I felt myself being shaken awake and I opened my eyes drowsily to look up at Ryan. He was smiling at me excitedly. "We got it! We know how to take down your mom," he said.

My weariness from sleep slipped away faster then and I sat up quickly. I blinked away my sleep as I followed Ryan to the computer that Ben was sitting at. I looked over his shoulder in anticipation, eager to see what they had found only for my excitement to fizzle. "This is a Facebook page," I said.

Ryan nodded, still grinning. "It's your mom's private account. Ben is pretty good at hacking. He majored in tech in college." He pointed to a message on the screen a ways down from the top of the page. "She's been talking about a money exchange with someone for the past few months."

"What does that prove?" I asked. "She could be talking about anyone's money."

He pointed to a different message farther down, making a direct quote of the message. "'Once I get him out of the way, I can take the money and leave,'" he said. 

While he gave me a triumphant look, I felt my spirits rise. "When my dad sees this he can't say I'm lying," I said. "He'll have to believe me."

Ryan nodded. "Exactly. Want to head over and tell him now?" he asked.

"Absolutely. The sooner this is over with the sooner I can relax," I said.

We grabbed our stuff and hurried out the door, saying a quick goodbye and thank you to Ben for the help with the research. We walked down the street contently. "I can't wait to be rid of her," I muttered.

Ryan squeezed my hand. "At least you can now. With the proof we have, your dad can't deny that facts anymore," he said.

If I had been paying more attention to our surroundings, I'd have noticed my mother and that guy from the tattoo shop standing on the other side of the street with some men. They had been talking over a couple drinks at a nearby bar, but were now watching us closely as we walked away from them down the block. Unfortunately, I was too preoccupied with the thoughts in my head to see her closing in behind us. We turned a corner and entered an empty street with only a few homeless people wandering the alleys. As we walked under the glowing street lamps, we talked about what I should say to my dad.

"Maybe you should come right out with it and just say it," Ryan suggested.

I nodded, our arms swinging between our bodies as we walked. "Yeah. I think that's probably best," I said.

Ryan chuckled. "Your dad will probably be relieved when he actually hears-"

Suddenly Ryan's voice cut off and he coughed beside me. Even before I got the chance to turn to him, out of the corner of my eye I saw his body jerk backwards. I looked towards where he had just been holding my hand before I felt something get wrapped around my mouth and I was pulled back too. I choked on whatever was gagging me and grabbed for the hands holding me, trying to shout for help. There was muffled shouts and grunts from behind me and I saw the back doors of a large car. I couldn't pull away and I was shoved inside, thrown to the floor and pinned down. When I bit my assailant and managed to turn my head, I saw Ryan next to me. He was kicking and jerking around in anger as he grappled with someone much larger then himself, a strip of fabric being held down between his jaws to keep him for speaking. I felt panic take over and I clenched my eyes tightly shut, able to yell for a mere second before a hand was over my mouth again and I was silence by a knee in my stomach.

I heard voices nearby and then my eyes widened as I recognized the horrible voice of my mother. "I trust you to take care of the rest, so don't disappoint me," she said.

There was a quick reply before Ryan and I were shoved into the car and I heard the doors slam shut. I glanced at Ryan, who had a guy's arm around his neck to keep him quiet, and saw he was looking at me with worry. I shook a little knowing even Ryan was scared, and I tried to sit up. A hand forcefully shoved me back to the floor. "Stay down," they said.

I was scared and confused as I lay on the floor of the van, my hands fisting into the carpet. Ryan was still trying to get his hands free from the second person holding his wrists, but every time he tried anything the guy would dig the heel of his foot into the top of Ryan's, making him grunt in pain. Ryan quieted down after the first few attempts.

The drive only lasted twenty minutes or so, and I soon felt the car come to a stop somewhere. I twisted around on the floor to try to see where we were, but a hand was put over my eyes and I was dragged out of the car and to my feet. I was pushed forward and in different directions, but it felt like a maze with the lack of sight. I couldn't see anything and I wasn't even sure if I was still next to Ryan or not which scared me most of all.

A minute later, I was pushed into a room and the person blocking my eyes release me. The room was barren, the walls weren't plaster, they were metal and gray. The only objects in the room were a few boxes stacked in the corner and a metal table bolted to the floor. I was thankful to see that Ryan was still with me. He also seemed relieved to see me and tried to come to me. The guy hold him wouldn't let him though, and he yanked Ryan back harshly with a sharp word. "Stop squirming," he said.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I was lead over to a gray wall near the table and forced into a sitting position. Before I could make so much as a peep, a man grabbed my hands and tied them to one of the table's legs with a tight not. Seeing this, Ryan struggled to get to me and a guy elbowed his side so hard I saw him stumble several steps with a gasp. I pulled on my hands, trying to get to my feet. "Please, don't hurt him!" I begged.

The guy rolled his eyes and pulled Ryan to the other side of the table, tying him up across from me. Ryan looked angrier than I'd ever seen him. He was glaring at the men and yanking on his restraints furiously. However, under that fury, I saw he was scared. Neither of us knew what was going on and we were both scared.

"Quiet down! I've had just about enough of your fits," one of the men shouted at him. Ryan growled through his gag and narrowed his eyes.

I didn't know what to do. I felt tears prick my eyes as I felt the fear consume me and a knot swelled in my throat. My mother must have figured out that we knew something. She had to have set this up last minute though, or we'd probably both be gagged and they would have used something to knock us out for easier transport. I used to pick things up when my mother was with some guys who had been in and out of jail for drug charges. Some of the stories he told me when I was only nine really freaked me out.

I quickly tried to stop any more fighting. "Ryan, stop... Please, calm down," I begged. He glanced at me in confusion, but did as I said and relaxed back a little. He still glared at the men though. I took a shaky breath. "What are we doing here?" I asked.

"That's not for you to know," one of them said. He was one of the larger men, .

I hesitated. "Did my mom hire you?" I asked.

"Not gonna be any of your business soon," another one said, advancing towards me. I flinched as I turned away, sixteen years of conditioning causing me to be afraid he might hit me. He didn't, but he did grab my shirt and pull me forward until I was only inches from his face. "If you don't close that fucking mouth of yours, I'll close it for you," he said.

I nodded frantically, and he snorted and let me go. Ryan was breathing hard and clenching his fists as he glared daggers at the man, rubbing rings around his wrists as he tried to slip his hands free so he could get at him. I hoped he didn't get free, that way he couldn't et himself into more trouble than we were already in.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and another guy walked in. I immediately recognized him as one of my mom's old boyfriends, Steven. He wasn't one of my mom's more polite boyfriends. He looked at both of us in turn before frowning. "I thought the job was for one," he said.

One of the guys shrugged. "Well, the lady said we might as well take both of them since the other one," he motioned to Ryan, "was with him at the time and seemed to know everything too."

Steven glanced at Ryan and shrugged. "Well, I was never told to take care of that one, so you can do what you like with him. I just have to keep the other one out of trouble until dues are paid," he said.

Ryan's eyes darted to mine and I saw fear in them. He watched nervously as some of the guys moved towards him. I had to do something and cleared my throat. "W-wait," I said. "Don't do anything to him. Please?"

Steven looked at me, but didn't seem to care what I had to say in Ryan's defense. His phone started ringing and he turned away. "Hello?" he said. There was a pause. "Yup. We have them. There weren't any problems." Another pause. "Absolutely. When do I get my paycheck?"

After one more silence, longer this time, he nodded to the phone. "Alright then. I'll meet you there in an hour." Steven hung up and turned to the other men. "Don't touch that one. I don't agree with his mother, but he's apparently got some value while he breathes," he said, pointing to me. "But you can do whatever you want to the other one."

Ryan glanced at me and I spoke up quickly. "Wait! Please, don't hurt him!" I said pleadingly.

"It's not for you to decide, kid," one of the men said, a glint of excitement in his eye. "We get to choose what happens to him."

Ryan glared at them and made noises through the gag like he was trying to threaten them. But I knew that his anger wouldn't threaten a mouse in his position and I had a horrible feeling in my stomach. They were going to do something awful, I just knew it.

After a brief conversation with the men, Steven left the room and the others followed. As soon as the room was empty, I started to shake violently, slumping into the table leg I was tied to for support. "Oh, God... Ryan, this is all my fault. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be here right now. I don't know what to do." I started into an extended babble of worries and apologies that seemed to have no end until Ryan grunted at me, the gag still in his mouth, and I stop talking.

He tried to speak the best he could, muffled around the gag. "It's not your fault," he struggled to say. "No one got me into this, but I am going to get both of us out of it."

I shook my head, fighting back tears. "How? They won't even let you talk..." I could feel the tears rushing forward, but I couldn't blink them back as easily as I wanted. "What if they hurt you or something? It would be all my fault because I couldn't just leave things alone," I said.

Ryan again shook his head at me. "It's not," he said with difficulty.

I rested my head against the table leg. "Ryan, you can't cover for me all the time..."

He was about to reply with another muffled sentence of denial when one of the men opened the door to the room and walked in. His eyes landed on Ryan and he grinned. "Fun time," he chuckled, walking towards him. Ryan struggled to pull away as the man untied his wrists and pulled him to his feet like he was a paper weight.

I twisted my hands around in my restraints and tried to help him. "Leave him alone! Stop!" I begged.

I was ignored and Ryan was dragged, kicking and yelling, from the room, the door slamming closed behind them. My head raced with fear and I called out more, desperately trying to do something to help Ryan, shouting for anyone to hear me. Unfortunately, my pleas went unanswered and when my throat started to hurt and I still wasn't heard, I finally sat back in defeat, the sobs welling up in my throat until the came pouring out all at once. This was all my fault.

*******

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