Aria - 2 hours Ago
1166 Words
Bang! My heart stilled as the explosion erupted right in front of the luxurious van I was riding in, on the lonely, narrow road. My eyes followed the driver’s swift hand movement as he tried to steer the vehicle away from the fiery inferno ahead of us. The sudden halt of the vehicle jolted me forward and back.
“f*****g Hell!”
The voice of my captor, no, my new owner, brought me back to reality as he muttered curses under his breath.
A fleet of four black cars surrounded us from the sides and behind. The explosion in front of our car had reduced to a small patch of flames.
My heart pounded faster as the doors of all four cars swung open, revealing dangerous-looking men.
“And they are?” he asked me, his expression unfazed.
“Uh, what?” I stammered, my heart still racing. How was I supposed to know?
An inaudible response in Italian answered his question. Of course, he wasn’t speaking to me. I was as insignificant as a piece of clothing bought at a discount, except I hadn’t even been bought. I had been taken.
“Such disrespect will not be tolerated. I run the f*****g Mafia! The only person I expect to see alive here is the one who ordered this,” he snarled.
As he spoke, men stormed out from the rest of the cars in our convoy, revealing their weapons and engaging the opposition in a fierce firefight. A young man, seemingly a teenager, with piercing red eyes, emerged from the backseat. His swift draw of a gun shattered the illusion of safety, transforming our peaceful journey into a terrifying reality.
I had never seen a gun until today in my 20 years of living, and the way he handled it was both fascinating and frightening. His youthful fingers danced nervously around the trigger.
Pop! A thud. Blood splattered on his head.
“Oh my God!” I screamed, my blood running cold.
“You’re supposed to warn us when we’re being attacked! You stupid b***h!” he yelled, his voice filled with rage.
“Oh my God, is he dead? We should take him to the hospital!” I pleaded.
A man emerged from the chaos, moving towards our car. Our tinted windows obscured us from his view, but we could see him clearly.
“s**t,” Alfredo cursed, drawing a shiny Glock from his pocket. I froze, despite having seen countless guns today. Being so close to one, and potentially a target, was terrifying.
Alfredo and the driver, Colin, exchanged a glance. The car’s sunroof slid open, revealing the smoky sky with a metallic smell.
My captive, whose name I was yet to find out, moved out through the opening, and a shot from our angle had the man down in less than a second.
I expected it, but the shock still hit me. With none of their attention on me, I thought about escaping.
Where to, though? We were hours away from the city I was familiar with, in the middle of nowhere, and I was most likely going to get shot before I could cover any distance.
What was I even thinking? Was this sacrifice worth it? Was I willing to go through this chaos every day for the next year?
How did I even end up here? Hours ago, I was praying and hoping Mom would be fine, and Dad would stop bugging me about my boyfriend. Right now, I didn’t know if Dad had bled to death, or if I could even trust this man. I had taken his word for it and come along with him. What if he couldn’t be trusted?
More gunshots rang out, piercing the air like rain. The image of the young boy, his lifeless eyes staring into the car, was etched into my memory. The realization that this would be my life for the next year filled me with dread.
Looking around me, all of my captors’ men noisily surrounded who I assumed to be the leader of the opposing gang. I remembered the conversation he had with someone on the phone and concluded they would be there for a while. To the side of the car, there was a thick forest that looked unending.
Seeing as nobody gave me attention, instead giving their whole attention to completely dehumanizing their victim, even the driver of my car had also gotten down. The coast was clear for me to leave.
Hoping I made the right decision, I started moving. The door was easy to open as the noise from the men overshadowed its sound. My small frame easily rolled under the car between me and the forest, shielding me from view. Small metal objects, which I assumed to be bullets, were everywhere on the ground. I tried to stand up when I saw a man staring at me from inside the car I rolled beneath. My legs froze to the ground, unsure of how to react. His stare made me uncomfortable as he didn’t move. That’s when I saw the blood dripping from his left chest onto his dark shirt. A silent scream escaped me when he blinked, and I fell back down.
I stood up quickly, and my speed increased, while my wobbly legs threatened to give out due to the shock from the man I had just seen. Luckily, I got to the thick bush before my captors noticed my absence.
My body told me to stop, but the more logical part of me knew I should keep running. So I ran. I still had a year left in college. If anything happened, I could always run back to school, take Mom and Dad with me. These people would never find me there. First, I just had to get out of here safely.
I didn’t know how long I ran until I saw the end of the bush and a similar road to the one we were on. Tiredly, I pushed myself onto the middle of the road, hoping any car that passed would see through my pain and help me.
My head ached from dehydration, and my legs ached from the run. Seeing how close I was to solace, I began to pray for a miracle as no car passed.
Thankfully, my captor must have forgotten about me, or just decided to let me be, since none of them had come to find me, or perhaps I had outrun them.
Just after my prayer, a car came into view. I dragged myself from the ground to flag the car down, seeing as it might be my only hope to leave this desolate place.
It didn’t stop at first, then it pulled a sharp brake and stopped. The passenger door opened as I ran towards it.
“Help me, help me please!” I struggle to breathe
“Did you think you could run from us?”
“We found her, boss.”
- Writer
