Somehow I'm Alive (part 14)

Thanks for your support and your ratings. I think that you guys will like this part. Also, could you please tell me what you thought of part 13? Was it good or was it overly dramatic?

I was going for a shocker when Landon turned. Hopefully it wasn't predictable. I got a comment saying that it was unexpected. What do the rest of you think?

Created by: Topaz

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  1. ***Jaslina's Point of View***I get up the next morning and comb my hair with my fingers as an attempt to unsnarl it. It didn't work so I just forget it. Ryan and I already shared our plan with Tammy and Rayla. They think it's brilliant. Tammy especially likes the idea of getting to hurt Ryan's mom. Apparently being captured hasn't changed her any. Rayla, however, isn't the most comfortable with the idea. Rayla said that it sounded stupid and dangerous. Actually it does, but we need to take them by surprise. They'll probably expect a middle-of-the-night escape attempt. They'd never expect us to actually fight them. We're too weak according to them. "So," says Rayla, "do we attack when she delivers breakfast or dinner?" "I suggest we wait until dinner. We avoid the noon heat that way." Ryan replies. Tammy says, "I actually must admit I never thought that you and Jaslina could come up with such a violent plan. I'm impressed." "Thank-you." Ryan and I say in unison. I finish, "We're glad to be of service." A little while later Sapphire delivers us breakfast. I wanted to attack her right then but I managed to stick with the plan. Today she is wearing teal spaghetti straps with a gray and teal miniskirt and combat boots. Today her hair is braided down the back; probably to show off her dangly teal earrings. Just seeing her makes me want to slap her. How can someone as sweet as Ryan possibly be in relation to two people as cold as The White-dressed Woman and Sapphire? That stumps me as much as it does Ryan. That also brings me to the matter of what will happen to Ryan when we get back to the U.S. He helped commit a lot of kidnappings. What if he ends up in prison instead of homeless? Just because he made it right in the end doesn't mean he'll be let off the hook. Sure technically all he did was the stalking part, (or, as he calls it, "research"), but he could still get in trouble for conspiring. Maybe by Gods grace he'll get let off easy. I don't know. I guess we'll face that problem together. Now it's time to focus on our problem right now.
  2. "Jaslina?" says Ryan, "Are you okay?" "Not really," I say. "Like I said, God will give us the strength to take them on. Why wouldn't he?" "It's not that, Ryan." "Well what is it?" "I just wonder what'll happen to you when we get back to the U.S." "Ah," says Ryan in understanding, "You're afraid that I'm gonna go to prison aren't you." He comes and takes a seat beside me and grips my hand. My heart rate has picked up tenfold but I ignore it. "Yes. I don't want you to go to prison after everything you've done to help. Why should you have to suffer the consequences of what your mom and sister made you do? They should be the people to suffer in prison." Now I'm in his arms and my head is resting on his chest. I really hope that Tammy and Rayla aren't looking through the hole at this moment. If they are I'll hurt both of them. "Jaslina, it isn't up to me to decide. Yeah I'm on the right path now, but that might not matter to the court. The fact of the matter is that I was involved in several kidnappings which are illegal. Sure there's probably some way I can get off easy, but how I'm not sure." "But since you helped us escape that should give them some reason to not send you to prison." "Honestly, I'm not sure how the court will respond to my case. It isn't very common, that's for sure." He chuckles, "I wouldn't worry. We'll deal with that problem when we come to it." I don't speak. I just sit and enjoy being held close to him. I feel him touch my shoulders. Suddenly he's twirling a strand of my hair around his index finger and then he pushes it behind my ear. Now I wonder if Tammy and Rayla can hear my heart beating with joy. Shifting positions, we're suddenly looking into each other's eyes. He has such gorgeous, deep brown eyes. His hair is messy and matted but I don't care. He"˜s still one of the most handsome guys I've ever met. Not just that but he respects me and wants to protect me! "Jaslina," he says. His eyes are gentle and he's caressing my face. "Thank-you for forgiving me when you found out I was MSG. I thought that you'd think I was playing you." "I wondered at first, but now how can I doubt you? I wish that I would've trusted you a whole lot sooner." Ryan doesn't have to use words to tell me that he wants to kiss me. His eyes say it all. Strangely, I want to kiss him back. Well, a few months ago I would've found it strange. Now this doesn't feel strange to me at all. We angle our heads so we don't bump noses. My arms are locked in place around his neck and his arms are around my waist. Now we're standing and our lips are just a centimeter apart.
  3. Then, unsurprisingly, we are interrupted with the sounds of oohing and owwing from the other side of the wall. "Oooh!!!" says Tammy. "Way to land one Jaslina!" "Looks to me like you guys are bonding," says Rayla. Ryan's face is a mixture of disgust and disappointment. As soon as we're out of here I'm gonna kill both of them! I feel my face growing warm. "Shouldn't you guys be eating or something?" I say attempting to keep the edge off my voice. I don't think it's working. "We are eating," says Tammy, "Only this time we've got entertainment to accompany our lovely meal." Ryan rolls his eyes playfully and shrugs. I return to my sitting corner and Ryan to his. We're both a little embarrassed. Getting immediately past that I wonder if there ever will be another chance for a kiss. Forcing the subject from my mind completely, I start to ponder our escape plan.
  4. ***Ryan's Point of View***We hear Sapphire, and her combat boots, coming down the hall. Now it's early evening. It's time to put our plan into action. Jaslina and I are still slightly fazed from our almost kiss, but we aren't putting off the plan over it. I just hope that I get another chance to kiss her. Of course, it'd be a quick kiss, and not a kiss like Sapphire and Landons. That was just disturbing. "Okay, Jaslina," I whisper, "get ready." We are hiding behind the flimsy, wooden door when she unlocks it and swings it open. We decided to not beat her up, but instead to just lock her in here. Besides, there's only one key and that they probably keep it on the shelf above the door. As long as we take the key there's no getting her out of there. Not seeing us, Sapphire steps all the way in. She swears. "Where are you guys? Get your butts out here!" Sneaking out unheard, we slam the door and lock it securely. After more swearing Sapphire says the following words, "Ryan, Jaslina, let me out of here now! You'll regret locking me in here!" As we make our way down the hall to make a left we hear Sapphire screaming, "Where are you people going?! Aren't you gonna let me out?! Don't you walk away from me!" If we weren't in a hurry I'd actually find this more amusing. I'd even take a few minutes to just stand here and listen to her fits of rage. Sapphire has always sounded kind of funny when she's angry. Only, we don't have that kind of time. We've got to move. Taking another left we come to a barricaded door with a blacked out window. Yup that's Tammy and Rayla's room.
  5. "You guys in there?" Jaslina whispers. "Yes! Get us out of here!" exclaim Tammy and Rayla in unison. Swiftly we begin moving stuff out of the way. Even after we've moved stuff out of the way there's still the matter of getting the lock off. I reach for the key on top of the door. Putting the key in my pocket, I jerk the door opened. Tammy and Rayla step out. They look awful. Their hair is tangled, matted, and oily. Their faces are oily too, and their clothes look filthy. Of course I shouldn't be the one to judge. I probably look the same. After they and Jaslina share hugs we run down the hall and up the stairway. "What do we do when we run into Landon and The White-dressed Woman?" says Tammy wincing. "I hate her stage name so much!" "Tammy," says Jaslina, "this isn't the time to make fun of a psychopath's stage name. It's the time to get the heck out of here!" Coming off the staircase, we run right into Landon. To think, I thought that we'd get out of here without seeing him. "Well," says Landon menacingly, "looks like I got me some escapees. What did you guys do with Sapphire? Don't lie, because I'll know." "We aren't telling you where Sapphire is," I say. "Now move out of our way." Landon tisk-tisks at me. "You never give up do you, Ryan? When will you realize that you lose and I win?" "Listen closely, Landon. You will let us past or we will beat the living crap out of you. I may be a Christian but that doesn't mean that I won't defend myself." Landon laughs. "Really, Ryan, you'd beat the living crap out of me? Because, according to my memory, I gave you a black eye and a swollen lip. Oh and let's not forget how long Jaslina took caring for your wounds. So sure, go ahead. Beat me up. I'm trembling."
  6. ***Jaslina's Point of View***Ryan is so mad that it surprises me that there isn't steam coming out of his ears like on the cartoons. Apparently Landon doesn't take it seriously because he's still standing there laughing at him. He walks up there slowly and punches Landon so hard in the face that I hear his nose break under the impact of Ryan's blow. Landon lets out a whimper and covers his bloody nose with one hand. A bloody nose doesn't stop him, thought. With one hand he comes back swinging, Ryan dodging every one. On one swing Ryan gets a hold of Landon's wrist and twists his arm up behind his back. "Gee, look who's trembling," says Ryan. "Okay I admit you're a good fighter! Just let me go and you can be on your way!" pleads Landon. "Actually no, I've got a better idea than simply letting you go." We make our way back down the staircase and to Tammy and Rayla's room of captivity. "Ah, this is a better idea than letting him go," I say. "Wait!" says Landon. "Come on, Jaslina, you're my friend! Please don't let him lock me up. The White-dressed Woman will let me out anyway." "No she won't," says Rayla, "Ryan has the key to it." "Yeah," I say, "You aren't going anywhere for a while." Ryan shoves him in and locks the door behind him. Okay so this wasn't our plan exactly, but hey it's working out anyway. You can tell by the look on Ryan's face that he feels bad about beating Landon up then locking him in a room, but we had to do it if it means our escape. "Now that Sapphire and Landon are taken care of what do we do about Ryan's crazy mother?" asks Tammy. "Hey my mother isn't"”," Ryan pauses. "Okay, yeah, she's a little bit crazy. I say we avoid her if possible."
  7. We, once again make our way to the staircase. Only this time we take the stairs going down. To think, I thought that this was all the further down that this building went. After going down several flights of stairs and making two rights and a left we come to a door that leads outside. All of us are panting. It wasn't until now that I realize how fast we were running. "What do we do now?" asks Rayla. Clearing his throat, Ryan says, "Make our way to the front of the building. I wanna see if the truck's still there." The building is so large that it takes a few minutes to get to the front. Once we get there we're in luck. It's still there and Ryan still has the key. Without pause we run and jump in. I'm in the passenger seat next to Ryan and Tammy and Rayla are in the seats behind us. "Come on, Ryan, step on it!" says Tammy, "We've gotta get out of here before we're found out!" With his foot on the accelerator and the key in the ignition we're off. Although, I don't feel safe until the abandoned airport is long out of sight. "Ryan," I say, "You can slow down now. I don't see the airport anymore." "Sorry," he says, "I'm still a little worked up. I'll be fine in a second. For now I just want to be as far away from that place as possible." "How long do you think we're safe for," asks Rayla from behind me. "Until my mom notices Sapphire and Landon are missing. As soon as that happens we're in trouble." "How long until she notices," asks Tammy. "I estimate about one day, two days tops," Ryan replies. His driving has slowed down now. Looking up the road I begin to see some buildings. I think we're probably getting closer to civilization. Even from this point I can easily tell that it isn't of the best condition but it'll have to do. Besides, Ryan will probably drive right through it anyway. We get closer, and I see that we are in one of Iraq's many slums. I heard that there were a lot of slums here but I never thought that'd I'd ever see any for myself. Instead of driving through, Ryan stops right in the middle of the place. I don't believe this. "Ryan, why did we stop?" says Tammy, "We need to keep going. We don't have time to see the sights." "Well we could keep going, but we'd probably run out of gas. Then where would we be, huh?" he says with a smile. "Alright, continue."
  8. I get out with Ryan. Tammy and Rayla decide to stay in the car. I guess they assume that it'll only take a minute. It probably will, but I'd like to talk to Ryan without any interruption. "Ryan," I say, "how are we going to get out of here exactly?" "You want the truth, or a lie?" "Lie please." In an attempt to lighten the moment, he says, "All I have to do is page Mike, the magical flying pixie, and we'll be home in a flash. We might even have time to visit the mermaids." I arch my eyebrow at him critically and laugh. After a few minutes of laughing he comes out with the truth. "Really, I don't know. We don't have any money anymore. Sapphire and Landon probably stole it and took it to my mom. I guess we're just gonna have to wing it." "Well, maybe we don't have to buy plane tickets," I say. "What do you mean?" asks Ryan, "Are you suggesting we jack a plane?" "No. I was thinking once we find our way back to Baghdad we get to a phone and call through to America." "Not bad, not bad. Now only if we can make it to a phone before we're caught." "That's my hope too. If they catch us we're out of luck." Filling the gas tank he says, "Plus if they catch us you know that they won't take us back to the plantation and simply put us to work. Akmal will be with them soon. If he's with them if they find us they'll probably shoot us on the spot. We should be prepared for anything."
  9. "As much as I want you to be wrong about that, you're probably right. He probably doesn't care if we suffer anymore. He probably just wants us dead. But we shouldn't focus on the negative. God will protect us. Why would he bring us this far only to see us fail?" "My point exactly. I'm only trying to be prepared. We don't know what'll happen at this point. The only time we'll be truly safe is when we're back in the states." "I must admit, you make a good point. Right now our fate is in God's hands." We get back in the car and drive. At this rate we should be back in Baghdad in a few days. That's good considering how far away it is. Once I think about it, we're sort of lucky in a way. It's like Ryan said that day his mom and sister found us in the outskirts of Baghdad, we win either way. If we die we get to go be with Jesus and if we live we get to see them punished. I also remember that as the night passed, I realized Ryan truly was on our side. To think, just a few months ago I was care free. Now here I am riding in a rusty, pick-up truck half-way around the world with the one I once hated in attempt to escape his crazy family. I'm experiencing the story of a lifetime and it's been only two and a–half months!
  10. Ryan keeps driving well after night until Tammy, Rayla, and I finally convince him to stop at the next town. Technically, it isn't even a town. It's a run-down village like the first one we came across. "I'll sleep outside," says Ryan, "That way one of you can sleep in the truck and the rest of you guys can sleep in the back." "That's okay," says Rayla. Tammy agrees. "Yeah, there ought to be plenty of room in the back for the three of us girls." "You really should sleep inside," I say, "You look exhausted." "Are you sure it's alright? Because I can sleep outside if I need to." "No really; we'll be fine." I say. As soon as we're all settled none of us says anything more. Even so, none of us sleeps soundly. We each sleep with an eye opened in fear of what might come next.

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