Lost

Chapter 80: "Kidnapped"

Comment your reactions as you read 😉

While Salma was halfway between freezing over with fear and kicking her limbs around in panic, the man added a confused shock to the mix by suddenly letting go.

"Wh-who are you?" she cried, into the darkness, frantic eyes searching around. "What do you wa --"

Her question turned into a panicked cry as a rough shove yanked her to face the other way. Salma tugged at her arm feebly, trying to free herself of the danger she could not see. Her attempts were useless, however. It wasn't long before she found herself gagged and blind-folded. Through her panic, Salma figured there were two persons. One of them was restraining her while the other secured her hands behind her back and tied her feet.

She stood like a statue, immobilized by the shock as they dragged her away from the door. Salty moisture seeped through her lips. She wished her brain would have reacted in more helpful way than locking her muscles and squeezing out panicked tears. Her pulse was loud in her ears and her body raked by trembles. One of the men let go of her arm, making Salma hang lopsided as the other still held onto her. She struggled to move her tied feet to support herself.

A clicking noise stopped her movements. She broke into cold sweats. Were they about to shoot her? Who were they? What did they want? Was she about to die --?

The man's rough fingers grabbed her under both her arms just as a cold gust of wind breezed past Salma. It was only when she was hauled over - what she imagined was - the sill did Salma realized they were kidnapping her through the window. Horrified, she started struggling, moving her face around hoping, her niqaab would give her the wriggle room to loosen her gag and call for help.

A brutal smack to the side of her face almost knocked her senseless. Even blindfolded, she felt her world flip-over. She was further blinded by pain as she heavily landed on her still-healing arm. Salma barely registered her muffled whimper of agony, or the grass and gravel beneath her tied hands. A rough hand yanked her up. Her captive grabbed her by the waist, holding her sideways like a slaughtered animal while the toes of her limp feet dug trails into the ground as they dragged by.

Salma struggled to keep her conscious. She was scared senseless and suffering from a brain-freeze. The men were strong, brutal and silent to the point that they might as well be mute. She was completely helpless and at their mercy. She could not afford to faint right then.

Without a warning, Salma's stomach lurched. She felt blades of grass, gravel and a searing pain on her cheek. The man had let go again and she had hit the ground face first. Groaning, she tried to push herself to the side. The air near her shoulder vibrated as something sturdy landed heavily next to it. Alarmed, Salma jerked away, only to have another weight pound behind her back. Whatever it was, it crushed her little finger in the process. Salma screamed in agony, balling herself as the thundering intensified. Her bruised finger throbbed in pain. Her tears continued and she could sense a lot of violent commotion above her. She desperately tried to make sense of it all until a crushing weight almost landed on her face but was pushed away. She was surprised to hear a cry of pain.

Not hers.

Then some thumps, followed by more grunts and groans. As a something knocked against her leg, then flailed over her and landed just behind her back, it finally dawned on Salma that there was fight in progress. The realization would have been a relief had it not meant that she was in the middle of a wrestling ring and they were about to stomp her to death.

Someone else seemed to have realized it too. Grabbing her around the arms, said person hastily picked her up and shoved her forward.

Screaming, Salma prepared herself for a bone-cracking landing. However, she was spared the pain and injury when another person caught her just in time.