Angie pulled over on the side of the road, her heart thumping loudly. This couldn't be it. But her GPS confirmed that she'd reached the place where Kyle had activated the distress signal. Except, it was in the middle of nowhere, on the side of a road, up a hill leading from nowhere to nowhere at all.

She knew she was late. What with securing Maxi, packing, the delay in purchasing tickets and the long flight, it had taken her almost four days to reach Japan. Then, she'd spent another few hours driving in the wrong direction just to make sure she wasn't being followed.

All her efforts lead to this God-forsaken place. She got out of the car and glanced around, trying to figure out if something had been here and disappeared. Like a hut, or a shelter, or anything really. Just not... nothing.

What if he was in a car? But the coordinates hadn't changed when she'd jotted them down. What if the car was stopped just like you've stopped now? That was entirely possible. But where had they gone afterwards? Up the hill or down?

She walked over to the edge of the hill, glancing at the scenery below. It was hard to see because of the trees, but there seemed to be nothing of interest down there. She gulped, her stomach tightening at the thought of her friends being unceremoniously chucked off a cliff.

No. They wouldn't do something like that. But who were they? Her first thought had been Snitch Gravel, but it was strange for him to suddenly decide to kidnap everyone after over a year of silence. Freider Grant was dead. What was the point anymore?

Her second thought was the Agency, which made everything a lot more problematic. But why bring them all the way out here? Why not kill them while they were at it? Angie glanced at her watch again, as if expecting it to shock her and start sending out death signals for everyone.

This reeked of Paris. Kidnapping them and taking them where Snitch Gravel believed the next jewel to be. Could he have found another one in spite of every lead being extinguished?

With a heavy sigh, Angie leaned against her rental car and rubbed her tired eyes. What was she supposed to do now? Where to even begin searching?

The sound of an engine cut through the deathly silence. She looked up to see a pickup making its way up the mountain, the truck bed shared by three rowdy men. They slowed down once they spotted her, and pulled over next to her car.

 "Having trouble there, sweetheart?" one of them asked, his voice gruff and a little slurred. There was a dark brown bottle in his hand.

Angie eyed them up and down and took in their leering grins and their amusement. Snitch Gravel's goons, obviously. They didn't seem to know who she was or they wouldn't waste time talking.

"A little bit," she said, keeping her voice higher and forcing a slight southern accent. "I think my car broke down."

"Yeah, them damn Japanese pieces of junk." One of the other man hit the heel of his hand against the side of the truck. "Want a lift?"

Her mind spun as she tried to weigh the pros and cons of the proposal. Pro: they would lead her to the others. Con: she was getting in a car willingly with Snitch Gravel's men.

"Where you headed?" she asked to buy more time.

The third man in the pickup narrowed his eyes at her, obviously the brain of the group. "Where you going?"

She waved her hand vaguely up the mountain. "Some guy told me there's something pretty up this here mountain. But it just looks ugly and now my car broke down."

The men shared looks and grins. Finally, the one with the bottle picked up his role as ambassador.

"There is something pretty up this here mountain. We could take you to have a look."

Angie couldn't help but notice he mentioned nothing about bringing her back. But that wasn't an issue. She just nodded, grabbed her backpack from her trunk, and heaved herself in the truck bed. The men scooted over to make room for her, then settled much too close. She just grinned at them and pretended to enjoy the view once one of the goons patted the cabin and the truck took off.

The ride seemed to last forever. The men laughed and made crude jokes for a while, then started asking her questions. She spun them a story about growing up in the swamps of Louisiana and then launched into another recounting of how she came to Japan to see some guy she met online.

"And then," she said, "he says he's up this damn mountain visiting relatives and that I should come." She threw her hands in the air for emphasis. "I mean, what even?"

The men nodded. "You should hang with us. We'll make sure you have a good time."

She fought not to gag. Fortunately, they entered a tiny village settled among tall rocks. It seemed to be deserted, the houses dark and quiet.

"I think I should get off here," she said once they reached what appeared to be the center of the settlement. She'd noticed some very promising looking nooks between the large rocks where she could disappear. Or hide a few bodies.

"But we're so close," bottle goon moaned.

"Yeah, but I need the bathroom real quick. Can't really hold it in anymore. Plus, ya know, womanly matters."

As expected, all men looked disgusted and another pat on the cabin ensured that the truck stopped.

"Don't be long now, ya hear," one of the men said.

Angie giggled stupidly before punching him in the sternum and knocking him out of the bed. The other two just stared, and it gave her enough time to punch then and knock them over. The driver sensed the commotion and got down. She hopped from the bed, on his shoulders, wrapped her legs around his neck and used her body weight to bring him down and knock him out.

Before any of them could get off the ground, she'd swung her backpack over her shoulder and slicked away between the massive rocks. She twisted and turned, doing her best to lose herself in the maze. There was no sound coming from behind her, no steps, yells or heavy breathing. Her heart pounded the longer the silence lasted. She knew she hadn't knocked all of them out, at least not properly.

She changed direction again and hurried along the rock wall. Another sudden twist around a massive rock had her halting just as she was about to take a turn off a cliff. She'd apparently reached the edge of the forest of rocks which ended dramatically in a fall. The bottom of the cliff was invisible, the ravine covered in thick fog. She raised her eyes and her heart jolted.

In the middle of the sea of fog, tucked away on a cliff all of its own stood an impressive castle. It's winding roof pierced the cloudy sky, and Angie counted the levels. It appeared to be only four stories high, even if it looked so much taller. A massive set of stairs on the face of the cliff led to the front door. The only way to the entrance was a dingy-looking wooden bridge held up by ropes.

Those grimy men had been right. There really was something impressive up there.

Still a little overcome with the shock of finding a castle in a middle of the mountains, Angie searched inside her backpack and pulled out a pair of thermal binoculars. She took in the building in front of her and realized there were a lot more guards than she'd thought. At least seven men patrolled on the ramparts and in front of the door.

Cursing under her breath, she lowered the binoculars and looked around. She could navigate the edge of the cliff and reach the bridge without detection, but once there, it was impossible to cross stealthily.

Her eyes raised towards the sky. It was cloudy and gloomy, but visibility was not hindered that much. She could wait another half hour, because she was sure the sun was about to set. Then she could take advantage of those few minutes between day and night when the light was traitorous on the eyes to sneak to the entrance.

Nighttime wouldn't do. They'd be more vigilant then. So it was either now or in the early hours of the morning. It was torture to wait even five more minutes since she was so close, but she still leaned her back against one of the rocks and resumed her observation.

There were a lot more guards, though few of them kept their eyes on the entrance. It seemed silly since the bridge appeared to be the only way in, but she would take it. So she focused on the pattern of the movement of the guards.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, just as the last rays of sunlight flickered through the grey clouds, sudden movement caught her eye. Five men were making their way across the bridge. Angie immediately raised her binoculars. They'd abandoned various posts by the entrance. Her heart started beating rapidly as she tried to find a reason for this sudden stroke of luck.

Maybe they noticed their friends missing and went to check it out. But this opportunity seemed too good to be true. What if it was a trap?

What if it's not? She was too outgunned to not take advantage of such a screw up. Sure, there were still guards who could see her on the bridge, but the light was at its worst and she was wearing dark clothes.

Cursing under her breath, she scurried along the edge of the cliff and reached the end of the bridge a few moments after the men cleared it. Bending low, she grabbed one of the ropes and started her way over the wooden planks.

It was harder than it looked. The planks weren't stuck together, so with every step, she could see the vast emptiness stretching below her. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the bridge seemed to sway dangerously from side to side with every step she took and the wind whistled in her ears, blocking out every sound but her labored breathing. At some point, she just wanted to close her eyes and stay there, dangling over open space until someone found her and took her out of there.

I have to do this. They're counting on me.

Because she was sure they were in that castle. There was no other reason for security to be so tight. So she pressed on and walked from plank to plank until, finally, her feet found stone instead of wood.

Breathing greedily, she hurried on the side of the massive staircase and leaned in the corner between the stairs and the adjoining wall. As she willed her pulse to calm down, she focused on any sound. There was nothing except for the wind. Could it be that no one had noticed her coming? It was so hard to believe.

Take it and roll with it.

The bridge had been cleared, and the next step was to get inside and avoid the stairs while doing it. Angie pulled her magnet, switched it to maximum intensity, released the wire within and then threw it as hard as she could towards the roof of the castle. Nothing happened. It fell back to the ground with a loud thump.

She stared at it and picked it up. With a shaking hand, she stuck it against the wall next to her. Nothing. It was like pushing two rocks together.

"There's no iron filling " she whispered of herself. Of course not since the building was very old. Her magnet was useless.

Feeling a renewed sense of dread, Angie rolled the wire back inside the magnet and tucked it safely in her backpack. This was it. She had to use the stairs. Except she couldn't get lucky twice. Someone was bound to see her and shoot her before she was even halfway to the door.

Think, think.

She had nothing. No means to lie to get inside, no distraction to plan and get the guards out of her way. All she had was a slightly reduced number of guards and the vague cover of darkness. It would have to do. If she lingered there for too long, the guards would return and someone would certainly find her. And she couldn't give up, not when she was so close.

Determination stopped her trembling, so she took out her binoculars again, this time pointing them towards the village. The guards were nowhere near the bridge yet. So, like a ghost, she slipped around the edge of the stairs, then starting climbing.

Like a cat, she lowered herself as much as possible, using both hands and feet to climb. Her chest hurt with nerves and her lungs burned as she tried to breathe as little as possible. Every step further up felt like a huge achievement.

There were no screams, no lights pointing at her, no gunshots. Just her nerves pulled taunt and a mad determination to reach the door. In what felt like one second, or maybe forever, she finally reached the landing and the heavy wooden doors. Without looking back, she wrapped her fingers around one of the massive gold rings and pulled.

She expected to meet resistance, but the door gave in and the moment it was opened wide enough for her to slip in, she did so. A long, narrow corridor lead towards an opening. There were doors on every side that looked like perfect places to duck away from the guards. Once she tried them, however, she found them locked.

Her heart thundering, she gave up on the doors and tiptoed towards the light. She only had time to realize that she'd ended up in a huge hall with tall windows before something hit her hard on the head.

Her vision blurred and she was convinced her skull had split open from the force of the impact. There was random white light and grumbled voices, and she wasn't sure, but maybe at some point her feet left the floor.

Tears filled her eyes, she could feel the moisture on her cheeks, and yet she couldn't focus, couldn't fight whatever was happening. Random lights and voices spun around her as she blinked and shook her head, trying to get some sense of reality.

"I think you hit her too hard."

"What the hell?"

Vomit crept up her throat from the pain and she let out a moan. It didn't make her feel any better, and soon enough, she realized she was moving, the tips of her boots scratching the floor. Then stairs came into focus for a second before her vision turned white again. Reality kept twisting and turning, like the waves of a giant ocean that lulled her to sleep.

A familiar voice snapped her from her daze and she opened her eyes. The image was still blurry, but she could see dull grey stone under her.

"Still not telling us, eh?" The sound of a hit against flesh followed the question.

"She's in Alaska." Tom's voice.

Angie forced her head to move to the side and time seemed to freeze. They were passing by a room with no door, and in the middle of it was a chair. On the chair, his hands behind his back was Tom, grinning at two goons, even as blood dripped down his chin.

"Bullshit! We're not going to Alaska! Where's your girlfriend?"

"Maybe he doesn't know," the other man said.

"I do. I'm the only one who knows. And you're not getting to her."

They passed the door before Angie could see more, but she still heard the sound of another hit. Her stomach heaved again, but it was now for an entirely different reason. Tears filled her eyes again, but the pain that brought them on this time was in her heart. She lost focus on her surroundings again, her mind filled with only one image.

Tom on his chair, his face filled with blood, pretending to know where she was. Why? Why would he do something like that? He'd lost her trail months ago. Why claim otherwise? Somehow, she knew it was only to protect her, but the how escaped her.

You found them. You found him.

She was captured and incapacitated so what good did it do?

The men reached a large cage and opened up the gate. Then, without a word, they shoved her inside. She crashed to the floor, her head still pounding. The gate closed behind her with a silent bang. Left alone, she turned over so that she could stare at the high ceiling. More grey stone. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to drive back the pain, become fully functional again. It was hard when all she wanted was to throw up.

A part of her screamed that she should get up, take in her surroundings, look for means of escape. But she was too aware that she'd failed. Hope was gone just because she didn't have the patience to wait and maybe come up with a better plan.

There was no better plan.

At least she was with them.

Her vision swam again and she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She could help from the inside, somehow. But the fact that the others hadn't escaped so far made it pretty clear she wouldn't be able to either. Though she had managed it, twice before, taking advantage of how underestimated she'd been. Would that still work?

She forced her mind to go over her two previous imprisonments and how she'd managed to escape. Her strategy had been the same. Appear weak and unprepared, moan and cry a lot until her guards became disgusted with her. Act her ass off. It was the only thing she had going for her. And then... Then she'd figure out how to break everyone out.

The sound of footsteps had her turning on her side to face the entrance. No use sitting up if she wanted to appear weak. Before long, two men appeared before her bars, dragging an unconscious Tom between them. Angie's heart jumped to her throat, but she still didn't move.

One of the men kept her eyes on her while the other one managed to unlock the door with some difficulty. The moment the gate was open, they threw Tom inside and locked them both in. They lingered for another few seconds, then hurried away.

Angie waited for the sound of their footsteps to fade before she shot upright and scurried to Tom's side. When she turned him over, her breath hitched. He was much worse off than she'd managed to appreciate in the few seconds she'd seen him before.

His face was covered in bruises, there was a bleeding gash on one of his temples, and his arms were also filled with cuts and more bruises. Just like the labs. Just like when he'd been tortured.

Fighting the need to cry herself senseless, she pulled his head into her lap and started feeling along his head for more bleeding. Why was this happening again? Were the others okay? And yet, she couldn't focus on anything when Tom was right there, beaten because he claimed he knew where she was.

He groaned once she touched the cut on his temple and his eyes flitted open. She hadn't seen his eyes in so long, it was painful to look at him. What hurt even more was the lost look in them, as if he couldn't actually see her.

And yet, with all the wounds and the obvious exhaustion, he smiled. "Well, this is a good one."

She had no idea what he meant, but the sound of his voice made her shiver. It was insane how all she could think about was how much of an idiot she'd been, all the time she wasted. 

She'd tried so hard to demonize him, to reject the thought of any feelings he might have for her. And now reality hit her in the face with so much force, it felt like the last year never happened.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered.

He frowned the tiniest bit. "Doing what?"

"Claiming that you know where I am when you don't. Taunting them like that."

He huffed. "Because if they think I know where you are, they'll try to get it out of me instead of looking properly. I already told you that."

She blinked. "You told me?"

He just nodded and winced. "Honestly, aren't hallucinations supposed to know what I know?"

Her insides froze at his words. He didn't believe she was really there, which she should have figured out the moment he showed absolutely no surprise at seeing her. It made her heart break all over again.

"Tom--"

"You also talk too much for a hallucination." He cupped the back of her head and pulled her down into a kiss.

For a moment, her eyes widened in shock, but then she sunk into it, kissing him back, helping him stay up. Just like the last time it had happened, it made her feel so full of energy, so alive, even if he tasted like blood. He'd always been a beacon of light, the one to breathe life into her. And she'd been a complete moron to deny it, to try and escape it.

Much too soon, he pulled back, frowning slightly. "Wow, that felt realistic."

"Tom, you're not hallucinating. I'm really here."

He shot into a sitting position, but the movement had him groaning and shutting his eyes. She put her hand on his back to hold him up. He kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds then opened them to look at her, terror shining in them.

"You can't be."

She just nodded, biting her lip. He shook his head and groaned in pain again.

"No, no, no. It was supposed to keep you safe."

"It did." She scooted closer to him and wrapped both arm around his shoulders. "They didn't find me."

The stiffness in his posture didn't go away as he burned her with the intensity of his gaze. "Then why are you here?"

"I came to save you."

His expression shifted between amusement, terror and exasperation. "To save me?"

"Well, save you all. Kyle actually signaled danger. That's how I was able to find you." Her voice shook the tiniest bit. It was hard to compute that they were having a normal conversation. What was even harder to come to terms with was her need to kiss him again.

Tom tilted his head. "That's encouraging. It means Jessie is still out there and knows where we are."

Angie did a double take. "You mean she's not here?"

"No."

"But I called her repeatedly and her phone was switched off."

"Huh. Interesting." He sat in silence for a few moments, his hands twitching as he most likely tried to subside his pain. Then, he focused his attention on her again. "You kissed me."

Heat crept to her cheeks and she was once again tempted to do it again. "I did."

"And you're here." He continued, as if all this had a hidden meaning he couldn't figure out.

As if it was a mystery! He should guess, know already why she was there, know that she wanted, needed to find him, talk to him, apologize. Before he got tortured again, before he got killed.

"Tom..." She took in a deep breath. "You were right. All of you were right. I was running like an idiot, with no purpose, thinking I could outrun the pain, change what happened. It is what it is. And it's about time I decided what I want from life." 

He shook his head. "Stop talking."

She looked him straight in the eyes. "I want you. And I know I've been shitty and treated you like hell."

"At least you're aware," he mumbled.

His tone wasn't encouraging at all, but she deserved it. "But you still followed me, even after I did what I did. And that has to mean something."

He leaned back on his hands, taking her in from head to toe. His gaze was guarded. "I gave up following you months ago."

"I know. The thing is..." There was a knot in her chest, but she needed to get it out before anything else. "I know it's not that easy, that you won't just be thrilled and jump back into a relationship with me. But maybe this could be a start. If you still want to."

He leaned forward again and sunk his face in his hands. "I told you to stop talking."

This was once again too familiar. Her messing up, him fighting his intuition, his better judgement in order to be able to forgive her, take her back. He'd always done it. And yet, when he'd made mistakes, she just threw it in his face. In that very moment, as she realized all this, she swore once again that she'd take him seriously. Take them seriously.

 "Angie..." His voice was weak so she leaned forward, hope blossoming inside her. He took her face in his hands and fixed her with that burning look she knew too well. "I fucking hate you." Then he kissed her. 

It was raw and desperate, much deeper than it had been the first time, and she found herself running out of breath. When he pulled back she was panting. He just glared at her then lay down, his hands over his eyes.

"No, this doesn't mean that we're back together," he said. "Not by a long shot. You're right for once. It's not that easy."

"Yeah, okay." But as she pulled away from him and leaned her back against the wall, she couldn't keep the smirk off her face. There was still hope in the world.

🏯🏯🏯

Hello, Angie. How's we've missed you. Or not. But her mission was instant failure, so Jimmy and Jessie are on their own.

And look at that, she and Tom got to see each other again in... Strange circumstances. How was the grand reunion and are you ready for the reunion tour? Not like you have a choice...

Speaking of Jimmy and Jessie, don't you just miss them and that old, crazy man? Back to them in the next chapter.

Don't forget to vote and comment because I needs it!