AncilChapter 2: The Kidnapping
“Why did you do that?” Kate asked, a bit calmer than I had expected. Her white tee and jeans were brown and soggy from the mud and I knew that my mom would kill me for soiling her car seat.
“He was hitting you. I couldn’t just stand there and watch. I had to do something.”
“And by something you mean kidnap me?” She quipped.
“I didn’t kidnap anyone. Last I recall, you willingly came into the car with me.”
“Well, tell that to the cops.”
“You’re going to call the cops on me?” I inquired.
“I don’t have my phone but I’m sure that my father is going to call the police on you for kidnapping his ONLY daughter.”
“Maybe if he was treating you better.”
“Is this your thing? Stalking people in the middle of the night and kidnapping them?”
“First of all, I wasn’t stalking you. I was just passing by.”
“Yeah! Sure! “Passing By”” There was clear sarcasm in her voice. “If you wanted to hang out with me, you could have just called. I actually liked you. I don’t think I can say the same now.” Kate folded her arms and stared out the window.
I flinched. I felt insulted by what she said and I also felt like I blew all the chances I had with her. I had to rectify the situation, and fast. “You should be happy that I rescued you. He was hitting you,” I said.
“Did you ask me if I wanted to be rescued?”
“Umm, but why-“
“Everything would have been so much better if you hadn’t shown up. I know how to handle my father. You should have just let me deal with the situation. Now, my father is going to be even angrier. Thanks a lot.” Her voice got louder.
I mashed the brakes in annoyance causing both of us to slightly jerk forward. “You want to go back. Fine! Go back.”
“Fine,” she said, forcing herself out of the car.
I was going to let her walk away but I knew that if I did she’d probably never talk to me again and all my chances with her would have vanished. I let out a sigh, got out of the car, and chased her in the rain which was so cold upon my skin that I shivered as I caught up with her. I stared at her for a few seconds, observing her incandescent beauty radiating through the translucent raindrops. I gently held her hand but she roughly pulled it out of my grasp.
“Stay away from me! You’re just going to make everything worse. Do you even know what my father is going to do to me when he finds me?”
“Yes, I do know. The same thing he was doing to you just now,” I said, trying to keep up with her. She was walking incredibly fast and the squishiness in my now rain-soaked shoes made each step uncomfortable.
“You don’t know anything,” she said, maintaining her brisk strides.
“I do know something. You can deny this all you want but I know that deep down inside you want to escape the reality of your life, but you can’t. That’s why you write. The only way you can escape is through your writing; escaping from all your problems and into that imaginary world, if only just for a moment. Writing is your drug. It’s your addiction.” She stopped walking and so did I.
“I know this because that’s why I write too. I started writing when my father died and I haven’t stopped since,” I shouted through the pattering of the rain. She turned to me and I was convinced that I had finally gotten through to her. Her tense shoulders grew calm and she looked relieved. Her entire body was drenched in rainwater and she became more soaked as the rain intensified. She opened her mouth to speak but she stopped mid-thought as though reassessing her thoughts. I got lost gazing at her when her eyes suddenly widened and she shouted, “Dad no!”
“Wha-” Before I was able to finish, I felt a sharp pain across my head that sent me to the ground. My head was throbbing and I could feel the flesh swelling. As I tried to recover, I felt a foot pressed against my gut and I was sent rolling. My ears rang and I couldn’t clearly hear or perceive the sounds around me.
“I could have called the cops but why let them have all the fun?” a rugged male voice said. “This guy can’t even fight off the flu, look at him.” He seemed to be talking to some people because as he spoke I heard laughter and even a barking dog. I also heard the faint sound of Kate’s voice shouting, “Let me go!”
As I regained some sense, I looked up and saw Kate’s father looking down at me along with two of his buddies; one of whom had a baseball bat in his hand. Kate was standing there and was being held by her father with a firm grip. They allowed me to get up and I was greeted by a big muscular pit bull staring intently at me as it sat motionless in front of one of the men, tied up. Without notice, it suddenly jumped at me exposing its sharp teeth and pink gums. The man holding the rope pulled the pit bull back restraining it and ensuring that it didn’t run away with my head, arms, or legs.
