Age of Blood

20

The stench was unbelievable. Part roadkill, part earthy loam, the odor had been with her for days. She could neither see what it was nor touch the source. They’d kept her blindfolded, even in the dark. They’d thrown her in the trunk of a car, then moved her onto what felt like a ship. She’d retched uncontrollably for hours, the combination of the rolling darkness and the constant smell sending her into fits of purging. Her own vomit fueled even more retching until she was shaking and dehydrated, too weak to move away from her own mess. She was stable now. Sometime between when she’d been sick and now, she’d passed out. When she’d awoken, she was clean, wearing a full-length, lightweight dress, and lying on a flat, unmoving surface.

But her hands were still tied.

As were her feet.

And even clean, with fresh clothes on, the stench was unbelievable.

She understood what had happened. She’d been kidnapped because of who her father was. She could also make out some of what her captors were saying. Her mother had taught Emily her native Spanish before she’d passed away from breast cancer. Emily had been too keen on trying to be as white as her blond-haired Barbies to pay attention to her mother’s instructions. She regretted she hadn’t been a better student, not to mention a better daughter.

With little else to occupy her mind, she’d thought about the events of her capture for a long time. A giant sea creature had taken her. What it was, she didn’t know, but it hadn’t hurt her. It had merely taken her a mile or so down the beach and left her adrift, where a boat had picked her up, disoriented, and crying.

Why hadn’t they just taken her from the beach? Why not from her hotel room? It made her wonder if it wasn’t a signal for her father.

With little else to do but think, she twisted and wound around the problem, her mind going in a thousand directions.

Anything to keep the smell at bay.

Anything to keep the fear away.