At first, all I could think about was how terrified Kate must have felt. I mean, she was pregnant and had just been harassed by a bunch of idiotic teenage boys. And then, out of nowhere, her best friend got kidnapped right in front of her. She must have been absolutely terrified, and I felt horrible for her.

I then thought about Zach, Johnny, and Logan. They said they were going to protect me, and they had done a pretty good job of it until that day. None of us thought that something was going to happen to me just walking back to Zach’s house with a pregnant girl. I definitely didn’t think anything was going to happen.

It felt like we had been driving for hours, but I couldn’t have been sure. All I knew was that I was so scared that time went by extra slowly. It was even worse than how time was when I was at school.

My shorts felt too small for me, and I didn’t know if it was because of all the sand and water it had come into contact that day or if I was just freaking out over everything. Even my shoes felt like they were too small for me. Everything was just suffocating me.

When they finally stopped the car, I had no idea where we were or how long we had actually been driving for. Before they opened the door, I felt my hands being forced behind my back and my wrists were suddenly being bound with rope.

They then yanked me out of the car and dragged me toward what I saw now was a warehouse, the only thing on it being a huge S that was painted on the front. I was terrified, not knowing what could have happened once I got inside, but I just didn’t have the energy to fight anymore.

I tried to scream, but the blonde one covered my mouth as he continued to drag me into the dusty warehouse. Random things were scattered on the floor, but the only thing I noticed was the chair right in the middle of the room.

“What’s wrong, Maxxy?” he laughed when he threw me into the chair and tied my arms behind the back of the chair. “Are you scared? I don’t blame you.”

“Nice job, Tommy,” the brunette now congratulated, clapping his hand down on the blonde’s shoulder. “We were able to nab her without anyone stopping us like last time. I almost thought that someone was going to jump up and attack us like last time.”

Tommy shrugged. “None of those guys were around her like last time. It was easy.”

The brunette chuckled. “You’re right.”

All I could do was sit there, completely bounded to the chair without anyway to escape. I couldn’t believe I was in this mess, and I honestly didn’t think that there was any way I could have possibly gotten out of it. No one knew where I was. Even though Kate had seen me being kidnapped, she didn’t know where we had went.

“So what are we going to do now, Sid?” Tommy asked now, and then he smirked at me. “We could always do what the boss told us to do the first time, right? I liked the idea of that. It’d be fun.”

I then started trembling, remembering what the list had said just days before. Going through something like that… I’d never be able to go through something like that and continue living normally.

“Get away from me! Don’t come any closer!” I cried, trying my hardest to fight against my restraints as both of them men took a step closer to me. “Don’t you dare touch me!”

“The boss was right,” Sid grinned down at me. “She’s not going to go down without a fight. Too bad it’s already too late…”

Tommy then flipped out something that shone in the dim light that we had. “Then we better get this over with, shall we?”

I stared wide-eyed at the shining dagger in his hand, unable to think clearly any longer. I tried to keep my breath under control but it wasn’t working, and I knew my time was up.

“You really are a pretty girl,” Tommy told me as he grabbed onto my chin and forced me to look up at him. I shuttered as I felt the cold blade against my neck. “Now that we’ve finally got you, we’re definitely not going to let you go.”

He whipped the knife away from my neck now, and I was sure he was going to cut or stab me somewhere, but instead he cut my shirt, right down the middle so my bra and bare stomach would easily be shown.

“Who sent you to do this to me?” I demanded now, needing to know before anything happened to me. “Who send you here to do these things and kill me?”

“You don’t exactly have the right to know.”

“Answer me!”

Tommy grinned, fiddling with his knife now. “Maybe we’ll tell you right before you die. That way we know there’s no way you’re going to squeal.”

He then put the knife away, and I hoped that it wouldn’t come back out. I felt my tears fall, knowing what was going to come neck, and I screamed the name of the one person I would want to see before I died as loudly as I could.

“Zach!”

I just wanted to be with him, where I knew I’d be safe. Zach always saved me whenever I was in danger, and I wished that this time would be no different. But now, Zach was nowhere in sight to help me.

“Zach, eh?” Sid asked as he laughed. “Your boyfriend? Oh, will he be sad when he finds out what’s going to happen to you…”

I felt my fist clench at my sides, and I wanted nothing more than to break out of the rope that was holding me to the chair. There had to have been something I could have done to get out of this, somehow!

When I heard a banging on the door, all three of us jumped. At first, it was only one person, but I then heard a second person join in, and then a third. I gulped, hoping that it was who I thought it was.

After almost a minute, the door burst open to reveal the three boys that had saved me the other day. All I could do at first was stare at them, my eyes wide and watering, my face wet from the tears that had already fell while my shirt was completely cut open.

“Maxynn…” Zach breathed, his eyes wide as he took the scene before him in. After a few moments, his eyes then blazed in fury as he turned toward my captures.

“Z--Zach!” I stuttered, and I was suddenly a lot more embarrassed than I should have been. There I was, sitting there with my shirt wide open in front of five guys, two of them I had even kissed before.

Sid laughed now as he looked at the boys who had just broken in. “Hmm… Is this the Zach you were screaming about? I thought that one of the boys that saved you was your boyfriend. I guess I was right.”

I ignored him, only focusing on Zach and Logan. Johnny, for some reason, had disappeared. “How did you guys know I was here?”

Logan winked at me as he said, “Long story. We’ll tell you later.”

Tommy then whipped the knife out again, suddenly pushing it against my throat with no type of warning. “Too bad there isn’t going to be a later.”

I started trembling again, unable to stop myself. I shut my eyes as I felt the blade press into my neck even more, but the pressure than disappeared and I heard the knife clatter to the ground and grunts pursued. I then opened my eyes to see that Johnny had tackled Tommy.

Logan then nearly slid toward me, picking up the knife before Sid could. He threatened him with it, but Sid didn’t look scared. Knowing that he could do nothing with it, Logan took the knife and chucked away from him and under a huge machine that was on the other side of the warehouse.

“I knew that playing baseball would come in handy one day!” he laughed, sticking his tongue out at Sid now.

Sid lunged at Logan now, but he easily dodged it before punching him straight in the jaw. I looked over to see Johnny and Tommy still wrestling on the floor, both of them getting a punch or two in every now and then, and I couldn’t help but feel worried.

I just couldn’t believe my eyes. These boys were here to save me.

When I felt a hand on my arm, I almost let out a scream and tried to flail, even though I couldn’t because of my restraints. Hands then grabbed onto my face, forcing me to look at who was grabbing onto me.

“It’s me!” Zach called out, and this immediately caused me to relax and stop fighting. Zach was here to help me, not kill me like Tommy and Sid.

“Zach…” I whimpered as he reached to untie me. “I was… I was so scared, Zach…”

“Shh…” he soothed. “You don’t have to be scared anymore.”

“Wanna bet?” a new voice shouted now, and suddenly Zach was being kicked away from me and another knife was being shoved against my throat. “I’m not letting this little bitch get away again! Do you really think I was stupid enough to bring only one knife?”

Zach looked like he could have lunged at Tommy, and I was sure he was thinking about doing it. But I had no idea how we were supposed to get Tommy away from me without slashing my throat.

“Let her go,” Zach threatened now as he took a step closer to the two of us. Logan and Sid now stopped fighting to see what was going on, and I glanced over to see Johnny sitting up from where he was in the warehouse. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, or who sent you, but I don’t care. I’m not going to let you hurt her.”

Tommy only smirked at Zach, and Zach continued to stand there and glare. I could tell he was trying to think of something to do, but nothing was coming to his mind.

“Hmm, real protective of your girlfriend, aren’t you?” Tommy asked. “How sweet of you. It’s too bad I’m going to kill her right in front of you and your little friends.”

Before I could do anything, I felt my hair being tightly pulled. I screamed, but then stopped because it only made the knife get closer my throat.

Zach was about to run over toward me until Tommy yelled, “Any closer and she’ll die right now!”

This caused Zach to stop dead in his tracks, like we both knew it would. Zach would have done anything to make sure that I stayed safe, but there wasn’t much he could have done.

“Don’t touch her,” he ordered.

Tommy only laughed, and it caused chills to go by my side. This guy was terrifying and creepy, and I wanted nothing more than to be far away from him. I hoped that if we did get away, this man would be put in jail and never be able to see the light of day ever again. And the same was for Sid.

I felt the cold blade against my throat, but I couldn’t tell if it had broken the skin or not just yet. All I knew was that I was still alive, and that was all that mattered.

Tommy tugged at my hair, hard, and this made me shout loudly. Zach took one step forward, but stopped when Tommy threatened me with the knife.

I felt his hand leave my hair then, the blade away from my throat just a little bit, and I felt myself breathe again. I didn’t know what he was doing, but it made me feel a little better.

Tommy’s hand suddenly went up and down my body, his knife in his other hand, and he once against threatened me saying that if Zach walked any closer I would be dead before he could reach us.

I felt his hand travel down my stomach, making me gasp in disgust.

Zach’s fists clenched, but he didn’t dare move any closer. I could tell that this was torturing him, and it made me feel a lot worse for him than I did for me. I could take this; it was disgusting, but I was able to take it. Zach, on the other hand, looked like he was going to break down and kill someone.

“She’s really very pretty…” Tommy smirked at Zach now as he pulled his hand away from me but still continued to stand right behind me. “Too bad I’m going to kill her. She’d be really fun to play with.”

My fists were clenched, and I was still almost frozen with fear, and I could see Zach was trying not to lunge at Tommy as he continued to stand over me from behind. I wanted nothing more than to just get out of all of this mess.

I then got an idea, but it was a risky one. I didn’t know if it was going to work, but I guessed that I could only hope that it would.

I suddenly screamed, bringing my head forward before making it fly back and connect with Tommy’s gut. This caused him to drop the knife into my lap as he let go of me unwillingly, and Zach immediately swooped in, taking the knife and shoving it into his pocket before Tommy or Sid could grab it themselves.

Tommy looked so angry now, and it really terrified me. If he was capable of doing things like this, what else could he have possibly done?

Tommy lunged, but Johnny quickly intersected and tackled him to the ground. As much as I had made fun of the football players, I was glad that he was so good at football. If he wasn’t, that tackle might have done nothing at all.

Sid now made his way over to us, but Logan jumped up onto his back as if he was giving him a piggyback ride. This caused Sid to spin around in circles, trying to get Logan off his back while Logan hit him in the head every now and then. After a few spins and blows to the head, Sid slumped down, unconscious.

“You’re gonna regret even being born!” Tommy snarled, as he threw a punch into Johnny’s face. “All of you are, you little brats! I’ll kill all of you and I don’t care what the boss says! I’ll kill all of you!”

The boss. I had almost forgotten that someone had hired these men to come after me, and it wasn’t them. I had no idea who would want to hurt me, but I knew it had something to do with the fire and my mother. Had someone hired them to make sure I didn’t see anyone set the fire that killed my mother? What had my mother done?

Logan now joined in on the fight with Johnny and Tommy, and Zach quickly came to my side and took the knife out of his pocket before the fight stopped. He quickly cut the ropes that were bounding me, and the first thing I did once I was free was wrap my arms around Zach’s neck and hug him tightly.

“Zach…” I sobbed into his shoulder, unable to stop myself any longer. “Zach, I was so scared. I thought I was going to die. I really thought I was going to die and not see any of you ever again. I thought that I’d be all alone and everything was going to end just like that. I really thought I was going to die…”

“Shh…” Zach soothed again, and I felt his hands run soothingly against my back. “Everything’s going to be okay. We’re going to get you out of here and everything’s going to be fine. You’re not going to die, Maxynn. I’m not going to let you die.”

I squeezed him even tighter, never wanting to let him go. I loved him so much, and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him no matter what I had to do. Even if it meant losing the game and telling everyone that I was in love with him.

“Zach…” I whispered now. “Thank you so much.”

I was going to have to thank Johnny and Logan as soon as we got out of this mess. We were going to have to leave before Sid woke up, but none of knew when that was going to happen…

“Maxynn,” Zach now said, pulling away from me now so he could look me in the eye. “I lo--”

He was pushed away from me then, and I turned to see that it was Sid. I shouted, now kicking him now that my legs were free. Since I was still sitting in the chair, I was able to lift my leg high enough to bash him right in the face. He fell back onto the ground, unconscious again, and his nose was bleeding and even looked broken.

“Maxynn,” Zach blinked as he came back toward me. “Remind me to never let you touch my nose. Ever.”

I smiled at him sheepishly. “I won’t break your nose. I promise.”

He smiled back at me, now crouching down and hugging me again. I hugged him back, and when he pulled away, there was a look on his face that I hadn’t ever seen before. It almost scared me.

“Maxynn,” he breathed now. “I lost.”

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All I have to say: Finally, Zach. Finally.

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