ARE YOU ALL HIKING TO THE TOP too?" A middle-aged woman stared back at the odd group of seven, oblivious to the current situation. "That's so exciting! We can hike together! Frank, Carolyn, Trenton! Get over here! I found us some hiking buddies!" She called off behind her.

Nancy watched as her captors exchanged a look that clearly translated to, 'do we shoot her, or not?' Nancy prayed that they wouldn't, because then they might actually have a better chance of escaping or calling for help.

The rest of their "hiking buddies" - who must've been known as Frank, Trenton, and Carolyn - jogged over to greet them. They took turns introducing themselves and Nancy discovered that the mother's name was Melissa, Frank was the father, and Carolyn and Trenton were their children.

Her kidnappers must've decided to prolong their decision of whether or not to kill this family. But Nancy had no clue what went on in their demented minds. For all she knew, she could wake up the following morning and find that they all had bullets through their heads.

"So, what brings you all here?" Melissa asked. "We just have a passion for hiking. We go out every Friday after the kids finish their studies and hike all weekend."

"We decided to try a family hunting trip." The woman [who said her name was 'Claudia' - Nancy doubted it] spoke up, covering her tracks.

"Forgive me for asking so many questions, but why are you two wearing masks?" Melissa questioned, pointing to Nancy's captors.

"There are some terrible bugs up here," The man [who was apparently 'Gary'] quickly answered, obviously frightened - and not at all forgiving - about all the questions.

"Why don't the kids have any protection, then?" Frank inquired.

Nancy wanted to yell out the fact that they had been taken, but she remembered the threat about Jess and clamped her mouth shut.

"Oh, we don't mind a few bugs," Damian forced a smile, coming to the rescue. Surely they would've been punished if he hadn't stepped in.

"What happened to her?" Trenton pointed to Jess, who was still slack over Gunnar's shoulder.

"She slipped and hit her head on a rock." Nancy managed to get out through clenched teeth, internally yelling at herself to let them in on what was really happening.

"Ooh, yikes." Melissa didn't really look concerned at all, which made Nancy suspicious. Something fishy was going on with this family. Nancy narrowed her eyes at the supposedly preppy mother and she began stomping up the mountain, determined to get to the bottom of this new occurrence.

"Chop chop, people," She yelled back at them. "This mountain isn't going to climb itself." Nancy put on a brave face, but she was really freaking out on the inside. Now that there was another 'mystery' to solve, she definitely had to enlist someone else to help her decipher the intricate case. Who did she trust? Well, she didn't [and couldn't] exactly trust anyone [at least, not when you're being held captive and brought to your death] but if she had to pick someone [which she did] it would be Drew. He was her counterpart, in order to solve the mystery he had to be by her side so as to complete the infamous name - Nancy Drew.

Right as she was concluding her thoughts, Drew sidled up next to her. "You know, I've been analyzing your actions and-"

"That actually sounded really creepy, not going to lie." Nancy nudged him with a slight smile. "Continue, though."

"I was going to say I've seen that look on your face a lot in this past day, and I think it means you're scheming." He pointedly looked at her.

"God, you're good! How did you know that?" Nancy was appalled by this boy's [seemingly] never-ending skill.

"I just pick up on the things that no one else seems to think are important." Drew answered. "Like how when Damian covered for our captors, he had a cold smirk on his face. Do you think that's a good thing?"

"Damian always has a cold smirk on his face." Nancy pointed out.

"True," Drew agreed. "Maybe I just read too much into that one."

"So I was going to ask you about something earlier, but then you so rudely interrupted." Nancy joked.

"I rudely interrupted your sad attempt at actually having a social life?" Drew mocked her, as he knew that she rarely talked to anyone back at their sorry excuse for a school. They were in the same class, yet they had never associated with one another over the extent of their high school career.

"Very funny, especially coming from you, Drew." Nancy teased, getting side-tracked.

"Anywho, what were you going to tell me?" Drew asked, bringing Nancy back to her long thinking session that had happened previous to their encounter.

"You're kind of like a detective, right?" Nancy ventured, moving closer to him so as not to let the others hear.

"That's what got me here," Drew looked to her with a crooked smile. "I've got what you'd call an adventurous soul."

"Okay, good. Because I need your help," Nancy breathed. "We're not going down without a fight."

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Drew gazed intensely into Nancy's wide set crystal-blue orbs. "We need a plan. Now I'm guessing that's what you wanted me for? I mean, we obviously need some brains for this operation."

"Which will be coming from me," Nancy smiled slightly. "You're just the 'adventurous soul', remember?"

"Do you have anything planned out, though?" Drew asked, his expression morphing into one of the most serious she had ever seen. "Because it's looking like there's no chance of escape. Unless we can, like, hitch a ride with our new 'hiking buddies'."

"Something shady is going on with them, I think." Nancy vocalized her opinion. "Did you catch-"

"The part when Melissa was all like 'sorry-not-sorry'?" Drew interrupted, finishing her sentence. "Yeah, I agree. They're definitely not who they seem."

"So what do we do about that?" Nancy questioned, groaning in frustration as they had to climb over a boulder.

"We wait it out. You never know, they could end up helping us in the end - and that's what matters."

"Right," Nancy conceded. "All that matters is that we end up out of here, and that those guys are exposed as the horrible people that they are."

"Amen to that, sister." Drew nudged her with a small grin, back to his usual somewhat-cheerful mood.

"Do you trust anyone else here to tell them about this? I kind of don't want to include anyone else." Nancy confided in her newfound partner.

"They're all good people, I just don't want to drag anyone else into this." Drew confirmed what she was thinking. They were the duo, and it was going to stay that way. It wasn't like Nancy was comfortable with dragging Drew into trouble, but by the way he was acting, Nancy was positive he would've volunteered to anyway.

"It's like our brains are interconnected." Nancy said. "You always say exactly what I'm thinking."

"Well, we were basically meant for this job. It's fate. Nancy, Drew... We're the dream team." He smirked down at her, a twinkle in his eye.

"But back to business, we need to scrap some ideas together before we act."

"I say, tonight when we stop, we run." Drew muttered, as Damian was getting a little close for comfort right behind them. "Or, at least, one of us. Test out whether or not they're willing to kill us before we get to wherever the hell we're going."

"They took out Jess," Nancy offered up, bringing her concerns to the front lines of their scheming.

"But they didn't kill her."

"Yet," Damian cut in between them. "I suggest that you don't test them, unless you have a death wish. A sudden one. Because either way - any way - death is inevitable."

"Don't be such a debbie downer, Damian," Drew snapped. "I don't remember asking for your input, anyway."

"Don't say I didn't warn you when you're bleeding to death all alone on the rough mountain exterior." Damian grinned maliciously. "With no one to help you."

"Shut up," Nancy whined. "And leave us alone."

"With pleasure." He fell back in the ranks, with a satisfied leer plastered across his face.

"We're definitely running tonight."

"Agreed."

-

'Claudia' and 'Gary' had set up a small tent for their five captives to somehow squeeze into. Nancy was pretty sure that feat was impossible. Yet, with probably some help from a higher power, they managed to fit. Their "hiking buddies" decided that they loved the great outdoors enough to not use a tent, so they were using sleeping bags to settle down on the ground outside of the miniature tent.

Nancy and Drew sat in the corner, as far away from Damian as possible. Gunnar was in the center, bent over Jess, examining her face for signs of life - other than her pulse. He had freaked out over the thought that she might've gone into a coma, but at the moment they didn't have any way of finding out.

Nancy had confirmed with Drew that after Damian had fallen asleep, they would embark on their journey to freedom. They watched in silence as their newly discovered nemesis settled down onto the bumpy floor, closing his eyes and beginning to slowly drift off. Now, they just had to wait for Gunnar. They refused to get the innocent fifteen year old involved in the severely intense situation - his life needed to be spared. He obviously had a backstory, Nancy had concluded that from what he had muttered in the car.

"Gunnar, we'll watch over her. You need to get some sleep, carrying Jess all this way has strained your muscles and we can't have you falling behind." Nancy said sincerely, meeting his downcast eyes.

"Promise me nothing will happen to her." He pleaded with her.

"I promise."

"Okay." That seemed to satisfy him, as he collapsed down opposite Damian, already drifting off.

"Now's the time!" Drew exclaimed, jumping to his feet - with Nancy right behind him. They had been waiting too long for this moment, and were starting to get impatient.

Throwing open the tent flap, Nancy screamed, greeted by a horrible sight. She clutched at Drew's arm beside her in terror, her breathing shallow. There had been murder, right outside of their tent. It had happened without realization, it had all been too fast. Probably quicker than the snap of the fingers.

A fire was going, and as Nancy took a closer look, she saw a badge going up in flames. She looked to the so-called Melissa, recognizing her face as the match to the one next to the badge. The group had been found-out; they had been invaded. But their captors were quick enough to fix that.

Because, now, their infiltrators were dead.

Just like Nancy would be in 48 hours.

-

a/n: extra long chapter for the extra long wait! hope you liked!

tell me your thoughts???