Somehow I'm Alive (part 16)

Part 16 is the part right before the finale. I've had it on my heart to do this one specifically from Jaslina's point of view, so it's a little different.

The end of this part is dramatic. Don't worry, I won't make you wait too long for the finale, I promise. I think that you'll like the way it ends. :D

Created by: Topaz
  1. What is your age?
  2. What is your gender?
  1. (I made this part specially from Jaslina's Point of View)It was a long walk back to the truck yesterday evening but totally worth it. We were so happy that the call got through we hardly noticed the distance. I could’ve danced all the way back had I wanted too. At the same time we’re all still scared. What I said on the phone to my mother was true. They’re probably hot on our trail. I hope that the police make it over here in time. Ryan, Rayla, and I have been doing nothing but praying, hoping, and then some. Even Tammy has prayed with us a couple times. However, she said that becoming a Christian is out of the question. For some reason she doesn’t want to give in to Christianity. I guess that’s normal for most people who haven’t been raised in church. I remember once my pastor said that they feel like they’re giving something up by becoming one of us. Of course the ones that finally do give their lives to Jesus find out that they were wrong. Once you’re a member of the Christian family you realize that you aren’t missing a darn thing. All of the things people do to fill the void is useless. The drinking, partying, hanging out, having a good career, getting rich, looking for “true love”, or whatever else it could be is useless. Because that spot they’re trying to fill is one meant for God. In every human’s heart there is a spot that only God can fill. Once you let Jesus into your heart that spot is filled. Sure being a Christian isn’t a walk in the park, but it pays off when it comes down to eternity. In fact, being a Christian is anything but easy. There will be many trials, and temptations, and many who will hate you and mock you because you are a Christian. That shouldn’t stop you. It should encourage you. The facts are all in 1 Peter 4:16. It says: “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” There is actually more than that. The whole thing is 1 Peter 4:12-19 but what I just quoted is what I can remember the best. Now only if we could convince Tammy of that. We actually already gave up on talking to her about it. I guess all we can do is leave her in God’s hands.
  2. It’s late in the day right now and we just finished debating over whether we should go to town of not. Now that the call has been made we all feel better, but we’re still afraid of being caught and killed. However, we’ve finally decided to go out. Oh, and Ryan thinks that we need to talk to that guy who lent us his phone. Since my mom called the police we should try and stay near a phone. That phone specifically. If we stay in one place, our enemies have a better chance of finding us. I’ve been ready for twenty minutes, but Tammy and Rayla are still getting ready. I guess that‘s probably because Tammy’s streaks are removable and she needs Rayla’s help putting them in. What else could it be? “Are you guys done yet?!” yells Ryan. “No!” shout Tammy and Rayla in unison. Rayla says, “It might take a while. After adding the blonde streaks we might need to re-dye her roots. Then there’s also that matter of my lengthening my hair. Ryan and I sigh at the same time. Clearly we’re both irritated. “Why don’t you guys just go by yourselves?” says Tammy. “In an hour or two you can come back for us. How does that sound?” Ryan gets a happy sort of half-smile on his face. “Okay,” he says, “we can live with that.” I don’t mind being alone with Ryan for a while. I really don’t mind it. It’ll get my mind off of being chased by the crazy lunatics. Linking arms, we make our way toward the city. We’re silent until we get a good distance away from the truck. The last thing we need are those two listening to our conversations like it’s some sort of soap opera. Personally, I think the only reason they do it is because they know it irritates us and seeing us irritated makes for good entertainment.
  3. So,” says Ryan, “we finally get to go back to the U.S.” “Yeah, and just in time for school to start, too,” I say. “Best of all I’ll finally get to stay in one place and live a normal life. I’m not sure where that place is yet, but at least I won’t be on America’s top ten most wanted list.” There is the sound of relief in his voice. “I’m glad that you’ll finally get to be free of all this. You deserved better from your family.” Ryan gives a smile. “Thank you. So what about you? You might just have the biggest story of a lifetime. Every magazine and news channel in the country will want an interview with you. What’ll you do about that?” “Keep giving interviews until my story finally gets old. That’s what everybody else would do in my case.” “True.” He kicks a stone with his foot. This is the calmest I think I’ve ever seen him. After a long silence Ryan says, “Hey, why don’t we go look around in some stores. It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do.” “Sure, why not.” Our feet hit the pavement of the dusty city street. We probably won’t be looking around hardly any time at all before we have to go back for Tammy and Rayla. I like having our little clan together at all times. Well, or at least most of the time. I feel safest when we’re all together. However, I enjoy time alone with Ryan, too. Not that we’re dating, but I like getting to know him.
  4. A little while later we come out of the strip mall. We’ll I call it a strip mall. I don’t know what they call them here. Some of the stuff in there was cool. I won’t get too deep into detail about it though. We take one final glance through the window then make our way toward a roadside market. There are a whole bunch of them. There are rows of them with more merchandise than I thought possible. One stand has jewelry, (strange, foreign jewelry); another has all kinds of foods that I don’t think I’d ever eat. It all looks weird. The one next to that has very colorful veils and robes. I’m betting they’re ceremonial. I’m going over to look at the jewelry stand. I turn to say something to Ryan, but realize I’ve lost him to a merchant that sells fancy carving knifes. I roll my eyes at him and laugh. That’s typical for a dude. I turn my attention to a necklace on the table in front of me. It looks like it’s made of jade. I reach out to touch it, but an elderly woman says something to me. I could tell she was scolding me, but I didn’t understand a word of it. “English?” I ask. Immediately switching languages, she says “No touch.” “Sorry,” I say. With a solemn nod she walks away. This is beautiful jewelry. I wonder how she made it. I begin admiring a pair of earrings. How I wish I could buy them! But, hey admiring is good enough. This is the kind of fun I’ve been missing this summer. The kind of stuff that I hoped I’d get to do this summer with Lily and a few of my other friends. But the joy of admiring jewelry only lasts a few minutes. Just as I’m about to tell the woman how beautiful her work is Ryan runs up to me in a deathlike panic. This isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. “Jaslina, quick we need to run! They’ve found us!”
  5. I feel my blood run cold. This can’t be happening. “Run?! To where?! We can’t lead them to Tammy and Rayla!” Ironically we’re already running when I say this. I see Sapphire and Akmal coming for us with guns in their hands. Even in the thickness of the crowd I can set them apart clearly from the others. Not so far behind them I see the White-dressed Woman and Landon also holding guns. You can tell that they saw Ryan and me already because they’re scanning the crowd looking for us. Taking no more time to observe we run hand in hand. Now is the time to make sure we don’t separate. “I know we can’t lead them to Tammy and Rayla! Just run until we lose them. There is no way we’re going back to the truck right now.” We run until we reach the strip mall. Not knowing where else to turn we hurdle through the door and dive behind the counter. Ryan is holding me protectively against his chest in dead silence. “Can I help you guys with something?” I look up into the piercing eyes of a boy around my age. “Yes,” I say. “You can help us by letting us hide here a while.” “Why should I let you?” he snaps. “You’ll be doing us a favor.” Says Ryan, “There are a few people chasing us. Please, this is a life or death situation.”
  6. The boys face softens. “Alright, fine. But might I ask who’s chasing you?” “A teenage girl who looks a lot like me, my sister; a dark woman in her forties, my mother; a blonde boy about our age, and a man. He is from Saudi Arabia. All of them have guns on them whether they show them or not.” The boy lets out a long whistle. “It sounds like you guys are in a fix,” he says with a thick accent. “I’ll let you guys hang out here until you feel you’re safe. What’s your name, anyway?” “Ryan.” “Okay, so you’re Ryan. Who’s your friend, Blondie?” (Did I mention that we didn’t wear our wigs?) “My name is Jaslina. Thanks for letting us hide here.” “No problem. Name’s Fakhiri by the way. ” Only a few seconds of silence go by until we hear the door swing opened. As I hear a duo of footsteps crossing the floor in our direction I feel my heart beat at a pace like I’ve never felt before. Why does this have to be happening?! “Excuse me, sir?” The ice cold voice of Ryan’s mother nearly penetrates me. “But have you seen my son and his friend?” “No, I’m sorry ma’am. I haven’t seen them. Perhaps you should look someplace else.” “Perhaps a description of them would do,” says the White-dressed Woman. “My son is sixteen and looks a lot like her in the face. And his friend, a blonde girl that is also sixteen. Have you seen them?” I hear the cocking of a gun and footsteps coming closer.
  7. “Tell us the truth,” says Sapphire. Ryan and I move back further as she stretches forward to point the gun at Fakhiri’s head. “Your life may depend on it. Now tell us again, have you or have you not seen my brother and his companion?” “Actually yes I think I recall seeing them come in here. I heard them say that they were going to that one shop two blocks down. I’m not sure which one, but I know that it’s two blocks away from here.” “Two blocks down? Did they say whether they were going north or south?” “Yes. Two blocks in the south direction,” says Fakhiri nervously. Sapphire moves the muzzle of the gun away from his forehead slowly to entice fear. I hear them move toward the door. On their way out Ryan’s mom says, “Thank-you, dear, you’ve been of good assistance.” The shop door slams behind them. The second that door slams I take in a long breath and stand up to stretch. Standing up next to me, Ryan says, “Thanks, Fakhiri, we owe you one.” “Anytime. Your family seems mean.” With a look of astonishment on his face, Fakhiri says “Your mother’s dress looks familiar. It almost looks like the one that—” His eyes widen. “No. It can’t be.” His head down, Ryan nods sadly. “It is.” “She’s the White-dressed Woman?! You’re the son of one of the most wanted criminals in the world! “He switches his gaze to me. “That means you’re Jaslina Rowe. Your name is all over the world practically. You’re known as her most recent victim.” “That’s me.” I say with a fake grin. The look on his face tells me that he just found out exactly what happened. “Let me guess. Jaslina ran and you helped her escape. You aren’t a criminal at all. You’re on the side of the victims aren’t you?” “That’s right,” says Ryan, “Only it’s a little more complicated and I don’t have time to explain. Jaslina and I have to get to Tammy and Rayla. You’ve most likely heard of them too.” A flicker in his eyes confirms that he knows exactly who we’re talking about. “Tammy Franklin and Rayla Dendron? Weren’t they also victims of hers? Did you help them escape too?” “Sort of. Listen I’d love to explain to you, Fakhiri, but we need to hurry.”
  8. “Okay, I totally understand. Besides I’ll hear your story on America’s Most Wanted anyway.” We stare at him. How would he know about that show if he lives in Iraq? As if reading our minds, he says, “My Aunt lives in America. I visit her all the time. I know about a lot of your TV shows.” We give him a nod of thanks and head for the door. “Thank you again, Fakhiri,” I say as I follow Ryan out the door. We stand there a long time and look around to make sure they’re gone. Then we head in the direction of the truck. We’ve got no time to find the man that lent us his phone right now. At first we start out walking but after a few seconds sprint into a run. I pray that Tammy and Rayla are okay. As soon as the truck is in view we start screaming. “Tammy! Rayla! Quick it’s an emergency!” At the sound of our voices they emerge from the truck faster than the speed of sound. “What’s going on?” asks Rayla. “They didn’t find us did they?” Ryan and I don’t say a word. “They did, didn’t they?” “Yes,” I say, “and they spotted us.” Ryan says, “The only reason they aren’t right behind us right now is because we hid in that one store in the strip mall behind the counter. Even then we were almost spotted by Sapphire.” “She was holding a gun to the clerk’s forehead.” Tammy swallows hard. “A gun?” “Yes. All of them have guns, including Akmal. He’s with them now.”
  9. Collapsing on the ground in fetal position, Tammy says, “What are we gonna do? I can’t die yet! There’s still so much I haven’t gotten to do!” I say, “It’s all in God’s hands now, Tammy. Face it, we’re sitting ducks’. There’s nowhere else left to turn.” “Jaslina, I don’t want to die and go to hell. Can you guys pray with me?” There are tears streaming down Tammy’s face. I think she means it. There is something good to all this after all. “Sure,” says Rayla, “We’d be glad to pray with you.” We all sit down in a circle around Tammy. Each of us has a hand on her. I never thought that this is what it’d take for her to come to Jesus, but I’m glad she’s finally coming to him. After the prayer is done we pass around hugs and one by one we stand up. “Okay,” says Tammy, “I think that I feel better now. At least if we die we’ll all get to be in heaven with each other. ” As if planned exactly for this moment, a gunshot goes off just a mere twelve feet behind us. It’s too late to hide. They’ve already found us. Before we even have time to breathe the four of them move in around us; their guns aimed at our heads. I pray one final prayer in my head. ‘Jesus, thank-you for saving Tammy. Even if it was at the last minute. I’m sorry if I’ve done anything to upset you recently. Please forgive me. And please let my mom know that I love her.’
  10. Right after my prayer ends, Ryan’s mother speaks. “The four of you have caused us a lot of grief, but we’ve finally found you.” “We’d let you live,” says Akmal, “but killing you guys would give us too much joy. Besides, what kind of people would we be if we let four Christians run amok in Iraq?” We’re backed up against our truck. It looks like this is it. “Where do you think we should start, Dearest?” says Landon to Sapphire. “I think that we should start with Ryan’s little crush. She’s the one that started all this. It’s only fair.” Her eyes have gone from cold to pure evil. “Would you like to do the honors?” Cocking her gun, she says, “I’d love to. One at a time.” The muzzle of the gun is pressing into my head drawing blood practically. Realizing that I’ve finally come to my life’s end, I close my eyes in preparation for the death shot.

Remember to rate this quiz on the next page!
Rating helps us to know which quizzes are good and which are bad.

Related Quizzes:

What is GotoQuiz? A better kind of quiz site: no pop-ups, no registration requirements, just high-quality quizzes that you can create and share on your social network. Have a look around and see what we're about.