finding the lake

Not long after her mom went, Audrey woke up.

She got out of bed, then took a stroll to the bathroom. I'm serious gonna step out of my house,she thought giving a heavy sigh.

She pulled of her clothes, then tied a towel above her chest. She turns on the water, placing her hand to check the temperature, it was cold.

Her body ached bad, so she stood under the running shower, letting the coldness touch every part of her body. After a while, she finally applied soap to her bathing cloth then scrubbed her body thoroughly, it's been a while since she had bathed. Just imagine that body odour mixed with the smell of dry blood.

Audrey made sure she scrubbed every inch of her body, till she smelt like the soap she used. When she was satisfied, she rinsed herself then stepped out. she used towel to dry off the water on her body, when she was through, she wrapped the towel around my chest and stepped out of the bathroom.

She walked straight to her wardrobe mirror, staring at what she had become in the past few months. She let out a deep sigh, then walked to her dressing table.

She applied body creme and deodorant, she sprayed a lot of body spray over her body. She might have washed off the blood of her body, but she could unconsciously smell herself.

Audrey walked to her closet to pick out some oversized clothing, she needed to cover what others wouldn't like to see. She brought out a dark blue knee length hoodie, with black long skirt and sandals. Underneath her outfit, she wore a black body hug gown that rest above her knee.

She took a glance at herself in the mirror, luckily the big clothing cover her body well. The good thing was she wasn't too skinny, she walked back to her dressing table then sprayed a good amount of perfume on her clothes.

Audrey stood in front of her door, staring at it for a long time. Am I really going to do this?. She closed her eyes, taking In a very deep and long breath. She opened her eyes, then opened the door walking out of the house. She turned back locking the door behind her and the placing the key in her usual hiding spot, then she walked to where she chained her bicycle.

It's been months since she had last used it, the tires were less and the chain rusted. "Come on".

"I guess I'll be walking".

Before looking for the lake, Audrey thought of hitting the park. She pulled her hood forward enough to hide her whole face, she didn't want to be recognized by anyone. The further she walked the more refreshed she felt, she had been cooped up for to long she did need this natural fresh air.

The park looked so different from the last time she remembered it, but the fountain still sat in the middle of the park. A few things had changed, like a few trees were cut down, some more side stools were added and a few others stuff she couldn't quite pinpoint.

Audrey sat on the fountain looking at the coins that sat at the bottom. "Should I make a wish to as well?", Audrey asked herself, but she also pondered on how true this things are.

She was broke out of thought by the voices of laughter, she looked up to see a couple laughing at something.

Audrey eyes wandered round the park, seeing how people interacted with each other. How they laughed and chatted with one another, the children playing. It made her really feel left out but what could she do. It reminded her of the days when she and Dean took strolls around the park with their bicycles, or played by the swing.

lots of memories began flooding into her mind, the more she remembered the more tears threatened to fall down her eyes. Her heart aches because she wished she could relieve every moment again, just smiles and laughter.

As more memories flooded, tears rolled down her cheeks. She remembered she was in the middle of the park, so she stood up pulled her hood forward and began walking away fast. The faster she walked the more tears poured out.

I've stayed to long, let me set off to find the lake mom told me about,she thought using the sleeves of her hood to wipe away her tears. Her hood was so big, it swallowed her whole body, and her hands were buried in the sleeves. the tears in my eyes.

Audrey didn't particularly know where the lake was, so the further she walked the more she asked for directions from the passers by on the road

They all kept giving the same reply, "it's a bit deep into the woods, take the straight clear path and just keep walking, you'd get there".

"Thank you",Audrey replied and kept walking down that road.

She kept walking till the sun was about setting and my leg felt so sore. "Oh gosh how far is this lake?", Audrey spoke under her breath, this felt like some form of exercise or would she say punishment.

She couldn't continue any further, she had no food and no water in her system. She felt she could die and any moment, but she couldn't give up, she gave her mom her words. Besides they say I'm almost there, she thought panting, while she held her knees.

She kept walking further in till she couldn't anymore, the sun had already set and everywhere started turning dark. She couldn't handle the pain she felt under her feet so limped to a tree and sat under it. "I need to catch my breath",Audrey panted out of breath.

She sat there trying to regain her breathing pace, she was so exhausted. Then realization down on her, it's already late how would she go home. Clearly the path back would be really far, oh lord, I can't do this anymore.

Audrey decided to close her eyes to rest a bit, gain energy to continue this torturous journey.

She was almost deep in sleep when she heard people talking, voices of men. She snapped open her eyes, everywhere had already turned dark. What illuminated the place was the moon and a light shining from somewhere. She stood up to take a peak of where the light was coming from.

Using the tree to wage herself, she picked herself off the ground then followed the light. She took a few steps In, there was a bar. "Why is there a bar in the middle of no where?", she asked herself confused, because she didn't notice this before she shut her eyes.

A few people exited, but a group of men caught Audrey's attention.

"We can continue our task tomorrow",A huge looking man said. He was bigger than the rest, so Audrey assumed him to be their boss. He deserved the titled, because this man was really built, it showed through the outfit he wore. He had dark brown long hair which was pack to the back as a low ponytail, he also had a goatie. He wore a brown shirt with grey trouser and boots

"Ok sir", one of the other men replied.

"But sir we need one more person to complete the batch, preferably a girl", another said in a not so loud voice.

"Lower your voice some one could have heard you", the boss said leading his men close the tree where Audrey was.

"Are this men human traffickers?", she asked herself walking backwards slowly. I didn't sign up for this.

"I know that", the boss said. "we'll set off when day breaks".

Hearing this confirmed her assumption, she didn't want to be near those monsters, so she kept stepping back. Nothing looking at where she stepped, she step on a small branch.

It made a sound attracting the attention of one of the men, the men seemed to be like 4 in total, well with their Boss 5.

"Boss i think someone's there",one from the men said pointing towards Audrey's direction. "Go and check it out then", the boss said.

Hearing this Audrey panic and began running without looking back, she ran till she felt she was farther enough and hide behind a tree. She held her knee trying to catch her breath, when she stood up properly, someone held her mouth from behind. She tried to scream but his large palm muffled the sound, "you think you could get away?".