Chapter 3The 98-Pound Curse

Mia was hyperventilating. "I... I didn't see anything today! Please, just let us go!"

I was terrified. "Listen, man, this is a misunderstanding. Don't do this! I have thousands in my account. I'll transfer it all to you right now. Just drop us at the next light, okay?"

Silas, the scarred man, raised the blade.

"You think I'm an idiot? If I let you go, I get the chair. Your money isn't worth my life!"

He swung the cleaver. I dove down, feeling the cold steel whistle over my head. I felt a chill on my scalp. I touched my head—a large chunk of my hair had been sliced off.

One inch lower and my skull would have been split open.

"Son, wait," the driver said. "There are cops everywhere checking for DUIs this close to the holidays. Let’s get out of the city limits first."

"Fine."

Silas didn't put the knife away. He forced us to transfer all the money in our bank apps to his account.

"Don't even think about calling for help, or I'll hack you both before the cops even get a block away."

We obeyed. He took our phones. Then he leaned back to rest.

We were leaving the city.

I debated lunging for the steering wheel. But if we crashed and didn't die, he'd kill us. If we crashed too hard, we’d die anyway.

"Cough... cough..."

Mia started coughing. She caught my eye and pointed toward the floor under the driver's seat. Something shiny was there. A blade?

Hope flared. If we had a weapon, we had a chance.

I signaled her to grab it. Mia was smart. She used her foot to hook it out and then reached down. But then she let out a blood-curdling scream.

"AHHHH!"

She threw the object away. It landed right on Silas's lap.

It wasn't a blade. It was a severed human finger. A woman's finger with a long, glittery acrylic nail. The "shine" we saw was the rhinestones on the nail.