As Cal had warned, the lights went out that evening. I didn’t think I could sleep, but somehow my exhaustion took over. I curled up on the cold cement floor and tried to pretend I was at home in my warm bed. I’d wake up every few hours or so, reposition myself, and force my eyes shut. I heard Cal crying softly next to me and I reached out to her in the dark. She took my hand in hers and gave it a long squeeze.

When I awoke, I squeezed my eyes shut before opening them. I wished to myself that it had all been a nightmare. Cal had let go of my hand sometime after she had fallen asleep. Even with my eyes closed, I knew where I was. It’s funny how when one of your senses diminishes, the rest seem to go into overdrive. I heard the rustling of the chains and Will’s deep breaths. Cal groaned as she rolled over. I tried to stretch, but winced at my aching muscles. Between falling yesterday after Gina injected me with whatever that was and sleeping on the solid, hard floor, my body screamed from head to toe.

Tension set into my neck and I rubbed it with my hand, hoping to loosen up. I gave up when I realized it was no use. No one in their right mind could relax in a dungeon like that. Grant was asleep sitting up, propped up against the wall. I heard Will snort before jerking awake, wide eyed. His breathing slowed when he remembered where he was.

The lights turned on and the four of us sat staring at one another. It felt like playing a children’s game. Except nothing happened. We just sat there quietly. I was the only one who felt unending anticipation.

"Someone will come find us," I stated.

Cal looked at me. "Like who? No one knows where we are."

"But we all went away to camp, right? There has to be some information on Camp Firestone. Four campers disappeared!"

Grant stared at me. "Camp Firestone? Is that where you thought you were going? I was going to Camp Horizons."

"Camp Sunshine," Cal said.

"Camp Blue Skies," Will chimed in.

"There is no Camp Firestone or Horizons or whatever," Grant told me. "They were all made up. Fake camps."

"Okay," I shot back, "then what about your parents? Won’t they call the police or something when they don’t hear from you?"

"They would. But I’m guessing they are hearing from me. Let me guess, did Gina have you email your mom or dad?" Grant asked.

I paused. "Yeah," I said quietly.

"There you go," he continued. "Now they have our email addresses and will probably send regular emails pretending to be us."

"But that’s just for eight weeks. After that? When we don’t fly home? They’ll know something is wrong," I argued.

"That’s eight weeks!" Will shouted. "How are we supposed to survive like this for eight weeks?"

"We have no choice," I told him. "Unless we can find a way out."

"That’s if we make it eight weeks," Grant added. "And even then, how would anyone find us?"

I thought for a moment. "The police have ways. They find kidnapped kids or whoever. They’ll find us."

"I’d like to believe that, but..." Grant said.

I looked over at Cal. She gave me a weak smile.

"Okay-" I started to say something when we heard the cabin door open and slam shut. The four of us froze, barely even breathing so we could try to hear any possible sound.

This time it sounded like more than one person’s footsteps, but it was hard to tell for sure. My mouth opened to speak, but Grant raised a finger, telling me to wait.

We heard the other door open and assumed Gina would be making her way downstairs. But then we realized it was more than just one person’s footsteps. I strained to listen, but their voices were muffled by the wall.

Cal shot me a look. "Remember, don’t say anything. No matter what."

I nodded quickly. Gina punched in the key code and shoved the wall-door over. I mimicked Cal and stared at the ground.

"Wait, what the fu-" a deep voice hollered.

I glanced up just in time to see Gina stab a syringe into a guy’s upper arm. I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to see him hit the floor as I had also done.

"Dammit! Dean, catch him!" Gina yelled.

I opened my eyes to see the guy stagger backwards as Gina jumped out of the way. Dean, the man who I now considered to be my kidnapper, not my driver, stood with his legs apart and arms open wide. He danced around side to side as if he was trying to wrestle a bear.

"Give him another one, Gina! Hurry up!"  Dean yelled.

Gina was fumbling around, reaching inside a small drawer of a table. She pulled another injection from the drawer and was trying to inject the guy again. She ran up behind him and stuck him in his shoulder. Within seconds, he dropped. Dean caught him under his arms from behind and then dragged him over towards us.

"You know the drill!" Dean shouted at us. "Back up! Get against the walls!"

The four of us were all staring, wearing the same expression of bewilderment. As I stayed frozen in place, they all scooted back until they were sitting close to the walls. I was completely frozen from shock. Another person was given an injection and was about to be chained to a wall, and I was expected to sit quietly and let it happen? I stared at the guy Dean was dragging. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

"Move back!" Dean shouted at me, but I barely heard him.

Gina stomped in and came at me, but I didn’t move a muscle.

I’m supposed to be at camp! I wanted to scream, but my voice was trapped in my throat.

"Get against the damn wall!" Gina yelled at me when I didn’t move. She got up in my face and shoved me by both shoulders. I stumbled back, landing hard on my back. I looked up and she was standing above me. She kicked me square in my side and I yelled out in pain and rolled to my side. I was at the wall, which satisfied her, and she gave me a dirty look before turning back around.

Dean dragged the guy in and then laid him down on the ground in front of us. He was grunting and sweating as he chained the guy’s ankle and then walked out of there. Gina scoffed at him, gave us all a disgusted look, and then locked the door. We heard their muffled voices as they went back up the stairs. It sounded like they were arguing and then left the cabin.

As soon as we knew they were gone, we each sighed in relief and then tried to get a good look at the poor guy sprawled out in front of us. I rolled onto my back and held my side where Gina had kicked me. I stared at the guy on the floor.

This is what I must have looked like to them, too. I cringed at the thought. This guy looked older than me. He lay on the cold ground with total vulnerability, completely unaware that he was now a part of our group. Another victim. I almost envied him while he remained unconscious. As long as he wasn’t awake, he didn’t have to suffer along with the rest of us. I already sympathized with him and we had never even met. But I didn’t have to know how he would react once he came to. No matter if he screamed, yelled, cried, or laughed, in the end I knew he’d have to accept his fate. And that was why I felt so terrible for him.

Cal came to my side. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," I confessed. "But I’ll be fine."

She gave me a sympathetic look and stayed by my side. My ribs hurt but they were only bruised. At least nothing was broken. I was sure I would have a huge bruise as I gently put my hand over my rib cage. My emotions were hurt much more than my body. I had trusted a total stranger; something my parents had been warning me against doing my entire life. My brain couldn’t accept the fact that I had so willingly gone with Dean.

Shame set in, as it did to all of us, and felt like bricks on my chest. How was I so gullible? So naive? I wouldn’t have described myself as any of those things normally. I thought I was smart and responsible. Now I doubted that more than ever.

Everything about Dean had set off red flags. Not to mention the lack of information about the camp online. Yet hadn’t my parents sent both my sister and I away to camps every summer. Had they really gotten much more information on all of the previous camps? I doubted it. They provided information about me to the camp, not the other way around. I had done what I had done numerous times before; boarded a plane headed for my camp destination without a single worry or doubt clouding my mind. All of my trust - and my parents’ - placed in the hands of people we had never even met. I wanted to trust people, to believe in the good of others. Yet now look at me. That trust had led me right into the lion’s den.

My mind wandered to thoughts of my family. Rachel was probably having a great day in New York City at her new internship. I pictured her hailing a taxi cab, walking along Madison Avenue, or strolling around Central Park. She was probably taking tons of photos on her cell to send to our parents or me. My cell. It had been in my backpack and was now probably turned off so it’s location couldn’t be traced. My parents were in Asia. I didn’t even know what time it was there. I knew my dad would be busy working. My mom had done tons of research before they’d left, creating a list of things she wanted to do and places to visit. They were both probably having an amazing time, which I was thankful for. They deserved to have a vacation together, having fun creating memories before returning home.

I had no idea what would happen once their vacation was over. They were planning on going to the airport to pick me up. We had agreed to meet at the Baggage Claim area. This was our usual routine every summer.

How long would they wait before questioning if they were at the wrong one? I pictured them splitting up in the airport, my mom staying put at one while my dad ran to see if I was at another baggage claim. He wouldn’t find me. He’d go back to my mom, only to see she hadn’t found me either. They’d ask random passengers which flight they had been on to make sure they had all the correct information. Check the flight number and arrival time. If they called my cell, it would be off, but my mom would assume my battery died and she’d shrug it off.

Finally they’ll find out I hadn’t boarded the plane at all. Panic would set in. They’d call airport security and then the police. How many of the other passengers walking through the airport to pick up their loved ones would overhear the panic in my parents’ voices? I wondered if the website for Camp Firestone was still in existence. They would call Rachel to see if she’d heard from me, and that would send Rachel into a panic. She’d fly home, even if my parents told her not to.

I didn’t want to picture my family in such distress. All because of me. I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid. And I wasn’t a stupid, careless person! I got good grades in school. My mom used to brag all the time about what a smart baby I had been. They’d probably all assume if I was kidnapped, I’d been taken against my will. I felt the most ashamed over the fact that I had willingly gone off with Dean, getting into his truck like it was no big deal. And yet, that’s exactly the moment I had sealed my fate.

I guessed the airport security tape footage would show me following Dean out of Baggage Claim and jumping right into his truck. If I saw that on the news, I’d shake my head and probably think, “That girl deserved to get kidnapped!” But now I knew that no one deserves to get kidnapped or anything close. Kidnapping isn’t always kicking and screaming while the bad guy throws you into his trunk and speeds away.

I looked at Cal. She was my age and, like me, she boarded a plane to a camp that didn’t exist, and had allowed herself to get kidnapped, too. We all had. Grant seemed intelligent and street smart, and yet here he was, too. We were all old enough to know better, so why hadn’t we?

My heart sank as I thought of my mom and dad. They’d be inundated with questions, police at our house. Did I run away? Did I do drugs? What grades did I get in school? Any enemies? Our neighbors would get scared and probably fear their own kids would get kidnapped. My friends would be questioned. This would set everyone off into a frenzy, only to have them ultimately find out I had willingly flown to a camp that didn’t exist and gotten into a truck with the kidnapper.

Next Chapter: Seven