The Abduction

Astoria was hungry. Not a slight stomach rumble, but a full aching hunger. It had been days since she last ate. Glancing around her makeshift home, she looked for anything she might have put away. A muesli bar or one measly cracker. She was desperate. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a wrapper. Could this be food? She inched closer with anticipation and pulled the wrapper out from underneath a jumble of junk. No luck. It was just another piece of rubbish forgotten about long ago. Sighing, Astoria picked up her blankets and forced her eyes to close, wishing away the despair her life had brought to her.

“Oooo, young missy all alone here, wonder where her parents are” “Looks so pretty you reckon we should take her with us?” Stirring, Astoria yawned and sat up. Opening her eyes she saw three grown men in front of her. One of them had black greasy hair and a toothy grin on his face while the other two looked so similar Astoria thought they could be twins. They both had dirty unwashed faces and tattoos covering their arms and legs. Shocked, she recoiled back into the safety of her blankets. They were so close she could feel their rotten breath on her face. Trembling, she managed to open her mouth and ask ‘H-hhow ca-an I hel-p you?’

“Ahh pretty face is awake” said one of the twins “What do ya reckon we should do?”. The other men nodded towards him as if conversing in a secret code. A beat passed and then Astoria was lifted by her arms and dragged through her alley towards a van as her vision went black.

The world seemed to tip. Black and white flashes blinded her eyes but Astoria managed to open them straight up and found herself in the back of a van. She could hear men talking. Her head hurt and she felt tremendously dizzy. She tilted her head and her hair fell towards her face. Astoria moved her hand to brush it away. Well she tried. Her hands would not move from behind her back. Astoria suspected they were tied up.

Blinking, she tried to remember why she was in the van. Memories came back to her as if they were in a film. Hungriness, sleepiness and then darkness. Struggling against her binds Astoria wept. All her life had led up to this moment. Her death. Astoria was certain that it was going to end now. Those guys were not nice and Astoria dreaded the moment she had to face them again.

Astoria flew forward and slammed into the front of the van. Rubbing her head she sobbed. “Well let’s get her out of here” she heard a rough voice say. The van shutter flew open and the back flooded with light. Astoria could see a shadow of a man that slowly came into focus as her eyes adjusted to the light.

Behind him was a building. It was a grey building with hints of red peaking through, hinting at the colour beneath. The building was ridden with dirt and cobwebs. A blast of air came into the van and Astoria tried her best not to breathe in for the air was foul.

“Get up you little girl” the man in front of her said. Astoria recognised him as one of the twins she had seen before. Slowly she stood up and walked towards the edge of the grungy building, opened it and shoved her inside.

Astoria fell to the ground with a thump. The door closed behind her and she was left alone. Looking around, she saw medals on the wall. Inching towards them she read, Awarded to Magnus Franklyn for 1st place in Annual Egg Throwing competition 2008. There were many more across the walls but from different years. Astoria swallowed her fear. Surely someone who specialised in egg throwing wouldn’t be that bad?

Suddenly, she heard footsteps thudding towards her. She put her options on her scale in her head; Run away and hide or face the person coming towards her. She decided the best option was to run and hide. Scrambling, she looked around for anything that could help conceal her whereabouts. Her eyes spotted a cupboard to the left of her and she inched over and opened it with her hands while they were still behind her back, making sure not to make a racket. It was just the perfect size. Quickly she started rubbing the rope around her arms across the sharp corner of the cupboard. Sweat dripped down her face as she could hear the footsteps getting closer. And finally it broke! She scrambled into the cupboard and closed the doors to the best of her ability just as she heard the footsteps stop. Her nose tingled with dust and she couldn’t stop herself from sneezing. “Atisshoooooooo”. The floorboards creaked as Astoria heard the figure come forward. The door of the cupboard creaked open. The cupboard flooded with the scarce light available.

Before her stood a chest. Well, a chest connected to a body. Tilting her head up, she saw the face of a man. Grimy hair covered his face but it didn’t obscure his electric blue eyes. He stank of rotten eggs and Astoria thought he was at least 7 feet tall. “Well, well, well” he said. Astoria gulped as he moved closer and his breath covered her face. “What’s your name Missy?” he asked. Astoria managed to squeak out an answer before the world went black and her stomach rumbled.

She woke up in a room. It housed one bed, a vanity and a wardrobe. Measly light was being filtered through the window by the blinds. She yawned and stretched her limbs one by one. The door opened with a creak and in the doorway stood the strange man. He moved closer and sat on the bed next to Astoria. He said “I knew your mother”.

Astoria shrunk back in surprise. He knew her mother? “Mindy Jones?” she asked. The man nodded his head slowly.“Is she still alive?” she asked tentatively.

The man’s eyes flooded with tears as he shook his head.

Astoria was devastated. She had last seen her mum when she was 9 years old. Their rent had gone up and they were going on the run. While exciting the house, the little family had been paid a visit by the child protection services. The look on her mothers face when they announced she wasn’t fit to look after Astoria was a frequent revisit in her nightmares. The next few years had been riddled with new homes and foster families, until they decided she wasn’t worth it. She had lived on the streets ever since.

“Azzy” he said. “I’m your father”.

“Franky?” Astoria questioned.

“That’s what your mother called me”. He replied.

“Why did you leave!” Astoria demanded. “You left me and mum by ourselves and then, then I was taken away” she broke down into sobs.

Her father pulled her into him and they sat there together in grief.

When Astoria had calmed down, the man explained everything to her.

His name was Magnus Franklin. Her mother had met him in high school and they had dated all the way through to year 10 until his parents forbade him to see her because she had fallen pregnant in her teens. They had forbidden him to see her even when she was a single mum with a baby. He had cried himself to sleep every night since. Until one day, she was on his doorstep crying. She had told him all about their baby, Astoria or Azzy and how she had been taken away. He had laid her on a bed and sat with her until she closed her eyes. Unfortunately, she suffered a heart attack that night and died.

Silence filled the room. Astoria tentatively asked “So what do I do know”.

Magnus looked at her. “I guess if you want too.. I mean you don’t have to… but you could stay here?”.

Astoria’s face lit up with joy. Finally she would have a real room, bed, life. “Of course I would,” she said and hugged her father tightly.

“But, I have one more question. Why did those guys take me here?”.

Magnus looked at her sheepishly “I may have hired them to abduct girls around your age and bring them to me, I was very intent on finding you. They looked very happy though, I think they took it a little too seriously” he chuckled.

Astoria paled. Surely he didn’t know what they had done to her. “Father, we need to talk. But first, can I have some food? I’m really craving eggs right now”.