Chapter 4

When she awoke again, she found herself tied to a chair in a dark room. "Where am I?" she said with a strength in her voice that startled even herself. In front of her a sliver of light shone through two giant doors that weren't opened before. "Who's there?" Her words bounced off the metal walls around her, but there was only the echo of her own voice to answer her. Based on the shape of the room, the texture of the walls, and the size of the doors, Megan knew she was inside a shipping container. Looking at her restraints she sees that her legs were taped together, her hands were zip tied in front of her, her mouth covered in tape, and her torso tied to the chair with rope. She parted her lips beneath the tape and licked the tape vigorously until it started to peel off of her mouth. Then she used her teeth to tighten the zip ties. She brought her hands to her chin and forcefully brought her elbows down and out in one swift motion. This broke the zip ties and freed her hands. She brought her hands behind her back to attempt to untie the ropes around her torso. After a couple of minutes she managed to loosen the ropes and slide them over her head. She stood up almost falling over and in one quick motion brought her hands in between her knees and pushed down while spreading her knees, thus breaking the tape. She ripped off the rest of the tape and threw it into the shipping container. She cautiously opened the container's doors just wide enough for her to fit through. She tiptoed outside and thought that if her captors brought her here they might have brought her family as well. She saw an unmarked building with lights on inside. Once she'd confirmed that no one was looking, she ducked into the unmarked building. She walked down a hallway with many rooms on both sides. As she passed a doorway, she heard talking. The girl crept past the cracked door, listening with piqued interests for clues revealed in the voices beyond it. She recognized one of the voices to be her mother. As she peeked through the crack in the doorway to see if it was her mother, someone came up behind her, pinned her arm behind her back, and pushed her into the doorway. The man behind her told her to say what he whispered in her ear or something bad would happen. Megan nodded her head slightly as if to say she would do what he told her to. "Mamma, there's someone here to see you," she said. She knew her mother would be able to tell from her scared voice who that someone was. By the look on her mother's face, Megan's thoughts were confirmed. Megan, her mother, and her sister all knew that this must be Megan and her sister's father.

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