I woke up, my head throbbing, and felt a searing pain as I tried to move my arms. They were bound tight, and my mouth was taped shut. Panic surged through me as I glanced around. A tall, masked figure was setting up a jigsaw, his movements slow and methodical.
Me thinking, This can't be real...this isn't happening...
In the dim light, I noticed a girl tied up in the corner. Blood stained her white dress, and her face was covered by a black sheet. Footsteps echoed nearby. I turned and saw Pablo and Ragnar charge at the masked man with a metal rod, knocking him on the ground.
Pablo (panting) "You okay? We need to get out of here NOW!"
Ragnar (untying the girl) "She's Alive. It's Olivia...Olivia Sullivan."
Recognition hit me like a truck. Olivia, the girl from the missing posters in Abilene. As soon as we freed ourselves, the masked man sprung to his feet, stabbing Ragnar with a machete.
"Run...just run!" Ragnar says in a gasping, faint voice.
But Pablo didn't run. He lunged into the man, knocking him to the ground once more. I grabbed Olivia, and together we dragged Ragnar to a nearby car. Olivia stayed with him while I ran back to help Pablo.
Pablo (weakly) "I'm not...leaving without you, man"
I saw the killer ignite the chainsaw. I launched myself at him, knocking the weapon out of his hands. Frantically, I grabbed a jerry can nearby, doused the room, and lit it on fire.
"Olivia! Get Pablo, we're getting out of here!". I yell.
We made it to the exit just as a shot rang. I turned and saw Olivia collapse, a bullet straight through her forehead. With a mix of horror and heartbreak, I kept moving, dragging Pablo to the car.
As I sped down the dirt road, the building behind us erupted in flames. The radio crackled to life, reporting the explosion. My heart sank when the officer mentioned finding Olivia's body.
Pablo (barely whispering) "She didn't deserve that... none of this should've happened."
But then, the officer added something that froze my blood.
Radio Sparked "There were two more bodies found in the rubble. Fresh victims, two men."
I quickly glanced in the rearview mirror, expecting to see Ragnar and Pablo in the back seats. But they weren't there. The seats were... empty. The car felt impossibly cold, the reality sinking in like a knife. I was driving, but it felt like the road was swallowing me whole, pulling me back into the nightmare I thought we'd escaped.
Me (voice trembling) "What... what the hell is going on?!"
The truth settled in slowly, suffocating, I had been alone. Or worse... maybe I had lost them before I even realized.
And now, the road stretched out endlessly, with nothing but the dark, empty night ahead…