Mistaken

Captured (Chapter 11)

Jason

Where was she? Was she ok? Why was she yelping? Was she stuck? Was she hurt? That was all I could think of as I scrambled into the forest, tripping over branches and piles of leaves. I was too distracted to notice the dancing willows or the green sky. All I was thinking about was Sammy. She was part of my family and I loved her just as much as my twin, and possibly more than my mother.

I followed her continuing cries and yelps but they only seemed to be getting further away. I ran between trees, up hills, and over creeks, but the whole time I ran it felt like something was wrong. There was a feeling, a memory, that clawed at the back of my mind, itching to get out and make itself known. I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t care. I just kept running, kept searching for Sammy. She was the only thing I cared about.

When I burst through a cluster of bushes my shirt was ripped open, letting a blast of cool air hit my stomach. I felt the goose bumps growing on my skin but I ignored them.   

Then, my foot caught on a branch and I tumbled to the ground. Laying there on the ground with my heart bounding, I realized that this wasn’t helping. Calming down and thinking was the only way I could find Sammy. Slowly I sat up and leaned against a nearby log. That’s when I noticed the trembling. My hands shook uncontrollably. Leaning my head back against the log I tried to control the tremors. After a moment I got up and sat on the log, listening for Sammy’s yelps, but she had gone quiet. Immediately I thought the worst.

That’s when I heard the crinkling of leaves. Finally, the feeling in the back of my mind made itself known.  I felt the fear, and the alarm, and I knew that I was in more danger than Sammy.

It was a trap. It had been a trap all along. They had used Sammy to lure me into a trap, and, if my dream was true, I knew what was going to happen next.

My instincts kicked in and the word run popped into my head, just like it had in my dream. My muscles sprung into action and I jumped up, but at the last second I decided not to run.

What was I doing? It had been just a dream. Why was I trusting a dream. For all I knew the whole thing could have been just a big coincidence. The dream and the girl at the basketball game seemed like too much to be a coincidence, but how could I have dreamed of the future. It was impossible

What if it is true, though? I pondered. What do I do?

If I didn’t do what I did in the dream, then the dream wouldn’t come true.

Leaves crinkled and cracked all around me. Instead of running I raised my hands and turned around, hoping to see someone else besides the black clothed men I had in my dream. My hopes faded as the black figures surrounded me.

Maybe it’s all a mistake. Maybe I’ve been mistaken for someone else. If that was true what I needed to do was surrender and sort it out calmly.

More figures stepped out from behind trees and bushes. They each had their guns raised and pointed at me.

“Freeze!” one of the larger men yelled.

The rest of the men formed a loose circle around me, and the large man stared at me for a long moment. Then, the same pulled out a device that looked like a walky-talky, and he began speaking into it.

“No need to hurt the Collie anymore. We’ve got him.”

My fears were confirmed in his message. These men, whoever they were, had been hurting Sammy. My hands closed into fists and anger burned in my chest, but I suppressed it. The only way out of this is cooperation. I told myself.