Chapter 3- Close Call

Abigail blinked to get used to her pitch black surroundings. In front of her was a short man, wearing black. Seeing that the girl he had kidnapped was awake, he started walking toward her, with a menacing smile on his face.  Abigail struggled to get up because her hands were tied up. But when she did, a wave of dizziness forced her back to the cold, hard, dirt floor. She frantically scrambled to get up again, her attacker getting closer. Only a three-foot long wooden table separated them.

But Abigail didn’t expect what happened next. Instead of attacking her, the man stopped and asked her, in a grisly voice, “Where is the diamond?”

“I-I don’t know w-what you are t-talking about!” Abigail stuttered. Her nervous voice echoed through the dark tunnel.

“You know. A shiny, red diamond inside a little gold capsule hanging on a gold chain?” Suddenly Abigail froze. Somehow this stranger knew about her diamond that had been in the family for hundreds of years. It was from a mine in Australia and was worth billions of dollars.

After a moment, Abigail said, “I will never give it to you.”

An evil chuckle was heard. “Are you sure?” His voice suddenly changed into a threatening growl. “If you don’t, you’ll end up on the auction block. You don’t want that, do you?”

Terror seized Abigail as horrific memories swarmed her mind. Dots of red, green, and blue danced before her eyes. She almost decided to agree to the evil man’s conditions but, a small voice in the back of her head said, “Don’t give up without a fight!”  

Abigail then repeated in a quiet whisper, “I will never give it to you.” The man’s eyes flashed with anger and he lunged at her. She quickly dodged the attack and started biting at the rope which held her hands captive. Surprisingly, the ropes fell off her hands as her attacker’s face hit the ground. She sprinted toward the sunlight at the end of the tunnel while her captor was howling in pain.

Soon, she found herself at the mission compound and slowed down to catch her breath. Abigail then ran up the stairs to her room, shut the door, locked it, and walked over to her diamond, the one the mysterious man had captured her for. She shivered as chills ran down her spine as the memory of the cruel man’s reeling breath ran through her mind. She felt traumatized by the experience but glad she had escaped captivity once again.