Somewhere in the Trees

seven

I start to undress. Tears burn my eyes as I pull my shirt off. The only sound in the room is clothing rustling and dropping down to the floor.

Just as I start moving my leggings and underwear down my hips, the man reminds us, "Everything off. Shoes and socks too."

We all change into the new outfits quickly. My cheeks feel like they're on fire - I can't believe I just had to fully undress in front of three people I've never met before. I can barely even undress in front of my boyfriend.

The new clothes are uncomfortable on my skin, a little scratchy, slightly big, and barely any protection from the cold air.

The woman without the gun walks in front of us and bends down, picking up all of our clothes. She looks down at the hiking boots that I kicked off, and it takes me a second to realize she's admiring them. Her crooked teeth bare as she smiles.

"You have money," she states.

My breathing picks up. Are they going to single me out now? I don't have money - my step father does.

She throws all of our clothes and shoes towards the corner of the room before she walks back to her original spot beside the man.

"Down on your knees," the man demands. He seems to enjoy the power he has over us.

"Why?" Declan asks from the other side of Alice. I curl my body forward slightly to look past Alice at him. He's staring at them, his chest rising and falling rapidly. I know what he's thinking - they're going to kill us.

The woman with the gun walks up to him slowly, her eyes narrowed. My heart rate skyrockets as she reaches up to press the barrel of the gun against the side of his neck. His head tilts upwards a bit from the pressure.

"On your knees," she repeats.

I look away immediately. I can't watch him get shot, even if I hate him.

I think back to when Declan and I first met, back when we were eight years old, and if you would have told me then that we'd be where we are now, I'd have laughed in your face.

I slowly get down on my knees, hardly even able to keep myself steady with how rapidly my body is shaking.

All three of us are on our knees now. Thankfully, the woman with the gun backed away from Declan and lowered the weapon, but it's still pointed at us. The hard floor hurts my knees, I can feel the grit of dirt through the lightweight pants.

I stare down at the ground, my head down. The man walks to stand in front of me.

My lip quivers as I slowly look up at him. I reach up to touch my neck again, something I keep doing involuntarily every time I see his beady blue eyes.

"You are Louisa Rhodes," the man says.

My heart feels like it's going to break out of my chest. How does he know my name? Wait - my backpack is gone. They must have all of our belongings and they must have found my driver's license. They now also have my credit cards and my birth control pills.

The man smiles, indents appearing on each side of his mouth. "You're so scared, sweetheart. Why?"

I swallow hard and try to blink my tears away. My mouth is so dry. I don't want to speak to him at all.

"What's wrong?" he reiterates, impatiently.

"I..." I start, struggling to make myself speak. I flick my tongue over my chapped lips as I look up at him again. "I want to go home. Please."

"You don't want to be here?" the man asks as he crouches down in front of me. Every movement he makes sends a shocking jolt of fear through my body.

I shake my head. "Please," I whisper again, though the word barely comes out.