Messed Up by Molly Owens Read Free Book Online Page B

the quiet night. I looked back at Levi with fear suddenly reaching my gut.
    “You’ll be safe. Trust me,” he repeated sternly. He gave me one last look that I couldn’t quite read before running noiselessly into the thicket of trees.
    I could feel my heart beating in my chest, loud and fast, as the realization that I may have made a huge mistake by blindly following Levi set in. Although my palms were warm and clammy, I began to shiver. I sat down on one of the benches and took a deep breath. From where I sat on the hill, I could see all the way to my elementary school. I could see the pool where I’d learned to swim, and the house where I had my first babysitting job. I marveled for a second at the strange path my life had taken that night.
    I heard the crunching of gravel under his feet before I could see him. Toby came around the bend in the path with his usual eager smile on his face. What a puppy dog, I thought.
    “Chels!” It’s so good to see you!” he exclaimed, like we were old friends meeting in the supermarket.
    “Hey Toby,” I responded, trying to keep my voice steady, “Thanks for coming.” He sat down beside me on the bench. I kept my eyes fixed on the neighborhood below, avoiding eye contact. “Listen, Toby. I’ve just been thinking that… I wanted to make it really clear that… You know that we’re just friends, okay?”
    He was silent, frozen. For a moment I thought it was because of what I had said, but when I turned to look at him, I saw he was staring up the path toward the hills behind us. I followed his gaze. My body froze when I saw what he was looking at. A group of four men were walking rapidly toward us. Each of them dressed entirely in black, including, and most frighteningly, their ski masks. For a quick instant I thought perhaps one of the figures was Levi. But they were all much larger than him. These were not adolescent boys, they were men, big men. And one thing was blatantly clear, they were coming for us.
    If my heart was beating fast before, it was now pounding with such speed and power that I thought it might explode out of my chest. I stood up, bracing myself. Toby hesitated for a split second and then began to run. He hadn’t made it two steps before the men surrounded us. The one nearest to Toby raised his leg and kicked him directly in the back, sending him tumbling to the dirt. I watched, as the side of Toby’s face made contact with a large rock on the ground. Blood splattered out from his mouth and dripped down his chin. He was still for a second, his horrified eyes looking right at me, as if pleading for help. But what can I do? I thought helplessly.
    “ Stop!” I screamed, with more force than I knew I had in me. I bent down and started pulling Toby up. He was halfway to his feet before another man kicked him in the stomach throwing him backwards to the ground. He screamed out in pain as the back of his head collided with the corner of the bench. Two of the men the grabbed Toby by his arms and yanked him forcefully to his feet.
    “ Stop!” I screamed again, this time running at the smallest of the four men and attempting to knee him in the crotch. He was faster than me and was able to grab my arms and hold my flailing body away from him. “Please!” I pleaded hopelessly into the amber eyes that stared out from the mask. The other men ignored me completely as they began dragging Toby back the way they had come, up the hill and into the darkness. The man who had me by the arms shoved me forcefully, sending my body stumbling backwards, and joined the others as they disappeared into the trees. Just then I heard a sound I’m not sure I will ever be able to completely forget, Toby began to cry.
    I stood still for a moment while everything seemed to go silent. Then my body began to tremble uncontrollably. A heat, like I’ve never felt before, surged through me, starting at my chest and radiating out to my fingers and toes. I began to run, where to, I didn’t