Locked( Book 1)

Chapter 2

Did he say "targets?" I thought. We were just regular people who would want to hurt us. Was this a game? I tried to think of everything except this: a hostage situation. Riley looked at me as the men stepped closer. Matthew and Noah look at each other, tucking the girls behind them. Chloe tried to grab onto me and Riley, but the men were too quick, pushing the guns to our backs.

I felt so sick to my stomach. I knew Riley and Chloe did, too. If they had hurt my sisters, I would have killed them or died trying. But they pushed us to the exit. And once we reached the exit, a man knocked on the inside. The doors opened, and we were forced outside and pulled into a black van. It looked like an old police hauling van.

We were thrown in the back, all of us, as 2 of the men climbed inside with us. Riley hugged Matthew while Noah tried to hide Chloe. I didn't mind not being protected as long as my sisters were. A man was in the front, one in the driver's seat, and one in the passenger seat. The one driving had a ski mask on. The passenger wasn't showing himself at all.

"The boss doesn't want them harmed; be easy with them next time," the passenger said. There was something familiar about him. I didn't know it then, but he was friendly.

"What is going on," I asked. The passenger said nothing. Riley would usually chime in on the snarky comment, but today wasn't the day.

"Are we being kidnapped for ransom or tortured," I ask. The driver shook his head. I could practically hear his eyes roll.

"Hey, stop asking questions, and no one either," one of the men in the back said. Chloe and Riley were so afraid, and I couldn't do anything to be the big sister I needed to be. If I tried, they would shoot me dead.

The driver hit every bump in the road, causing us to fall over and lose our balance. We all had our phones on us so they wouldn't search us, and we could call for help. They had yet to notice, but we would wait until they turned their backs, and then we would call for help at the right time.

The driver stops at a mansion that looks more like a villa. We could still see out of the front glass. Why they didn't blindfold us, I didn't know. But they were either going to kill us or needed our help for them not to blindfold us. I worked on court cases. I've seen too many signs.

"Alright, no funny business," one of the men spoke loudly, exiting the van from the back. I looked at Riley and Chloe and nodded. It would be okay, I thought. More men arrived as I prepared to pull my phone from my pocket. And I had to leave it. Each man grabbed one of us. The driver grabbed me. The man who didn't want to show himself kept his back turned. And he still seemed familiar.

They led us inside the corridor and into a long hall; it seemed we walked a mile before reaching our destination. The door they had led us to led downstairs. After opening it, they led us down the steps of stone. It got a little cooler as we continued down. But once we were down, I could see exactly where we were. I'm in the basement of the mansion or villa, and it was made with cells, like jail cells.

"Seriously," Riley said. Finally, speaking up. The guard shoved them forward.

"Hush girl, now," he said. The guard that had me let me go for a few seconds. But I was the middle person so that I couldn't go anywhere. The order was Matthew, Riley, me, Chloe, and Noah. So the guards or whatever they were would catch me.

"Everyone in one cell, and give up your phones; we know you all have one," the driver, who had just let me go, said. I was now scared because we would have to give our phones up. Our hope of being rescued was 0-1,000,000,000. Or whatever the number was.  We each took the phones out of our pocket, giving them to the driver, and we were forced into the cell. All of us have one bench, one cot, and one toilet.

"Is this jail? Did we do something," Chloe asked. Being prissy as usual. The driver shut the door and turned the key.

"This isn't jail," he said. And he walked away, leaving us in the cell alone.

This was great. I left my bags in the van; our phones were gone, we'd been kidnapped, and the leader of this façade was not showing their face. I didn't know water. I wanted to laugh or cry. So I didn't do either. Just started laughing while the tears were streaming. Everyone looked at me. Riley and Chloe both look at each other. They walked closer and grabbed me in a hug.

"It's okay; we will get out of here eventually," Chloe said. Riley tried to keep calm and positive, too.

"Yeah, I mean, they can't keep us here long; people will start to miss you," she said. I nod. I wasn't worried about me. I was concerned about them. And it was eating me up.

"There has to be a way out of this cell," Noah said, examining the bars. He was studying criminal justice and forensics so he would know whether we had missed something. He examined the bar closely and noticed one of the hinges was loose.

"Hey, see the henge; if we can undo that henge completely, the door wouldn't have but one more henge holding it. We could create a large gap and fit through," he said. Chloe smiled. This was her boyfriend.

Matthew, like Noah, was taking a forensics and science major, and it hit me: we all have something in common. Every one of us. If we were kidnapped, it wouldn't be for ransom. They were going to use us for something.

"Hey guys," I said. They were still working on the door.

"GUYS," I shouted. They stop and look at me.

"What is the one thing we all have in common," I asked. Noah and Chloe looked at each other, but Matthew figured it out.

"We are all top of our class and went to the same college," he said. Noah nods, and Riley's eyes widen.

"That's not it, though; we all have some importance, each of us; it's not that we were top of our class; it's that we each save lives," she said. I nod.

"Bingo, everyday heroes, I defend the innocent, Chloe saves lives with her nursing, Riley wants to be like me, somewhat and is in the academy, and you too can both do the scientific stuff, to create medicines to save lives, they need us to save lives or using us to save someone."

"Or they need an attorney because they did something and need you to represent them, and we are just pawns," Matthew said, "your idea makes more sense." And from out of the shadows, someone steps closer to the bars.

"Of course it does; she's very bright."