Kidnapped by Jenna W
Prologue
"Hello! ... Hello?"
Silence. Pure nothingness. I was trapped, again. Yes, I know, I shouldn't have taken that path. Last time when...
OW
What? Oh yes. Kidnapped! Almost forgot, I mean I just got hit by a book. Wait! Why did I get hit by a book? Why did I get kidnapped? Well I can tell you one reason!
Let's go back. Back in time.
some time before now
Faster, faster, faster. I had to keep running. They couldn't catch me, not now. Never!
I was in the thickest part of the forest now, thick trunks created a never ending tunnel system around me. The overhead canopy of leaves were too opaque to let light through. I was surrounded by darkness in a maze of leaves and wood.
Great! I love being stuck in a place where I can't see a thing and all the while being hunted by a totally sane person!
Now, what I did next I wasn't proud of, but, hey, don't blame me!
Grabbing hold of the nearest branch, I lifted myself on to a - somewhat more stable branch and proceeded to climb higher. Branch by branch. Tree by tree. I could almost see the thick, black clouds above me! Elated by this new sense of achievement, I began to climb slower. Admittedly, I had almost forgotten about the chase if it weren't for the hand grabbing my ankle, pulling me downwards and making me lose my footing!
I fell.
I fell quite far.
For quite a long time.
Finally, I stopped falling. The ground below me was cold and hard. I would have said it was concrete, but at the time I still thought I was in a forest.
I lifted my head, unsure of how much time had passed, and looked around. The room was dark, you could hardly see the walls due to the foggy darkness that hung around them. Above me was a light bulb, hanging precariously by a single wire, flickering with dim light. I was up against a cinderblock wall, cool and grey. My head rang with pain from my previous fall.
The door creaked open.
"Hello! ... Hello?"
Silence. Pure nothingness. I was trapped, again. Yes, I know, I shouldn't have taken that path. Last time when...
OW
What? Oh yes. Kidnapped! I almost forgot, I just got hit by a book. Wait! I've told you this before. Ah well, let me continue.
From the shadows stepped none other that the insane antagonist who had been chasing me earlier, or however many days ago that was. They pointed at the book to my side, which was labelled "You'll Be Dead By The End, Philosophy Fiction by Carys Wilton". How promising.
The villain walked forward and came closer towards me. I could now tell that the item in their hand was indeed a knife.
"There's two ways this can end," The guy (who's name I definitely knew) hissed. "Either you give me exactly what I want or you die in the most painful way imaginable! So what will it be?"
"Before I pick, what exactly does the first option entail?"
"No surprises! I'm not telling you anymore than what I've said already." You could almost hear the twinge of annoyance in their voice.
I thought for a moment, looking intently at the mould patch on the ceiling. "First option please!" I said hoping that there was still a chance I got out of this alive.
"Right! Be quiet while I do this will you?" The infamous bad guy flashed the light reflected in the blade, straight into my eye, blinding me. And, unironically, in a flash I was stabbed multiple times in my chest!
I was dead before the last blow.
You may think, now that I'm dead, this story would be over. But, as you can hear, I'm still talking! The thing is my definitely not twin sister was still alive, hunched over a computer in a café. It was in the moment when I died, she felt the pain pull at her heart.
We weren't sisters, or twins, we were one person with two bodies, shared experiences, thoughts and pain. The only thing we didn't share were minor memories. Which, admittedly is rather stupid. This is the reason why my other body began her search for truth.
The truth of what, you ask?
My killer of course.
With only a small blurry memory of a face, she set out with a mission. A mission that she will succeed in.
Chapter 1
Anne sat at home, huddled under a monstrous amount of blankets. She was cold. Very cold.
It had been almost a week since Annie, the other part of her, had died.
The face of the killer still haunted Anne's nightmares. Each time more distorted than the time before. The loss of the warmer, happier part of her had caused massive withdrawals, especially without there being an extra pair of hands around the house to help out. But, hey, on the brightside, there was no one to confuse her other body and her with one another!
The news flickered on the TV, showcasing her face.
"Today, a 19 year old girl was discovered at the edge of Gintemfall Woods in Esterbury. The body was discovered by a group of scouts on their night hike, the leader told us that the body was heavily disfigured and had a gapping hole in the chest. It is almost certain that the young lady was murdered! Police are
investigating in and around the surrounding areas to see if there any clues as to why she was killed, and who she may be. Now for the weather forecast with Hallie Bruns."
Anne knew who it was the moment she heard the age. How they had managed to work that out but not the identity? She didn't know. At least there was now a body to find, disfigured or not.
Anne thought about what she'd heard.
She thought for a long time.
When she was done thinking about what she could do, she started thinking about what she should do. Anne threw the mountain of woollen and cotton blankets (ranging from white to black to rainbow) onto the floor and used her shaking legs to make her way to the bathroom.
She was freezing yet sweating all over, so she grabbed some painkillers on her way.
Once in the bathroom, she washed. Very slowly, so as to not exert her already exhausted body. Anne hadn't washed in days, not since Annie had died.
Not since the pain punctured her heart. Not since she was left feeling incomplete.
Not since she was left empty.
Anne looked at herself in the mirror, she was utterly dishevelled. Her hair was fluffy and sticking up in strange ways, her eyes dark and droopy from loss of sleep.
Anne grabbed her brush and attacked her bob of hair, putting a few hair clips in to keep it out of her face. She splashed water over her eyes, waking her up. She needed a shower but at this moment just couldn't be bothered, she needed to be quick otherwise she would miss the police.
Trying to rush out of the bathroom only succeeded in her moving sluggishly as she tried to grab her clothes out of the top of each draw.
By the time Anne eventually left the house she was dressed in a striped jumper and uncomfortably tight jeans. She went to go get in the car but realised she probably wouldn't be able to cope with that, so settled for her blue bike.
The ride was long. Longer than she remembered.
By the time Anne got to the crime scene most of the police cars had left. Unfortunately, the remaining car seemed to only contain a lanky trainee and a somewhat stout looking senior. It was clear that they'd been forced to stay behind but were now trying to find a way to escape the scene.
"'Ello, miss, youse alrigh'?" The senior said with a strong Scottish accent.
"Yes, I've come to... uhh... well, I came to say that I-I-I think that the body's my..."
Anne stuttered multiple times before pausing. "Sister."
"Sister?"
"Yes, uhh... twin sister," her voice shook, she hadn't realised it would be this tricky to own up to knowing the victim.
"Ahh, dinae worry, miss," he stopped and looked at the dark patch of, what Anne assumed to be, dried blood. The trainee walked over to the senior and whispered something all the while eyeing Anne in a way that sent goosebumps up her arms. "Righ', miss, youse be'a come dan t' the station wif us." Anne nodded. "In the car, both of ye." Anne pointed at her bike, she couldn't just leave it there.
"You can just cycle there, sergeant and I can take the car, be quick!" The scrawny trainee spoke this time and Anne nodded again in response.
So Anne jumped on her bike and followed the car down to the police station, taking deep breaths and trying to forget about what she had seen.
It didn't work though.
The clouds hung heavy, threatening to burst. They followed Anne to the station. To the dingy room she was questioned in.
The question came and went in a blur. She should remember them. She couldn't.
Anne was distracted.
A memory pushed to the front of her mind. A face, masked and blurred. Long and angular. She recognised it. She recognised the cold glare in their eyes. Only a few people in this town look similar to that. Only a few people in this town hated Anne.
In that moment, Anne was sure she knew who's face she was looking at. Anne was looking at the face of a killer.
Not just any killer.
Her killer.