Guns and Roses

Twenty Six ~ Rya

I can feel everyone staring when I walk into Modern Studies. I'm an hour late because Lisa locked me in my bedroom. She told me that I had to grieve and that going to school was a bad idea.

So I climbed out the window.

I have a seat next to Reggie, Kira and Quinn. They're almost finished our project but they've stopped working to watch me sit down.

"I didn't think you'd be in today" Kira says softly.

Reggie nods in agreement "Quinn said that you were going to spend a few days at home. Are you sure that you should be in?"

The next table over have started whispering. The whole class then starts. I don't think they realise how loud they are.

"It's all over the news. The guy they interviewed said he'd never seen anything like it"

"I don't know what they expected. Two psychos in one house? That's just asking for a bloodbath"

"With parents like that, she's got to be crazy too"

I shake my head and pick up a purple pencil to help with the colouring in. "Of course I should be in. They're not dead" There's no point keeping it a secret, in a few days the media will catch on.

Quinn grabs my hand under the table and I squeeze it back. I might not be grieving but I'm angry. They abandoned me.

****

Quinn waits by my car as I finish up with Mr Timms. I still haven't spoken to his psychologist but I've been a little bit more open with him. He's only doing his job after all.

This session drags on a little after the bell so when I leave the building there's nobody outside. I wave to Quinn and he waves back, paying more attention to something on his phone. I bet it's something from Ellie.

I step out onto the road and jump back just in time to miss the van that swerves in front of me at an insane speed. The back door slides open and someone jumps out. I don't have any time to react before a brass fist hits my jaw and everything goes black.

****

I can taste blood.

Without opening my eyes, I go to feel for my teeth. However, I find that my tongue is pushed to the bottom of my mouth with a gag. I don't think I've lost any teeth though.

I start to hear voices talking in Italian but I can't focus enough to translate. My head is all fuzzy and as my eyes open, it takes me a second to work out my surroundings.

I'm in a shipping crate by the looks of things. The walls are red sheet metal and it's cold. My fingers are cold but that might be because of the cable ties currently cutting off the circulation to them.

I look around to see that I'm in a desk chair with my wrists ties to the arm rests. My feet are tied together and there's a belt around my waist holding me against the chair.

A few strands of hair have been caught in the drying blood on my chin and are obscuring my vision ever so slightly in my left eye.

Well fuck me I've been kidnapped.

There's only one other person in the room. It's a man, facing the wall and speaking lowly into the phone. "She's waking up," he says in Italian "You should make your way down here"