Chapter 49: The toolbox decides

As Gwen attempted to stand to her feet, she heard his voice.

" Drop them before you stand up."

Gwen jolted before turning around slowly. But as she turned, surprisingly, the man was still maintaining his position, like she saw a few seconds ago.

" I'm not... I'm not holding anything." Gwen said as her body trembled in fright.

" You are." the man answered through his palm which still covered his face as he was still facing the opposite direction.

Gwen stood up immediately.

" I said I'm not." she replied, raising her voice while breathing heavily.

" And I said you should drop it before standing up." the man shouted as he turned around abruptly, with the eyes of a predator.

Then he took a step forward.

Gwen who was already tearing up because of fear screamed '' Stay away from me" before dashing a pebble on his head.

But he didn't even flinch. Gwen took that as a sign to take to her heels and so she did.

" Somebody help me!'' she shouted while she ran for her dear life.

He didn't expect Gwen to be fast at running so after walking a little, seeing that the young lady was gaining distance away from him, the man also took to his heels.

" Help me. Somebody help me!" Gwen shouted, calling out for help. But nobody came to her rescue. She then turned to glance behind her to see if he took another route or something like that. But the man was still a couple feet away, so she turned and continued running, not like she stopped anyway.

" Come back here you brat." he said as he continued chasing her.

' Dear God, please help me. I know it's been a while since I last talked to you, but please... take pity upon me.' Gwen pleaded to God inwardly. At this point she had no other option.

She knew it could be a matter of life and death. If it truly was because someone overheard her conversation with Lily the previous day, then, she very much hoped there would be no life lost.

Suddenly, Gwen felt a painful sensation at the back of her legs, which was due to the cold and non-stop running as she began experiencing muscle strain.

But she had to survive regardless, and so she didn't stop running.

Turning back again, Gwen saw that the man was still chasing after her, as expected. But just as she turned to look ahead of her, she realized she was approaching a wall. Luckily, she saw a narrow road by the side and without thinking twice, she took it.

Immediately she was three feet in the next path, she collided with a rock that was as if it was covered with leather.

But raising her head, she discovered it wasn't actually a rock. 'It' was a human being, that was almost two feet taller than her. And he was just wearing a leather jacket.

The said person then folded his arms, looking at her while she began stepping backwards out of fright. On the fourth step, she felt like something heavy fell on her head, from behind precisely, and in no time, her vision became blurry and then it was followed by darkness.

_

" Ugh. Damn.." Gwen whispered, followed by a wince as she felt like a 4-4 kick drum was pounding in her head. ' Where am I?' she asked herself while she struggled to open her eyes.

Then she heard someone sniffing. Opening her eyes, Gwen realized she was on a cold floor, and that her hands were tied behind her, as she tried to touch her face, the other side at least, as her left cheek was touching the floor.

Just as she moved a little more so she could sit up to see who was sniffing and crying, she heard a very familiar voice.

'' Gwen? Are you awake?'' the person asked.

At the moment, Gwen was still unable to see who was talking because she was having a hard time sitting up.

But she still answered, to confirm her suspicions.

" Yes, I am. Is that you Tamara?" she asked.

" Yes Gwen." Tamara replied in a barely audible voice. Gwen immediately pulled herself up, such that she was able to sit. But before she could do that, Tamara continued " Lily is here too. She's still unconscious." Tamara added as Gwen managed to sit properly.

" How did you both get here?" Gwen asked, almost already tearing up, due to the physical pain and discomfort, but most especially because of her cousin sister who was looking pitiable.

" Those men brought us both here." Tamara answered.

" Are you hurt?" Gwen asked, while her eyes scanned her younger cousin.

" A man hit me on my face, but I'm fine. How about you?" Tamara asked.

" Don't worry about me, I'm fine. How about Lily?" Gwen asked.

" I don't know what they did to her. When they brought us here, Lily was taken to another room. But she has a swell on her face." Tamara replied.

At the moment, the girls could barely touch each other as they were tied and kept some distance away.

Exhaling through her lips while letting a tear fall, Gwen spoke up a few seconds later.

" We have to run Tamy. We have to escape from here before they come in again." said Gwen

She knew why they were kidnapped, so there was no point in asking Tamara if she overheard any of the men talking about why they kidnapped them.

She was already dying of guilt, knowing that both her dear cousin and best friend would have been safe if she didn't persist on questioning Tamara, who initially refused to say a word. But more importantly, if she had just kept the truth to herself.

Gwen also didn't want to remind Tamara she was the reason they were in their predicament or let her know, if she didn't know already.

She just believed they could escape. They were all alive, and so they still had hope.

Funny how the girlish, easily scared Gwen was being brave and courageous. Or was it because she had not been confronted with danger since she woke up? Time will tell. Gwen really hoped not, however.

" We have to leave Tamy. The earlier the better." Gwen suggested again.

" But how? How Gwen? I can barely move." Tamara said, reminding Gwen she was tied to a round bar or better still, a metal rod, that was attached to another metal which was then attached to the wall. And that was because, Tamara was the only one who did not lose consciousness, even as she was repeatedly slapped and physically assaulted. She just couldn't faint for some reasons, which was also kind of amusing to the scumbag who was hitting her.

" But we still have to find a way Tamy. You know they didn't really tie us up properly, which means that they don't intend on having us attached to these things for long." Gwen advised.

" But we just can't Gwen." Tamara said before she started crying. " We're too far from each other. Li... Lily hasn't regained consciousness as well..." she added while she managed to glance at Lily who looked dead, as her vision was blurred due to the tears that was already running down her cheeks.

" We can Tamy. You just have to be strong for me, ok? You just have to be my strong sister, the one I've always known. The one who defended me from those street bullies and confronted them while I stood in fear. The one who loves me despite my poor behavior. Please Tamy, we can do this." Gwen said, in tears as well, while trying to keep her voice down.

" Ok Tamy?" Gwen asked Tamara who closed her eyes and bent her head a little, before nodding.

" That's my baby sister." Gwen said, before sniffing.

" What are we gonna do now?" Tamara asked her older cousin.

" We can't leave without Lily. So you're gonna help wake her up okay?"

" Okay"

" Good girl. Now I want you to stretch out your legs and touch her shoulder. She tends to quickly wake up when you tap her shoulders." Gwen instructed.

" Okay." Tamara replied.

So in order to able to touch Lily, Tamara laid on the cold floor so she could go all out in stretching.

Little by little, Tamara reached and tapped Lily who was laying with her face on the ground.

" Lily, wake up." Tamara whispered to Lily who didn't move an inch.

" Please Lily, wake up." Gwen pleaded, while trying not to attract anyone from outside.

Tamara managed to touch her again before withdrawing, to catch her breathe which she held as a result of stretching too much, to touch Liliana.

" Come on Lily, wake up.'' Tamara pleaded.

" Hey Lily!" Gwen said, a little above a whisper this time.

For the final time, Tamara touched Lily who flinched, causing Tamara and Gwen to sigh.

Opening her eyes slowly, Lily winced, with her face twitched thanks to the pain she felt.

" Hey, Lily, how are you feeling?" Gwen asked.

" My head hurts so bad. Where are we? Where's this place?" Lily asked, looking around.

" We've been kidnapped Lily and we have to escape before those men return." Tamara said this time.

" Huh?" Lily asked as she struggled to sit up.

" We have to find a way to escape Lily and I'm gonna be needing your cooperation. We can do this okay? Gwen said.

" How? We don't even know who or what's out there." said Lily who remembered everything immediately.

" I know but_ "

" How are you sure we're not getting caught? How do we know they're not waiting for us to do just that? Don't you both know that's a possibility? Huh?" Lily countered in a weak voice.

" I know but there's only one way to find out. Sitting here, doing nothing won't help either. The only chance we'll get at escaping is only by trying to do just that." Gwen said, while Tamara watched the both friends.

Seeing that Lily was looking at her with uncertainty, Gwen decided to speak further.

" Please, we just have to try. We might get lucky." Gwen pleaded.

" When did you become this brave?" Lily asked.

" I'm not. I just want the three of us to live." Gwen replied.

" How are we gonna do that? My wrists hurts already" Lily said. But Gwen kept mute as she began looking around for something they could use to their advantage.

" There!" Tamara exclaimed, immediately she sighted a rusted metal tool box, which was a little distant, but more closer to Lily.

The girls exchanged looks, before looking at the toolbox, which at this point, would decide their fate. And it would do so, whether it was empty or not.

For Gwen, she narrowed her eyes, thinking it was too suspicious, but at this point, fuck that.

'' Hashtag the toolbox decides..." Lily said with an exasperated sigh.

But without being told what to do, just like Tamara had done earlier, Lily laid on the floor once again, but this time, she used both legs to hold on to the toolbox, after stretching all her muscles out.

When she got it at her both ankles, with her legs open, she rested her legs a little, to avoid straining her muscles. After a few seconds, Lily stretched once again before pulling the box further in-between her legs.

By the time it got close enough, she crossed her legs, such that they were together, before pulling herself upwards again. Then she managed to use her knees to push it upwards.

The box then shifted to Tamara, which was not Lily's intention, as she struggled to get it within her reach as well. But Tamara's hands were tied as well. So she looked at her cousin who was feeling completely helpless at that point.

She then returned her gaze to the box before exhaling, as a not-so-hygienic idea struck her.