Taken

A Story by hi-hi-tim-ed

Lily is just an average girl from Hong Kong, or so she thought, until her dad is kidnapped and she is forced to travel to kenya to find him and she discovers so much about her and her father she never know before = tthis is chapter one. please give feed b

Dawns First Rays

The first light rays of a new dawn broke through the cloud bank and fell warm and bright upon Lily’s face. Why didn’t her curtains ever work? She rolled over, feeling the sudden shadows coolness like a slap. That woke her up. Regrettably she folded the bed covers over and hung her legs over the edge of the bed frame, searching in the dim light for her slippers. Her head spinning and her eyes clouded weren’t helping.

She searched the cold floor with her feet and felt the familiar brush of material against her toes. She slid her feet into the slippers and her feet felt instantly warm. The blue tank top and short pyjama pants were obviously going to have to be changed for something warmer that night.

Lily pushed herself up of the bed and walked across the room and into the adjoining bathroom. She locked the door behind her and turned the shower on with only the hot water tap. After removing her pyjamas and throwing them into the washing basket, Lily stepped into the scalding water and let it run through her hair and down her back.

After washing her hair, the hot water began to run out. With a groan of despair, she turned the tap off and wrapped the thick maroon towel around herself. She walked across the bathroom to stand in front of the mirror. Even plainer than yesterday, she thought to herself.

Lily Tournay lived in Hong Kong with her father, Dex. Her mother had died when she was six in a plane crash off the east coast of Africa. The face that reflected back from the mirror was the same that she was used to seeing after the past 16 years. She was of average height for her age and her Chinese features defined her face. Thick chocolate brown hair fell to just past her shoulders, big dark brown eyes and small ears and nose. Lily thought that she looked rather plain, though her father always told her otherwise.

Lily snatched her toothbrush off the sink and piled on the toothpaste. She had no idea why she was cleaning her teeth before she had breakfast, but the smell of peppermint hung in the air and made her head feel clear.

She threw down the tooth brush and walked back to her room. Her clothes had piled up at the foot of her bed for she hadn’t been bothered to dump them into the washing basket. She fished for her favourite green tank top and black tracksuit pants. Of course they were at the bottom of the pile.

Lily got changed quickly and threw back her hair into a ponytail. She felt that she looked decent and went downstairs.

As Lily walked past her father’s door, she heard the familiar rumble of his snoring. He would be asleep for a little while yet. Continuing down the hall she looked out of the glass wall that completely covered the eastern side of the house, sometimes she really hated the heat it brought with the morning sun.

Dex, being an international author, was one of the wealthiest people in Hong Kong. He had purchased the house twelve years ago with enough money to ensure that no mortgage was needed. Lily always thought the house was beautiful, from its double glazed glass wall to its position upon the side of the mountain that loomed from the west side of Hong Kong city. The views were magnificent and always sparked Lily’s imagination, let alone her fathers.

Coming to the end of the hall, it opened up into the spacious lounge room that Lily had spent many a night relaxing in whilst gazing out at the twilit sky. The stark white interior sometimes seems rather bleak to her, though it offered plenty of comfort. Through the lounge room was the kitchen. Also white, though ultra modern.

The window covering was still drawn down and light was blocked out as Lily walked in to prepare her breakfast. She decided to keep it closed. At least until her father woke.

Walking to the fridge, she looked to see what was on offer; Bananas, apples, plums, bacon, eggs, jam. In the end she decided on bacon and eggs. The non stick frying pan that she found was huge, and barely fit on the stove. She cracked three eggs into the pan and threw in six rashers of bacon. She thought that her dad would like some when he came around.

She watched carefully as the bacon jumped and popped and the eggs began to harden. Another boring day ahead of me, she thought miserably. She retrieved a plate from the dish washer and chucked three rashers onto the plate along with an egg. She kept the remaining on another plate.

She sat down at the bench and began to eat, when she heard a bang from down the hall and a shuffling coming up from behind her. When Lily threw a glance over her shoulder, she could see Dex clumsily making his way into the kitchen.

“Hey dad, how did you sleep?” Lily asked.

“Not too bad, yourself?” came the lazy reply from her father.

“Alright, I tossed and turned a bit.”

“Oh ok. Is this for me?” he indicated to the plate of food.

“Yeah, I hope I didn’t burn anything.”

“Thanks Lily. I didn’t really feel like making breakfast this morning.” He gave a small grin and sat across from her with his own plate of breakfast.

They ate in silence for a while with the twitter of birds being the only break of the stifling stillness. She could feel the ever present smog crowding around the house with the new day. She felt closed in.

Lily stood up from her seat and grabbed her plate, walking over to the dishwasher, and deposited it inside. As she went to walk past her father, she heard him give a slight cough. Maybe he was catching a cold or something.

Again, she heard the small yet distinct cough. Lily turned to see her father staring at her.

“Is something wrong, dad?”

“Lil, there is something that I have to tell you. Something big.” Now Lily started to panic. Was there something seriously wrong with him? She thought in panic “Lily, I’ve been given a job offer, and, well, its........... In Kenya.”

She could feel her face drop. What was he saying? How could he do this to her? This was her home.

“Dad, I can’t go to Kenya. I have school and friends here!” Lily practically screamed at Dex.

“I’m sorry Lil, but I have already taken the job. I thought you would be happy for me and embrace this change.”

“Dad, I don’t want anything to change. Life is perfect as it is. If we move to Africa, my life will be completely ruined!”

“I’m sorry, but we’re going.”

Feeling like her head would implode with anger; Lily screamed and ran upstairs to her room. She searched her clothes pile and found the heavy navy blue hoodie that her dad had given her for Christmas last year, it was her favourite. She threw it over her head and pulled it down over her tank top. Felling that she would need it, she grabbed her mobile phone from the bed side table.

Lily slammed her door shut and went out through the back door which was situated in the downstairs laundry. The back yard was non – existent. It was just the side of the mountain that continued up through the thick trees to the peak. A small trail wound from the back door into the dense trees.

Lily started along the trail not too sure where she wanted to go. Looking at the dirt trail as she walked. Her thoughts were racing and she couldn’t concentrate on anything for long.

After Lily had been walking for what felt like hours, she decided to turn back. The heat was steadily getting more intense and the air becoming sticky with humidity. She took her hoodie off and tied the sleeves around her waist. The strange feeling of the material slapping against the back of the legs snapped her back to her senses.

Squinting down the trail and through the ever present smog, Lily thought she could see the silhouette of a figure ahead. The green glow of the trees leaves with the sun wasn’t helping with her difficulty in identifying the figure. She blinked and it was gone.

Maybe I’m seeing things. I’m still not thinking straight, she thought.She continued walking until the house came back into view. Walking up to the back door, Lily stopped with her hand clasped over the door knob. Someone was talking with her father inside. She waited with her hand slowly closing tighter on the door, her knuckles turning white.

Soon, the deep voice that wasn’t her father’s stopped. There were no footsteps to indicate whether the being was walking out. Lily thought that she had waited there long enough and opened the laundry door.

It was eerily quiet within the house, silence hung in the air like a blanket. Walking as quietly as she could, Lily walked through the laundry and into the downstairs hallway. After a quick glance into the lounge room, Lily could see her father was sitting on the sofa reading the paper like he did every other morning.

The sun shone powerfully through the glass wall, instantly heating her bare shoulders, the sticky moisture in the air clung to her skin. Obviously she had been gone nowhere near as long as she had first thought. She stalked through the lounge room and into the kitchen, keeping her gaze everywhere except on her father. He obviously got the hint and didn’t stop as she walked past him.

When in the kitchen, Lily noticed there was a half filled glass of orange juice where her father had been eating his breakfast earlier, she left it where it was and got a glass of her own. Filling the glass with orange juice from the fridge, Lily took the glass with her and walked quickly through the house and back to her room.

Lily lay on her bed and let the sun’s rays heat her, she placed the glass on her bedside table and fell into a comfortable rest.

The dark and landscape ahead of her was empty except a single wilting tree and a large mountain in the background. The silver moon hung in the sky, a full circle of blank light. The harsh wind thundered across the savannah. Mount Kilimanjaro loomed ahead of her, the only bump on an empty horizon.

Lily could see the flare lights climbing the side of the mountain. Those were her goal; she would find and destroy their beholders.

She broke into a run, flying across the hot savannah floor. Every step shot a wave of pain up her legs, though she didn’t care. Those people had taken her father, and they would pay for it with their lives.

Lily woke. Drenched in sweat and felt the cool breeze of the air conditioner upon her face. The familiar hum of it brought her back to the present. What the hell was that about? She thought, It felt so vivid, so real.

Lily jumped off the bed and gazed out of the window, the sky was black with thick storm clouds that were hurriedly approaching. This storm was going to hit hard. Feeling sticky, whether from the dream or from the humidity she didn’t know, but she decided to have a second shower.

The cool water relaxed her shoulder muscles and she became less tense. The water was pleasant, though Lily knew that she had begun to look like a raisin. She turned the tap off and grabbed the closest clean towel.

Walking back into her room, she had noticed the glass wall had become a frosted texture. She felt a chill run through her spine and she quickly got changed into a fresh pair of tracksuit pants and a warm T-shirt.

Lily walked over to the glass wall and placed her hand upon it. She pulled her hand back instantly; the glass was too cold to touch. It had frozen over.

A crash of thunder echoed through the house as the storm released its fury. Lily ran through the house and down into the lounge room. There, he dad had fallen asleep on the sofa.

“Hey. Dex.” Lily shook her father’s shoulder until he stirred awake.

“What is it, Lil?” He questioned groggily.

“Dad something is wrong, the glass wall has frozen over.”

“Oh, the weather must have gotten cold fast. Never mind that.”

“No! Dad, this isn’t normal. Something is seriously wrong.”

As if to question her, Dex stood up and walked over to the glass wall. He placed his hand upon the wall and recoiled. An intense flash of sudden light filled the room. The storm was getting stronger.

“We need to get out of here.” Dex’s voice sounded shaky.

“Why do we have to get out of here, dad?”

“They have come for me.”

Lily had no idea what he was talking about, though she began to panic.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we need to get out of here. Now!”

He grasped Lily’s hand and dragged her down the hall, the gale force winds were tearing at the house. Rain pelted the glass wall and began to slowly melt the frosted ice.

Dex threw open the door to his room and Forced Lily in.

“Dad, what’s going on!”

“No time to explain, we need to move. Go upstairs, pack only what you think is necessary. We travel light.”

“But.......”

“No buts. We have to hurry. They are nearly upon us.”

Knowing that arguing wasn’t going to help her, Lily screamed at the top of her lungs and flew to the door, throwing it open she felt a slow but growing tremble along the ground. Something was moving.

Climbing the stairs as fast as she could, Lily could no longer see thirty centimetres in front of her face. The clouds had completely blotted out the sun, everything had fallen into darkness.

Reaching the top stair, the ground shook with a force she did not know. Crawling along the cold floor boards, she reached her bedroom door. Pushing it open with her hand, Lily rolled in and flung the door shut.

Panting wildly, she pushed herself over to her bed and looked underneath. Finally she found her back pack with her wallet, spare phone along with house and car keys in it. Throwing some clothes from the clothes pile in it, she zipped the bag compartment up and turned for the door.

Lily heard a sickening groan and turned to look out the glass wall. The winds force was bending the glass inwards, the wall was going to shatter. She dived behind the bed as a thunderous crack slapped the air. Keeping down, she could hear the howl of the storm outside.

Risking a glance, Lily steadied herself and looked over the edge of her bed. There was a spider web crack in the glass and the rain had begun to leak through. Looking over her shoulder at the door, Lily saw a white glow coming from underneath the door.

A high pitched squeal rang throughout the room. Lily clasped her hands over her ears in an attempt to cease the droning whine. Though it did no help, the screech began grow steadily strong and her head began to ring with pain.

The last pictured she remembered seeing was the cold face of water through the cracked window.