Chapter 1- Cages, Knives, a Bluetooth, or All of the Above?

I opened my eyes, the densely packed trees around me coming into sight. I was in a deep ditch nauseous and terrified. How did I get here? I lifted myself into a sitting position, my sore muscles screaming against it in pain. I looked around, utterly confused of my situation. How did I get here??

I was in a wooden… cage. The cage looked about 7 feet wide and 8 feet tall. I looked at what I had with me, two large backpacks, and the clothes on my back.

Outside of the cage, about one and a half feet away I saw a knife. A wooden cage, a knife? Hello! Phoenix! My mind screamed as the realization settled in. I crawled to the edge of the cage closet to the knife, pushed myself against the small opening and reached towards the knife. I almost grabbed it when I hand suddenly appeared from somewhere and grabbed the knife in one fluent motion. "Looking for this?" I deep voice whispered in my ear.

I turned to my left, no one was there… Then I turned around, not thinking as I stood up and thrust myself at the back edge of the cage, grabbing the knife from a guy's hand, and he just shrugged. Wait, a guy? I stepped back and stared at him rudely. He was a few inches shorter than me, so about 5'6"; he wore a pink t-shirt and bright white pants. His knife was clutched in one masculine hand before I snatched it away, and he had red spiky hair that was kind of cute; despite his clothing style… he was kind of cute in a ridiculous kind of adorable puppy dog way, and—whoa! Did I really think that? Fuck! Get a grip Phoenix, not the time! My brain said after the ridiculous thought.

I continued backing away the gripped so tightly in my hand that my knuckles were turning white. I started to speak but no words came out. I cleared my throat and tried again a bit shaky, "W-who are y-you?" Then the words started to spill out of my mouth before I knew what was happening, "Where am I? Did you do this to me? Are you going to kill me? Who are you?" My words came out more curtly than I meant for them to. He just stared at me awhile and I stared back. He tapped his chin lightly before saying in his deep voice, "No, no I'm not sure… Hello? Th-the reception isn't that great out here." Then a slight pause, what the hell was he talking about? "Yeah, okay. I'll go deeper into the woods." He said. Then he turned and trekked off in the opposite direction. As he turned to leave I saw something hooked to his ear…what was it? I went back towards the bars to take a closer look…a Bluetooth! My mouth fell open as I started laughing. Not the time, Phoenix! I thought.

"What the hell? You want my knife or not?" A husky unfamiliar voice said. I whipped around just as a figure stepped out from the shadows in the forest. Now he was sexy, not Bluetooth guy, but him. He had jet black hair that fell sexily over his eyes, and he wore a dark blue button down shirt with dark blue skinny jeans and black Pumas. He looked about 5'10" not much taller than me, he had a stocky build and piercingly handsome dark blue (sapphire-colored) eyes. "You retard or something?" He asked, waving his hand frantically in front of my face. I fumed, snapping out of my trance, I was not retard, and I was definitely smarter than him! Sexy my ass, he was a douche. But finally a pathetic, "Huh." Was all I managed? I inwardly scolded myself. A lazy smile spread across his face as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a piece of 5 gum which he unwrapped and flicked into his mouth. "Do—you—want—my—knife?" He said much slower. I regained my senses, putting on my best scowl, and with a glare to top it off, then I held up the knife that I took from Bluetooth guy and wagged it in front of his face and smirked. "Got one." I said haughtily.

"Okay by--," I cut him off, "'Kay dickshit, where am I? Who are you? Oh and how did I get here?" I fumed. "Uh, simple—I dunno, I'm Hunter, and well I was gonna ask you if you knew how correction: we got here." He said taking out his iPhone and tapping away. My jaw dropped in surprise, was he serious? He didn't know either? Than who did? After a moment he spoke again, "Oh, and don't bother trying to call your folks, I already tried, there's no reception." He held up his phone which had a big red 'X' over the screen. I started at him crudely and waved my hand, motioning that his hand wasn't at all important. "Wait, so you seriously don't know why we are here?" I said, closing my mouth. "Naw, I dunno. By the way, I would hurry up, get a knife, and cut you outta there. I mean seriously, you're slow. I got outta my cage over an hour ago." He said putting his phone away.

I grabbed my knife which had fallen out of my hand in surprise, and picked it up. I started to saw the top of the first wooden bar, which took a lot of effort. About 5 minutes later of unsuccessful sawing, I heard a sigh, and glanced up. Hunter was still there, a bored expression on his face. "You suck at it, here, I'll help." He took his knife out of his backpacks, that I just noticed he had, the backpack, not the knife. It was slightly sharper than mine, and he walked over to the bars before I could protest the fact that I was surely capable doing it myself, and he quickly sawed of the top and bottom parts of three wooden bars; just enough for me to squeeze though.

"Thanks," I mumbled looking at my beat up gym shoes that hugged my feet, "So, what now?" I glanced up at him. He was fiddling with his iPhone again. He looked up, "What?" he said annoyed. I smiled, mocking him as I said, "You retard or something? I said, what—now?" I said mimicking his voice while I waved a hand wildly in front of his face until it snapped back up to look at me. A smile spread across both our lips as he said, "Hah, I like you."