48 Hour Short Story Contest

Michaela walked out of the Walgreens and to her car. She had stopped in for a gallon of skim milk, the prints from a disposable camera of her and her new boyfriend Dan, and on the way out she spotted a 3 Musketeers Mint and decided what the heck- it won't hurt anything. She dug her key out of her jeans pocket. It was the fifth key she'd had made- just in case she lost the other four, which she had a habit of doing. On the key chain was her collection of key chain charms. Something fluttered to the ground that had come out of her pocket. She picked it up. It was a crinkled picture of her and her ex-boyfriend, Al. She hear a car starting and looked up. Someone was sitting in her car! She gasped and the person looked up. It was Al. He looked almost the same as when she had left him- cute brown eyes, curly orange hair, and his strangely oval head. At the sight of the long ugly scar that ran down his left cheek, Michaela screamed, dropping her items. A few people turned to see Al grabbing her shirt collar and pulling her into the car, a red Mercedes Benz. "Get down and stay down," Al growled to Michaela, shoving her under the dashboard, into the small foot space for the passenger seat. Michaela didn't realize that she was still screaming until Al clamped his hand over her mouth. Michaela felt the car shifting as they roared onto the highway. She heard a police siren behind them and Al swore under his breath. The car swerved, the brakes squealing. This reminded Michaela of a car chase scene in one of her favorite movies. She had had time to calm down, and was now aware of the danger she faced. She looked into the backseat of the car. There was an old broom, some old newspapers, a few Twix wrappers, another disposable camera, and a pair of shoes she had forgotten to take to the shoe repair section of Meijer. Michaela formed a plan and took a chance. She grabbed the old broom, figuring she could catapult out the back window onto the trunk, where she could climb off and maybe get help. She was about to jump out the window when she felt a strong hand grasp her ankle. She cried out and fell across the backseat. Al swore at her. "I said stay down!" he barked. Michaela was close to tears as she lay on cluttered back seat. Where had the teenage boy she had loved not that long ago? She felt a lump in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Yes! Now she might be able to escape! She quickly wrote a text message. HELP! KIDNAPPED BY EX BF. GOING EAST ON TH HIGHWAY. SEND HELP QUICK. CONTACT THE POLICE She sent it to one of her best friends. Her heart beat wildly as the car kept going. The police car sirens had died away and they were pulling off the highway. How had Al ditched the police? How? The phone beeped loudly and Michaela drew in her breath. Al looked back and swore again. As he reached for her phone, Michaela checked the message. WHT R U TLKIN ABOUT? AL OR DAN? What was Jo thinking? Why was she even texting back? she should be talking to the police right now! Some help. Al grabbed the phone and wrestled her for it. He eventually got it away from her. But Michaela was not defeated yet. She leaped up and put one hand on her phone and the other arm she wrapped around Al's neck. She wasn't afraid of ramming into any other cars now that they were on a deserted back street and not the overcrowded highway. Michaela was so focused on getting her phone back that she did not see the hand of Al's that wasn't on the steering wheel reach into his pocket, pulling out a phial of liquid. He brought it to his mouth and pulled the cork out with his teeth. Michaela saw out of the corner of her eyes that Al was bring the phial close to her face. Michaela swung her head around and got a whiff of the liquid coming from the phial. It smelled strongly of rose petals and cinnamon. Michaela's brain clouded over and her eyes flickered. Her hand slipped from her phone and her other arm slipped a little. Her fingers swiped blindly for the phone. The arm around Al's neck went limp and Michaela saw herself falling back onto the backseat and then everything went black.