Trying to forget

Chapter 2: I am kidnapped

Slowly I open my eyes.

Where am I? It is so dark here. I sit up and look around. I am in a small room with a dirty concrete floor and a white painted brick wall. There is lots of graffiti in here. The only thing in the room is a small barred window on the door. All I can hear is really soft murmuring and mumbling. Wait, I remember now. The gang. The man. The fight. The murder. I remember all of it. How long have I been passed out for? Do my family know where I am? What am I going to do? Are they going to kill me? Anyone from that gang might come back any second to take a shot at me. Maybe I should try to escape and get to the cops. That way, I might at least get a chance to live.

As I try and start to formulate a plan, I can hear people speaking outside my cell.

"FINE. Go get her then," I hear the Hispanic man huff angrily.

I hear footsteps coming closer and closer to the door. So this is how it ends. I never got to say goodbye to my parents, or my friends, or my dog. They are going to find my body in an ally way and never know what happened to me. I can feel tears starting to make my eyes swim. I blame the bus. It left too early. I can hear keys jingling and the door getting unlocked. Quickly, I drop to the floor to make it seem like I am only just waking up.

"The boss wants to talk to you," a woman, whom I recognised from the alley way, said to me.

"Who are you? Where am I?" I ask, sitting up and pretending to rub my eyes. They are still wet with tears.

"My name is Jesse and you are at the DLG HQ," said Jesse. "Now get up and move it before you end up like that thief from the alley way."

I nod quickly and get up to follow Jesse to the 'Boss' who I am pretty sure, is the Hispanic man who kept threatening me. We go down a long and dirty corridor with the same walls and flooring. The floor just had more fast food wrappers, old scrunched up newspapers and old gum on it compared to my cell. I try to remember what graffiti is on the walls so I know my way around if I get a chance to try to escape.

"Hey Harley, how did you like your little nap in our cell," the Boss smirked.

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"'Bout 2 and half hours, maybe 3?" he responds, smirking even more.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" I ask, feeling my voice waver in fear.

"Well maybe if you shut your mouth, I might have a chance to tell you," the Boss snaps. "My name is Evan and I am going to be your new boss."

"What? I thought you were going to kill me," I exclaim. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I am going to live, but why do they want me to work for them?

"Trust me sweetheart, I really did want to kill you, but because I am such a nice person, I decided to make you part of the gang; the DLG," Evan replied. He wasn't smirking anymore.

"Actually, Dave and I convinced Evan not to kill you. You are too young to have life snatched from you," Jesse chimed in, earning her a scowl from Evan.

"I am not going to sell drugs, or kill anyone. Especially not kill anyone," I say cautiously. I wish I was anywhere but here. I wish I had caught that bus. I wish I had never seen anything. These are not people I had ever thought I would be talking to. "And if I am perfectly honest, I really do not want to join your gang."

"Well then we can go with plan A; killing you and continuing on with our business if you prefer," Evan smiled.

"Actually, joining your gang sounds... better," I say, trying to fight back my tears. So this won't be my last day on earth, but I am being forced into the life of crime for the rest of my life. "What about my parents?"

"Call them and say that you are getting home late today because you are studying at Casey or Jackie's house. We will tell you all you need to know about the gang for the moment," Jesse said calmly. "We still need to know that you won't stab us in the backs or get cold feet, so we won't tell you everything... until you become a full initiate."

"I don't really get much of a choice, do I?" I sigh. Jesse and Evan both shake their heads. "Ok, I'll call my parents now then."

I pull out my phone and unlock it. I can't believe I am doing this. I have never lied to my parents before about anything. I have never even tried to. And now, I am just about to call them and lie about where I am. It's not even to go to a party!

"Hey mum, I am at Lauren's house right now. We are studying for our test next week... Yes we are actually studying... No they are letting me stay over for dinner... Oh ok, I'll say hi for you... No it's ok, Loren said she will give me a lift it's fine... Ok, see you at home... Yeah, I am fine, just a little tired... Love you, bye... Oh and say hey to dad for me too, and that I love him too... Ok, bye."

I put my phone in my lap and start to cry. I can't help it. I can feel my hot tears dripping down my cheeks and my nose starting to run. I am so scared. I am getting blackmailed into joining a gang of druggies and I have seen a man get beat up and then murdered. I am only 15, I shouldn't be under this kind of stress. I should only be getting stressed out by tests and boys at this age. Not by gangs and murders. I feel Jesse pat my back gently and then walk away. Then I look up to see Evan rolling his eyes at me.

"Get up kiddo, you wanna know your way around base right? Because I am going to show you once and once only. If you can't find your way around after this – you get lost and die," Evan said. He then started to walk away towards a door behind him. I followed.

Once we are out of the door, I followed Evan to another small room, similar to my cell, except its didn't have any graffiti on the walls or old gum or food wrappers on the floor. Instead, there were a lot more old newspapers and papers everywhere. There was also a small printer and photocopier in the corner, which was next to a desk that almost reached the other wall. There was a small empty metal bin next to the desk. Evan walked up to printer and photocopier and pressed some buttons. A sheet of paper came out and Evan crossed out and wrote some things on it. He then handed it to me with a smirk.

"Jesse might be prepared to go easy on you because you're a kid, but I certainly will not. Here is your map. It has everywhere you need to know on it," he laughed. The map had three rooms all together that were crossed out and replaced with OUT OF BOUNDS – DO NOT GO HERE written in big letters. I wonder what's in there. Maybe it's where they hide the drugs they sell. Maybe.

"Why does it say some rooms are out of bounds?

"Because it does. Deal with it."

I studied the map. There are four main rooms other than the ones blanked out. The kitchen, planning room, the cell and the bathroom. They don't fully trust me yet. Good. I don't want to know what they are doing or who they are doing it to. I don't think I would be able to handle it.

I look back at Evan and then I see a huge kitchen knife held against my neck. I can feel its sharp tip digging into my throat.

"We need to talk, kid," Evan growled.

Hey guys,

So that is the second chapter for my book Trying to forget.

If you comment I might dedicate a chapter to you.

I am open to suggestions and ideas.

Thanks for reading my book

(Words: 1468)

-TKH1403