Abi did her best to stay calm. She managed to act like she was just curious about her surroundings while her hand was busy dialing Alex phone number in secret. Her other hand was also moving, searching for the pepper spray that she always took with her.
She started to simulate few ways for her to escape. She glanced at her phone screen on her lap and she saw that it was finally connected.
“Uhm… Mister, where is this place? Is this road a shortcut heading to Skyline Hill?” she asked but the driver didn’t answer again. She wasn’t trying to find out where they were heading because Alex would definitely easily locate her using her phone coordinates.
The sky was starting to become grey and the road was unusually empty, or maybe this route was usually like this, just like the road back to her house.
The eerie air around the man made Abi want to scream and ask for Alex to come help her but she knew she had to stay calm. She believed that Alex was on his way now so she just had to hold on.
However, suddenly, the man stopped the car in the middle of the road.
He turned around and his menacing eyes glared at her. He looked at her bag where she was hiding her phone and he suddenly snatched it away.
Thankfully, Abi prepared for this and she immediately sprayed at the man’s eyes with the pepper spray. The man groaned and she swiftly reached out and pressed the door’s lock.
She frantically climbed out the door as she ran away from the car, taking the phone with her.
“He-hello? Alex?” she called out as she ran. She was praying for a car to pass by but there was none.
“Abigail!” she heard Alex voice and she felt a little braver.
“Alex, someone’s…” Abi had just turned to look back at the car when she saw that a car had stopped in front of the taxi, which came from the opposite direction. She thought that she could go ask for help but the people who came out of the car all looked at her menacingly.
Abi began to run.
“Alex! Help me. They’re coming after me!”
She heard Alex curse before he said that he was already on his way.
Abi knew there was no way she could outrun them. If they caught her, they might leave her phone behind and take her away, leaving nothing for Alex to use to track her.
What should she do? She had to do something!
She could feel them getting closer and she also heard an engine start up. She had to leave the road or they would just run her over. Left without a choice, Abi ran off the road and she headed towards the woods. She couldn’t let them catch her. At least she could buy time for Alex to arrive.
But Abi was completely unprepared for the situation in the woods. The woods she just entered had many slopes and the ground was very slippery.
She fell down a small slope causing her to yelp. The phone in her hand fell and it jumped a lot further away from her. She heard the people’s footsteps and she forced herself to keep running. The adrenaline rush had taken over her and she didn’t know how fast or where she was even heading. All she knew was that she couldn’t stop because she heard those people’s footsteps coming from behind her.
Abi knew that her strength would soon betray her so she tried to find somewhere she could hide in but she couldn’t see any. All she could hear now was her ragged breathing. She was starting to feel numb but she just continued to run as fast as she could until her feet gave way and she fell again. Abi felt something hot flowing down her face. She had protected her head from hitting the ground so this wound mustn’t have been caused by her hitting her head. Maybe something sharp cut it?
Trying to stand again, Abi found herself between a crack of a large tree. It seemed like she luckily stumbled into a hiding place. Abi sat in there and hid herself to the furthest, darkest area inside the tree, covering her mouth with her hands. She couldn’t believe that something like this was happening again. She wasn’t blaming anyone. She couldn’t blame Alex for this. She just couldn’t help but think why she couldn’t be like those badass female leads she always loved. She couldn’t help but ask why she had to be so weak. Why can’t she be strong too? Why did she have to be so sick and so powerless that she couldn’t even protect or save herself?
All she could do was hide, and hope, and wait for someone to help her, to save her. She wished she could be the hero too, but she knew she couldn’t. Her body just wasn’t meant for it.
As she sat there in a fetal position, she started to hear voices.
“F*ck! Where is she? We have to find her!”
“Shit!”
“Relax, it’s just a little girl.”
“Asshole, if that little girl will escape we’re done for!”
“Tsk! Stop blabbering and just look for her. It’s getting dark.”
“Aren’t we waiting for the darkness to come? It’d be more fun playing hide and seek.”
“Shut up! We can’t waste time here! We must bring this girl to Eli as soon as possible!”
Abi’s hand on her mouth trembled as she pressed harder. She could tell that they were just few steps away from her. She was glad that there was a noisy stream nearby.
She heard their steps getting further and futher away from her so she slowly started breathing again as her grip on her mouth slowly loosened.
She didn’t dare peek outside but the moment her hands left her lips, something jumped above her, causing a loud thud in her ears.
“FOUND YOU!”
