Chapter 1
Avidya
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart beat widely in my chest, almost to the point of pain. I had no idea where the pain began nor ended. Maybe the pain did generate from the thumping organ inside my chest. I could feel each beat in my rib cage as my thick dark red blood flowed through my body.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My body roughly rolled against metal as the vehicle turned sharply around a corner. The force caused my head tothunkagainst the cold metal. It aggravated the pounding within my skull to skyrocket. I don’t think it could hurt anymore, as it already felt as though my skull was going to explode.
I had no clue where I was, nor who I was in the hands of. I couldn’t recall how I got in this predicament at the moment. Was I possibly just dreaming? It wasn’t possible to simply be still asleep through all this banging and thumping around.
The scratchy blindfold that was tied too tight blocked out all light. Although I was sure it was dark outside, even as the material forced my eyes to stay closed. My hands were bound by something rough, digging into my wrists behind me. My shoulders cried out in pain from the position. Was is necessary to tie up in such a way?
There was no possible way of escaping, even if I could get my body to sit up, let alone move. I felt weak as if I had just gotten over the worst case of flu known to mankind. My mouth was dry as a desert, my head pounding as if there was a hammer inside. I was confused as I ever have been in my life.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The last thing I could remember was being at a friend’s house. We had stayed up late watching a movie that we had seen countless times before. Her parents went out to dinner, knowing that we wouldn’t dare cause any trouble. We never did.
While we sat on the floor at the end of her bed, we ate organic popcorn and drank bottled water. It wasn’t often I was allowed to stay the night while her parents were out on a date, but my parents had gone out of town for a week. I thought it would be fine, and that my parents would feel better knowing I wasn’t home alone on a dark rainy night.
After the late movie, we went to bed like any other night. We talked about the ‘what ifs’ of life. We both knew, but never spoke about what would come. It was how our lives had been lined out from the day we were born into this life.
We were born to two sets of parents that controlled everything. From the way we dressed, to what we ate, and who we talked to. Though Becca’s parents weren’t as strict as my own. She was allowed to have her black hair cut shorter than what my parents ever deemed respectful. Her dark eyes hide secrets, even as she promised to keep me up to date on her ideas. She wanted out of this life; I knew that. She hated being controlled, and she was searching for a way out. I just had no idea what that was; she refused to tell me.
She hated the idea that we would both be married off to whomever our fathers deemed worthy. I feared more than she did about being shipped off to some other country because my father thought that was best for me. It wasn’t. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I also didn’t want to stay where I was at, either.
Becca knew something that I didn’t, and she hid it well. No matter how much I pushed, she refused to budge. I justknewsomething was up.
I had just begun to drift off to sleep when I heard a door open and close downstairs. That small squeak was always noticeable. I swear that Mr. Wrights put it there on purpose to catch Becca sneaking out. I thought nothing of it, assuming it was Becca’s parents arriving back home.
It was hard to miss the sound of the door handle being turned before it opened. Whomever it was opened the door to Becca’s room quietly
I was farthest from the doorway, my back facing it as Becca slept soundlessly next to me on her queen bed, so I didn’t see who came in. The footsteps were heavier as they neared the bed in the glow of the moon from the window. I could feel the presence of the person, and that alone rose the hair on my arms. I kept my eyes shut as tight as possible as my heartbeat quickened.
This intruder was not Becca’s father, nor my own.
All of a sudden, Becca let out a gut-wrenching scream that made my blood run cold. It seemed to echo off the walls.
Then . . . . nothing. No sound but the rain and my breathing were left.
Next thing I knew, I was in a vehicle. I wasn’t sure how I had got here; my mind was blank. What had happened? Where was Becca? Where was I?
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Trying not to panic, I took deep labored breaths through my mouth, hearing myself gasp each time. The vibrations of the vehicle jostled me over each bump, doing nothing to help my sore body. I refused to breathe through my nose, knowing that the scent of bile and urine would assault me underneath the strong aroma of bleach.
So many scenarios went through my mind. I had heard the horror stories about kidnapped girls and women that ended up missing. Either they were never found again as if they had never been alive, or they turned up dead in dumpsters and in abandoned buildings that drug addicts took to.
Would that happen to me? Would I be chopped up, begging for death, to be found by some homeless dude in a month’s time? Would Becca be in the same fate as me?
What would my family think? Would they even care? Would they search for me? Would they know I was missing?
I knew I wasn’t on the best of terms with my parents, as religious as they were. Would our parents put out search parties for us? Or would they give up and let us end up wherever fate took us?
Oh God! Why me? What had I done to be tested this way?
