Tug-of-war

2- The longest car ride of my life

I genuinely couldn't tell how long the car ride took. My perception of time shifted as I sat between these two strangers, not daring to move after all my best efforts to shove them away and reach the door had been in vain. I simultaneously wanted this moment to be over, but also never wanted the ride to end. Who knew what they would do to me once we reached our destination? I remember the way they had called me a "human". A shiver ran down my spine. Were these guys in some kind of weird cult in which they'd, I don't know, pretend they're vampires? Would they try to drink my blood? Because that's taking roleplaying a little too far.

After what felt like hours, but was probably just a few minutes, of tense silence, he whispered

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

I wanted to believe him. But then again, isn't that what dentists say right before they stab your gums with one of their torture appliances?

"What's your name?", he asked tentatively.

"Wouldn't you like to know," I spat.

He sighed, seeming to understand we wouldn't be making polite conversation during our little impromptu road trip.

I kept looking out the window, focused on memorizing the path we were taking. Hah! They didn't even blindfold me like they do in the movies. Amateurs. There was no way I would remember all of it, but I could keep in mind the general direction we were taking.

At least, that's what I thought at first. But before long, we were speeding away from the city and into the woods. Any sign of civilisation vanished from our view and was replaced by a row of trees that kept getting thicker as we were plunging deeper in the forests. The twists and turns soon had me completely and totally lost. I gave up hope of knowing the exact way home during my triumphant escape later. I guess I'd spend the rest of my life running around the woods. I thought back to Artemis, the ancient greek goddess of the hunt we had reviewed in my classes. She was usually depicted as a badass who spent her days running around in the woods with her girl gang. That didn't sound like such a bad life.

I was pulled from my reflections when the van came to a full stop.

Shit.