Twenty-three-year-old Jamesina Grant awoke early one morning to find herself in an unfamiliar room. Fear set in as her eyes darted around - however she quickly came to realise she was not alone. Thema Amari, her closest friend, and Ailsa Grant, her...
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Awaking in an unfamiliar setting would be distressing to anyone. Imagine it; you awake from your slumber expecting to find the familiar surroundings of your bedroom, you open your eyes and to your horror, as your sleepy eyes register the room around you, you realise you are not in your own room. In fact, you don't know where you are – the only thing you do know for certain is that you are not home and you are not alone. Your heart pounds in your chest like a steel drum as questions race through your head like a freight train – where are you? Were you kidnapped? Where's your family? Are they safe? What on earth is happening? – and yet, you do not have the answers.
The unfortunate reality is this can happen to victims of kidnapping; such was the case for eighteen-year-old Jamesina Grant. So, when twenty-three-year-old Jamesina Grant awoke early one morning to find herself in an unfamiliar room the panic flooding her system was more than justified. Of all the scenarios her brain conjured up none came close to the truth – she was about to embark on what was perhaps the greatest adventure of her life.
~*~
Jamesina Grant awoke at approximately 5:32 a.m. It was not unusual for her to awake at such an hour – quite the opposite actually. Jamesina typically awoke early to go for a run, however it was not rare for her to be awoken multiple times in one night thanks to the horrific images of her nightmares and sometimes, the brunette didn't even sleep at all; today was not one of those days. Her sleep had been peaceful, calm and dream-free for a change. It was nice. So, instead of rising from her bed to embark on her morning run, Jamesina Grant simply rolled over hoping to fall back into a dreamless sleep.
And then she froze.
This was NOT her bedroom.
Jamesina couldn't say what it was that alerted her – perhaps it was the air in the room that hung heavy with humidity or the way the room no longer smelled of a combination of expensive perfume, cheap body spray and the alcohol which had been consumed the previous night and more like green tea, rice straws and incense. Perhaps it was the sound surrounding her which was not the chirping of the chaffinch nor the soft sounds of the music which had been left playing all night (nor was it her brothers snoring, however that was one sound she could live without) but was instead the screeching of the evening cicada, or perhaps it was the light pouring into the room which had not been expected. It could have been the feel of the bed – no, it wasn't a bed, not exactly – which alerted Jamesina; she was not entirely sure where she had fallen asleep, on the ground, on her bed, but she certainly hadn't fallen asleep with springs pressing into her like spears jabbing at her body from every angle. Whatever it was which alerted her did not matter; what did matter was that she was not home and that she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.
Suddenly, she was very much awake.
Panic set in as the young woman's eyes darted around the unknown environment hoping to find something, anything to indicate that she was a victim to a horrible practical joke curtsy of her friends. Nothing. No Chinese takeaway tubs, no beer bottles, no wine glasses – not even ash from a cigarette was left upon the floor. With none of the tell-tell signs this was her friends doing her panic only grew.
