“Sorry,” I murmured, only to be grabbed by the arms.
Pain ricocheted through my shoulder as he started dragging me toward the door. I vaguely heard Claire yelling behind me, but I was too focused on trying to break this giant’s hold.
I swung out, hoping to hit something vital, but the way I was being dragged prevented me from hitting anything but soft flesh.
“Hey!” I shouted over my shoulder. “These guys are kidnapping us!” I shouted.
The cashier watched while drinking his Slurpee, but didn’t make a move to help. As soon as the doors opened, I let out the loudest scream I could muster, knowing the guys would hear it on the other side of the building.
Except, as luck would have it, a semi drove past at the same exact moment, blowing his horn like a runaway truck on a steep mountain road.
A cloth was slapped over my mouth, cutting off all sound and hope of rescue. The world started to tilt and turn fuzzy all at the same time until it was nearly impossible to move my feet. I barely understood that I was being carried as everything turned black and the world started to fade.
I wokewith a jerk as we came to a sudden stop.
Disorientation rocketed through me, and it was only when an unfamiliar face appeared above me that faint details started filtering into my addled brain.
Two men had grabbed us.
Something had been shoved over my face.
I passed out.
My heart kicked up a notch as I realized what that meant. Squeezing my eyes closed, I willed my heart to slow down the race it was galloping. Freaking out right now would not help anything. I needed to stay calm and rational. I needed to think things through and come up with a plan if I had any hope of making it out of this alive.
Okay, you can do this, Krista. Just stay calm and go over what you know.
I took stock of my body, noting I was fully clothed, still had shoes on, and nothing felt violated in any way other than my brain.
So, they hadn’t taken us to rape and murder us. If that were the case, they would have done that right away. Then again, they could be taking us to some secret lair where they would torture us for days on end, making us watch as they slowly peeled away our skin.
You’re letting your imagination get the better of you. They’re after you because…well, I don’t know why, but flesh-peeler most likely isn’t the reason they took you.
This had to be connected with whatever Rob was telling me about. Not that I could remember precisely right now. All my memories of the last day were all fuzzy.
And I was getting really tired of my days being lost to other people’s decisions.
“Let’s get them inside. Once they’re tied up, we can grab some food.”
“Should we get them something?”
The man snorted. “Our job was to grab them, not make them as comfortable as possible.”
Two doors opened, and the men got out, closing them instantly. I held my breath as I heard footsteps walking around the back of the van.
“Just pretend you’re still out of it,” Claire hissed beside me.
I jerked my head to the side, only to find her perfectly content. Like this was a normal Tuesday for her.
Was it Tuesday?
God, like that really mattered right now.
The door swung open and I immediately went limp, closing my eyes and pretending I was still out of it. It took everything in me to keep my muscles loose and not strain as they dragged me out of the van, then hauled me up and flopped me over one of their shoulders.
My stomach ached from the sudden pain from the man’s shoulder, but I did as Claire said and pretended to be out of it. My wrists hung limply together, held by the rope tied tightly around them. As we walked, my fists thumped lightly against the man’s back, and I made sure that I was completely relaxed, even allowing my head to roll back as I was hauled once again, this time to the ground.
My skull cracked against the floor. It was impossible to hide the wince as pain shot through me, but the man must not have been watching me because he said nothing as he walked away.