It was finally thanksgiving break. I said goodbye to my friends and to Micah. He would be one of the ones that would be staying behind on campus. He wanted to visit his parents or have them visit him, but they didn’t want to take the risk just in case they were being watched. I told him about Heather’s thanksgiving party and he promised me that he would go. After that, I headed out the gate and joined Yuri in the back of her parent’s luxury car. The girls and I had thought it would be best if we all arrived separately. Kerry and Taylor would take different flights from different states as Yuri and I would head to Paris from California.
“Did you inform James that you would be spending thanksgiving with me?” Yuri asked once the car started moving.
“Yeah I told him. I feel bad. But this way he gets a chance to spend some quality time with his family. What about your family?”
“My dad’s spending thanksgiving with his favorite little model and my mom is spending thanksgiving in Aruba drinking herself into a coma on the beach. My sisters are coming to California which is why I’m glad I’m leaving.”
I laughed. Yuri’s family was just as estranged as mine.
“Do you think your mom is going to check in on you?”
“No. She’s been avoiding all phone calls with me since that weekend at home. If she needs to get in contact she’ll have James do it or she’ll email me. I don’t think she cares too much since I’m hanging out with you.”
We arrived to the airport and headed to the gate that would take us to Paris. Taylor had gone ahead and changed the location of our trips just in case someone decided to get nosey. We checked our bags, and ten minutes later we were on a flight to Paris. As soon as we were up in the air good, Yuri succumbed to sleep. Left alone, I busied myself by making sure our invitations arrived to the place we would be staying while in Paris. After that was done, I decided to catch some sleep as well.
Later, I was awakened by the flight attendant offering us a meal. Yuri waved hers away and turned over to finish sleeping. I was starving so I had no problem taking the tray of cuisine from the attendant. I finished my plate of chicken and potatoes and sat back to relax. Five minutes after eating, I felt my stomach start to bubble as a queasy feeling came over me. I tapped Yuri to get her attention but she was dead to the world.
Moving my tray to the side, I got up and made my way towards the restroom. With every shake of the plane, I felt as if I would end up chucking my meal on one of the passengers. Thankfully I’d made it to the restroom safely. I locked myself inside as I squatted down over the toilet. The lovely meal provided by the attendants in first class wasted no time in coming up. Once I was done, I stood up and wiped my mouth with a piece of tissue before tossing it into the toilet and flushing it. I rinsed out my mouth as I tried to calm down the shakiness of my stomach. I never could handle plane food.
Feeling a little bit better, I went to open the bathroom. The door had only opened a fraction before I felt the door being shoved open. My eyes widened at the mask figure as it pushed me back into the restroom. I stumbled as my head hit whatever that was attached to the wall behind me. I stared around the small room daze. It was dark. The lights had gone out somehow. My attacker suddenly grabbed me by my throat as they lifted me up and shoved me repeatedly into the wall.
I felt my teeth click together with each impact. Pain skyrocketed up my back as I fought to sink my nails into my attacker’s face. Because of the mask it was hard to get a good grip. My hand caught onto what felt like feathers as I pulled it with my hands. I could feel the mask give leeway. My attacker stopped what he was doing and grabbed hold of my arm. I let out a scream as their other arm came down on my throat silencing me.
“I warned you what would happen if you decide to go after the painting.”
I froze. The voice of the attacker was the exact same as the voice that called me on the phone. It was a guy. I knew it had to have been. My attacker seemed to sense my awareness as he laughed. “You’re a bright girl unlike your father and I know that you care about what happens to your friends. Give up this foolish mission and I won’t hurt anymore of your friends.”
Anymore? What did he mean by anymore of my friends? The only other person on this flight was…Yuri. I started to struggle even more at the thought of Yuri being hurt. I got in a good hit into my attacker’s stomach as he groaned in pain. It was enough for him to release me. I got out of his grasp and fumbled my way around in the darkness for the door. My hands finally found the handle. But the minute my hands enclosed around them, I was yanked back again.
The two of us fell on the floor of the small restroom. His hands clutched at my throat as I tried to push him away from me. I prayed someone would help me. If they didn’t check on me, then the least they could do was check on Yuri.
My attacker finally got tired of wrestling with me as his hands tighten around my throat and he lifted me up towards his face. “You’ve been warned Autumn Jones. Abort your mission.”
Before I could blink, my attacker sent his fist into my face as my world faded.