Unexpected Kidnap
< >"Come on, Nicole! Can we please go now?" I groaned, my feet tapping impatiently.
"Aww, alright," Nicole mumbled, reluctantly pulling herself away from the computer screen. I sighed. I grabbed my sling bag and threw Nicole's sling bag towards her. Naturally, Nicole missed. I grinned. "You're so clumsy," I teased. Nicole just picked up her bag and followed me out of the house. We were supposed to go and meet Dad. He said that he had someone he wanted us to meet. I, being the curious one, was determined to find out while Nicole just stares at her computer screen. Even though Nicole and I were sisters, we seemed to be total opposites.

< >We strolled down the blocks, craning our necks in search of Dad. We were told that he was in block 125, but we could not locate the apartment block. Then, in the middle of the silence other than our footsteps, someone else's footsteps could be heard echoing after ours. I stopped abruptly and whipped my head around, just to see a man burying his head into his newspapers. I shrugged and continued our search. Whenever I glanced back, the man would be behind us. If we stopped, he too will stop. I told Nicole about that man. "Maybe he's just some maniac or something. Just leave him alone," Nicole simply said, yawning. I kept quiet after that.

< >I glanced over my shoulders again and heaved a sigh of relief. The man was gone. "That man's gone, Nicole!" I said excitedly to Nicole. Nicole shrugged and replied, "What did I tell you, he's just some maniac!" I glared a Nicole furiously. I especially hated her for being so uncaring. As we turned the corner, there he was again - the sinister stranger. He glared at us through eyes red as coals. I pulled Nicole back. He let out a demonic laugh. There was a livid red scar on his right temple. His filthy, dishevelled hair fell over his face and he reeked of alcohol. His loose, ill-fitting clothes looked as though they had been slept it. "Are you scared of me?" he asked, smiling repulsively. "Let's go," I murmured. I turned back and tried to run, but the man clamped his hand onto my shoulders. He grabbed both of us and pulled us with him. I screamed, my heart beating as fast as a bullet train. Panic began to engulf me. The man slapped us tightly across our faces. Tears welled up my eyes. "Quiet, girls!" the man snapped. We shut our mouths as the man pushed us into a black van. "Stay here and don't move!" he snarled.

< >Tears poured down my cheeks as the man started the van. I glanced at Nicole with my dewy eyes. "What are we going to do?" I whispered. Nicole just stared at me, her eyes wide open.

< >After ten minutes or so, the man stopped the car. He opened the back of the van and pulled us out. "Remember to shut up," the man roared I darted my eyes towards my surroundings. We were in a deserted place in front of a old, derelict house. Two men came running out of the house. The three man pulled and shoved us into the house. Bewildered, I looked around me. Cobwebs covered the ceiling of the house and the floorboards squeaked under our feet as we walked on them. Where were we? What does these men want with us? They dragged us into a tiny, dark room. Two rickety-looking and low rocking chairs stood in the middle of the room. The men pushed us onto the chairs. "Keep quiet!" the men sneered. Even if the men did not tell us to stay quiet, I would have, for I was to shocked about what was happening to me to even speak. The man who we met at the blocks of apartment whipped out his cellphone and dialed a few numbers. "John," the man said. My jaws hung open. John was my father's first name. This maniac knows my Dad! "I won't be able to turn up... And so will your daughters!" he said, breaking into a menacing laughter. "Want to see us? Bring one million dollars by tomorrow. Leave it in the rubbish bin of the Park nearest your apartment. Don't call the police, or else!" he roared. The other two men broke into menacing laughter and threw the beer bottle on their hands onto the grounds. The bottles broke with a smash. I flinched. Large sharp pieces shards of glass covered the area around the chairs.

< >The men left the room after tying us onto the chairs with weak-looking, thin ropes. Since the men were not good with knots, they tied us to the chairs loosely. I slid my hand down onto the floor easily and grabbed a piece of glass from the floor, unmindful of the pain. Then, I started cutting the ropes with the glass. Within seconds, the ropes broke apart. I jumped up from the seat, relief written all over my face. I hurriedly cut apart the ropes that bounded Nicole. We hugged each other tightly, tears of relief and fear pouring down our cheeks. I stared at her. What now?

< >Nicole pointed to the door. I glanced at her and nodded. Then, we edged soundlessly out of the room. As we passed by the room next door, I took a peek inside. All the men were soundly asleep on mats spread out on the floor. One of them even has a bottle of beer in his hand! I grabbed Nicole's hand. "This is our chance!" I whispered to her. I broke into a run, pulling Nicole behind me. I realized that I did a mistake as Nicole tripped and landed face flat onto the ground with a loud thud. I groaned. Why must Nicole be so clumsy? "Who's there?" a voice boomed. I froze, panic-sticken. I pulled Nicole up to her feet and pushed her in front of me. I almost gave up hope when I saw how slow she ran, so I just grabbed her hand again and took to my heels, dragging Nicole behind me.

< >I raced to the deserted road and ran helter-skelter, no holds barred. Nicole's hand still gripped onto mine. "Hey! Stop! Stop!" voices bellowed behind me. I pushed myself forward. My legs felt like lead and my lungs felt like bursting, but I was unrelenting. I glanced behind me. Nicole was stumbling along behind me, trying very hard to keep up. "Police! Call the police!" I yelled breathlessly over my shoulders.
Nicole dug into her pockets and fished out her handphone. She punched the numbers '999' onto her handphone and pressed it on her ear. She spoke hurriedly into the phone. "Where are we?" she yelled. I whipped my head around and just in time ran past a signboard which said 'Yellow Avenue 210'. "Yellow Avenue 210!" I shouted. I took another glance behind me. The men were chasing us with knife in hand. They seemed to be starting to get exhausted. I charged forward and tripped on a crack in the road and toppled onto the ground. Nicole tripped over me and fell on top of me. I groaned and picked myself up, checking for any injuries. I pulled Nicole up hurriedly and she shrieked in pain, clutching her ankle. "I think I've sprained it!" she stuttered, tears of agony pouring down her cheeks. I froze. Terror gripped my whole being as the loud footsteps came closer, and closer...

< >The men grinned. They closed in to us with their knives held up. "You shouldn't have done that. You should have just stay in the room quietly! But I guess you're just like your father, so stubborn, so brave..." The man growled. He raised his knife high and was about to stab us when sirens rented the air. He dropped his knife with wide-eye horror. Whipping his head around, he saw several police cars rushing into the quiet road. An ambulance was also there. They turned in the opposite directions and took to their heels. Policemen poured out from their cars and held up guns. "Hands up!" They yelled. The men stopped in their tracks and held up their hands. Then they were arrested and brought away. Nicole was brought to the hospital and I came along.

< >When we got home, tears of relief streamed down our cheeks as we ran into our parents arms. Dad explained everything. We found out that he had actually called us to meet his long-lost brother, but instead, since his brother was deeply in debt, he decided to kidnap us instead and demand for ransom. Even though I had no scars from the incident, the incident was scarred in my mind ever since!

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