Wish You Were Here

12

Grant stalled at the top of the stairs. I couldn't see what had caused him to stop. I nervously glanced down to make sure Gina was still locked inside. Grant stepped into the room just enough for Will to shove past him. Cal and I nervously followed with Aaron physically pushing me to move faster. The door slammed shut behind us. As we all piled into the cabin, I saw her. A young girl probably around fifteen years old lay on the floor with her hands tied behind her back. Her ankles were tied. A dark piece of duct tape was over her mouth, strands of her blonde hair stuck under it.

We all circled around her. Her eyes were wide at the sight of us and she was trying to say something under the duct tape. I rushed to her.

"This might hurt," I warned. She nodded with tears in her eyes.

I pulled the duct tape off her mouth. She yelped a bit and gasped for breath.

"Untie me," she begged. "Please! Before he comes back."

I started to get her hands free as Grant rushed to untie her ankles.

"Before who comes back?" Grant asked her as he released her ankles.

"Dean!" she shrieked. "He's with Gina." She stopped and listened. "Where is she?"

"It's okay," I told her. "Gina's locked up downstairs."

"Downstairs where?" she asked nervously.

"You don't want to know," I said.

She stood up and looked at us. "Thank you so much!"

"Who are you?" Aaron asked her, stepping forward.

She took a step back. Aaron towered over her.
"I'm Beth. I was supposed to be going to summer camp, but when I got here..."

Her eyes welled up with tears.

"It happened to us, too," I whispered. "We're getting out of here. Come with us, okay?"

She looked like she was in shock. As though it was all slowly sinking in.

"I'm Ryleigh," I told her. "That's Cal, Grant, Will, and Aaron."

"We don't have time for this!" Aaron blurted.

Grant looked at our newest camper, Beth.

"How do you know Dean is coming back?"

"They tied me up at the other cabin. Gina brought me over here, but Dean had said he'd meet her here in a little bit," she replied nervously.

"Let's go," Grant told all of us.

"Wait!" Beth yelled. "My shoes. She put them in there."

Grant opened a small cabinet and all of our shoes were in there. He tossed them out onto the floor and we rushed to put them on.

"There's nothing else in here," Grant said sadly. I helped him quickly open the other cabinets, hoping to find anything else. I found a plastic bag with water bottles in it, but no food. I grabbed the bag, tied the top together, and jumped back up. The bag was heavy with all the water, but I was so happy to have found it, I didn't complain.

Will walked up to me and took the bag from my hand and at first I resisted.

"I got it," he said gently. I nodded after realizing he was offering to carry it rather than trying to steal it from me.

"Our stuff must be at the main cabin," Cal said.

Beth looked at me and I nodded. "We'll get you out of here, okay?"

She didn't respond, but she stood close to me, following behind as we got back into our line and headed for the door. Grant took a deep breath and pushed the cabin door open. He waited for a few seconds before stepping outside.