Trust the Killer

Chapter Three

     The rubber soles of my boots squeaked on the polished floors in the lobby, I stared at the ground as a walked, it was around 2 A.M. by now. I left the Mayflower hotel thinking I need to learn to stop running away from my problems, but what was I supposed to do? Watch them hook up in Reilly's bed right next to me? The moment I walked outside the air seemed even colder as it was deep into the night. I wrapped Oliver's jacket around my body, cringing that it was his but it's better not to freeze.
     I walked for quite a while not necessarily paying attention to the way I was going, taking random turns and walking slowly. I felt so stupid. Suddenly this boy I've liked all year would give me a chance, but in reality he was only searching for something new to pursue to pass time. It had barely been the first day and I have already made the biggest fool of myself possible, I should probably just go home. I definitely will not let another tear slide down my face over a boy I have barely known. I opened the contacts in my phone to call my mom but I realized it would be midnight by now in Louisiana where I'm from, she probably wouldn't pick up so I pulled my backpack around my side and slipped my phone inside leaveing my hands free.
     After about 15 minutes of walking and thinking about how much of an embarrassment I am I decided I needed to get some water or maybe a snack. There was a small 24/hr convenience store up ahead maybe a block away. The streets were mostly bare, I saw a few homeless people sleeping peacefully and a some cars passed by throughout my walk so I didn't wait for my light to turn green before I crossed a street most of the time. Once I got into the store it was slightly warmer but smelled damp, the clerk at the front looked bored while flipping through a magazine and I was the only customer inside. I walked on cracked and dirty tile to the beverage refrigerators to grab a bottle of water and then to the chip isle. I browsed and nothing looked appetizing, a bag of chips crinkled under my hand as I considered it, maybe I should get a candy bar instead?
     "Hands on the counter!" 
      My hand retracted from the chip bag as I snapped my head to see the front clerk with his hands above his head and slowly was lowering them, I stepped back in shock as I watched two men in black masks run around the counter and grab the clerk, forcing him to open the register. I wanted to make little movements to avoid catching the eye of the burglars so I only stepped back slowly and crouched to be out of their sight. The two men in masks were shouting and that's when I noticed they didn't have guns, they had large wicked looking knives. My heart was pounding and I made slow movements to reach my backpack for my phone.
     "God dammit!" I heard a shout from behind me, i attempted to turn my body but before I could I felt strong hands grip my shoulders and lift me off the ground. I yelped when I noticed it was a third man in a black mask. I waved my limbs and began to scream but the man wrapped his hand over my mouth and his other arm strangled me in a position were it was to hard to move. I was terrified and everything was happening so quickly. The man began dragging me to the front of the store as I continued to unsuccessfully wrestle with his arms I managed to bite his palm over my mouth but he only cussed at me before gripping my face tighter.
     "I thought you said the store was empty?" My captor shouted at the two men who were shoveling money from the register into a tan bag.
     "Uh, she musta' slipped in." One of the robbers had a high pitched voice.
     "I was expecting no witnesses! Throw me the rope." He shouted back and into my ear. A man from behind the register reached down into a large backpack and pulled out thin red rope, then he tossed it towards me. The man in the mask who gripped me tightly forced my body to the ground and pulled my arms behind my back. He then bound my wrists in the red rope and I felt my skin pinch and burn. There was a second rope he then used to tie my ankles together. I laid on my stomach as the man kept a knee on my back. I repeated to myself in my head his noticeable features. He was average height and white with brown eyes. The other two robbers were to far for me to take note of and currently my face was smashed into the dirty tile.
     "She's a cute little thing, huh?" The man stared down at me with an ugly smile behind the black material. He then pulled a small cloth from his back pocket and wrapped it tightly over my mouth. "I'll figure out what to do with her later." He lifted his knee from my back and pulled me up with him before lifting my body into his arms. "Get rid of the clerk." The man ordered as he began to carry me to the exit I looked over to the the store clerk was also gagged and bound, I didn't notice them do that but it must've been around the same time as me. Right as I was carried through the exit I saw the two men grip their blades and turn towards the innocent store employee.
I was through the door when I heard muffled screaming and sounds of slicing. I squeezed my eyes closed as water poured down my cheeks and my insides felt like they had been tied in knots. Right outside of the store was a little white car with its engine running, there was one person in the driver seat who was perked up and watching cautiously, I tried my best to look at the license plate and memorize the number but my eyes welded up with stressful tears and my vision blurred in fear. I continued to kick my feet and hope that someone near by would witness what was happening to me and to the poor clerk inside the store who I am sure is now dead. I saw a van a few blocks down, but the hope I felt dwindled as I noticed the headlights were out and I felt my body being shoved into the back seat of the little white car.
     "Woah, what the fuck? We're kidnapping bitches now?" I head the man in the front seat speaking as my head smacked the open door frame of the car, I tried to kick both legs at once but the mans grip on me was too constricting. I fell into the seat and struggled to wiggle towards the other door. My captor grabbed my jolting legs and threw them to the floor causing me to sit up halfway, he pulled me up straight by grabbing my arm and shook my torso roughly once as a warning to stop fighting. I whimpered and attempted to scream through the tight cloth between my teeth but barely any sound came out.
     "We're stealing money, why not steal a lady?" He laughed to the driver. The door beside me swung open and the robber from inside slid quickly into the seat beside me. All three men from in the store were in the car and slamming the doors closed hastily, I heard the wheels squeal against the street as it peeled onto the road and began speeding away from the convenience store. I was squished between two men with my hands and feet bound tightly. My breath heaved as my heart pounded. I could barely think straight as the car flew down the empty street. I new I needed to do something and I need to do it now. Taking a gulp of breath to build courage I swooped my legs towards my captor and began to kick harshly, my head fell into the lap of the other man beside me, I hadn't noticed before but his clothes were damp with something red. I kicked until he clumsily wrapped his arms around my legs, I didn't hear myself screaming through the gag in my mouth as my mind was blank with fear and my brain was red hot and cloudy. The man my head fell into put his arm around my neck and I was completely immobilized, then I felt a sharp wet metal against my neck.
"Make one more fucking move and I'll cut you're goddamn throat." The man yelled into my face, his voice muffled by a ribbed ski mask.
"That's no way to talk to our little lady." The man holding my legs laughed in a mocking tone. He shoved the knife from my neck and pulled me back across the car and under his arm, "We still need to decided who gets to have her first." He whispered into my ear, he struck me as the leader. My eyes squeezed closed at his words and I wished so badly that I hadn't left the hotel.
My face was turned towards the ground and I cracked my eyes open slightly to see my small backpack was on the floor between my captors feet. Relief and stress flashed over me, that has to be my last chance of survival.