So something you guys won't like will happen in this chapter, but if you continue until the end, you'll like it. So don't stop when the shocking thing happens... or you will regret it.

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“Don’t turn your cell phone off,” Mr. Heywood reminded me for the millionth time. “Just put it on silent. Call me if you need anything.”

“I know, I know,” I responded, turning to give him a small smile. “Nothing will happen though.”

Mr. Heywood pursed his lips at me, looking worried. “Lance is waiting for you inside, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay.” Mr. Heywood looked at the café cautiously. “I’ll wait until your inside. Text me when you’re inside so I know you’re okay.”

            A feeling of nervousness washed through me as I watched Mr. Heywood’s worried expression. “Stop being so nervous. You’re making me nervous.”

            “Sorry,” he apologized, reaching over and taking my hand into his. “I just have this awful feeling something’s going to happen…”

            A frown slowly spread across my face. “You too?”

            Mr. Heywood raised an eyebrow. “We are talking about Shawn. He’s known for dirty tricks.”

            “Oh,” I responded, my hand gripping Mr. Heywood’s tightly. “Well I better go inside now…”

            Mr. Heywood pulled my hand closer to him, bringing me with it. Before I could blink he had his lips against mine, giving me a quick kiss. I inhaled sharply, taking in the scent of his familiar cologne. Our eyes met and his smoldered. He leaned back in again, this time kissing me a little harder, and allowing me to return it. I shifted in my seat so I could be closer to him, bringing my free hand up to his face. He let go of my hand, bringing his to my back.

            A gently nip at my lip made me jump in surprise. My hand landed on the car horn, causing it to blare loudly. Immediately Mr. Heywood and I separated, my face burning in embarrassment. “Sorry,” I muttered, dropping my gaze.

            Mr. Heywood chuckled, brushing my hair out of my face. “It’s alright. It wouldn’t be a smart idea to be making out in such a public place anyway.”

            My gaze returned to his face and for a minute I stared into his eyes, mesmerized temporarily. When he blinked, reality hit me and I blushed again. “I should probably go.”

            Mr. Heywood nodded, gently dragging the tips of his fingertips across my jaw. “Be careful, Holly.”

            For some reason terror suddenly gripped me and I reached out and grabbed Mr. Heywood’s hand as he was pulling it away. He gave me a curious look, allowing me to drag his hand back over. I swallowed nervously, trying to calm my heartbeat.

            “What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

            I shook my head, still holding onto his hand. “Nothing. I just… I love you, Chris.”

             Mr. Heywood looked confused, but he smiled. “I love you too.”

            “Um, I’m going to go now,” I murmured, blushing again. “See you… sometime.”

            “See you sometime too,” Mr. Heywood responded with a low chuckle.

            After one more, quick kiss I exited the car, hurrying towards the café. Just before I entered I glanced over my back at Mr. Heywood’s car. He was watching me, and he raised one hand in a wave. I waved back, smiling slightly before going into the small building. Warmth and smell of freshly brewed coffee washed over me as soon as I stepped inside.

            “Welcome!” one of the waitresses chirped at me as I walked by.

            I smiled at her in return for a moment before looking around for Lance. After a minute I finally spotted him in the far corner of the café, reading the newspaper. He looked up when I took a seat at the table, a grin spreading across his face.

            “Hey Holly.”

            “Morning,” I greeted, pulling his cup of coffee over. “Are you ready for this court thing?”

            Lance shrugged. “Not really. My lawyer is though.”

            It felt weird hearing that Lance had a lawyer. It was like hearing that a three year old owned a cell phone. A waitress came over to take our orders and I ordered a coffee and croissant while Lance ordered a refill and a muffin. As she was leaving my phone buzzed in my pocket.

            Is Lance with you?

            I made a face. It slipped my mind I was supposed to text Mr. Heywood and let him know whether or not Lance was actually here. I quickly typed out an affirmative answer and apology for not texting him sooner. A few seconds later he responded saying it was okay and that he was leaving.

            “Texting your boyfriend?”

            “Jealous?”

            Lance scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Not really. I’m not particularly interested in men that are four years older than me.”

            “So you’re interested in other men?”

            He gave me a flat look. “No, Holly. I’m not gay.”

            I shrugged, holding up my hands defensively. “I never said that.”

            “Holly, do you have the feeling that something bad is going to happen?”

            “Huh?”

            Lance’s suddenly serious expression threw me off guard. My heart dropped, and I lowered my gaze to the table. “You too, huh?”

            Suddenly there was the wailing of a siren outside of the café. Both Lance and I whipped our heads towards the window as a police car whizzed by. A shock ran through me and I turned to Lance with wide eyes.

            “That was creepy,” he commented, slowly coming out of his tense state.

            A small, dry laugh left my lips. “Very weird.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” he stated, as if trying to assure both of us. “It’s just pre-court jitters, right?”

I bit my lower lip and chewed it slowly. “Probably… But, I don’t know, all of this seems too easy. Shawn went down with barely any fight.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t Heywood get slammed with a shovel?”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” I admitted. “He hurt Mr. Heywood, but not that seriously. He wanted to get me, but failed. He tried to kill Jeremy, but Jeremy survived. He took Casey, but didn’t harm her. I feel like I’m missing something.”

Lance’s eyebrows pulled together. “This is life, Holly. Not a movie. Something huge doesn’t need to happen in order for something horrible to end.”

“I know, but still… It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Do you want something else to happen?”

“No! No, definitely not!” I cried immediately. A man dressed in a black suit sitting across from us shot me a dirty look.

Lance let out a quiet sigh. “Okay, I know what you mean. But Shawn can’t do anything. He’s been locked up in jail for the past couple days, and he’s only coming out to go to court today. He’ll be guarded the whole time.”

Just then the waitress returned with our order. She had a curious expression on her face, as if she had been listening to our conversation. Lance thanked her; giving her a look that meant, “go away”. She smiled at him for a moment before walking away from the table. My croissant was calling my name, so I pulled the plate closer to me and began to pick at it.

“We have ten minutes before I have to go to the courtroom,” Lance informed me, ripping off the top part of his muffin. “You don’t have to come right away if you don’t want to.”

I shrugged, popping a piece of my buttery pastry into my mouth. “I can wait in the hall or something. I’d rather not be here alone and look like a loner.”

Lance laughed. “Alright.”

Time passed more quickly than I had expected, and soon it was time for Lance to go. I quickly had the waitress put my coffee into a to go up, and ordered another croissant to go. Lance raised an eyebrow at me.

“What? I’m hungry,” I defended, taking a small paper bag from the cashier.

Lance laughed. “I didn’t say anything. Let’s go.”

We exited the warm café, heading out into the freezing morning air. A shiver ran through me, and I quickly pulled my jacket tighter around me. Luckily for us, the courtroom was just around the corner and across the street. Together Lance and I hurried down the deserted street, keeping our heads down and away from the chilling wind. It was times like this where I wished I carried a scarf around with me.

As we turned the corner I heard the sound of Lance exhaling quickly. Immediately my heart leapt into my throat, fearing the worst. When I glanced up, I realized the only thing that had happened was Lance had ran into a man walking in the opposite direction. I almost laughed at my anxiousness.

“Sorry,” Lance apologized, taking a step away from the man, who was dressed in a black business suit like the guy in the café.

The man shook his head. “No worries,” he responded, stepping out of the way to pass by Lance.

Lance started walking again, this time a little quicker. I made to follow after him, but the guy in the business suit now bumped into me, making me drop my coffee and croissant. My eyes widened in surprise as I stared at my breakfast, now lying on the ground.

“Oh no,” I complained, stooping down to pick it up. “Hey Lance—”

My call was cut off when a loud engine roar suddenly filled the air. I started, snapping back up. Lance was now a good distance away. A scowl appeared on my face. He was always the impatient one. Couldn’t he wait for me at least once? Sighing, I bent down to retrieve my breakfast.

A rush of air left my mouth when something hard suddenly slammed into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I doubled over, clutching my stomach and gasping. Before I could blink I was swept off my feet, my eyes now coming in contact with the sky. For a moment I was too shocked to make a sound. When whoever had me started moving, my voice came back and I screamed as loudly as I could, struggling violently.

“Lance!” I screamed desperately, feeling hands enclose around my flailing arms. “Lance! Help me! Someone! He—” My cries were abruptly cut off when a hand roughly covered my mouth.

Panic swelled up in me, and I soon found myself hyperventilating— which just made it more difficult to breathe since someone still had their hand clamped over my mouth. The sound of a car door opening met my ears and I was tossed violently into some type of vehicle with tinted windows. A man— the same man Lance had bumped into— climbed in after me, slamming the door shut. There was a squeal of tires and I was knocked off the seat I landed on as the car jolted forwards.

“No!” I shrieked, pushing myself into a sitting position. “Let me out! Stop the car!”

“Shut up,” the man in the suit demanded, shooting me a hard look.

“Please,” I begged, terror coursing through my veins. “Who are you? Where are you taking me?”

A pair of hands suddenly landed on my shoulder, and someone’s breath tickled my ear. “Boo.”

My head snapped around and I came face-to-face with the person I least expected.

Jeremy.

“Jeremy?” I uttered, my eyes widening in confusion. “What are you…?”

Jeremy smirked at me. “Hello, Holly!”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing much,” Jeremy commented with a shrug. “We’re going to go somewhere fun and meet someone.”

I stared at him, furrowing my eyebrows. “Why didn’t you just call? You scared the hell out of me! I thought I was being kidnapped!”

 “You are being kidnapped though?”

It felt like a brick had dropped into my gut. “What?”

Jeremy leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. “This is kidnap.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling nervous again. “Where are we going?”

“Secret.”

“Who are we meeting?”

Jeremy smirked. “You really want to know?”

“Duh,” I responded in an irritated tone.

“It was someone you were planning on seeing today anyway.”

My eyes widened slightly. He didn’t mean what I thought he meant… did he? There was no way. Jeremy was my friend. He wouldn’t…

Jeremy’s smirk grew wider. “I think you’re thinking the right person.”

“Shawn?” I whispered, my heart stopping momentarily. “But he’s…”

“At the special waiting place,” Jeremy finished for me. “Surprise, Holly! How does it feel to be betrayed?”

I stared at Jeremy in shock, unable to process what was happening. Betrayed? Jeremy was betraying me? My mouth felt dry. “All along…”

Jeremy nodded, leaning closer to me again. “I hate you. And Chris. You both annoy the hell out of me. Especially Chris. My original plan was to have Chris fall in love with you then take you myself, but I changed my mind. Shawn will be much more fun.”

“You’re kidding right?”

Jeremy let out a bark of laughter. “Holly, do you honestly believe I’d go through all this effort just to scare you?”

“Yeah,” I deadpanned.

Jeremy sobered up for a minute, looking surprised. Then his amused expression came back. “Too bad. This isn’t a joke.”

Just kidding. It is a joke. Jeremy’s a good guy. I just got bored so I thought I’d trick you all. Haha. Though, I am worried that as soon as some people read “Jeremy” they’d be like OH HELL NO and stop reading. Hopefully they didn’t. I've wanted to trick you guys for a while, and I thought this was an appropriate time. And yes, I do realize it ruined the tone. Buuuut, oh well. Let’s go back to the story! :D We'll start a few lines from before the joke came in. Which means Jeremy is NOT in the car. Jeremy's nowhere around.

“Please,” I begged, terror coursing through my veins. “Who are you? Where are you taking me?”

A pair of hands suddenly landed on my shoulder, and someone’s breath tickled my ear. “Boo.”

My head snapped around and I came face-to-face with the person I least expected.

Shawn.

He smirked at me, drumming his fingers on my shoulders. “Hello, Holly.”

I screamed. A long, horrified, high-pitched shriek. Shawn made a face, pulling back slightly. I screamed again, unable to process what was happening. How was Shawn in the car? He was supposed to be at the courtroom! When another scream left my lips, Shawn abruptly shoved his hand to his mouth.

“Will you shut up?” he demanded, rolling his eyes. “I know as a matter of fact my face isn’t that horrible.”

I cried out into his hand, bringing my own hands up to try to pull it off. However, he held fast, keeping me silent. For a split second my vision swam and I thought I was going to pass out. Horror filled me as I fought to keep myself conscious. I couldn’t faint now!

“You don’t need to scream, Holly,” Shawn told me. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

I gave him a flat look. He chuckled, pulling his hand away. Immediately I sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm myself before I started hyperventilating again. “How are you…?” My voice cracked and I clamped my lips shut, flushing.

“It’s called having back up plans,” Shawn explained, rolling his eyes. “When you told me the cops were coming, I quickly made a plan with some of my followers that would help me escape, since they couldn’t beat the cops to the warehouse. Let me tell you Holly, jail is not fun.”

“I hope you got used to it, because that’s where you’re going back to,” I shot at him, glaring as hard as I could.

Shawn laughed. “I know that. But I’m not going to go down without a fight.”

“A fight?”

“Not with you,” Shawn assured me. “With Chris. I want to settle things with him once and for all. Last time he was at a disadvantage. I want to fight him equally.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

Shawn cocked an eyebrow. “Why you’re the bait of course.”

“Bait?” I repeated incredulously. Shawn was seriously going to use me as bait?

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” Shawn started, leaning back into his seat. “You’re just an annoying, little child. Although you may look like my Holly, you two are nothing alike. Put nicely, you’re too immature for me.”

I glared at him. “I’m immature? Of course, because I go around kidnapping girls all the time!”

Shawn smirked in amusement. “See? That’s what I mean. You’re attitude really pisses me off.”

“I don’t aim to make you happy,” I snapped back at him.

Shawn shrugged. “Whatever. Mikey, get her cell for me.”

Mikey, the man in the suit, suddenly leaned closer to me. I eyed him warily, leaning away from him. As he brought himself closer to me, I moved backwards until my back hit the window. He reached a hand over and put it in my coat pocket, searching through it.

“Get away from me!” I shouted at him, trying to pull his hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

He ignored my cries, checking the other pockets in my jacket. Then he moved to my pants pocket, patting them down. I struggled away from him, pushing myself to the far edge of the car. Mikey sent me an impatient look.

“Stop touching me,” I ordered, shoving my hand into my back pocket and pulling out my cell phone, then chucking it at him. “Take it.”

Mikey glowered at me as my phone hit him squarely in the neck. Shawn let out a low chuckle from behind me, reaching his hand towards Mikey for the phone. Mikey gave him it, sending another harsh glare towards me. I glared back, trying to look menacing, even though I was terrified.

“Shall we give Chris a little call?” Shawn inquired, flipping open my cell phone. “I’m not sure how much time we’ll have before the cops find me.”

Before I could reply Shawn already had the phone at his air. My heart thudded painfully in my chest as Shawn hummed quietly, waiting for Mr. Heywood to pick up. I could just barely hear the sound of his phone ringing from where I was. Shawn’s expression brightened when Mr. Heywood’s voice came through the receiver.

“Chris!” Shawn greeted him enthusiastically. “Hm? What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue? Or do you not recognize who this is?” After a moment of silence Shawn let out a bark of laughter. “Do whatever you want. I’m just calling to let you know, as you so correctly guessed, I have your little Holly with me right now. Say hello, Holly.”

I bit my tongue to stay quiet. Maybe if I didn’t say anything, Mr. Heywood wouldn’t believe Shawn had me. Maybe he’d think Shawn only stole my phone from me. Shawn narrowed his eyes at me.

“Say hello, Holly,” he repeated in a threatening tone. I stayed silent, glaring at him. He sighed. “Okay. Mikey.”

My eyes locked onto Mikey, who was frowning me. He reached for me and I quickly leaned away from him, watching him cautiously. He grabbed the edge of my coat, trying to tug me closer to him. I kept my mouth clamped shut, gripping onto my seat as tightly as I could. In one rough tug, I slid off the seat in his direction. His hand was suddenly wrapped in my hair, and pulled on it roughly. I bit my tongue harder, wincing in pain. Shawn gave us an impatient look.

“I assure you I have her,” Shawn said into the phone, his eyes never leaving me. “She’s just being a stubborn brat.”

Mikey pulled on my hair again, and once again I managed to avoid crying out in pain. However, I did bring up my arms to try to push his away. I raked my nails against his skin, causing him to his in pain and let me go. Before I could push myself away, he grabbed my arm and twisted in violently. This time a small cry of pain escaped my tightly pressed lips.

Shawn had a smug look on. “Did you hear that? Whoa there, calm down. “I’m going to tell you where we are in a minute. I won’t hurt her. No. Hold on.” Shawn sent Mikey a bored look. “Let her go.”

Mikey roughly shoved me away, making the armrest of my seat jam awkwardly into my back. Wincing, I pushed myself back up into my seat. Guilt washed over me as I realized now Mr. Heywood would come try to save me again. My hands clenched into fists so tight that my nails dug into my skin.

“Go to the place where we first met,” Shawn said into the phone. “Last time it was where I met your Holly, so it’s fitting that we meet where we first met so many years ago.” Shawn went quiet for a moment, frowning. He sighed then held out my phone to me. “For you.”

I quickly grabbed it, pressing it to my ear. “Mr. Heywood! Don’t—”

“I’m coming to get you,” he interjected in a hard tone. “Try to stay safe until I get there. It should only be a few minutes, I was already going in that direction.”

“Mr. Heywood, don’t come! He’s using me as bait!”

“I don’t care if you’re bait for me,” Mr. Heywood responded, sounding irritated. “I’m coming to get you!”

My mouth went dry and my grasp on the phone tightened. “I’m sorry, Mr. Heywood.”

“Don’t be,” Mr. Heywood responded. “I’m going to settle this once and for all. Then this won’t ever happen again because Shawn will be dead.”

My eyes widened in surprise, but before I could say anything more I heard the click that signaled he ended the call. Shawn raised an eyebrow as I lowered the phone away from my ear.

“So?” Shawn asked. “You can keep your phone now, by the way.”

I glared at him. “I hate you.”

He smirked. “I know.” 

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Hey guys! So, I was going to end this differently, but because of my funk, my original idea, for lack of better words, sounded like shit to me, so I had to change it. This may be dragging it out, but I didn't feel like the last part was an ending, so this is going to be the real ending. A few chapters more. I don't care if you think it's draggy, so don't bother commenting if you want to say that. That's all :D And, lol, how many of you did I fool with the Jeremy thing? He's not really a bad guy p: If you didn't catch the author's note in italics......

Facebook page in link (: No proof-reading, ftw!