The Night Is Still Young

Fog coursed through her mind. A droning repetition of rain against the glass her head rested upon. Her heart thumbed like a burning hearth within her chest. Eye lids were heavy as she struggled to raise them and assess her surroundings. She went to rub the sleep from her eyes, but found her arms groggy and heavy to lift.

“Thought you would be out longer.” His voice was unfamiliar from beside her. He chuckled, briefly taking his gaze off the rain soaked road before them. He reached across, weighty and thick hands taking up the ropes that kept her wrist tight to one another. He gave them a tug, offering a sick grin at his handiwork. “Was a rather nasty hit to your head. Worried I’d done you in already. Would have been a shame. Night is still rather young.”

Her eyelids began to grow heavy, but she struggled to keep them raised. Glancing around, it took only a moment for dread to eat at her as she tried to recall what had brought her here.

In a strange car.

With a strange man.

Heading to God only knew where.

She had left home in a hurry, more concerned about putting distance between herself and the family residing within it than anything else. She hadn’t bothered to check the gas levels in the car, nor tend to the driver’s side tire that had a preference for going flat. The half-packed suitcase in the backseat had been her only importance.

Rain beat down heavily around the car. She struggled to see out the passenger window, her hopes of making out any surroundings being washed away in the heavy downpour. She’d been on a freeway, last she could recall. Speeding. Her phone had gone dead shortly after leaving city limits. She remembered trying to plug it into the charger, the car swerving against the wet pavement. Cop lights had flared behind her, and she’d pulled over, making note of the completely empty road she’d been barreling down.

There had been the shinning of a flashlight in her eyes, a deep voice requesting for her license, and after a forceful impact to the side of her head, there had been nothing. Only that blinding pain and the engulfing darkness.

“Where are we going?” She knew there wasn’t to be an answer. She asked it anyway.

The man flicked the turn signal off, coasting them into an intersection. He was quiet, checking for any oncoming cars before pulling them down a tree lined road. His finger hit a button beside him, and her car door gave a click.

She sat up, wrists difficult to move in the bindings. Her head was throbbing. Her left eye was swollen, causing her vision to be off kilter. There was nothing but trees and darkness around them now. She could see the lights from the highway, and a fast-moving vehicle passing long behind them. She stared into the rear-view mirror as any hope of rescue disappeared into the night.

“Where are we going?” She asked again, fear gripping at her throat.

The man gave her another look. There was a darkness within his gaze. A familiar gleam of a well practiced hunter. “Is it really going to matter? Why don’t you just sit there and be quiet.”

His hand left the steering wheel to rest on her jean covered thigh. It resided there, calloused finger moving in possessive circles across the fabrics. One of his fingers brushed the rip in her jeans, eager to feel her skin. She shuddered, despite her attempts to keep herself still. He smiled, seeming to enjoy her discomfort.

“If you’re a good girl for me, I promise to not drag this out.”

She recoiled under his touch but found there was nowhere for her to go. Gaze drifting onto the car door, she wasn’t surprised to find it locked. The arm of his speedometer was rising. Even if she could get the door open, they were going far too fast for her to leap out. Best case scenario, she only scraped herself up before he stopped the car and dragged her back in. Worst case, she broke a bone or two and any chance of fight would be lost.

Still, as the car continued down the empty road, she knew they could not reach whatever destination he had in mind. As long as this car was driving, she had a chance of surviving the night.

“If it’s money you want,” she tried with a shaking voice, “I don’t have any.”

The way he squeezed her thigh, it was clear it wasn’t money he was after. Bile tickled at the base of her throat as he leered at her. It tasted bitter. Rain continued to fall in heavy blankets. Tires traveled across broken pavement. The car continued forward, regardless of the dread growing deep within her stomach.

The dashboard clock glowed brightly in the night.

12:58 AM

She had left the house just shy of ten that night and driven without an intent of stopping. Seeing the hours having rolled to the next day caused a moment of resolve building within her. She turned her gaze to the man, hoping to quell the desires that resided within him.

“It’s my birthday,” she said. A tight smile was forced on her face as she motioned towards the clock.

The man, now easily noticeable to be in his mid-forties and sporting an untidy beard, cocked a brow at her. “Really? Well, happy birthday, little girl.”

The way he said ‘little girl’ set a tight ridge to her spine. It was a familiar tone, the way angry foster mothers had sneered at her when she’d failed to do as instructed. The way unforgiving foster fathers had…

She bit her lower lip, glancing once more out the passenger window. She could feel the tears growing at the corners of her eyes. Rolling them upwards, she fought to keep them and the panic at bay. It would do no good, she told herself. Still, the warm wetness tightened around her eyes as his hand remained on her thigh. His finger kept running circles.

“How old are you?” His voice seemed to ground her.

Her response of, eighteen, caused him to look over her once more.

“Well, damn.” He whistled. “Pegged you for older. Must be an old soul in that body. Sure, you’ve heard that one before."

She had.

1:10

The rain continued to beat away at the car. She could see nothing in the vehicle that she could use to defend herself. With her hands tied so tightly, and the car going far too fast on the wet road, there was very little she found herself capable of doing.

Silence passed over them, as did several minutes. With nothing else to assist her, she continued to talk.

“Was heading to Springfield.” Her voice shook far more than she wanted. “Stole my foster family’s car. Pretty sure they’ve called the cops by now and reported it missing.”

She either said the right, or the wrong thing, as he tightened his grip on her thigh. The well paved road had fallen away in the downpour, and they now traveled on a tree lined bumpy access road. The car bounced with each pothole they hit.

He took his eyes off the road for a moment, eyeing her like he could see every thought that had raced through her mind. “They going to be reporting you missing? Foster family. Eighteen. A lotta runaways fit that descriptions. Knew a few girls like that.”

The tension in her body tightened. She could feel her heart starting to pound even tighter against her chest. That pulsating headache returned, threatening to bring the disorienting fog with it. Biting her lip once more, she watched the trees flying passed.

“Why don’t you just sit there,” he said, “nice and quiet. Maybe try to nap. We’ll be arriving shortly. It’ll be a long night after that.”

As his hand was raised from her thigh, she took a moment to strike. There was no thought. No planning. Just a wild animalistic desire for freedom as she quickly brought her bound hands to her seat-belt and clicked it off her torso. She lunged at him, digging her teeth into the side of his neck. Blood was warm and bitter against her tongue as she broke through skin.

The attack clearly caught him off guard, and his wild punch to knock her back collided with her shoulder without much of an impact. Several curses slipped through his lips as the car veered along the soaked road. A nasty pothole sent the car bouncing and shuttering to the right. She dug her teeth in deeper, even when he used his free hand to yank the hair from her head. Her teeth dug in, gnawing in desperation.

A familiar impact of pain against the side of her face finally caused her jaw to unlock. He’d taken up the same heavy duty flashlight he’d used to subdue her, and attempted to bash it against the side of her head. It contacted with her jaw, spreading the bruising further down her face. The hit shook her teeth, forcing her to dislodge.

“Shit!” The car veered again, the tail-end beginning to drift as the water under the wheels took control. Despite his violent yanking of the wheel, the car refused to correct its course. It traveled nearly sideways down the road, edging further and further towards the drop-off. Quickly realizing what was about to come, she brought her bound wrist near her face, hoping to protect her head at the impact.

The car went over the edge.

It wasn’t a steep or a far decent, but the speeding vehicle crashing headlong into a solid tree sent a vibration through both of their bodies that vanquished any air within her lungs. She found herself losing consciousness for several moments.

That throbbing headache returned as she awoke, fueled even further by the second impact to her head and the abrupt collision of the car. Lights danced around her vision. There was very little to be seen outside of the car, as the night sky and pouring rain left her even more trapped.

The man who had taken her sat silent, his head resting against the steering wheel.

1:30 AM

The horn was blaring loudly. If there was anyone nearby, they would surely be alerted to the collision. The worry that whoever heard might be just as eager to take over the man’s intention sent her scrambling to get out of the car.

The door was heavy as she shoved it open. Chilling rain instantly overtook her, soaking her t-shirt and jeans in a matter of moments. It lashed against her face, infuriating the bruising to a new painful level. Still, she pulled herself out of the car and onto the muddy ground. There was very little grass, and despite the numerous trees enclosed upon her, there was very little shelter to be found under the branches. She glanced back towards the road, realizing with dread that she could never climb back up that drop.

The collar of her shirt grew tight as it was yanked backwards. The man was cursing under his breath, leveling a tirade of threats upon her as he attempted to chock her out. His hand tried to find its way around her throat, but when she slipped face down into the mud, he lost his grip.

Without waiting, she was on her feet and dashing deeper into the tree lines. Her heart burned like a fire within her chest. Her feet sunk into the ground – one of her shoes having come undone and left trapped within mud – and she pressed herself further despite the burning.

She could still hear him. Hear him cursing at her. Demanding for her to return. Promising to let her go if she did. Threatening the worst if she didn’t.

The rain continued to beat down at her. In her panting breaths, it clung to his lips and threatened to overtake her throat. It pressed upon her grew heavier, as her clothes were bogged down by the added weight. Still Gracie ran through the near pitch-black night.

She could see nothing.

She could still hear him screaming.

Her lungs threatening to give out, she took shelter within a shallow cave. The relieve from the rain was quickly replaced by the shutting of cold tearing deep into her bones. Her teeth began to chatter, further upsetting the jaw that she feared had been cracked. Raising a hand to her face, she winced at the feeling. The whole of her right side was swollen and throbbing in intense pain. Glass in her arm caught her gaze, as blood began to pool around the wound.

Rooting around in her pocket, she wasn’t surprised to find that her wallet and cellphone were gone. Glancing back to where she think she had come from, she weighted the odds that he had brought them with him. Most likely he hadn’t, choosing instead to leave the incriminating evidence in her car.

A runaway, they would all think. An unimportant, nameless girl in the system who’d gone off and mostly fallen afoul of drugs or prostitution. Where the car would be found, they would deem Gracie Parish as a lost cause.

Fighting to stop her teeth from shattering, she refused such a thought. She refused to become another number – another forgotten face of a missing young woman. Pressing herself as tightly as she could against the dry stone, she kept her attention out for any sign of the man. With any luck he wouldn’t wander too far from his totaled car. He’d deem her as too much of a challenge to retrieve.

Still, as she dragged the ropes surrounding her wrists against the jagged stone, she prepared just in case. The ropes snapped at the center, allowing her to separate her wrists. The heavy twine was still wrapped deep into her skin, but the freedom she’d been allotted would suffice. It might not have been the best option, but she quickly ripped the hem of her thin t-shirt. Digging the glass from her arm, she wrapped the thin fabric around the cut. It was bleeding lazily, but hopefully not too much so to cause a threat of blood-loss.

Perched against the stone, Gracie waited for a break in the rain. The sound provided her cover to move quickly, but with how heavy it was falling, she could barely see. She was already deep into the woods, rushing deep within would do no favor.

So she did the only thing she could, she allowed herself to rest. She judged about an hour had passed before the storm began to part slightly. The sky was still dark. Stepping out quietly, Gracie peered around before placing her sock-covered foot into the mud.

Sticking to the tree trunks, she moved slowly and carefully around each of them. The rain was still cold and falling far too heavy, but she was able to see, and that was a gift. There was a streetlight off in the distance and she kept herself angled towards it.

It was a miracle she hadn’t run further into the woods than she’d first though. It was most likely another hour or so when she finally spotted pavement through a break in the trees. Still, she made her way carefully, fearful that the man would be residing along the roadside.

Pressed against a tree trunk, she allowed herself to sit once more. Her legs were burning. Her throat was dry. Her head still pounded from what she’d begun to assume was a concussion. The rain was letting up. She could see the night sky slowly lighten as twilight began to unfold.

Resolving her nerves, Gracie stepped through the tree line. She glanced down the road, debating which direction to take when a car barreled towards her. Without thinking, Gracie threw her arms out, desperate to wave the person down.

The minivan came to an abrupt stop just a few feet passed her. When she jogged to the open passenger window, and elderly woman looked at her with sheer alarm in her eyes. “Dear Gods, what are you doing out here honey. Were you in a crash? Here, get in the car, its far too cold out. You’ll catch your death out here.”

Gracie wrenched the door open,, clambering into the vehicle and apologizing briefly as her water logged jeans soaked the fur covered seat. The woman waved off the concern, quickly taking in Gracie’s injuries, and the sheer panic that lived in her eyes.

“Let’s get you to the hospital dear.” The woman took the minivan back onto the road. Gracie kept her attention set on the tree lines, looking for any sign of the man who had taken her. There was nothing, just rows of trees and the steady downpour of rain. Her gaze went to the clock.

3:58 AM

Resting her had against the seat, Gracie allowed a calm breath to pass through her strained jaw. Everything hurt. The fog within her head had remained and as the adrenaline keeping her going started to wane, Gracie found her eyelids growing heavy once more. She breathed in the sweet scent of vanilla wafting from the car’s air freshener. Sleep overtook her.

When Gracie opened her eyes once more, they were pulling into a hospital. A nurse opened her door and helped her into a wheelchair. Gracie finally let a deep breath escape her lips. Pain still covered her body. She recalled what little she knew of the man’s face, committing it to memory. She replayed his features – his voice over and over in her mind – making sure to match any little detail she had attained. It wasn’t much, but she had lived, and she would make that matter.

5:58 AM

The morning dawn overtook the darkened sky as a lazy pattering of rain danced against the road.