you awoke and slept often. I think you had a fever."

"Well it probably isn't gone since my infection isn't better." My head felt like it was exploding and my eyes could never focus.

"From now on I'm forbidding you to sleep." Ashley said.

"Good luck."

Just then George barged in and Ashley disappeared behind the wall.

"Oh, you're awake. Bummer. I was deciding if I should kill you."

"Comforting." I smirked.

"Who were you talking to?" George asked.

"Me, myself, and I." He looked doubtful so I continued. "My hand is infected making me hallucinate."

"We are getting ready to move to the next place. We never stay in one place for too long. Especially after a death."

"A death? Who died?" I asked.

"No one of your concern. Get up." He kicked my ribs and slowly and unsteadily, I got to my feet with my chain rattling. "I was going to unlock you, but I realized my keys were missing."

"You probably left them in your car." I suggested.

"No." He grabbed his gun and cocked it. "Where are they?" He aimed it at my head.

"I don't know." I said through clenched teeth.

"Try again." He stepped closer.

"If you kill me, you won't ever find them. Lower. Your. Gun."

Reluctantly, George did.

"If you give me your phone intact and working, I will give you your keys. But if you smash the phone, you will never get keys." It felt good to finally be in control.

"There's now way I'm giving you my phone." George spat and he slapped me on the face which knocked me on my stomach.

He began to keep punching and hitting me, so I pried open the boards underneath me. George didn't notice and still kept beating me.

As I reached down to grab the keys, I heard a sickening crunch followed by a wave of pain. There goes a rib.

Still, I continued to grab the keys and slowly pull them out in between blows.

Then I couldn't take it any longer. I swung my leg and it connected with George's knee, momentarily stopping the hits.

I rolled around on my back and hid the keys in my sleeve. Right before George was about to pounce on me, I quickly stood up and punched him in the face. Every move I made desperately hurt my ribs, but I continued.

He threw his fist at me but I caught it and instead punched him. He fell on the floor and I climbed on top of him and continued until his mouth and nose bled. He finally fell unconscious.

Knowing the guards would come any time, I quickly bent down despite my broken rib and fumbled with the keys until I finally unlocked it.

I rubbed my ankle, relieved that it was no longer trapped.

Carefully, I slid George's gun from his pocket and removed the bullets. Throwing them across the room, two guards barged in with more guns raised at me.

"Drop the gun!" They yelled and came closer. "We will shoot!"

I raised both my hands along with the gun.

"Step away from him!" One guard said and nodded towards George who was just beginning to wake up.

I bent down and carefully put the gun down next to a confused George and slid his phone, which clattered on the floor when he fell, into my pocket. Judging by everyone's faces, they never noticed what had happened.

"Stand down!" George commanded while unsteadily climbing to his feet. "He's got the keys."

The guards simultaneously put down their guns.

"Kyle, hand over the keys. You're outnumbered." George warned and I did as he said. I didn't care if he locked me up again; I had his phone!

"I'll deal with you later. But now you know what happens if you try to escape." George rubbed his head and walked out, followed by the rest of his men.

Making sure he really was gone, I faced the wall and pulled out his phone. My fever had made me feel weak, so I sat.

George's phone was at 48 percent, which was more than enough for me.

Just as I opened up the calls app, Ashley appeared.

"You okay?" She asked.

I nodded grimly, noting my ribs. "I'd prefer not to talk right now."

She seemed to vaguely understand and left me alone.

With a pounding heart, I dialed 9-1-1.

"This is the SWAT agency, who am I speaking to?" Came a man's voice. He sounded tired, but determined.

"It's," I stopped. SWAT? For me? There were so many other people like Ashley out there being kidnapped and drugged and abused daily. Why is SWAT looking for me? I was the least who deserved it. I'm a criminal.

"It's Kyle." I finished.

He suddenly sounded alert. "Kyle, my team and I need to know if you're okay and anything you know about this gang."

All the questions came at me at once which made my head pound harder.

"George. Two guards. All armed. I stole his phone. They are sex-traffickers."

He murmured orders to someone on the other side elf the phone. "Are you hurt?"

"George is not listening. I'm okay."

"You need to tell us everything, Kyle. This gang is top on the charts. Are you hurt?" Damn. So demanding. But I guess he could tell when I was lying.

"My ribs are broken, I hallucinate, and I have a bullet wound that is infected. See? I'm fine." I replied sarcastically.

"How many gang members are there?" He asked concerned.

Then, of course, George came in.