Matt and I sprinted down the road as fast as our legs would carry us. My head whipped around occasionally only to catch a glimpse of our armed assailant's blurred shape gaining on us. Matt leaned heavily against my shoulder weighing me down, but the burst of adrenalin that surged through my veins and the fear of dying a grisly and violent death gave me the strength to continue practically dragging him along.

The chainsaws roar grew louder and louder until I could practically feel the wind on my neck. We won't ever make it out in the open, he's too fast and Matt can't run for much longer. Our best chance was to find somewhere to hide. In a millisecond, I was surveying the terrain for a place to hide, to conceal ourselves and keep out of their sight. The only place there was to shield ourselves in this stretch of endless, empty road was the field of corn stalks.

"THIS WAY!" I shouted as I pulled him into the dense field praying it would be enough to hide us long enough for us to put some distance between the chainsaw guy and ourselves.

The husks bashed me in the face as I pushed through the field. My lungs burned as we weaved through the stalks, struggling to shake our assailant. Sweat poured into my eyes and dampened my skin making my already tight jeans and t-shirt stick even closer to my body. It was definitely not the running-for-your-life type of outfit.

The heel of my boots caught on something protruding from the ground sending me tumbling forward. Matt fell to his knees with a thud, his chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.

"RUN" he shouted, waving his hand for me to go. "I'll catch up!"

"No, I'm not leaving you!"

The beads of sweat and tears obscured my vision and I wiped them away with the back of my hand. Crying only made me heave more and I wondered if this was what it was like to hyperventilate. I needed to breathe, to rest until I caught my breath, we both did but there was no time; I could hear the chainsaw buzzing closer and closer each second. I dug my fingernails into his sleeve pleading with him to get back up. Glancing up, the stalks were bending and breaking in the distance. The sound of laughter mixed with squealing and the shrill chainsaw drawing nearer sent another wave of adrenalin through me and it was screaming to run for my life but I refused to leave Matt.

"JUST GO! I'll be..." he paused to heave for breath "I'll be right behind you!"

A spinning silver blade, spitting puffs of smoke and roaring deafeningly ripped through the stalks behind Matt followed by the massive man wielding it. All I could do was grab either side of my face and scream as he came rushing up behind us.

"GO!" he shouted, shoving me forwards out of the warpath of our assaulter and breaking me from the trance holding me in place.

I did just that. I didn't turn around. I didn't look back. I couldn't. My heart shattered at the sound of Matts agonized screams being drowned out by the sound of the revving engine but I still didn't stop. Pushing my way through the field, the thud of another set of footsteps echoed out behind me.

Someone wasn't far behind and they were fast. Faster than I was.

A flash of something red in the distance caught my eye. Even though my legs felt like jelly, I clawed for another yard until the cornfield spit me out in a clearing where a few different buildings stood, but my main focus was making it to the dilapidated barn ahead.

Bounding into the barn, I made it a few feet before slender arms wrapped around my waist, tackling me to the ground. I screamed till my ears were ringing and blindly struck whoever had me repeatedly with my fists. A thin man flipped me over on my back and climbed on top of me, straddling my waist and pinning my hands beneath his bony knees.

"Ah thought you wuz goin ta town?!" he said, situating himself on top of me as I struggled to move beneath his weight.

He let out a short burst of deranged cackles before brushing his shaggy brown hair from his beady eyes, revealing a strange brushstroke of crimson on his right cheek; a maroon birthmark like a half-moon swirling from the corner of his mouth, across his cheek and up the side of his nose.

"Yer a purdy lil' thang aintchu..." He slapped a dirty hand over my mouth and pinched my cheek with the other, tugging my skin every which way. "Ma brother's gon' luuuve yer face."

I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the hot tears swelling in my waterline rolled down my face as I tried pleading with him to let me go through muffled wails and incoherent words. He slid his hand into his shoe and pulled a pocket knife from his sock. My eyes locked with his, the lunacy in his beady black eyes told me whatever he was planning on doing with that knife wouldn't be good and I braced myself for what was to come as he pressed the cold metal blade to my cheek.

"Nubbins!" a woman's voice rang out from somewhere behind me making him quickly slide off my waist and scamper toward her.

"What the hell d'ya think you're doin'?" She walked nearer, her bare feet poking out from beneath her old fashioned shift dress kicked up clouds of dust on the floor.

I shoved him off of me and attempted to climb to my feet, but he swiftly caught me by my hair, tangling his fingers in the strands and pulling me to kneel in front of the lady.

"Help me, please!" I begged, pleading her not only with my words but with my eyes as well.

The older woman stepped towards me, her faded blue dress hung loosely on her frame and swirled around her legs as she knelt by my side. Her silvery gray hair flecked with strands of her former dark color was a perfect contrast to her coal eyes which bore into my own.

She raised a hand to my cheek and I flinched expecting pain but was surprised at the softness of her touch as her nimble fingers caressed my cheek. "Well, ain't you a sight for sore eyes," she said calmly with a half-smile.

"Please, don't hurt me...please...please..." I managed to say through my sobs.

"I ain't gonna hurtchu, dear." she brushed the damp strands of hair sticking to my forehead out of my eyes, tucking it behind my ears.

My eyes shot upward to the one with the death grip on the rest of my hair. She must've took the hint as she also looked up at him, and shot daggers at him with her gaze.

"Oh, he ain't gonna hurtchu either." She reassured me, her voice stern as she stared at the boy. "Ain't that right, Nubbins?"

"Y-Yeah, I wasn't gon' do nuthin'. Jus' gonna put 'er in the cage, that's all."

The cage? What cage? My eyes scanned the room in search of whatever he was talking about and came to land on what appeared to be a horse stall now covered in metal chainlink fencing and wooden planks from floor to ceiling.

"That better have been what you wuz doin'." She cleared her throat and raised a thin overplucked eyebrow as she nodded her head to the knife he was fiddling with. "Don't lemme catch you messing with 'er now, you understand me?"

"Already told ya I weren't gon' hurt 'er none, Ma." he replied before dragging me kicking and screaming by my hair across the floor towards the opening of the cage and shoving me inside.

Slamming the fence door closed, he procured a padlock from the ground and locked the door trapping me in the makeshift cell. There was nowhere to run nor anywhere to hide. Sliding into the furthest corner of the cage, I pulled my feet underneath me and my knees up to my chest making myself as small as possible.

The mother–at least I assumed she was his mother as he had called her "Ma"– strode over to the entrance of the barn, basking in the rosy gleam of the sunrise spilling into the spacious room. The morning sun was now creeping up above the horizon coating everything it touched in a warm pink glow and she seemed to watch it tranquilly, somehow unphased by her loony son locking me in a cage.

"There ya are, Bubba!" she spoke to someone outside. " Was about to send yer brother after ya."

This Bubba person stood just out of sight, but I was guessing it was the one with the chainsaw. Nubbins scurried over to stand beside his mother, bouncing like a spring. Meanwhile, I had crept quietly towards the front of the cage, wrapping my fingers around the fencing and peering through in hopes of seeing some sign of Matt.

"Ya get 'im?!" Nubbins asked before letting out some sort of victory squeak and holding his hand up for a high-five to which a much larger palm collided with his.

It's like this was all some sort of game...some sick twisted game.

"Ya won't believe wh-what I caught!" He said as he beckoned the other one to follow. "Stupid b!tch ran right in 'ere. Heheh!"

I quickly slid back into the corner pressing myself as flat as I could against the wall. A much taller and much heftier man walked in behind Nubbins, his face was obscured by some sort of weird homemade mask that only revealed his eyes and lips. He stood beside the cage peering in at me, smiling.

Nubbins picked up a handful of pebbles and tossed the tiny stones at me. "Ain't she a good one, Bubba? Got a nice face, ain't she?"

The man in the mask nodded his head enthusiastically at his brother's questions, but never uttered a word.

The mother stomped over and grabbed Nubbins by the ear, smacking the rocks from his hand. "I said quick pickin at 'er!"

The chainsaw man, Bubba, chuckled at his brother getting chastised and scolded. Seeing how the others were busy and Bubba was all alone, I had slid in front of the door, deciding to make one last plea for help.

"Please, help me...I don't want to die..." I whispered, clasping my hands in front of me.

He turned his attention back to me, tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy. It was difficult reading his expression from just his eyes and lips but I could tell he was trying to figure me out.

"Please, let me out...I promise I won't tell anyone...I won't tell the police...I promise...I swear... "

He had still never uttered a single syllable, just stood there and stared at me. "Can you at least tell me if my friend, the guy I was with, is okay? Is he, um...did you..."

Nubbins made his way back over to the cage, rubbing his ear from where his mother had a hold of him. Seems she still has her bluff on the two.

"He ain't gonna answer you." Nubbins chimed in, staring down at the old polaroid camera hanging around his neck. "He don't talk. Never has."

"He doesn't talk? How come?" I asked trying to seem polite–you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, right?

"None of yer business!" He shouted, throwing his body against the fencing making me shriek and retreat back to the corner. My fear only made the corner of his thin lips turn up into a smirk.

"Let's go, Bubs. Ma's got breakfast ready."

He gave a quick nod to his brother and made a little grunt. Taking a last look at me, gawking at the new pet in the cage for one second longer, he turned and followed Nubbins out of the barn.

Alone. Utterly alone and locked like an animal in a cage. Unsure if my boyfriend was dead or alive and fearing what was to come when they returned for me. I curled into a ball in the corner and felt tears sting at my eyes. The more tears that came, the more my situation had become real. I had no idea what they wanted with me or Matt, but I was sure it wasn't good.