Chapter 5- Taken

  (Rosemary's Point of View)

  I woke up, feeling Sage's legs as they rested across me.

  "Damn, she's such a bad sleeper.", I said out loud as I slid her legs off me.

  Last night, she kept going about a letter, but I was sleepy and acted like I was paying attention. But I don't remember anything about it.

  I walked towards the bathroom, hearing all the bone-cracking sounds as I stretched my body. I heard a soft knock on the door as I prepared to turn on the water for my shower.

  "Hey, Rosemary, are you in the shower already?" I heard Liyah behind the door. I put my shirt back on.

  I walked to the door and opened it to find Liyah standing there.

  "Need something?" I said in an annoyed tone.

  She looked unbothered as she stood there.

  "My mom wanted to let you know breakfast was ready," she said. And turned around, walking out of the room.

  "Wait," I stopped her before she left.

  "Yes", she said, turning towards me.

  " Don't you think it's weird you're crazy mother is keeping us hostage," I said, annoyed.

  She looked at me, and I noticed she had paused for a second. She quickly wiped the blank facial expression off her face.

  "If you were hostages, you'd still be in the basement." She said and walked off.

  "Wait," I said, but she completely ignored me.

  "What the hell?" I said as I walked back into my room

  I started to wake Sage up and tell her what that stupid-looking girl said and how I would give her a piece of my mind. But I decided to let her sleep.

  I got dressed after my shower and walked down the stairs. Tia, Liyah, and the tall man sat by the table, eating and talking. After seeing Liyah again, I instantly lost my appetite. "Maybe I should take a walk to the pond, which I found a few days ago," I thought.

  While walking through the woods and the shortcut I found a week ago, I noticed one of the men who followed Tia was sitting on the bench smoking a cigarette.

  He was a tall, big, buff-looking man, pale-skinned with a couple of scars across his arms and one across his eyebrow. He was terrifying-looking to me.

  I started to turn around and walk another way because I wouldn't say I liked how that man looked at Sage and me. As soon as I began to turn around, I heard his phone ring.

  "I miss my phone," I thought to myself.

  When we arrived 2 months ago, the other big scary-looking guy bringing us the clothes and food took our phones and has yet to return them.

  "Hello," the man answered.

  I wanted to eavesdrop, so I tipped-toed and hid behind a tree a few yards away from him but still close enough to listen.

  "Any news yet?" The person on speaker phone said.

  It was another man's voice.

  "No, not yet; I'm pretty sure that bitch Marianna has gone into hiding, and the man helping her also has gone missing as well," he said.

  "Whose Marianna?" I thought to myself while trying to tip top a little closer.

  "A couple of days ago, we learned she doesn't go by her name, Marianna," the man said.

  "She goes by Peyton Young," he continued saying.

  I was startled by hearing Sage's mother's name. I tried not to make a sound so he wouldn't notice me.

  "Wait, the man is helping her. Is it my father?" I questioned myself.

  "And the girls?" the man on the phone said.

  "The girls are still here, but I don't know when Tia is going to move them to another location," he said while flicking off his cigarette. "She and Boston went to get passports for the girls, so it seems like she's planning on leaving the country, so we have to grab them before they can leave." He continued saying.

  I gasped quietly, shocked, and was a little terrified.

  I have to tell Sage, I thought to myself. I tipped-toed away slowly so I wouldn't step on anything that could get me caught. The man continued talking as he didn't notice me leaving. I wanted to continue to listen, but I felt like I was going to panic and decided to go straight to Sage.

  I hurried back to the house and ran up the stairs, almost running into Liyah.

  "Whoa," she said, catching me from almost falling down the stairs.

  "Are you okay?" she asked, looking concerned.

  "I'm fine," I said as I brushed her off.

  "Okay", she said,

  She looked like she wanted to tell me something but continued going down the stairs instead.

  I walked up the stairs and saw Sage standing by the door. She heard me and looked towards me.

  "Hey Rosie, where have you been? We need to talk!" Sage said in a demanding tone.

  I gesture to her to follow me to my room. She followed and locked the door after we entered.

  As soon as I entered the room, I started freaking out.

  "We have to get out of here now!" I said while balling my fist.

  "We can't," she said, "Our so-called parents told us to stay with Tia.

  I looked at her, confused and aggravated, "Why would they want us to stay with kidnappers?"

  Sage flopped down on the bed, sighing,

  "Because Liyah just came to me and told me her mother isn't an actual kidnapper; she's a bodyguard that's pretending to be a kidnapper to hide us from the actual kidnappers," she said as she rambled on.

  I stood there, even more confused.

  " Liyah told you that?" I asked, "How can you believe her?" I asked again.

  I flopped down on the bed on the side of her

  "Then we need to get out of here," I said.

  Sage put her head on my shoulder and sighed.

  "How are we going to get out of here if we don't even know where we are and know nothing about this place?" she asked.

  I forgot about that for a second and stretched my head.

  "Ugh, I don't know; maybe we can convince Tia to return our phones," I stated.

  Sage laid back on the bed, holding her head.

  "I wonder why my mom wants us to stay with Tia," she said in a frustrated tone.

  "Oh yeah, about that," I said, turning towards her, totally forgetting why I came to talk to her in the first place.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "I went outside and decided to go for a walk to clear my mind, and I saw one of the men that always follows Tia," I stated.

  Sage raised and looked me in the face.

  "I heard him say something about your mother's name not being Peyton; her actual name is Marianna."

  Sage got up and turned towards me, looking appalled.

  "That's not the only thing," I continued, and Sage looked at me even more frustrated.

  "If Tia's not a real kidnapper, I think she has a traitor," I said.

  Sage stepped back, surprised, " a traitor?" she asked. Unfortunately, we heard a knock on the door before she could get another word out. We looked at the door and then back at each other, and the knocking continued.

  "Sage?" Rosemary?" I heard Tia's voice.

  I opened the door to see Tia and the big guy whose name I had learned was Boston.

  "Hey girls, come downstairs for a second. We have something to discuss.

  We followed Tia down the stairs, and she led us to the dining room. The man I saw at the pond was sitting down at the table.

  Inside, I felt startled, but I knew not to show it. Sage grabbed my hand, and I gestured towards the man with her head. I nodded, and she nodded back.

  I decided to sit beside Liyah, and Sage sat close to Tia. I felt uncomfortable as I could tell the man had eyes on me.

  "Hey, girls," Tia said while smiling.

  "I wanted to introduce one of my colleagues. His name is Brent Faust, and he will join us once we get ready to leave this area".

  Before I could speak up, Sage started talking.

  "What do you mean we're leaving the area?" she asked.

  "Well, due to us burning down your houses, the police are reporting y'all missing, and we can no longer stay in this country," she answered.

  I stood up, knocking my food off the table. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

  "And what about our parents?" I yelled out. "Aren't you keeping us here until you find them?" I continued yelling.

  Tia stood up, walked over to me, and touched my shoulder as if comforting. I slapped her hand off me and got even more angry.

  "Cut the bullshit," I said, and she stepped back a little.

  Sage and Liyah stood up, and Liyah grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the dining room. Sage followed behind.

  "Hey, let go of me," I said, but she ignored me and kept pulling me.

  She headed toward the backyard and looked at me, putting one of her fingers against her lips as if telling me to shut up.

  We stopped by the back gate, and Liyah turned towards Sage.

  " Don't create any problems; my mom is trying to bait Brent," she said.

  Sage looked at Liyah and said, "She knows he's a traitor?"

  I looked at Liyah, waiting for her to answer.

  "Yes, we found out; he's been monitoring you both."

  "Surveillance," I said, appalled.

  "Yes, we found pictures and learned that he wired up the cabin you frequently visit," Liyah said.

  "What the" Sage said.

  "How are we supposed to be safe with him around?" she yelled at Liyah.

  Liyah covered Sage's mouth with her hand and leaned in closely.

  "We're not leaving anytime soon; we are trying to get them to make a move," she stated. " Honestly, we don't know who's looking for you, but your mother," she stopped and looked at Sage.

  " She's sending us the information a little at a time," Liyah added.

  Sage looked puzzled.

  "Wait," I said while trying to move her hand.

  "I heard that man saying Sage's mother, Peyton, wasn't her real name, and it's Marianna," I stated.

  Liyah raised her eyebrow and looked up as if deep in thought.

  "I'm not too sure about that," she looked back down," but my mom would know since they both were once in the special forces," she added on.

  "Special forces?" Sage asked. But before Liyah could answer. The back door opened, and Tia, Boston, and Brent walked out.

  We stepped out of our little bubble, and Liyah glanced towards her mother.

  Sage and I looked and saw Tia nodding her head.

  Liyah immediately grabbed Sage and I's hands.

  "Pretend we are friends and follow me up the mountain," she said, pulling me slightly.

  She put on a fake smile and started laughing. We immediately understood what she was doing and pretended to laugh, too.

  "Hey, Mom, we'll check on the cub Sage found," Liyah said.

  I saw Tia put on a fake motherly look", and she waved her hand and said, " Okay, hurry back, we still have some things to discuss."

  Sage and I nodded.

  " Yes, ma'am," we said as we started walking off.

  "Don't look back," Liyah said while still pulling onto me.

  "We have to get you out of here now!" she said, speeding up while walking.

  Sage and I looked at her and continued to follow her.

  She led us across the lake to another part of the mountain, and we hopped into a little boat.

  "When we get off this boat, we are heading into town." She said as she parked the boat on the dock.

  "Where are we..." before Sage could finish what she was saying. We heard loud gunshots.

  " Shit, it's starting," Liyah said as she looked towards the direction of the gunfire sounds and started to tie the boat in a hurry.

  "What's starting?" I asked. "Suddenly, I felt something touch the back of my head.

  I slowly turned around and saw three men with guns pointed at Sage, Liyah, and me.

  The three men had black masks on, and all had black clothing. One of the men stepped forward and hit Liyah with the back of the gun.

  "Liyah!" Sage and I screamed and tried to get to her, but the men grabbed us. They covered our eyes and mouths so we couldn't see or scream.

  "Boss, we got them," I heard one of the men yell out.

  "Good," I heard another voice and noticed the man named Brent walking towards us.

  He stood in front of us.

  "Go ahead and take them to the location," he said.