Chapter 1:

“VALENCIA! GET UP RIGHT NOW!” Tera screamed.

“I’m up, chill out,” I replied in annoyance.

“Why are you asleep on the couch?” asked Tera.

I didn’t know how I ended up on the couch, or how I even got home. The last thing I remembered was my final class of school on Friday. I wasn’t going to let Tera know that though, because she would freak out if she knew.

“I was super tired and I just fell asleep,” I replied.

“When did you get home last night?” she questioned, being skeptical of my story.

“I don’t remember what time it was, sorry.”

“Whatever, weirdo, I’m going to work, you go to school.”

“It’s Saturday Tera.”

“Valencia, you've been gone all weekend, it’s Monday. Monday morning which means you should be in school.”
“Yeah, ok I’m going.” I was terrified, I couldn’t remember any of what happened during the weekend. I was wearing a tightly fit tank top and a pair of my sister’s old soccer shorts. Piles of snow covered every inch of the ground. The amount of fear that was being bottled up inside my mind, made it so I was numb to the cold. I ran and ran until I finally reached the school. All I wanted to do was figure what happened to me on Friday.

I stepped into the school, and I immediately saw my best friend standing in the corner. She obviously had been crying, her face was red and puffy. I ran over to Josie and when she saw me she hugged me with all her might.

“Josie, what happened? Why are you crying?” I nervously questioned her.

“You’re alive, how is this possible? I’m dreaming. It isn’t real.”

“Josie what are you talking about, I am very real.”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“The fact that you aren’t buried six feet under.” A shiver went down my spine, she must know what happened.

“Josie, what happened to me this weekend?”

“Valencia, I don’t know.”

“You sound like you know.”

“I only know bits and pieces.”

“Please, just tell me anything you know.” I was begging her, I needed to know.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me outside of the school. “Valencia, we are going to figure this out together. I will tell you everything, just not here.”

“Are you encouraging me to skip school, I thought I’d never see this day.”

She rolled her eyes and we walked to the parking lot. We got into her car and starting driving. Her car window was shattered.

“What happened to your window?”

“Valencia, I don’t know.”

Chapter 2:

“I am about to say things you are not going to believe, but you need to trust me. I am telling the truth, I promise.” Josie had tears running down her face.

“Ok, I promise I’ll try to believe,” I replied.

“We were walking out of our last class on Friday and I overheard Maci Jones talking about the party she was going to throw that night. I begged you to come with me, oh how I wish I hadn’t. I was able to convince you to go to the party. We went to your house and got dressed up. We hung out until it was time for the party. I thought it would be ideal to be fashionably late, so we went an hour after the party started. A stranger grabbed us and pulled us into the alleyway by Maci’s  house.” Josie pushed some of my hair out of the way and started to push her fingers against the purple skin on the side of my face.

“Oh my gosh Josie, OW!”
“The last thing I remember from that weekend is watching him pull you by your hair and punch you right in the side of your head. I remember standing there while your body collapsed to the floor. I stood there as if my feet were glued to the ground. Then everything went black.”

“Why didn’t you bring this to the police?”

“I thought you were dead, and I don’t remember anything. They would’ve just assumed I was drunk. I had no solid proof, and I still don’t.”

“The number one question right now is what are we trying to find proof for?”

“I don’t know but I think this might help us.” she pulled my ear forward, “I’ve got one too.”

“One what Josie?” She pulled her ear and revealed the skin behind it. 114 was written in bold black ink on the skin behind her ear.

“Yours says 115.”

“Well, what does that mean?”

“I don’t know Valencia, I’m freaked out too. I thought you died.”

“I can’t be alone right now.”

“I can’t either, want to stay here?”

“Yeah.”

“C’mon wash up, I can tell you definitely didn’t take care of your personal hygiene this morning.”

“Oh, whatever, I was a little freaked out.” I walked into the bathroom and turned the faucet on. I cupped my hands and splashed the freezing water across my face.

Chapter 3 (Josie POV):

I could hear Valencia screaming inside the bathroom. She was sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, with her legs tightly squeezed up to her chest. She was crying a river of tears and had a look of pure terror on her face. I crouched down next to her and let her sob in my arms.

“Valencia, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“I think,” she took a long pause in between words and hesitated to say more, “I remember.”

“Okay, once you feel like you are ready to tell me, I’ll be in the kitchen grabbing us some water.”

“NO!” She grabbed my arm tightly as I tried to stand up. I winced at her touch; I had never seen her act so possessive.

“Let go Valencia,” I tried to take her hand off of my arm, but she wouldn’t budge, “let me go!”

“Do not get water. I am ready to talk.”

“Ok, talk.”

“I was splashing my face with water when I remembered something.” she took a deep breath. “I was sitting on a metal chair, next to me were two men that looked like some sort of bodyguards. In front of me was a pane of glass that separated the room where I was sitting, from another room that had a woman laying on a table. The woman on the table was tied down and had tubes coming out of her arm and legs. The tubes were connected to these large tanks full of water. Another man walked into the room, and as I tried to stand up I realized I was tied to the chair. The man walked in front of me and said ‘Hello contestant 115! Today we are going to see if you value contestant 109’s life! This is going to be a lot of fun. If I ask you a question and you answer wrong, contestant number 109 will get one gallon of water pumped into her body. If you get another question wrong she gets two gallons and so on. You ready to play?’

I replied to what he said with ‘you are insane, let me out of here.’

‘The only way you can get out is if you pass through three rounds of being on that table with tubes in you and you don’t die. We will take away your memories of being here and you will simply live your life again. Well, I’m not much of a patient man. Question one: Who did your dad have an affair with?’

“How do you know that? You creep, what are you some sort of stalker?”

“Answer the question.”

“I don’t know.”

“Final answer?”

“She was blonde.”

“She was a fake blonde.”

“Ok, but I don’t know her name.”

“Poor 109, today is just not her day,” as he said that he pressed a button on the wall and I watched contestant 109 scream in pain. That’s all I remember.”

Chapter 4 (Valencia’s POV):

Josie and I spent the rest of the day watching movies and doing homework. We tried everything we could think of to keep our mind’s off of the kidnapping, but it was all I could think about. I slept over at her place and in the morning we decided it would be best if we went to school.

“Valencia, we are going to figure out what happened I promise.”

“Josie, what are we supposed to do if we can’t remember anything else?”

“We live our lives and wait for the triggers. Now stop worrying let’s just be normal teenagers and go to school.”

Josie and I walked to our class and I sat through the entirety of history class without really listening to a single word being said. I was staring out the window, tuning out the class until someone poked my shoulder.

“Valencia answer the question.” Mr. Bradley said.

“What?” I was absolutely shocked, at that moment Mr. Bradley sounded exactly like my kidnapper.

“I’m not much of a patient man, please don’t keep me waiting.”

“She was blonde.” I blurted out.

“Final answer.”

“She was a fake blonde.”

“Poor Valencia, today is just not her day. Anyone want to answer the question correctly this time.” It was at this moment, I realized it was Mr. Bradley. Mr. Bradley, my history teacher kidnapped me and tortured me. I rolled up my sleeves to look at my scars from where the tubes were. I started crying uncontrollably. I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, I was full of anger and confusion.

“BRrring…. BriIing… Ring.” The bell for class went off.

“Okay class, everyone out,” Mr. Bradley said, “oh wait, Valencia can I talk to you?” I walked up to him, my entire body shaking, while he smiled the same wicked smile. “You never did answer, who did your dad have an affair with?” He stepped closer to me, too close, and whispered in my ear “it’s too bad, you’ll never really know.” Everything went black and my whole body felt flimsy and unstable. Then there was endless nothingness.

Chapter 5:

It has been over two years since you went missing, I miss you. Today is your birthday. I went to dinner with Tera, she has finally found a way to deal with the pain. She got engaged last week, can you believe it? We always joked about how she couldn’t keep a guy for two whole days. The whole world felt like it stopped when they told me you were most likely dead because of how long you have been gone. To hear that my best friend was “most likely dead” hurt more than hearing that you went missing. I still have hope that you are still alive somewhere out there, living your best life. Sometimes I like to imagine that you are at school in England, having extravagant wine and excelling in all your classes. I know there is a possibility that you are dead, but if I say it that means it is true and I don’t want it to be true.

Valencia I love you so much. There is a gaping hole in my heart that formed as soon as you were ripped out of my life. You were the strongest person I had ever met. Instead of dwelling on the past you created the future. You lived your life for others not just yourself. Valencia you knew how to make everyone smile, you had a pure heart. You didn’t just do good deeds, you were a good person. When other people didn’t have a smile you gave them yours. You took every ounce of happiness that you had and gave it to other people. You were a masterpiece. You were a piece of art that created joy in those who saw it. You were the best friend I could have ever asked for. I would have died for you but most of all I will live for you. I don’t get to give up, because I am going to be strong and live my life not just for myself but for you. I am going to honor you and your life. I will show the world all the little things you taught me.

Valencia you may be gone but we will never really be apart because a piece of you is still in my heart. You impacted my life and left the most beautiful mark. You helped me through my pain while you were dealing with your own. You were in my life for a reason and the time you spent with me on this Earth meant so much to me. You taught me how to find my way through the dark. I could never thank you enough Valencia because now that you are gone I now realize that the little things in life do matter just like you said.

-Josie