Chapter 4

        Chapter 4

     I run after them without thinking and find myself trapped in my own net, wriggling, but unable to escape. I start to kick and scream. “Meria!” I hear the panicked shout and look up. The young boy is running towards us, crying. I scream on the top of my lungs, bawling “Run! Run, just go!” “No, noo!” He’s screaming just as loud as I am. I feel the men pulling harder, probably trying to get me to shut up.  I try a different approach, since screaming at him isn’t working. “Listen to me ,”I plead, “I need you to run! You may not think of me as your family, but I think of you as family, you’re like a son to me!” He stops, looking uncertainly at me. “You’ve got a mother now! Me! I’m your mother, and I love you!” To my surprise, he turns and runs, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him. Panting heavily I quiet down, stop fighting, and let them carry me away. All I can think is how true it was, how much I loved him.  I close my eyes, and fall asleep.                                            

        I wake up in a dark, damp, smelling prison cell. Well, technically it’s a box, but it’s a sturdy box. I hit the side of the box, in a futile attempt to escape. As I hit the side a second time, I stop short, after hearing a large thump through the wall. “Hello?” I say eagerly. “Hey” I feel my heart break, it’s not the girls voice, or the boy’s. It’s older, more guyish. “I’m not who you expected me to be huh?” he said, gloomily when I didn’t respond. “No, you are not” I sigh. “Well you’re gonna be here awhile, so you might as well get used to me he replied aggressively. “Oh, you think so?” I spit out. “Yeah, I do think so, and ‘cuz of your attitude, imma gonna make your life hell.” I hear his voice steadily rise and can imagine the anger on his face. To my surprise, the top of the box opens and I have to shield my eyes from the sun. Seizing the chance to escape, I jump out and collapse on the ground. My legs have fallen sleep from being squished up in such a tight space for so long. Once I got on my feet I saw the man who held me captive. And it wasn’t a man it was a teenager. He looked about as young as me. For some reason I couldn’t move, I was rooted to the spot. The words flew out of my mouth “you’re good looking.” And he was. Dirty blonde hair, topaz colored eyes, tall, and muscly. He smiles “and you’re hot.” Hot? But I don’t have a fever. I’m the normal 98.6. I smile anyway and try to look normal.  Then it hits me. Maybe I can use charm and flattery to escape from here. I twirl my hair and look away bashfully, hoping it’s working. I’ve never flirted before. I force myself to look up and down his body, my eyes coming to rest on his lips, like I’ve read in books. “Do you work out?” he throws his head back and laughs. I can’t believe it is working. Maybe he’s never met a girl before. “You’re cute,” he says with a warm smile, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear. Wow he’s shallow.  I wink at him, manipulating him further. I giggle a little “So, where are we?” this, apparently is not what he wanted to hear. “Er… well… I, I don’t think I can… um.” He gulps and stiffens a little as I inch closer. “Uh… tell you that...” I wave my hand in the air “C’mon, you can tell me. It’ll be our little secret.” I wink and giggle again. I inch closer, closer, close enough to see every detail of his gorgeous face. A little voice in the back of my head tells me to ease off a bit and I stop, take a step back, and smile flirtatiously. There was a crash on my right I wink at him again “later, then.” I run back and get into the box.  Just after closing the lid back over me I heard an older man voice. “I thought I told you to clean the boiler room boy!” suddenly I feel the box being lifted and carried somewhere. Hell no. No way am I going to go some other place I don’t know. I kick the lid off and take off, full speed in the opposite direction. I look behind me and there are four men in pursuit. I kick off and run faster.  I see a stack of boxes tipping dangerously ahead of me as I run. The men were right on my heels when I knocked the boxes over, and stop to watch them cascade on their heads. Smiling to myself, I slump against the wall and try to regulate my breathing. “Oi Josh! Get over ’ere!” the boy I met earlier appeared, covered in ash and sweat. So Josh is his name… “Yessir?” “Yer on dinner duty tonight lad.” “Oh right, yes sir.” I start to laugh, the look on his face is too perfect. I slap my hand over my mouth, but it’s too late. They heard me.