Kira didn't think anything of her father talking to some rando stranger in the parking lot. As a real estate agent, he was always running into old clients and people who were looking for a house to buy. The man her father spoke with was ordinary enough looking. He wore a blue uniform that looked like he was a plumber or something and had on a baseball cap overtop of a shaved head, goatee and dark sunglasses.
Other than that, he was unremarkable. Someone her dad's age. Another businessman, by the looks of him.
Her father turned to her. "Get in the back seat, honey," he said, smiling. "I'm taking my friend to look at some property. You can come along for the ride and we'll pick up some Popeyes on the way home."
She smiled and got inside, glad they would have Popeyes for dinner. She would have rather gone directly home, so she could get her homework done before supper, but they often had to stop at the real estate office to pick something up, so she didn't think anything of it.
The man spoke to her father and then got in the front seat with him. Kira listened to music on her iPod, watching mindlessly as they drove along the streets. When they took the exit to the highway, she frowned.
"Where are we going?" She removed one of her earphones.
"Taking a drive with my friend to look at some property," Tom said, smiling and glancing at her in the rear-view mirror. "We'll be home soon."
She shrugged and resigned herself to a longer delay than she thought.
They took a backroad and drove up the side of the mountain and she frowned, surprised that her father had a listing that far out of town. Must be a cabin or something. For fishing or hunting. He had those on occasion.
When her father and the man got out of the car after pulling into a clearing off the road, she pulled her ear bud out.
"What are you doing, Daddy?"
"Looking at some property this man wants to buy."
"Can I get out? My legs are stiff."
Tom glanced at the man, who nodded.
"Sure. Stay by the car."
She shrugged and got out, walking around to the side of the car, looking up at the trees. Her mind was busy thinking about the volleyball game she had on the following Monday. She had hopes of playing on the high school team once she was old enough.
Then, everything went black.
She woke up in darkness and panicked. Something was stuffed in her mouth and it was wet from saliva. Her hands were restrained behind her back and she was lying on her side in the darkness. There was a crack of light coming in from what appeared to be a window covered with black paper, the sun casting a thin beam of light against the wall, but the room was almost totally dark.
Soon her eyes adjusted, and she could make out the room she was in. Small, with what looked like a wood stove in one corner and a kitchen cabinet against one wall. She frowned, trying to remember what happened and how she got there -- wherever she was. She remembered...
She remembered going with her dad and some man on a drive to the forest, along some back roads. At the time, she didn't know why they were going out of town and she didn't really care. Instead, she was listening to music on her iPod and playing a game. At the time, all she could think of was that whatever her father and his friend had to do, she hoped she got home soon enough to catch her favorite show on television -- Make Me A Star. If she missed the start, she'd have to live stream it and it was never as good as live due to their rather slow internet connection. The next thing she remembered was when the man picked her up and carried her from a van to the cabin. Now, she realized she might die.
The man must have hit her over the head, knocked her out, and then brought her here. That thought made her panic and she screamed, despite the gag in her mouth. Where was her father? She craned her neck to glance around, looking for him, but she was alone in the cabin. Where was he? He wouldn't have let the man hurt her, so that meant he was probably dead. That was the only thing she could think of. Her father was dead, and she was a captive.
Why would he kill her father? He was the nicest man. Almost too nice, her mother used to say, letting people get the best of him. Not enough killer instinct. He would never let anyone hurt her so the man must have killed him.
That meant she was alone.
She remembered the class on self-defense she attended at school. The police officer had warned them all to never get in a car with a stranger. If she was forced into a car, she should try to escape at her first chance, even if it meant jumping out of a moving car. A broken arm or leg would be a whole lot better than being raped and murdered. If she was put in a trunk, she should try to kick out the light and wave her hand out the hole to attract attention of drivers. They would call police and police would rescue her.
Obviously, none of those tips would help her now. She had no idea when they were driving out of town that she and her dad had been abducted. She didn't even know if her father was still alive. Probably not. He was probably dead, murdered by the man. Now, the man would kill her but probably not until he'd raped her and tortured her.
Kira knew all about that. She watched Forensic Files on YouTube and had often worried about being raped and murdered by a stranger.
That was why she paid so much attention to the class on self-defense.
The only thing left for her to do was to try to escape her bonds. It would be difficult. Her hands were behind her back. Her feet were zip-tied together.
The first task was to break the zip ties on her ankles, because as long as they were bound, she wouldn't be able to free her hands. She knew it would hurt, but she didn't care. Escaping was more important that a small bit of pain. She moved onto her back, and began slamming her feet against the wooden rail at the foot of the bed. The first few attempts were failures, and succeeded in only hurting her, but after several really intense hits against the wood, her zip-ties broke, and her feet were free.
The officer had shown them what to do if your hands were duct-taped together. That was much easier to escape from than zip-ties, but she knew what to do. The police officer had shown the class how to use a running shoe's laces to burn through the zip ties, sawing through them, using the friction to break them. She waited a moment and then moved her hands down and tried to get them beneath her butt, pulling her knees up under her chin as tightly as possible, sliding her hands down beneath her hips.
Finally, after about ten minutes of trying, she succeeded, her zip-tied hands now behind her knees.
Next, she untied both her running shoes, pulling the laces out of the first few eyelets so that they were long but still attached to her shoes. She slid one of the laces between her wrists and under the zip tie, then grabbed the lace from the other shoe and tied to two together. Once they were fastened, she began a sawing motion with her feet, so that the laces rubbed against the zip-tie. It took about five minutes of cycling before the zip-tie broke, freeing her hands.
She sat up and rubbed her wrists, her heart racing at the prospect of getting free. She had to act fast. The man might come back at any time and if he did and she was still there, she knew that he'd likely rape her, torture her and then kill her. She didn't want that. She stood and went to the window, glancing out to see if he was outside. Thankfully, he wasn't.
She lifted the blind and the light shone in, illuminating the small cabin. She saw her backpack against the wall and went to it, hoping that her iPod was still there, but he'd taken it. She went to the kitchen cabinet and pulled open a drawer, finding a screwdriver and a wrench, but no knives. The screwdriver would have to do.
She could use it as a weapon, if he came back and tried to hurt her.
She would stab him in the heart if he got close enough.
Then, she left the cabin.
She had no idea where she was, or how to find her way back to civilization. Without a compass, she had to rely on her knowledge of orientation gained via her Girl Scouts training. She glanced up and saw that the sun was nearing the horizon, which meant that it was almost dusk. Given the time of year, summer, that meant it was after six at night. She didn't have much time before the sun would set and she'd be forced to stay in the forest overnight. She didn't like that prospect at all. There were bears up there. And coyotes. And mountain lions.
There were mosquitoes and black flies and spiders.
It wouldn't be good to be alone all night in the forest without shelter.
Part of her wanted to run and keep running down the road. It had to lead back to civilization. If she saw the man coming back along the road, she could run into the forest and hide until he passed.
That was her best chance of surviving.
She went back into the cabin and found a blanket, deciding she could at least use it as some kind of protection in case it rained. There was a set of camouflage hunting clothes -- a large set of overalls and jacket plus a hat. She tried on the jacket and decided to take it, as well as the hat. They were green and brown and might help protect her from bugs and scratches, as well as hide her from the man in case he returned. Then, she found a small pup tent in a package. She took that and stuffed it into her backpack. That would be useful in case she had to sleep overnight.
She also found a few packages of beef jerky, some cereal bars and some drink boxes in a cooler. Those she also took -- in case she had to spend days in the forest hiding.
Then, she set out, using the position of the sun as her guide.