Running out of Time by Christina Chorney (love letters to the dead txt) 📖

Whoever’s car that was has those really expensive lights on it. Emily got up and started heading into the woods. Jen looked up and stood abruptly. “Hey, where are you going?” Jen asked. Ignoring her friend, she kept her trek following where the car was heading.


Erik saw the headlights coming up the drive and bumped Lena who nearly choked on the smoke from her cigarette. “Shit Erik are you trying to do kill me?” She hissed. He rolled his eyes at her and slipped his gun into the back of his belt. Looking back at his two companions he smirked.


“It’s show time.”


Emily and Jen scurried up the wooded path silently as they could. Up through the clearing at the welcome building was the car with the fancy headlights. Another car was parked into one of the spaces in front of the building just a bit farther from it. They crouched down low as they saw two men stepping out of the parked car heading into the view of the headlights. The doors opened on the other car revealing two other men heading towards where the other two were standing. They were holding a small black bag in their hands. Dialogue was being enclosed between the two groups. One of the men from the parked car nodded to the other one. He went back to the parked car and reached into the backseat to grab something. Carefully, Emily crawled up closer to the trees within hearing range of the people.
“Emily what are you doing?” Jen whispered frantically. Emily turned and put her finger to her lips and turned back towards the group. She picked up the low murmurs of money and merchandise. Out of nowhere one of the men holding the small bag began to struggle and let out a guttural cry. His partner turned to look and the man that was standing in front of the parked car drew out his gun and fired. The other man inside the parked car shot his head up to see what the commotion was about. Emily watched in horror as the man shot crumpled to the ground and the other fell to the side. A red head woman stepped out into the light.
“Jeez Erik what the fuck! This wasn’t what we planned! Ben yelled. Erik ignored Ben’s frantic chatter and turned to Lena.
“You okay?” He asked. She smiled and winked. “Didn’t even hear me coming.” She responded. He turned back to Ben who was standing and gaping at the two of them. “Change of plans, I didn’t want to risk them trying to kill us.” He said. He picked up the bag and headed back towards their car. Lena went and grabbed one of the men and proceeded to drag the body over to the dealer’s car.
“A little help would be nice.” She yelled out. Erik walked over and helped her lift the first body into the driver’s seat and then proceeded to do the same with the other body into the passenger’s seat.
Jenn crawled up behind Emily with a camera in her hand and began to snap pictures. Emily turned and blocked Jen. “Are you crazy?! They’ll see us!” she hissed.
“I turned off the flash, relax. We can take this stuff to the police.” She replied. “We’ll be the town heroes for capturing these people!” She whispered. Emily shook her head. We just witnessed a murder and she’s thinking publicity.
“We need to get out of here so they don’t catch us.” Emily said turning and snaking her way back towards their packs. Jen followed but didn’t see the large branch underfoot. As she stepped down a large snap echoed through the woods. The trio and the girls froze in place.
Erik and Lena reached for their guns and began scanning the outskirts of the woods for movement. Ben reached into the passenger side seat and grabbed a flashlight and slowly began to shine through the wooded areas. Emily headed towards Jen and grabbed her arm muttering something under her breath.
“What?” Jen whispered shakily. Emily pulled her arm hard and whispered “run!” Jen took off in a rush. Emily coming behind. She could see the flashlight capturing onto the trees behind her. She could hear the sounds of footsteps gaining. Gasping, she felt her feet come out from under her as she hit the ground beneath her. Scrambling she got up hearing a male voice close behind yelling to stop. She could hear the footsteps coming fast behind her and a pair of arms grabbing her and sending her and the person sprawling to the ground. Thrashing wildly, she fought with her captor hitting him square into his privates sending a rather satisfying yell to her ears as she tried once again to scramble away. She had managed to get a few feet before another pair of arms caught her. These were much stronger and held tight to her squirming body.
“Let go of me!!!” she yelled kicking and clawing. She heard a muffled grunt and felt a sharp prick in her arm. Yelping she began to feel dizzy, the world began to fade around her as her body slowly descended to the ground. Last thing in her view was a pair of bright blue eyes staring at her.

Darkness…
Tables Turn...

She heard muffled voices in the background. She dreamed she heard footsteps, Jen telling her about James, mom’s smiling face and someone saying to run. Run, run, run kept chanting in her dream. She could see herself running in the darkness, the trees closing in on her, a strangled sob escaping her as the starry night sky began to disappear from view. She could hear screams.
Slowly she opened her eyes and realized she couldn’t move. At first she panicked thinking she was paralyzed. It wasn’t until she felt a twinge in her wrists that she realized that she was not paralyzed but she definitely was tied up with her hands bound behind her and her ankles tied tight. Her mind began to race back to what had happened and remembered someone having grabbed her. She turned her head and immediately closed her eyes feeling a horrible wave of dizziness and nausea hit her. The voices grew louder, she kept her eyes closed and pretended to still be unconscious.
“Damn, that little bitch.” Ben groaned leaning against the car door still grasping his nuts. Lena stifled a laugh as he turned and gave her a death glare. Erik rolled his eyes at him. “You’re a fucking pussy.” He said.
“Fuck you Erik; you didn’t get your jewels kneed.” He said waddling his way into the backseat of the car. Erik shook his head again and went over to open the trunk and throw the bags and her pack in. Emily felt a body pressed up against her and heard someone muttering about her being a sadistic bitch. She must be in the backseat then. The trunk slammed shut jolting her body slightly forward. Lena climbed into the passenger seat as Erik joined opposite to her on the driver’s side. He had a scowl on his face.
“What are we going to do with the girl?” She asked looking at him. He glanced at her briefly before punching in the cigarette lighter and starting the car. He grabbed the lighter and lit his cigarette pulling a long drag.
“I’ll think about it.” He said letting the smoke come out as he spoke. Emily was terrified. This wasn’t a dream, she was kidnapped. Wait, where’s Jen?! They didn’t say anything about the two of them. Hopefully she had gotten away in time.
Erik pulled out of the campground and began to head towards the main highway. He knew now that he was a chopper. Meaning, he disobeyed a direct order and will most likely be killed for it same as his comrades. This wasn’t as he had planned and now they have a witness. Luckily, no one else was present. But it did raise a question as to what she was doing up there alone…
He pulled into a motel twenty miles out of the city limits and checked in two rooms. Lena would be in charge of watching over the girl in the other motel room. The clan climbed out of the car gathering their things as Erik leaned in to grab Emily. He threw a blanket over her to hide her binds and lifted her bridal style out of the car. Emily’s eyes shot open at being lifted. She mentally kicked herself for that. He looked down at her and quietly whispered.
“Make a sound, and I’ll kill you right here.” He said. Emily nodded in understanding and shut her eyes tight. She didn’t want to look at her captor. He walked into the room and dumped her on the nearest bed before turning to shut the door. She began to panic. He’s going to rape me. She thought.

Skyline Corps, South Carolina

Michael was waiting to hear on the exchange. It had been two hours and no one had called in to report the trade. He sent two of his men to go