Capri woke up to warbled voices and shifting lights.
"Look, she's waking up," a far off voice said.
Capri slowly brought her hand to her head. It felt like it was full of water.
"Capri?" a figure leaning over her said. Slowly, she was able to focus, and recognized the wavy, dark brown hair and slightly frizzy, auburn hair of Ben and Michelle. "Capri?" Ben repeated.
In a wave of terror, everything that had happened came back to her. She sat up and asked, "What happened!?" She immediately fell back down and closed her eyes.
"Okay, that was... much too fast," Michelle said with a slight chuckle, gently pushing Capri the rest of the way down.
"When?" Capri suddenly asked.
"When what?" Ben asked.
"When will I get my..." a tear rolled quickly down her cheek. "...power?"
Michelle burst out laughing, rolling backwards and holding her stomach.
Ben, however, kept quite straight-faced. "Michelle, stop," he said uncomfortably.
"What?" Capri asked, slightly offended.
"Oh! That's great!" Michelle laughed hysterically.
Despite Capri's anxiety, and possibly partly because of it, Michelle's laughter was contagious. "What?" she giggled.
"You're not going to get a power, Pri. They just knocked us out," Ben said with frightening sobriety.
"What's so bad about having a power, anyway?" Michelle asked, straightening up a bit.
"Michelle!" Ben said, giving her a look of warning.
Michelle's face got hot, and she clenched her jaw together, changing quickly.
"Capri," Ben said sadly, looking back into her eyes. "Zane's gone."
Despite the periodic bumps in the road that threw him up into the ceiling of the trunk and then back down again, Zane had actually fallen asleep. He wasn't sure how long he had been sleeping, but it didn't feel like long. It was exceedingly uncomfortable having his hands and ankles tied, and the smell of the tape was starting to make him nauseous, but at this point, all he could think about was the gnawing hunger in his stomach. How long had it been since he'd eaten? He might not have even eaten when he was kidnapped! And now, they had been driving for what felt like days without even stopping. Every now and then he heard a semi roar by- they were on the highway, and hadn't once taken an exit. He couldn't stand it anymore; he was actually growing faint.
"Heeeeeeey! " he shouted from a small air bubble he had made between his mouth and the tape. He thumped his legs as hard as he could against the side of the car. He scooted slightly, thankful that this car had a lot of room in its trunk, and kicked at the back of the back seat.
He continued this action, encouraged by the first sound of muffled talking he had heard the whole trip, until the car swerved gradually to the right and turned a one-eighty before coming to a slow stop.
He heard the car doors opening and closing, and two sets of feet walking on gravel and grass to the back.
Golden lights came on beside him as the trunk was unlocked, and then a blinding white crack of daylight expanded into a gaping spotlight that made Zane squint his eyes and turn his head away.
"We're five miles from the nearest town," the woman said with squeaky authority. "If you want to eat, you'll have to cooperate."
Zane nodded, still not able to look towards the light, despite the dark blindfold.
"Get out," she said, stepping back to give him room.
Zane hadn't realized how still he had been until this moment. His muscles revolted adamantly against the sudden request for movement by turning to complete jelly. His joints seemed suddenly disconnected. "I- I can't move," he finally admitted through the tape.
The man grabbed the ropes tying Zane's arm and legs like a dead animal and hoisted him out without even a grunt.
"Hurry," the woman ordered, following him to the side of the car not facing the highway.
"There's cactus everywhere," the man said, looking around for a suitable place to put him down.
"Just put him in the back. We'll do the rest there. It's safer anyway."
The man followed the woman's direction, and placed Zane on the leather interior of the car, air conditioning wafting from the door. Zane had gotten some air conditioning, but not much, and the cool air and new-car smell was a welcome reprieve from the stuffiness of the trunk.
The two kidnappers stood outside for a moment, talking with tensely bridled animation.
After a deciding word from the woman, she got in the driver's seat, and the man opened the door of the back, rather than the passenger side as Zane had expected.
His heart leapt into his mouth, thinking of all of the things that that could possibly mean and scooted to the other side.
The man sat down next to him, closed the door and said, "Come here. I'll untie you," taming some of Zane's fears.
Zane offered him his hands as the man looked around in his bag for a knife as the ignition started and they got back on the highway.
Once Zane's hands were free, his aggressively peeled off the tape, stretching his lips and rubbing the left-over adhesive on his lips.
"This is how it's going to work: When we get to El Paso, we'll stop and order some food." The man had a strange lack of collectiveness, as everything was either a moral conundrum or a bother for him. "You and I will stay in the back the entire time. There will be a gun to your chest." He spoke so plainly; He was simply telling Zane what to expect rather than threatening his life. "If you say anything to anyone, I'll shoot you... And even you can't stop that."
Zane nodded in acceptance, but his mind was reeling. "Even me?" he thought.
