The photo was of my mother, my father, and me.
It was one of the only photos I had of the three of us. The last time I’d seen the photo, it had been in my father’s box, in my apartment. I held the picture to my heart, which was racing now, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I looked around to see if I could find anything else as I waited. I surveyed the rest of the shack quickly, and all I found was some blank pieces of paper; the same paper that the notes had been written upon. Sinking to the ground, I closed my eyes and prayed that Jakob would defeat Steve. Steve was the man who had been writing the notes. He was obviously working with my kidnapper. The fact that there was a photo of my family in this room told me that someone had been in my apartment and through my personal belongings. Maybe the photograph was even a warning. Maybe this was Mattias’s way of telling me to back off. I dropped the photo onto the ground and started crying. I picked the photo back up and stared at it for a few minutes before turning it over. It was then that my heart stopped again as I saw the message. How did Steve know I was going to see the photo? Unless, of course, it was part of his plan. Or a part of the plan that he hadn’t gotten to carry out as yet. I walked to the door and opened it so that I could read by the light of the moon.
What do you see when you look at me? A happy family for all to see. A man so consumed with greed and with spite, that his children now suffer and live in fright. What do you see when you look at me? An ominous picture of your life to be.
I stared at the note and frowned. If the other notes had made little sense, this one was even more confusing. I turned the photo around again and stared at it. What did I see? And why was he saying my father was greedy? My father was the least greedy person I knew. He’d been swindled by his business partners and hadn’t even done anything to get his money back. I frowned and reread the words. Why was the photo ominous? What did Steve mean?
I shivered as I stared at the photo. And then I blinked as I studied it again. There was another couple in the photo. I’d never noticed them before. The other couple looked just as happy as my parents, and they were holding hands. I looked at the photo again to see if there was anything else I had missed. I couldn’t see anything else in the photo but a surly-looking boy standing to the right in the photo, looking at the group next to him. It was then that I heard a loud crying noise, and I froze.
I looked at the shack and at all the blank papers that were in here. Papers and clues that hadn’t been here the first time I was here. This wasn’t a safe place to be. I wouldn’t even be able to see if someone was coming. I ran out the door and started thinking. “Where should I go? Where should I go?” I muttered to myself frantically. I thought about going to the waterfall, but that would make me a sitting duck. If Steve somehow managed to take Jakob down, being at the waterfall wasn’t going to help me. There was only one other option: I needed to be up high. The predator always needed to be watching from above. Only the prey stayed below and waited to be hunted. I looked around to see if there were any trees I could climb. Each tree I passed caused me to panic as I stared at the long trunks. There was no way I’d be able to climb any of these. Looking around, I took a couple of deep breaths. “Calm down, Bianca. Think. And pay attention.” I closed my eyes and stood there. All I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat and the faint sound of the water from the waterfall. “Look for the banana trees,” I told myself. I knew that Jakob had climbed the banana trees to bring me breakfast, so I knew that it was possible to get up one. If I could find a tree that wasn’t very high, maybe I could go from that tree and transfer to another one and climb higher up. “If a monkey can do it, so can you,” I whispered to myself, and shuddered as I realized that I might come into contact with some other animals hidden up in the trees. My chest started heaving as I sobbed in frustration and terror. Then I heard a bloodcurdling scream, and my body went into panic mode. I’d never experienced anything like it before. It was as if my body was guiding me. My legs started moving of their own volition, and I found myself at a tree, attempting to climb it before I could even process what was going on. My feet brushed against something prickly, and I stepped back and bit my lip. This was going to hurt. The tree trunk already felt rough against my skin, and my palms were already aching.
“You can do this, Bianca.” I stretched my arms a few times and walked back to the tree. “Mind over matter. There is no pain.” I kept repeating to myself as I attempted to climb the tree. However, I kept falling down. I realized that the photo still clutched in my hand was keeping me from grasping the tree tightly enough and my feet just weren’t able to grab on to the tree trunk and stay there. I dropped the photo and stared at it for a moment before squaring my shoulders. “It’s thigh time.” I sighed and held on to the trunk. I wrapped my arms and legs around it as tightly as I could and then tried to shuffle up the tree. I didn’t think I was going to make it. As soon as I shuffled up a couple of times, I kept sliding down.
But then I decided to close my eyes and pretend I was somewhere else. I counted to three and then attempted to climb again. I didn’t open my eyes until I’d made it at least twenty feet above the ground. Then I made the mistake of looking down. My stomach dropped as I realized how high up I was. “Don’t look down, Bianca,” I lectured myself, and held on to the tree for dear life. The tree I was on didn’t go much higher up than I currently was, and I knew I needed to get higher. I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to remain on the tree very long in this position. My thigh muscles were already killing me.
I looked to the right and saw another tree, with thick branches that looked like they would be sturdy enough to support my weight. The only problem was how I was going to make it to the other tree. I took a deep breath and held on to the tree slightly. My mind wondered about the scream I’d heard. It sounded like someone was in a lot of pain, like they’d been stabbed. Maybe even killed. I swallowed hard as my heart dropped. I hoped Jakob was okay. I needed him to be okay. I needed to know what was going on. I looked at the other tree again. There was a branch about two feet away. If I could just stretch my feet out and stand on it, then I could use it for balance and attempt to make the move. I knew it would be easier for me to use my arms, but I knew that I couldn’t hold my own weight. The only option I had was to try to use my feet.
“One, two, three, go,” I whispered to myself, and let go of the tree trunk with my legs. swinging them to the branch on the other tree. My feet connected with solid wood, and I sent up a small prayer. I shifted my position slowly and used my balance to push myself off the other tree to the new tree. My fingers grabbed ahold of the branch on the new tree, and I gasped for air as I watched a bunch of leaves and bananas from the first tree falling to the ground. “Focus, Bianca,” I muttered to myself, and looked for another branch to climb onto so that I could continue going higher. My legs wouldn’t stop climbing until I felt physically exhausted. And then I stopped. I didn’t look down. I knew that it would all be over if I looked down. I held on to the tree branch and closed my eyes and waited.