the vehicle up and down, screaming and pounding at every window.
There has to be someone, right? It’s not like they just left me here to die.
When I see a shadow of a person, I pound as hard as I can, my hands throbbing in pain from the constant abuse. I keep going though, screaming until my throat feels like it’s bleeding and my voice goes hoarse.
When the shadow becomes a person, I smile. “Hey! Help me. Yes, yes, yes. Over here. Please, help me out of here!” When he comes close enough, I see that he looks strangely familiar. Not in the good way. He looks like the man that broke my nose.
I stop pounding, scrambling back in the van until my back hits the seat behind me. “No. No, no, no. Please, Oh, God. Get me out of here!” I scream at the top of my lungs. The pressure in my face makes me feel nauseous and I have a constant taste of blood in the back of my mouth.
The door opens, and the man's leers at me with his nasty, yellow teeth before speaking at me in a heavy accent. “You little puta hit me in my face.” He points to his cheek, where an ugly bruise has formed. I smile internally. “I’ll get my turn later, though. Just you wait.” He leans forward, pulling a needle out of nowhere and sticking me in the neck.
My eyes widen in panic, and then they droop as fatigue hits me in the worst way. I try to open my mouth to protest but my lips won’t move.
Then I slump over, and everything goes dark again.
When I wake up the second time, I’m no longer in the car. Disoriented and in pain, I wake up in a dark, damp room with no light. It’s freezing in here, making me think I’m somewhere underground. Everywhere I touch is wet, and my skin chills to the bone as shivers rack my body.
“Fuck.” I reach up and grab my pounding head. My eyeballs feel like their pulsing with the pain. My body hurts from my hair down to my toenails. Not one inch of me is in good shape.
I sob.
“Wesley.” I whisper. Fear or what they’ve done to him. Is he still alone? Did something happen to Jackson, too, and Wesley is still outside, afraid and cold, just like me? Or worse? Did they hurt him and he’s no longer on this earth? Agony rips through my chest as I wail. I couldn’t live another breath if he wasn’t alive. I would take my own life without even a second thought. I couldn’t bear it.
“Hey, stop crying.” I hear from a small voice that echoes through the room.
I swallow down my cry, gasping as I crawl back against the wall. “Who’s there?”
I hear the clank of chains, and then somehow, even in the dark room, I can see an outline of a girl standing in front of me. “Hi.” She says softly.
“Who are you?” My voice trembles, thinking maybe this person is somehow against me, too.
“My name is Daniella. What’s your name?”
“I-I’m Cara. Where are we? Why are we here?” I move forward, noticing the clank of chains when I move, too. Looking down, I see my ankles shackled to the wall. I bring my hand down, trying to slip my foot out. No luck. Then I try to break it open and again, no luck.
“I don’t know where we are. If we’re not in Mexico, we’re at least close.”
“Mexico?” Panic grabs ahold of me again and I nearly hyperventilate. The thought of crossing the border is terrifying. I’ll never be found if I leave the country.
“Yeah. They’re going to sell us.” She says, like she’s already come to terms with the fact her life is over.
“What?” I say. Did I hear her correctly?
I can see her nod through the darkness. “Yeah.”
I stand up, ignoring the nausea and dizziness. “Well, we have to get out of here then.”
She laughs. It’s dead. Emotionless. “I’ve tried, Cara. There’s no way out.”
Fire burns me alive. “What do you mean there’s no way out? There has to be. We got in here somehow, we’ll just get out the same way.”
She sighs, falling back into the darkness so she’s only a voice. “There’s no way out. We’re never getting out, Cara.”
My mouth opens to scream, but it’s silent. Painful. Full of grief and loss. I don’t want this to be it. I don’t want my life to be over.