“No! Give me my baby!” Laney shouted as the screaming newborn was ripped from her arms.
“Your baby? She’s mine! I've already got the birth certificate drawn up to prove it,” her masked captor said with a cruel sneer, shoving her back to the dirt packed floor. Laney groaned as she hit the ground. Her captor cradled her baby, cooing to the infant as she cried.
“Please, give her to me. She’s hungry. She needs to eat.” Laney held her arms out toward the person and her baby. She attempted to make her voice calm and soothing, a difficult task to accomplish around her pain; but, she knew all too well the unpredictable rages her captor could fly into. She needed to keep them calm in order to protect her tiny daughter held in their arms.
“I think I know how to take care of a baby, thank you,” they snarled."You've always gotten everything in life that you wanted, haven't you? Well, not this time. It's my turn now."
Laney moved to heave herself up from the floor, but it was too late. She wasn’t fast enough. The captor turned from her and quickly walked out the door with Laney’s baby, slamming it shut behind them. Laney heard the lock click and she collapsed back to the floor, sobs wracking her body.
Please, God. Protect my baby. Please help us get out of here.
Laney was jolted awake by the sound of a key jiggling in the lock on her door. She must have lost consciousness at some point. That wasn't a good sign. She managed to pull herself to her feet, but her vision blurred around the edges as she did. She wasn’t sure if she could summon enough strength to fend off her attacker and reach the door, but she had to try.
The door opened and her captor walked through. Laney's baby was nowhere in sight.
“Where is my baby?” Laney asked, putting all the strength in her voice that she could muster.
The captor didn’t answer. Laney started toward them. She had no weapon, but she would use her bare hands if she had to. Whatever it took to get to her baby.
The captor reached into the hoodie they wore, pulling something small and metallic from the pocket. Laney glanced down and felt the blood drain from her face.She heard the sound of the trigger and then her world faded away into blackness.
Lily Porter
