Chains

                                                          C          H          A         I         N         S
              

               A month and two weeks went by. Judging by Hinata’s body language as she marched through the trimmed path keeping a larger gait two feet in front of me. She was agitated, I knew better than to open my mouth and interrogate our captors. From what I had gathered they truly were true to their word of not harming either one of us, yet, in the back of my mind doubt still lingered. As a toddler I can recall testing my boundaries on my parents and pushing to see how far I could get away with things, not that same familiar itch crept across my body. I couldn’t help it. This was a foreign exchange for me. One no test or studying could better aid my understanding of the etiquette and what it is I should do. For now I was only able to be present. To adapt to the confrontation forced on me and come up with the best solutions. I was thrust into a game where I was devoid of an inkling on the rules.

                Perhaps I was underestimating Hinata. I had been acting as though she were a fragile flower too delicate to keep her head in this type of situation, then again, she always surprised me so perhaps she was better suited for something like this and I was the weak link. But I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Without using my one chance to take and use before certain ‘doom’ or ‘punishments’ would be imparted onto me. I’ve formulated this a thousand times in my head but the tricky part would be to execute it. I wanted HInata’s involvement to be as nonexistent as possible. If I was going to attempt to escape in order to get us help, I didn’t want her to have the brunt of the punishment either. The best possible scenarios I could think of that would give me at least a few more precious drops of time was to use her. Even speaking to her was impossible for now. We were monitored closely when we ate and when we were on our walks and we weren’t allowed to even socialize when we were together.

                I had to figure out a logical way to get a message to her, somehow tell her that I had a plan in the works and to hang on just a little longer---not for her, but for my cowardly self to get the guts to carry out the proper plans. Thinking about scenarios and actually doing them are two different creatures. And my mind was constantly yelling at me to find my backbone and do something. Not to be an impassive observer outside my own body. I snapped out of my thoughts when she grabbed my hand giving a gentle squeeze to draw my attention to her worried smile. Could we develop a silent code? That would be far too complex and take too much time. She let go a second later and I adjusted my furrowed brows to a normal non inquisitive expression. I can hear our captor walking three feet behind in a heavy but gracefully long stride which would be no match for my shorter stature should I choose to outrun him. Once again, this would require Hinata stalling for as much time as she could so I could get a needed head start.

                We nonchalantly spoke about the weather and things we observed upon our walk at the dinner table that night. I noted that the two men were becoming gradually relaxed whenever we directed our comments towards things like this and therefore felt comfortable enough to carry on conversations of their own. This too was progress, slow, but still something we didn’t have three weeks before where we were observed in all mannerisms and topics. I doubt Hinata knew Morse code but I attempted it none-the-less. I started by concealing my hand beside my plate, careful enough to make sure the shackle around my wrist didn’t drag against the wooden tabletop to give me away, then silently and slowly so I didn’t attract attention through my movements, began to air tap against the table.

                This was meant purely for her. She could see by my nervous gazing to the brothers that I was trying to tell her something, something that wasn’t just a random occurrence of me being fidgety. She too understood and dared a nervous glance to them without turning her head and then nodded very subtly. And so I delivered my message. All with a brow beaded with sweat, and my adrenaline spiked due to the fact that with a simple sweep of either set of eyes I would be caught. I broke down my message into simpler syntax and just when I noticed the motion of one of the heads turning this way made a grab for my glass of water and Hinata naturally resumed eating after having pretended to drivel on aloud about our day.

                As I lay in bed on the flat of my back and hands folded over my stomach I naturally fall into thinking about the embarrassment of asking the younger brother to stay. After mentally berating myself and outwardly cringing at my actions I move onto the questionable phase which will be followed by planning my plot and then sleep. I knew Hinata’s father was powerful and therefore would want to quickly pay to get his daughter back and yet---we were here far too long. Longer than anticipated. The men had explained about being a sort of third party. Did something happen where the men who were behind this messed up and it was just taking awhile longer to correct? Or was there a possibility that---no! Hinata’s family would never turn their back on her. But then I think about Neji. He’s head of the corporation despite Hinata being Hiashi’s own daughter, Neji was male and unfortunately female. Another thing that bothered me…Hinata was more than capable of heading the company but was overlooked thanks to Neji surpassing her in business school and getting a law degree. He tossed a few good ideas to Hiashi and then a few years later sphere headed the organization raking in millions thanks to his contributions in projects while Hinata’s had the same potential. My fingers knot against one another as the thought draws me deeper into despair for her. I know they’d want her back, but if there’s a tactical proposition opposing the success of the transaction it would be Neji. He’s about number and strategy, not empathy, and sympathy. I imagine him trying to get these guys in a more permanent solution involving the law and its judicial system, and yet---that’d be such a slow process for one needed evidence and the brothers had been careful, not to mention I didn’t know the persons identity of who was actually orchestrating all this….

                Before the thoughts have a chance to ensnare and enrage me I move onto my plan. Its easy to simulate it. If I wanted, I could imagine myself pulling guns out of the trees and holding the brothers at bay or just smashing through the wall and flying away with Hinata on my back to the police. But this needed to be framed delicately. I needed to prepare for all types of situations and this included the possibility of me actually achieving it with that one percent. So I stitch every detail into my head, I patch it together, I think of all the repercussions that will occur, and then when my stomach unknots itself I fade to black.

                I use the next two days to inform Hinata what my plans are and a few times I actually think she’s going to betray me by opening her mouth and telling the brothers I’m planning to run away. But then I realize she’s taking it all in. Absorbing and worrying. She wants to dissuade me but I have to try. She isn’t expendable. I urge a smile and a small nod before I take a generous sip of coffee that was poured for us out of the graciousness of our elder hosts heart. The one called Itachi seems more empathetic. Perhaps I could play on that should I get dragged back. But more than likely if this is about tactics, he’ll leave the dirty work to his younger brother and I won’t see the light of day again. I feel my nerves fraying. I grip the ceramic mug and look into the muddy surface before drowning my reflection with grains of sugar.

                I think about Neji again and I curse his name. If this isn’t his fault and if I live, I will personally apologize for thinking badly of him. But for now its nice to have a crutch and put all my problems on one person. Ill repent later. As I awake the next morning I can feel the electricity in the air. Its intermingled with the adrenaline pipelining through my blood. I can feel the race of my heart like a hummingbird trying to escape from the cage of my ribs. I practically jump like a cat being sprayed with a bucket of water when the youngest opens the door and summons me to breakfast. If I am to successfully carry this plan out I need to act nonsuspicious. I need to carry out my normal routines. I payed attention to the weather the night before, I stayed up just to make sure I could factor it into the plot.

                I steal a glance to one of the windows and notice there’s still dew fresh from this mornings shower and observe the shape and color of the clouds. Some look ready to burst as they float with bloated gray bellies closer to the back portion of the house. I hope it stays away from cold currents that could burst it open. I take my seat at the table and feel the younger one test the limits of my restraints. I can’t eat too much. Toast will be good fuel for my body, as well as the egg and water. Orange juice, maybe a little sip of sugar. No coffee. Not today. It will dilute my blood and my energy will run out quicker. I never touch the greasy home fries. I need all my capillaries to be clear and strong.

                There is no going back. My body is vibrating with the ready push I’ll command it once I gather up my courage. I can tell Hinata is deeply concerned about me as well. She keeps looking at me nervously while the little diamond in her eyes twinkles and quakes. She knows the plan. We’ve gone over it for two days. She’s silently agreed to do it. The ground is a little damp so I’ll need to be careful to avoiding puddles and mud that can make one slide as easily as black ice. Today had to be the day, the elder brother has gone for a grocery run. During our first encounter I knew how rough and strong the younger one would be, but I still needed to bank on Hinata holding him off while he detains her before coming after me. He won’t have time to call for his brother to turn around and by the time he does he’ll have lost track of me.

                I can see her shoulders shaking. The youngest speaks, his baritone voice grates against my skin. He’s asking her if she’s cold which of course she has to reply she is, despite it being a bit muggy out. He begins to remove his jacket. How chivalrous. I can’t insult him right now, I need to focus. While he’s distracted in this moment I can take advantage and run. My heart bounds into my throat, I can feel the heat pool to the muscles in the back of my legs as though I’ve already done an endurance exercise, they burn, my breath gets shorter and shorter, my pupils dilate, I look to Hinata and she knows. She sees the signal. I position my hands like a runner, I extend my back foot, and in that instant she wraps her arms around the youngest assailant’s waist trapping him in an awkward position after trying to peel off his jacket for her. He only has one good free hand and he looks stunned. I can’t continue to watch this unfold I need to run and I do.

                As I sprint I can feel the muscles and bone in my legs connect with the hard impact of the ground. I feel it thrum through my body urging me faster and faster. I’ve accounted for all this. Their voices were muffled but now come back in a daunting clear almost overbearing yell. He’s angry, with her and me as I gain ground. I can hear he’s trying to pry her off him and drag her back to the house. I can hear his clumsy movements. And then I focus on myself. I prepared for this, I did. But what I did not prepare for was the actual nature of things. A bramble of thorns momentarily stops me as it bites into my flesh and hooks into my skin. I cry out and pull. I can see the holes in my shirt as I flee. I encounter thick brush that scrapes at me, branches blinding me as they smack into my eyes and beat against the bridge of my nose.

                The pain hurts but I need to keep going. I need to get help for not just me but for Hinata. Do this for her. I urge myself by restating my mantra and sprinting the best I could like a clumsy fawn over downed branches, vaulting over roots and broken trees spiking up from the earth threatening to impale me. I can hear wildlife scatter as I run madly through the wood. It had been so long since I was in an actual forest but how could I forget all these obstacles? I thrived in the city, I knew there was the possibility of me failing in the country and I had factored that into my scenarios but I didn’t grasp the severity of the reality I was facing now. I knew nothing about running off trail. Especially in the woods. I was ignorant to the fact that everything is trying to drag you down, unless once walked. But I needed to run, and blindly might I add, and so I continued to get assaulted by low hanging limbs, terrified I might put a hole in my body should I gravely misstep and impale myself on cracked timber.

                The world began blending into this singular muffling noise. At first I could hear and understand the cicadas singing in the trees but then it eclipsed with the song of the birds and the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet intermingling with the slosh from my shoes, and then there was deafening silence. All I could hear was my heavy breathing. My skin was burning where the thorns tore at my skin leaving nasty bites that stung. I felt the ache in my legs like someone had put weights around my ankles. This was not flat concrete. This was uneven terrain filled with uneven slopes and hills. Due to this, I was slowing just to avoid them.

                It felt like hours. I thought I was going to puke, collapse, and cry all in the same breath but my body was still propelling forward and I was getting used to merely watching my feet in order to dodge things. So when I looked up and I heard the rush of cars I knew I was near a highway and I thought I could fly. I came to a field. Not flat land, but still better than the terrain of the woods, no branches ready to claw at your eyes and face while running, no protruding obstacles. I raced towards that sound. I used it as my guiding star. And then briefly I saw the shimmering flash of red like the scales of a fish in clear water zip by through the brush just ahead of me and I ran toward it. The road was active so I wouldn’t have to wait long to catch another one, and I stumbled. My body was overexerted and exhausted and yet I poured everything I had left into those last few feet before I reached the road. The flat slab of concrete jostled the bone against muscle in my calves and I had never been so happy to be literally out of the woods before. As I stay doubled over to catch my breath I can hear the echoing of a car coming up over the hill. It would be in view any minute now. And there like the grace of Kami-sama my savior rode in a yellow convertible and black top. Here he or she was blessedly ignoring the speed limit and doing over sixty taking up the slope of the road in a matter of minutes and within a few more seconds would be here and see me waving frantically to him to stop. And then I saw the outline of the person and I had hope. Especially when they started to slow down.