It will have to do.
The man pulls me through the door, yanking as hard as he can on my hair, and drags me to an unmarked van. I notice my front door gets left open and hope springs in my chest that maybe Kyle or Mary will see it when they get home.
“Get inside, bitch,” the man snarls as he tosses me in the back of the van, waving the gun in my face as he slams the door shut.
He moves to the front passenger seat and that’s when I notice the driver. Not just any driver. Candy.
My heart rate picks up as the man, Brad, whips off his mask and turns in his seat to continue to point the gun at me, revealing himself fully.
“You’re not laughing now, are you?”
I wasn’t laughing, period. Idiot.
I don’t say that though, and keep my mouth shut while the van weaves through Daybreak.
“You think you’re so much better than us, don’t you? Pink-haired bitch.” His disdain for me is evident on his face. What did I ever do to him? They’re the ones who robbed me. “This is a fine coincidence. Should we play with her a little bit before we drop her off? What do you think?” He turns to Candy, serious about his question.
I swallow hard. These people came on to a high schooler. I wouldn’t put it past them to do something to me against my will. More than just this kidnapping.
“You should just kill the bitch, Richard,” Candy sneers back at me in the rearview mirror and then turns the van to get on the highway.
Richard is his name? Fitting, since he’s such a dick.
“Too much money on the line, Monica, you know that.”
Monica and Richard. I almost laugh. Almost. Unfortunately for me, this is not an episode of Friends.
What I don’t understand is the whole money bit. Are they selling me to a sex trafficking ring? That’s my best guess. Maybe they found out I was with Lucas when he got the camera back and decided to get revenge.
This seems a little theatrical though. They don’t seem like the type to go through all the trouble. They’re small-time criminals, not human traffickers…I think.
I look out the window and notice we are heading southeast. That’s not good.
My anxiety is rising, and I think I’m going to have a panic attack, because how long before anyone notices I’m gone? And how the hell will they find me?
This is the worst possible scenario.
I make myself small and back myself into the corner of the empty van. What the hell am I going to do? I need to make a plan.
I should have listened to Lucas when he said to look through the peephole before answering the door. I probably could have avoided this whole thing. But here we are, and I need to buck up and start to think. What would Lucas do?
Not much time passes when I realize I have my phone in my pocket. Richard and Monica are whispering up front, but I don’t want to make any sudden movements to alert them of the phone.
I’ll just have to wait.
Hopefully, I have a shot of making it out of this alive. And if not, maybe I’ll get a chance to shoot off one last text to Lucas telling him I love him and my dad.
Yes. I said love. I’ve known how I’ve felt for a while, but to admit it, considering we’ve only known each other for a few months, was something I wasn’t ready to do.
But now, the last thing I want to do is leave this Earth without letting Lucas know my true feelings.
I’m so fucking stupid. I know better than to take people for granted. And that’s what I did with Lucas. I was wrong in trying to push him away. I should have been telling him this whole time how I really felt. How, from the moment I saw him I had a crush on him. And how all our time spent together solidified the fact that I fell in love with him.
If I make it out of this alive, I have some making up to do.
That’s for damn sure.
Chapter 26
