My heart beat deafeningly within my ears. Darkness, the only thing reflecting into my eyes. The void stared back at me, no end in sight. A searing pain erupting in the back of my head.
The pain didn't take long to strengthen and overtake me. Where's my body? I think. I can only see black, I can't see my nose or my hair anywhere within my vision.
As the pain in my head only strengthened, I grunted in pain. Was that real? I mentally questioned. The grunt, that sound I made sounded so real, it blew my mind a little bit. I couldn't tell whether I was sleeping or not.
As my consciousness came back, my senses flourished with sensitivity. The soft crunching of lightly crisped leaves startling me a little. The seemingly cool, humid air flooding my nose and lungs.
I want to say the smell and atmosphere calmed me, being outside in nature, but the involuntary movement my body was making was scaring me. I felt something, or someone, holding me up from under the knees and behind my shoulder blades, my body firmly pressed into its warm chest. I could feel every breath they took in, seemingly in slight struggle.
"Shit," I heard a somewhat deep voice whisper, rather close to my being.
"What?" said another, seemingly a few feet away from me.
"She's heavy," the first one quietly groaned.
"Rowan, we're nearly back, just, hang in there,"
"Could we at least take a small break?" 'Rowan' asked, seemingly slowing down. His soft stop knocked me out of my thoughts.
"Fine, but not for too long. We need to get her home before sunrise," Sunrise? How long have I been out? I mentally screamed.
I drowsily opened my eyes, still in the grip of one of the boys.
When my eyes opened to a half-lidded view, my eyes could only process the darkness emanating from the sky, light faintly leaking into view from an unknown source.
I could barely make out the silhouette of the captor holding me, his strong grip slowly loosening from around my body. Am I really that heavy?
Still seeing through half-lidded eyes, my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, giving me a view of my 'holder'.
I could see his chiselled jaw, his muddled hair and broad shoulders. The small light source to the left of him practically showed nothing, but the shining of his eyes. The colour was unknown, but I couldn't care less. I need to stop daydreaming I inwardly reminded myself.
I attempted to move my legs, but upon doing so, my left leg began to throb violently, making a whine pierce its way through my lips. Immediately, I felt the man clutching me grow suffocatingly tense.
"Psst, I think she's waking up!"
"That's insane, she shouldn't be waking up for a while yet."
"But it's been at least three hours! We don't know this girl or how long she'll be out! We need to something now!" he whispered angrily.
"Rowan, it was a grumble in her sleep, calm down. She'll be okay, just like us," the other replied. The one holding me, who I assume is Rowan, sighed heavily.
"Okay, but if anything happens, it's on you," Rowan warned. I heard a frustrated groan from the other boy, clearly annoyed.
Rowan continued to walk a little further, me still residing in his grasp, soon stopping under a tall tree, gently resting my upper body against its trunk, allowing my legs to sprawl as they wish, once again letting out a pained grunt, but quieter, making it less noticeable.
I wanted to run away, but my body wouldn't respond to me, my brain felt isolated from my body. Nothing was working... Why me? Why does this happen the first time I go overseas? Why did have to drag everyone down with me? This is my fault, right?
I couldn't think straight, my thoughts getting darker by the minute until I heard a grunt beside me. One of the boys had sat down, the other soon joining them, me in between the both of them.
"So, why are we taking her? What are we doing with her?" I heard the unnamed boy ask, curiosity clear in his voice.
"I don't know yet, this is the first time we've seen anyone on this island, let alone a girl," Rowan reminded.
"I mean, we could always, you know..."
"No. Stop that thinking now! That's disgusting!" Is he thinking what I think he's thinking?
"Rowan, when was the last time you got laid?" Yay! Rape! I sarcastically concept.
"Never. I'm keeping it that way." I could hear Rowan sigh.
"Come on, we need to get going. Sun's coming up any minute now." Rowan prompted, the other boy grunting in response. You could feel the eye roll.
It wasn't long before I could feel arms under me again, lifting me into a bridal-style hold. When will this end? I thought, eager for this to end. I assumed that it was Rowan carrying me, his familiar scent invading my senses.
My knee continued to ache throughout the night, me passing out from exhaustion.
I'm screwed.
"Where is she?" I yelled.
"Jazz, we've been looking for over four hours, we need a break," Preston stated calmly, referring to the dark sky.
"Don't tell her what to do you emo wannabe!" Chad began. You could see the anger swimming around his eyes, even in the dim light.
"Maybe stop being an egotistical fuck boy who gets his mum to clean his room!"
"Don't talk about my mum like that!" Chad growled, clearly unamused.
"Guys!" Alex jumped into the conversation, soon regretting her choice.
As soon as she entered the battle between the boys, Chad prepared himself to push her out, soon compromising with a punch to her lip. Due to the sudden impact, she fell to the ground, hitting her head in the process.
Preston reacted almost immediately, asking if she was okay.
"Yeah, just a bit shaken, I guess," she barely whispered. She didn't know which hurt more, the hit to her lip, or her head. She ended up just putting pressure on her head to help the throb of the pain.
Preston offered her a hand to get her up off the ground, to which she happily accepted. She grunted a bit, but she was fine.
As soon as Alex was standing, her eyes landed on Chad, along with her deadly stare. If looks could kill, he would be six feet under by now.
"Why, the fuck, did you do that?" Alex said through grit teeth, her voice getting progressively louder as she continued her sentence. Blood oozed down her lip, travelling to her chin and eventually dripping onto her purple t-shirt.
Chad was left speechless by his own actions. He didn't know what to do. He was scared of if his next actions were going to end him by the hand of Alex.
"Dude, just apologize," Preston urged, possibly scared for the outcome too. Chad let out a slightly annoyed sigh, mumbling his apology.
"I'm, sorry," Chad grumbled
"For?" Alex poked. Chad just growled.
"I'm, sorry for hitting you in the face."
"And?" Chads face contorted into one of frustration.
"And I regret it, immensely," Chad finished, holding his arms out in front as if asking 'good enough?' Alex hummed in approval, somewhat satisfied with the outcome.
"Do it again, and you won't be able to have kids," Alex sarcastically beamed. Chad rolled his eyes, clearly done with this conversation.
I didn't realize until this moment, but I was shivering. Was it from fear? Or anxiety? Or am I just cold...
I really couldn't tell. Chad took notice of my jittering teeth and grabbed Preston to grab firewood. They didn't exchange words, they must've still been mad at each other, but I think Preston had the same idea as Chad.
Waiting for them to come back, Alex sat down next me, sighing.
"You alright?" I inquire, worried for my friend.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. How's your leg?"
"Still hurts," I grumbled.
Silence began to fall between us, Alex soon breaking it.
"We'll find her, Emily will be fine," she says, no higher than a murmur.
"You're right," I sigh. Alex leaned in and gave me a hug from the side, noticing my dysphoric state.
I think my hope is beginning to fall short...
