Chapter 5
Natalia, or Rae as she preferred to be called, left the school building and headed towards the parking lot. Her parents didn't pick her and her siblings up often, but when they did, they were always on time. So obviously she was a little bit surprised to not see either of her parents or the car.
Rae decided not to worry about it – everyone could be a little late. She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. They were almost ten minutes late. That probably wasn't weird for anyone but for them. It was unusual.
She looked around and searched for her dad's car.
Maybe he was picking up her younger siblings first. Rae frowned, she texted her father.
Where are you?
The message remained unread for almost twenty minutes before he texted back:
Hey, sorry, can you walk home?
Rae's frown deepened. Couldn't he at least have told her that he wasn't going to show up. She had been waiting for him for the past half an hour. She huffed out a frustrated breath and replied yes.
She shut her jacket and wrapped her arms around herself and began walking down the street that headed to the school.
She heard tires squealing and turned around to see a black truck drive right behind her. She went to the right to make more space for them but the car stayed behind her.
She shuddered, an uneasy dreading feeling settled in her stomach. She pointedly ignored the truck and looked at her phone again. The truck was driving really slow and was still behind her. The street was empty, and that really didn't help.
In a rush of panic, Rae called her father. No one answered. She let out a frustrated growl and clutched her phone tight.
Who were they and what did they want from her?
Every feeling of safety had left her. She walked faster, but as soon as she did so, the car drove quicker as well. Finally she worked up the courage to look over her shoulder back at the car. Through the windscreen she could barely make out someone who wore black sunglasses. She stopped in her tracks when she recognized the face of the second person that sat on the passenger's seat.