Page 79 of All Your Firsts

The room we stumble into is dark and cold, only illuminated by the neon lights and lasers. I link my arm through Jess’s as we walk into the middle of a section that houses three tunnels. Each has a different theme: under the sea, the forest, and outer space.

“Where do we go?” I ask Jess.

“I did something like this last year. Each tunnel has optical illusions and false passages. Only one tunnel should have a way out. Which one do you want to go through first?”

I look around, feeling the hairs on my back rising. “You pick,” I mumble as I feel eyes on us. It’s probably just Vic and Axl.

“Let’s do the outer space first.”

I take one last look around as we walk in. “Okay.”

Neon space wallpaper adorns the walls with floor-to-ceiling mirrors placed at intervals. We take a right and end up in a hallway with no way out. We turn around and head back the way we came.

I see someone out of the corner of my eye run by in black clothing.

“Did you see that?”

Jess looks around. “See what?”

“Nothing. Let’s hurry and get out of here.” I don’t like this anymore. There was definitely someone.

I walk with her through the rest of outer space without finding an exit, much to my dismay. We make it back to the beginning and head into the forest, which is the middle. It’s even darker in here and reminds me nothing of the forest Vic took me to. This one has an eerie feeling to it. My nerves are on high alert as we walk through a maze of glass panes.

“This place is kind of creepy,” Jess says right before she smacks her face into one of the glass windows. We double over in laughter. “Shit, that hurt,” Jess says as she rubs her head.

We turn around and stop in our tracks when someone in a ski mask stands in our way. My eyes go wide as I break out in a cold sweat with my heart in my throat. This is who I spotted in the other tunnel.

We were followed.

All my fears come rushing back, and I feel like the little girl holding her canvas painting.

I took numerous courses and classes in self-defense from a young age, but looking at this tower of a person, I don’t think I stand a chance, especially with Jess by my side. I squeeze her arm as she looks at the guy in a mixture of panic and surprise.

“What do you want?” I yell, feigning confidence I don’t feel whatsoever.

My breathing increases, and I try to keep a hold of the moment. Please don’t break down. There is no one to save you this time, my mind reminds me.

“Who sent you?” I ask, but I know. My father will never let me go so easily. I’m a pawn in his game of chess. He needs all the pieces to get what he wants.

A shattering noise assaults my ears seconds before we’re grabbed. The instinct to fight takes over, and I thrash about, desperately summoning any of the self-defense training I should have taken more seriously when I was younger.

I cry out as he pulls my hair into a vise grip. The force he exerts is so strong that I can feel the hairs being pulled from my scalp.

“Be careful with that one,” the captor who has Jess states.

I look at Jess lying limp over the other man’s shoulder. Her auburn hair cascades down the guy’s back, and her glasses are gone.

“Take me, but leave her. She has nothing to do with this,” I plead.

This is all my fault.

Her connection to me put her in danger, and I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her because of my negligence. I should have told Vic about the guy in the bar even though he would have never let me leave his sight. I can’t believe I prioritized my pride and selfishness over recognizing true danger.

I’m met with silence as they find the exit and bring us out back. The second I take a breath and attempt to scream, a nasty, leathered hand effectively blocks the scream coming from my mouth.

His disgustingly hot breath fans against my neck and ear. “If you scream or cause a scene, I’ll kill your friend.”

That has the fight leaving my body. We walk in the cover of darkness behind tents and trailers. This kidnapping was thought out. It wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment decision. That much is clear.

---