Brainwashed

Ava to the Rescue!

Finn POV

I woke to the loud chirping of birds and the hum of cicadas. The first thing I noticed was that I was in some kind of bag, moving. The person carrying me was humming a sickly familiar tune. It reminded me of how I had gotten into this bag:

I was looking for Ava. It had been hours since she had stormed off into the snow, and I was terrified for her. So terrified that I didn't question the whistling coming from behind me, or the cold sensation on the back of my neck. Everything happened so quickly. I finally decided to turn around to see what the whistling was coming from, which turned out to be a big mistake when something large hit my head. Everything was black after that.

After nursing my head for a few moments, I decided to take action against my captor. I pushed against the bag, violently kicking his(?) back.

"Let me out! I have friends that will be looking for me, you know! People will find me," I lied, knowing that they knew better than to follow me into a snowstorm. I grunted as the person pushed the bag I was in onto the ground. "They'll have to find your dead body if you keep that up," he muttered angrily. I was silent after that, knowing that I didn't have the upper hand.

So I sat in the woolen bag, awaiting my fate. I wanted to ask why he was taking me, or where, but he didn't seem like the kind for chitchat. The bag had a few small holes, but I couldn't do anything but poke my pinkie out of one. My mind didn't really feel much for myself, much more concerned for Ava's fate. I wondered if this insane man was going to keep me from getting to her. With each step he took, the bag would thump against the back of his legs. I counted them as we continued to trek through what I assumed was the woods.

The woods were a large forest that took over the left side of our city. They were next to a small area of outside of town that supplied us with firewood. You were taught at a young age in the city to never go in or even near the forest because it was considered to be the most dangerous place here. I, in particular, was taught by my strict, overbearing mother that I couldn't go anywhere past the front lawn of the house.

My thoughts were cut off abruptly when my captor stopped and roughly pushed the bag down without the slightest of care. I groaned out as my shoulder was pushed into the ground. I heard a lock clicking and was forced from my spot on the snowy ground to a much more painful place; cement. He grabbed the bag from the small opening at the top and threw it down what seemed to be a flight of stairs onto the hard concrete. That time I actually screamed out as my shoulder gave out a sickening crack. Then everything went black as my voice became hoarse.

Ava POV

I was relieved at the sight of the map, knowing that I would at least have a chance of finding the blackwood tree. The tree was marked with a big red circle around it. I appeared to be somewhere near a landmark called "Crazy Creek". Well, at least it sounds inviting!

My mood plummeted as I saw the real reason of the name. Crazy Creek was actually a fast-paced river that I had no chance of crossing. It looked like steel blades were coming out of it, even when it was really just streams of water. I looked around the river to see if there were any places that it wasn't as fast, or areas that I could get around it. Finally I found a place in the river that looked to be a tad bit slower that the other areas because of a rock in the middle.

Getting across wasn't easy. I had to roll up my jeans and bite my lip from the pain of the cold wind at my skin. Then, I accidentally drew blood from my lip after testing out the water. It was freezing, and felt like shards of broken glass against my ankles. I sucked in air and held it all the way across the river. The water wasn't too deep, but every step felt like my feet would break off.

There was a moment that I felt I couldn't make it to the end, when the freezing water lapped at my knees and my oxygen-starved brain screamed for air. But then I heard it; the sound of Finn screaming. This spurred me to continue across, determined to save him no matter what. I would have whoever's head for what they had done to him, Thomas, and probably many others.