Escaping in the Dense Forest

"Breaking news! The superstar Irene Wu was abducted right after her press conference. She was last seen waiting for her manager and driver in the parking lot when two men riding a van kidnapped her. As of this moment, there is no lead as to where she was brought by the suspects. The police are on heightened alert, conducting checkpoints in every part of the country. Stay tuned for more details." The field news reporter delivered the details regarding Irene's abduction, behind him are the flashing red and blue lights coming from several police cars, and the police stopped every car for a checkpoint on major highways.

-

Irene jolted as a strong bolt of lightning entered her sensitive ears, waking her up from the abduction that happened a few hours ago. The perpetrators have been driving nonstop for six hours already, traversing country roads with dense forest.

Thunderstorms and extreme rains made the vision blurry, the windshield wiper barely doing its job to remove the strong rainwater. The sky soon let out an ear-splitting crack before lightning occupied the dark skies.

Not knowing that Irene had already gained consciousness, the kidnappers only remained silent. Out of panic due to realizing the danger, Irene's breathing became unsteady, heavily panting as if she had just run a mile.

A lot of ideas as to how she should escape began popping into her mind like mushrooms but it was too many and most are absurd to even try without dying. She could not move her arms as it was firmly tied up, with barely any blood left to circulate, and her hands are already cold. Her bare legs are mercilessly tied with ropes and even her mouth is tied with a piece of cloth.

She ends up raising her tied legs and started squirming around to make noises in order to be noticed by the kidnappers. One of them immediately shifted on his seat and turned to ask his subordinate whether or not he should mind Irene or not.

In return, the driver gave an authoritarian nod and then aggressively removed the cloth from Irene's mouth leaving her to catch her breath and moisturize her dried lips and tongue.

Glaring at them, she spoke. "What do you guys want? Can I give you a phone number so that we can start the negotiation? Tell me!" Her voice is stern as she wants to take control of the situation but anxiety is evident.

The one driving scoffed, "Nothing personal, Irene, I am your fan. We were just doing just as we were told." His eyes are fixed on the road and powerful arms on the steering wheel.

She could not visualize where they are but considering how silent and poorly lit the road is, she could tell they are already far away from the city, where they could easily dispose of her corpse and perhaps throw her on a cliff where no one could ever retrieve her cadaver.

Realizing shouting at the top of her lungs would be futile and would even cause anger from the abductors, she offered, "How much are you paid to abduct me? I can pay you double or even triple the amount if you let me go. It is never too late," Irene's voice broke, thinking that there was actually someone who hated her so bad he or she even decided to have her kidnapped and even killed in no time. These jerks sound like someone who is not afraid to lose everything which is for her, the most dangerous people to mess with.

The kidnappers laughed hysterically until they were out of breath, "No doubt you can do that. We may look like some sort of bastards to you but we are not the type to go against our words." He said coldly. To Irene, they sound like people who have already killed many and are not afraid to do the same to her.

This time, she scoffed. "Okay, okay. Now, the last thing you can do for me as my 'fan' is to let me go to a bathroom, I need to defecate and urinate. You don't want me doing that in here, don't you? I am a human, after all." She gathered all the courage her petite body could have and asked a favor.

"Hmm," The other kidnapper thought for a while and added, "No problem, Nation's Sweetheart. But there are no bathrooms deep in the woods so you'll just have to find a spot. Make sure you come back or else," He then pulled a .45 pistol gun and pointed it at her forehead.

The cold metallic tip of the gun sent horror all throughout her already shaking body. He added, "You are intelligent, Irene. You understand what I mean." He spoke casually and laughed maniacally, satisfied to witness fear on her pretty face.

In no less than five minutes, Irene finds herself lost in the dense woods though she intentionally did it to escape. She did not even bother to have the time to get scared of how dark, creepy, and bushy the thick forest is.

Ferocious animals could be dwelling there, ready to gnaw on her flesh but she did not care. Running with the little energy she has left deeper into the dark forest, Irene attained cuts and wounds from the thorns and dangerous bushes.

"IRENE!" A ghastly and chilling voice followed by a gunshot echoed in the woods making bats resting on branches of trees fly away.

Irene ran faster until she could no longer feel her legs. Her heart was pounding which made her ears go ringing. Turning back every now and then, she falls to the ground but gets up immediately, ignoring that her knees have been scraped and blood flowed unceasingly. With the intense downpour, her soaking wet frail body shivered from the cold.

Another set of gunshots made her jump out of fear but continued to run for her life even though her knees had somehow turned like melted rubber making her fall down several times but getting up no matter what.

After approximately 15 minutes of sprinting and galloping into the woods and in wild plants, she has acquired multiple bleeding wounds all over her body but she could not let those jerks take a hold of her easily.

They were dumb to even let her out to the bathroom which was obviously a lie. She has come this far, she would not let those mere bastards kill her.

Irene could hear the kidnapper's voices sounding closer and closer so she quickened her running pace but for a moment, she thought that the end had finally come for they almost caught her and she no longer has anywhere to run to a dead end.

She purposely stood on the edge of a cliff and if she took just one uncalculated step, she would fall multiple feet below to the strong currents of the sea.

The kidnapper's voices are sounding nearer and nearer which made her shut her eyes close while panting, clasped her hands together, and for the first time in her life, say a silent prayer, praying to not let this be her end.

Irene gazed below her feet, the rain was too strong and she was too drenched and exhausted to think soundly. Her battered body could not run any longer.

The longer she stared at the strong currents of the sea, the more she wanted to run back and plead for her life. In the middle of contemplating whether to jump or not, she took a brave leap forward and the last memory she had was when her body hit the huge body of water.

"I am sorry," Was the last word she spoke.

-

The first sense that came back to her was hearing, though her eyes are closed, she could hear everything around her. She is still in a daze, making storylines in her head about how she might have been saved such as a fisherman may have noticed her on the shore. Irene's eyes remained closed for a while.

"So this is how a mortal looks? They look exactly like us!" An awestruck high-pitched female voice resonated in the room. Based on how her voice echoed, she seemed to be situated in a big room. She could tell that the woman was standing close to her.

Irene slowly opened her eyes to adjust to the room's bright lighting. The lady panicked and flew up in the air due to surprise, "Amiel! The mortal is awake! Come!" She shouted, her voice echoed once again. The woman's voice was so pleasing to the ears.

'Mortal? They sound like they are some sort of mythical creatures, psh.' She thought to herself while her weak vision scanned inside the room.

She almost choked when she fully realized how spacious this room is, it is almost twice the size of her luxury condominium back in the city.

Soft rays of the sun seeped in through the gigantic glass walls of the room. Irene is laid on a soft and feathery white Victorian bed while the ceiling is beautifully painted with fantasy scenes.

She roamed her eyes around and noticed how beautiful the details of the room are, from the windows, the massive doors, and marble floors. Irene never knew such a wealthy family lived in the countryside or so she thought.