A teenage bad boy, with a hatred for his family, has to chase a stranger all over town to find and save his little sister who has been kidnapped.
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When Dorian leaves one morning despite his mother's orders, it's just another simple act of rebelli...
As we reach the drop in the earth, Jonah and Wyatt let me go. Wyatt jumps down first. Jonah groans as he squats down, and he takes Wyatt's outstretched hand to help him jump.
Taking a deep breath, preparing to endure whatever pain comes, I squat down to sit on the edge, and with Wyatt and Jonah's help by grabbing my arms, I lift up and they help lower me down over the edge. A sharp ache zips up and down my arms until I'm standing on my better leg.
With the cliff edge only reaching up to my waist, we have to crouch down to hide ourselves.
We wait; listening to the car drive up the road towards us, and our harsh and rapid breaths after our desperate run.
As the car nears our hiding spot, we wait to hear them to drive past, but instead the car stops. Hearing the car doors open, I hold my breath.
"You think you're smarter than me?!" Chris calls out.
My heart halts and plummets.
Their footsteps move closer, yet slow.
"What do we do now?" Jonah asks in a whisper that I can almost not hear.
"Run?" Wyatt suggests in the same quiet voice.
"We're not going to get far with Dorian," says Jonah.
He's right. We all can't escape, but they could. Now's the time to act as bait. "You two run," I tell them. "I'll make them come after me instead."
"What's with you and self-sacrifice recently?" asks Jonah.
"You got any better ideas?" I say.
Before either one of them can offer any, Chris jumps down from the short cliff edge and lands in front of us, already facing us. My body jerks in surprise and I push myself backwards, the rocky cliff face digging into my back.
"You know," he says, the darkness hiding the expression on his face. "I really love how stupid you all are." He takes one step towards us, forcing us to crane our necks to keep our eyes on him. "It makes it that much easier to catch you."
He reaches down, grabs the front of Jonah's shirt, and pulls him up. "Time to go," he says. Lifting him up by his shirt, he throws him backwards, up onto the top of the short drop.
I hear Jonah roll on the ground, collecting dust and dirt on his clothes.
"Take him," Chris orders to his brother.
Footsteps rush forward, and I listen to him drag Jonah to his feet, taking him back to the still running car.
Next, he chooses Wyatt. Treating him the same way. Yanking him up before pushing him against the cliff. He waits for Nathan to deal with Jonah, refusing to let him go without the escort.
A grunt sounds from above and behind me, and I panic, unable to tell if it was Jonah or Nathan.
I get an answer when I hear footsteps running and Chris jumps forward and shouts, "Get him!" Under his breath, while Nathan chase after Jonah, he mumbles, "Useless piece of shit."
I'm pulled up. With the sudden movement, a bolt of pain shoots through me, causing me to wince.
He holds onto both of us, but allows me to look back to see Jonah leading Nathan over the hill and disappearing into the approaching light of Axel's car.
As soon as they're both out of sight, the grip on my shirt loosens and when I turn around, I'm faced with a knife pointed at me.
"Get up there," he says to me, using the knife to point to the ledge. "And don't pull anything, or..." He drags Wyatt in front of him and places the knife to his throat. "...he'll be dead before he hits the ground."
Without hesitation, I lean back against the cliff and hoist myself up, screwing my face up and grinding my teeth. Getting to my feet, he pushes the knife into Wyatt's neck, waiting to see what I do next. When I don't do anything, he nudges Wyatt forward. "Jump up." He looks at me. "Don't move."
Wyatt follows orders, pushing himself up on his hands and jumping up onto the ledge.
Before Wyatt can straighten up, Chris leaps up beside him and returns the knife to Wyatt's throat.
Standing behind him, he looks at me and says, "Walk."
I limp over to the black car, heading towards its side until he says, "Back of the car." Using this time, I glance down the road to see Nathan still chasing after Jonah, but Axel in the car has almost reached them and I'm certain Axel will get to him first.
Stopping at the back of the car, I turn to watch Chris walk with a stiff-walking, nervous Wyatt.
He stands to my side, facing the back of the car, and orders me to, "Open it."
I pull the door up.
When he orders me to get in, I hesitate. He pushes the knife into Wyatt's neck more, forcing his head to lift. The blade begins to slide to the side.
"Okay. Okay," I say, and climb into the back of the car. This isn't a good idea. But what else can I do?
He lets the knife fall away and shoves Wyatt into the car. He climbs in beside me and the door slams shut, closing us in in pitch black darkness.
Over the sound of the car's rumble, Wyatt whispers to me, "I don't have a plan for this."
"That's okay," I say. "Neither do I."
Moments pass.
Without thinking about it when I got in, I chose to lie on my side with the cut on my hip. Now, it aches and burns with intensity, and I'm not sure how much longer I can bare it, but in the small space, I don't think I can move.
From the outside, I can just make out the words Chris shouts. "You are the most useless person on the face of the earth."
I don't hear the reply, only a muffled voice, drowned out by the sound of the engine.
"Hurry up," Chris says. "Get in the car."
Seconds later, we hear a door open and close followed by a second door. Then, the car drives off.
***
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