Page 106 of Inception

“Are you trying to stop me from going to the dance with Caleb?” I asked, only half-serious.

“Maybe,” he said, still leaning in close to me. “Or maybe I’m just available that night.” He licked his lips like an invitation.

I pulled back, not wanting to lose complete focus.Again. “Is that really the only time we can do this?”

Wait a minute. Why was I arguing? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see my father again. Who cares about the stupid dance? Crap.Taylor cares, I reminded myself. I didn’t know how well she was going to take it when I told her—

“How about tomorrow?” he asked, letting me off the hook before I could concede. I couldn’t help but notice the discontent in his expression. Or was it sadness?

I didn’t have time to decode it.

“Tomorrow’s good,” I nodded. I couldn’t believe this was going to happen. I was going to see my dad again! What would I say to him? What would I wear? The excitement sizzled through every cell in my being. “Tomorrow’s perfect.”

The school parking lot looked eerily empty—deserted, grayed out from the overcast of swollen clouds. The wind picked up speed as I scanned the lot for Henry, whom I was sure I’d mentioned my after school detention to, but there was no sign of him anywhere. The only cars left were Trace’s blue Mustang on the far left, and an old rusty van about twenty feet out.

Weird, I thought, as I searched my bag for my cell phone.

“Hey, excuse me, miss.” A young woman with pixie blond hair hopped out of the van and started towards me. “We’re kind of lost,” she laughed, scratching the side of her face as she bounced a quick glance at the parked van. “Do you think you could point us in the right direction?”

I adjusted my schoolbag. “It depends where you’re trying to go. I’m still kind of new in town myself.”

“We’re trying to get to this place called, uh—” She turned back to the van. “Babe, what’s it called again?”

A dark haired man with a serious five o’clock shadow slithered from around the side of the van. “Place is called All Saints,” he answered, taking a drag of his cigarette. It sounded as though he had some kind of accent. Or throat cancer.

“You’re pretty far,” I noted. “You’ll need to get back on the throughway and head east towards town.”

“Is that right?” She scratched her neck again and leaned in closer. Her blotchy skin looked as though it could use a generous helping of foundation. “You mind jotting it down for us on our map over there? Bobby’s not too good with directions.”

I looked back atBobbywho offered a slight smile.

Something about them seemed...off. I couldn’t put my finger on it. “Sure, I guess,” I said without moving. “But I should probably go get my friend. He’s lived here much longer than me and can probably give you better directions.”

“You wouldn’t mind? That would really help us out.”

“It’s no problem,” I smiled and stepped back. Giving them one final look over, I turned and headed back towards the student entrance. Something inside me was telling me to make a run for it but I chose to ignore it, fearful of what I would look like to them if I did.

Besides, it was daytime. They obviously weren’t Revenants so what was I so worried about anyway?

Before I could answer myself, I felt something crash against the back of my head, knocking me to the ground on all fours. A strange taste entered the back of my throat—metallic in nature—nauseating me with its flavor. Stunned, I rolled onto my backside and looked up at the woman as she tossed a fat rock to the side.What the hell just happened? Did she hit me with that? I felt disoriented, tired, like I could sleep for a hundred years and still never be rested enough.

She bent over me, snatching my arms up with her wet, clammy hands. “Grab her legs,” she yelled, and Bobby did.

Suddenly I was suspended in the air being carried away towards the van.The van. Oh God, they were going to throw me in there. Kidnap me; hurt me; do heaven knows what to me.

I started kicking and thrashing my legs, bucking relentlessly until they could no longer contain my body. Bobby dropped my legs first and ran back to the van as I fought to free my hands. He reemerged from the side door yielding something, but it was only when he stepped out of the shadows that I caught sight of the knife.

“Help!” My frenetic scream exploded in the air like a gunshot. “Someone, please help me!”

“Don’t just stand there,” yelled the blond, struggling to maintain control. “Help me get her in the van, you idiot!”

Bobby ran back to us at full speed, his eyes wild with intention. “Get up!” he ordered, pointing the knife at me.

As soon as he was close enough, I slammed my foot into his knee cap, eliciting a loud pop that caused him to stagger back from the impact. He cursed out in pain, and for the slimmest of seconds, I felt the fervor of hope burn through me at the possibility of having broken his knee, but the lunatic never went down. Was he evenhuman?

He thrust the knife at me again, this time aiming for the side of my leg, but he failed to stick the landing. I kicked the knife out of his hands as the blond snatched up my arms again and began dragging me across the concrete.

“Let me go!” I screamed, trying to free myself from her grasp as my back scraped against the rocky terrain. “HELP!”

---