I woke up when the car went over a bump. I don’t remember when exactly I had dozed off but it must have been a while ago because it was dark out now. I looked at the clock. It said 2:30 am. The car was extremely quiet. It was very creepy. The only thing I heard was the sound of the car’s tires rolling over the road and the soft hum of the motor. I looked out the window searching for a sign or something to tell me where we were. From what I could tell we were driving down a back road in the middle of nowhere. Trees lined either side and flashed by as we drove. It was one lane of dirt and it seemed to disappear into the trees ahead, going on forever. After a while of looking at nothing I fell into blackness, back asleep.

  I woke up with a small start. I didn’t know what had woken me up and it took a moment to figure out what had changed. The car wasn’t moving. That was the reason I woke up. “We’re here.” His voice came out of the dark. I looked out the window but still couldn’t see anything. His door opened and he walked slowly around the front of the car to open my door. He wrenched my door and unlocked the handcuffs, setting me momentarily free. I looked around, searching for a promising way to run but came up with nothing. After I got out of the car he grabbed my forearm like he knew I had been thinking about escape. I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere very far if I tried to run now. He knew the area and I would be running blindly through the woods. He opened a door in the darkness and pushed me inside.

  I stood in the middle of a cabin. The main room, and what looked like one of the three rooms in here, had a table, five chairs, a woodstove, and a couple coolers on the floor in the corner. A worn out couch sat in front of the woodstove. From what I could see of the other two rooms one was a bathroom and the other was a bedroom with two fold-up army cots. Home sweet home. I walked a little farther into the main room and he came in behind me.

  A couple bags thumped to the floor and he walked around turning on kerosene lanterns that were scattered around the main room. Then he turned around to look at me. “If you try to run you will either get killed or get caught before you get anywhere near civilization. I have a acquaintance watching the roads and if you get out he will find you. I won’t hold you here by force unless I have to. Make yourself at home.” Then he smiled at me and I wanted to kill him.

  He likes orders doesn’t he. He left me standing in the middle of the room looking clueless. I heard him moving around in the “bedroom” and he came out with a phone. He dialed a number that I could tell was Jacks. The pattern of beeps were familiar. He talked a couple minutes but I couldn’t hear nor understand a word he said. About five minutes later he handed me the phone.

  “Are you there?” Jack’s voice was quiet, he was thinking hard about something. “Yeah” I didn’t know what else to say. “Don’t try to take off, we want to find you alive. I have decided to agree on his deal and you should be out of there soon.” What the hell was he talking about? “What deal?” “It doesn’t matter now, just listen to what he says.” “Yes it does, tell me what’s going on?“ His line was silent and then I hears a noise. click The sound had an odd but dark finality to it. I handed him back the phone and then saw the look on his face. He was watching the emotions flash across my face and there was an odd look in his eye. The pieces of what he said started to click into place in my head. I ran into the “bedroom,” slamming the door behind me. I didn’t care what he said about it but I knew one thing, whatever Jack agreed to wasn’t good and I had a feeling it had something to do with a trade, him for me.