I was woken up by being yanked out of my bed. I was confused for a moment, not understanding what was happening to me. I heard voices but I couldn't make them out. I felt arms around me, and then a blindfold was placed over my eyes. And rope was tied around my wrist, and I was over someone's shoulder before I could even scream. I tried to scream then, and then something was wrapped around my mouth. I tried to scream again but it was muffled. I didn't know who I was screaming for. My parents, where were they? What was happening, who had me, where are they taking me?

I smelled perfume, heavy and suffocating strawberry and lavender. Lindsay's signature scent. I heard her voice then, giggling to herself. A male voice I didn't recognize was talking to her. That must've been whose shoulder I was draped over. I felt helpless, kinda like a ragdoll as I was bounced around as the man that held me was walking. I wasn't sure where we were  going, but I knew when we were going down the stairs because I went up and down, up and down, flopping like a fish.

I heard the door open and close. I felt myself once again being placed into a car, and my adrenaline was in overdrive. Were they going to try to assault me again? Was this how it ended? Lindsay herself was actually here this time, so this had to be something grand. I tried to kick and flail around, my survival instincts finally kicking in. I was placed on a seat and a buckle went around me and clicked. I tried to wiggle around, but the seatbelt kept me firmly in place. The only thing I could move was my legs, and flailing them around did no good because I was just kicking the seat in front of me.

The car started moving, and I tried screaming again but it was really no use. I tried my best to wiggle out of the restraints binding my wrist together, but I was no James Bond. I was not the protagonist of some mystery or sci-fi or fantasy or whatever film where they were able to get themselves out of the restraints and then beat up the bad guys. In fact, if I was in a book or a movie, I didn't feel like I would be the protagonist. I feel like I'll be the antagonist. I mean, I seemed to get in everyone's way. Besides, I didn't  really have common sense, or good survival skills. I didn't really have any of the charming qualities that most main characters had. I was just kind of there, existing. I just kind of existed, I didn't have this grand purpose or anything like that. I was just Sam. I was just a girl.

My hair was messy, whacking me in the face I tried to move. It was irking me. Finally, I heard words that I recognized.

"Will you shut up,  Sam, all you're doing is wasting your energy back there." This was Lindsay's voice. Something rose within me then. I told her what had happened the day before. I told her the truth. I told her that it wasn't all me and I didn't deserve all the punishments. I had learned that I could trust no one but myself. I had learned that my life was messed up and that I was a terrible person and that my friends were terrible people and that my life was just terrible. Maybe she never heard that voicemail that I left her. Maybe she just didn't care and she just wanted someone to pay, and I was just the easiest target. Tears came to my eyes. I wanted to talk to her, I just wanted her to understand that I was truly sorry for what she had went through, but I wanted her to feel sorry for me a little bit, too. I mean, I kind of was a little bit of a bit dumb. I mean, I couldn't believe that Alex and Paige done all that to her and then blamed me. I was furious at them. Everything that was happening to me was because of the two people that I had called my best friends. The two people that I thought were my best friends. I just wanted someone to understand and hear my side. But no one could hear me except myself, listening to myself in my mind, screaming, screaming, wanting some type of relief.

I went completely quiet, completely still.  I couldn't think straight, or really even think at all. I wanted to scream and I wanted to cry and I wanted to fight for my life and I also just wanted to lay down and take whatever punishment the universe was going to give me. I didn't have much time to ponder when the vehicle came to a halt. I waited patiently, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. All of a sudden, I heard the door opening. I thought good, now I was finally going to figure out where they were taking me, what was gonna happen to me. But no one came for me. The doors opened and shut but they left me in there. I sighed against the cloth around my mouth. I tried to chew at it, but it was no use. I try to work my hands free, lifting up one, and the other. I try to get a grip on the knot by bending my fingers backwards so much that it hurt. I tried to move my eyes up and down, creasing my forehead and stretching out in hopes of moving the mask from my eyes. Maybe if I got out of this alive, I could see who my other abductors were besides Lindsay.

I waited for a while, and then I heard movement and voices, and a door open. I heard someone scream, and then I felt someone knock into me.  Someone was screaming for help, and then they must've had cloth tied around their mouth because it became muffled. Paige. It was Paige. They must have taken her too. I tried to form words, but they were all too muffled and I didn't know if she could understand me or realize that it was me. Not that I really had much to say to her or really cared that much about her kidnapping. But a part of me wanted to know that I wasn't alone in this. A part of me was glad to have someone by my side. However, I had no idea what Lindsay planned to do by kidnapping both of us at the same time. But I felt a little triumphant that Paige was being involved in this and not just me. Because everything couldn't be my problem all the time. I didn't deserve to be punished that much.

The car lurched forward again, and Lindsay was talking to one of the guys. She was calling him babe. It made me sick to my stomach, and I could taste bile in my mouth. The guy she called babe had a really rough voice, he sounded older than us. The other guy sounded young, he had a kind of high-pitched, whiny voice.

Soon, we stopped at another location, and soon enough I heard Alex yelling and swearing as she was added to the car. Paige was flush against my side and Alex must've been on the other side of her. The car lurched forward again. I squeezed my eyes shut, it wasn't like I could see anything anyway. I try to relax my body. It wouldn't do me any good to waste my energy trying to fight. Paige and Alex hadn't come to this conclusion because they were still fighting because I could feel them wiggling against me and I could hear them screaming and cursing behind the cloth wrapped around their mouths.

All too soon, they stopped the car again. My door was opened and I almost fell straight out of the vehicle, but strong arms wrapped around me and I was draped over someone's shoulder again. My hair flew over my head, dangling down to the ground. I was roughly thrown onto what felt like dirt. I heard the grunts of Alex and Paige as they were thrown beside me. Soon, my legs were tirf as well, so there was no possible way for me to escape.

The blindfold was removed from my eyes and I had a blink to adjust to the harsh light of the freshly risen sun. The sky was still full of pinks and oranges, the first thing I focused on. It was beautiful, and I wished I could take time to admire it if I wasn't in the situation that I was in. I looked around. We were in the woods. There were leaves all over the ground, and we were sitting in the dirt. Trees of varying colors surrounded us, reaching for the sky. They climbed higher and higher, all of them varying heights, and it was dizzying trying to take everything in.

I looked to my right, and there was Paige in pink silk pajamas, her blonde hair a knotted mess. Beside her was Alex in booty shorts and a tank top. Neither of them had blindfolds on, and Lindsay was ripping the cloth off of Alex's mouth. She screamed and cursed once again. Next, the cloth was ripped away from Paige. And then from me. I look at the two men behind Lindsay. I was right, one was older. He had a mustache and a beard, black hair upon his head. He looked to be in his 30s. The other guy was young, probably around our age with ginger hair, spatter of freckles, and a very skinny body. The older man was more filled out, like he had the perfect combination of fat and muscle. Lindsay looked beautiful as always. Her brown hair was flowing down her shoulders and her back. The sunlight did wonders for her green eyes, making them seem to sparkle. Or maybe the sparkle in them with mischief and mayhem and anger.

Paige and Alex were both looking around, bewildered. I heard birds chirping in the distance. Finally, Lindsay stood in front of the three of us. She placed her arms behind her back and started walking, kind of like the villain in a movie when they're about to explain their evil scheme. Her skin looked darker, like she had been tanning. It also looked golden in this light.
"I'm sure you're wondering why I have gathered you three here."

"You haven't really gathered us here, you kind of kidnapped us." That was Alex with a bite to her voice.
Lindsey laughed and waved a hand. "You and your semantics, Alex."

The guys were standing off to the side, trying to look anywhere but at the three girls they had just kidnapped and brought into the woods. This was it, I thought. This was how I died. This is how it was going to happen. This was how I was  gonna go. I was  gonna die in the woods by the hand of a girl who was bullied thanks to my best friends. I would die with my best friends, or rather ex best friends, that blamed me for the whole thing resulting in me being tortured for five days. Five days, it had been five days of these terrible things happening to me. And on the fifth day, I was going to die. Maybe that was what Lindsey had been planning all along. On the fifth day, we were to die. Surely someone would've noticed that we were gone by now. My parents were probably trying  to wake me up for school. They would've noticed I was gone, they would have sent the police. Maybe they could check our phones. Maybe if we could keep her talking long enough, we could  make it out alive. I had to make it out alive. I had to live to be a better person. I had to leave to right my wrongs. Maybe Shelby and I could become real friends, she had a lot of words of wisdom and she was right about me. She had always been a better person than me. I liked her. And Smith, he deserved a better friend than me. And even though he had kind of played a part in me being kidnapped the first time, he had saved me. Maybe if things weren't too messed up between us, we could go back to what we had. I missed the friendship we had when we were kids. And my parents, I loved them and I missed the relationship that we used to have. Wr used to be really close. I wanted to spend more time with them. And Lydia, no more on and off. I wanted to be the girlfriend that she deserved. I really cared about and liked her, and maybe one day I would love her.

Most importantly, I felt bad for all the people that Alex and Paige taught me were bad and that they deserve to be bullied. Maybe they were just like Lindsay, ready to snap one day. Maybe they were like little Samantha, and they were hurting because they were being bullied. I looked at Lindsey, ready to give her a whole spiel about how I wanted to become a better person and I was truly sorry about what she happened to her. But then, the weirdest thing happened. She walked over me and knelt in front of me
"Samantha, I'm sorry."

My mouth opened in shock, but no words came out. They couldn't. Because after tormenting me only for four days, and only giving the others one day, she was sorry for me?

"I'm sorry they blamed you for their mistakes and that you got the brunt of everything. Maybe you didn't deserve that. And for that, I'm sorry. Maybe we're both victims here. "

Crouched is in front of me, I could really see Lindsey's beauty. I had a crush on her at one point. The light of the day was behind her, creating a golden halo on her brown hair. She reached out ahead and grabbed my face, she turned it to and fro, studying. Finally, she let me go.

"Such a shame, you had so much potential and you let it all go to waste for these two. You could've been so much different, Samantha."

"Hey, what about us! " Paige shouted.

I laughed. Man, I had been doing a lot of that lately.
"What about you? What about what you both did to me! You both should get what you deserve."

"Oh yeah? " Lindsay said and then rose to her feet. "Because exactly what you're gonna do? Samantha."

I was confused. Lindsay walked over to the older gentleman and took a gun from his hands, which he had pulled out of his pocket. She walked over to me and pulled out a pocket knife. I thought she was gonna stab me, but instead she sliced through my restraints holding my wrist together, and then the one around my ankles. She held out a hand and I took it, hastily getting to my feet. I was off-balance and disoriented from everything, so I teetered a bit on my feet before standing still. She pressed the gun into my hands and clasped my fingers over it. I stared at her for a moment.

"I'll let you do the honors."

"How do you know she's not just gonna shoot you?" Alex shouted.

Lindsey smirked and looked over at her. "Because she's not stupid. I have faith in her."

I spun around and aimed the gun at Paige. Her eyes widened. "Why  did you blame me! "

She shrugged helplessly. "I mean, it was easier. It was just easier that way."

I scoffed at her. "We are supposed to be best friends. After everything, how could you do this to me? How could you let her do all those things to me when it was both of y'all who kept egging me on in the first place?  Why did you have such a hatred for everyone?"

"It's just the name of the game I guess, " Alex piped in. "It's just what it's like to be popular. It's just all fun and game, Sam. No one takes these things seriously."

I pointed a gun at her. "I mean, I'm taking it seriously. You know I was bullied as a kid. And then y'all just turned me into the bully."

Lindsay tsked. "Sammy, you need to take responsibility for your own actions too."

I sighed and lowered the gun slightly. " I guess she's right. But you both shouldn't have put the blame on me. And we were all awful together, and I kind of see that now. I just don't understand why we had to be so awful to people and think it was fun, and why it took all this for me to realize that what I was doing was wrong. "

I realized I was gesturing with my hands. I always talked with my hands. But now that I had a gun in my grip, I needed to be more careful. I didn't want any accidental firing to occur. I pointed the gun at the ground. "I'm just so angry about everything. But no one deserves to die over this. Can we just talk this out?" I looked at Lindsey hopefully.

She shook her head. "It's either you or them. So which will it be, Samantha?"

I looked at her. I could shoot Lindsey. I looked at Alex and Paige. I could shoot them. I could shoot myself. I could shoot the two men in the distance. I had only fired a gun a few times. My dad had taught me how to shoot when I was young. He liked to go hunting, and he brought me with him a few times. Once the hunt was over, he brought me outside to a little clearing and told me to shoot at the bushes. He taught me proper form. Next time, he brought some cardboard boxes and taught me how to aim. This time, I use both hands like he taught me to do when using a pistol. I didn't know how many bullets it held. I didn't even know if it was loaded, she could've been bluffing. I just started firing at the ground. One. Two. Three. Four. "

"Stop! " I lifted the gun and pointed it  at Lindsey. "I'm not letting you turn me into even more of a monster."

She lunged at me. Click. It was empty. I raised the gun and  smacked her straight in the face with it. She stumbled back, shocked. I raised the gun and pointed it threateningly, But the empty gun wasn't really a threat anymore. Both of the men were just staring at me.

I reached for Lindsey's pocket, and I grabbed the pocket knife. She chased after me and I was able to cut through Paige's wrist restraints before I was tackled  to the ground. There was  a lot of shouting involved, and then Lindsay had the knife back. I saw a blob coming towards her, I think it was Paige. And the knife was raised, and then there was blood. A lot of blood, raining  down on me. It was sticky and wet, and I could smell it copper. Paige's body was on the floor. She was gurgling. She was gasping for air. Lindsay walked over to Alex. I screamed, and I think Alex did too. But it was too late, the knife was in her gut. Lindsay twisted. She kept stabbing, stabbing, and stabbing and Pauge managed to struggle to sit up. Just trying to fiddle with the ties on her ankles. I reached over to help her. Then Linday  came back and stab stab stab, Paige was back on the floor.

She was coming for me. I opened my mouth to scream, and then a shot. Lindsey's body fell on top of me and we were both on the ground. I was screaming and I couldn't stop. There was blood all over me, I didn't know whose was whose anymore. Was any of it mine? And then I looked up, and I saw Smith. He was lowering a smoking gun. He raised it again, but not at me. He shot the two men before they could advance on him. I was able to shove Lindsay off of me. She was still alive, but barely. She's gurgling, and trying to form words but she couldn't. I stood on shaky feet, and fell right back down to the ground "

"Are you okay, Sam? I'm so sorry, I wish I could've been here sooner."

I threw up. It came out quickly, and I didn't even remember the last time I'd eaten or what I eaten but, something came out of me. And Smith was there , rubbing my back. And Lydia was on my other side. "I'm so sorry, in that van, I never knew they were gonna try to rape you. They said they're just gonna teach you a lesson. And I shouldn't have gone along with it in the first place. I'm sorry. And then I was able to hear through the grapevine what Lindsay had planned today. I didn't come soon enough. I'm sorry."

I looked over at Alex and Paige. Paige was white as a sheet. Alex eas. still trying to move. But I knew it was no use. Neither of them could be salvaged. I was able to stand with Smith's help. I didn't know how Lydia had gotten involved, but I gave her a hug. I never wanted to let go. She smelt sweet, like cinnamon. And then there  were cops. Three of them. And I ran towards them, eager to tell them everything. My parents were behind them. I ran past the cops and into my mothers arms. And for the first time in years, I full-on sobbed into my mothers arms.