Chloe took a few steps back, her heart beating loudly in her chest as her eyes darted between the masked men standing beside Rico.

Her grip on the penknife tightening as the men began taking steps towards her and Mia.

  “What should we do?” Mia whispered to Chloe as the two began taking slow steps backwards.  

“There is nowhere you can go to,” Caleb muttered as he grabbed the arm of the chair Rico sat on and tilted it backwards so that it leaned on its hind legs.

“Come willingly and I will spare you of whatever pain you’ll face if you play any games.” His eyes moved to Mia whose face was etched with fear and terror. His eyes widened and his lips stretched to a wide smile.

“Tell Chloe to come in nicely, Mia.”   Mia turned to Chloe as she shook her head, but before she could say anything, Chloe pushed her. The masked men made to rush towards her but Caleb raised his hands, stopping them. 

  “Do not freaking tell me anything,” she shouted, rage lacing her tongue.

“I didn't want to but you said I should trust you. This is all on you.” Mia took two steps away from her, her mouth open with no words coming out. She didn’t know how to tell her that she had no idea Caleb was going to kidnap Rico. Seeing that she had no excuse to give Chloe, she pursed her lips and brought her head down. Chloe scoffed, shaking her head in disbelieve. 

  “This all your d*mn fault, Chloe,” Rico roared as he lifted his head, the blindfold covering his face creasing from the frown underneath it.

“If only you had stayed and signed the d*mn documents. If only you had signed--ARGH!!!”

A loud crack resounded through the building as Rico’s face swung to the side. Caleb stood over him, his clenched fist swinging back.  

“D*mn it! "You talk too much,” he said with a soft groan as he flexed his wrist, cracking his knuckles. “I am going to ask you for the last time now, Chloe. Come with us silently or--”  

“F*ck you!”    Without any hesitation, Chloe turned and began running towards the exit, the penknife now out of her pockets and gripped tight in her hands.

The exit stood just a few feet away from her, but before she could even get close, four of Calebs masked men rushed over, blocking her. They held in their hands guns and as Chloe took a step forward they cocked it.  

“No way in hell I’m staying,” she muttered under her heightened breath.

    “Get back,” one of the masked men commanded as he pointed his gun at Chloe.

“F*ck*ng get--” His words were cut short as Chloe suddenly rushed towards him, twirling the penknife so that its sharp edge sat under her wrists and sliced his throat with it.

  The other guards were taken aback by this sudden move and stood there, watching as their comrade fell to the ground, choking on his own blood that had begun filling his lungs. Before they could regain their composure, Chloe made her move, stabbing one on the chest and the other at his temple. The last one lifted his gun and began firing at Chloe.

A bullet grazed past her arm just before she could reach him and shove the knife up his jaw and into his head. Grunting, she clutched her bleeding arm and fell to her knees right beside the lifeless bodies, her breath coming in short raspy gasps.

She grabbed her penknife and made to continue towards the exit when a loud bang resounded through the building, causing her to halt. She slowly turned around to see Caleb with a gun pointed towards the ceiling, its barrel smoking.  

“Next bullet won’t be through the ceiling but through your f*ck*ng kneecap,” Caleb growled, his eyes red from rage and impatience.

“And trust me, you don’t want to try my aim.”   Chloe wanted so much to try him but then an image of er father flashed before her eyes. She still wanted to see him and there was no way she could do that if she was injured. Grunting, she dropped her penknife before stretching her hands out. Rico turned towards one of the masked men standing beside him and nodded towards Chloe.   

“Cuff her,” he said to him. The minion nodded before slowly walking toward Chloe. He pulled out a zip-tie from his pockets before wrapping it around her wrist. Seeing that he had finally secured her, Rico dropped the gun, put it in safety and tucked it behind him.

  “Take her in.”   As the masked guy led Chloe deeper into the building, she turned and gave Mia a glare before mouthing the words, “I will have my revenge.”      

Chloe sat down on the hay covered ground, trying her best to ignore the flies that zoomed past her ears. Water dripped in a distance, its soft plop echoing across the corridor outside her cell. She couldn’t tell how long she had been locked up now as she had lost count after the first two hours.

The lack of light didn’t help matters.   Looking down at her feet, she began to sob. All the pent up emotions, emotions that she had tried her best to ignore all came rushing back at once. She placed a hand over her face, sobbing hard as memories of everything she had been through flooded through her mind.

She couldn’t believe her father was coming out soon. And her mother was probably waiting for her by the airport, not knowing her daughter had been captured.  

“Chloe?”   Chloe shot her head up, wiping her eyes as she stared down the corridor outside her cell. Her vision was blurry from her crying and the lack of light only made matters worse.

She stood from the ground and rushed towards the bars separating her from the corridor as the sound of rushing footsteps resonated through the place. The metal was cold to the touch and the putrid stench of a rotting carcass hit her but she didn’t mind.  

“Mia?” she called out in a small whisper as she squinted into the darkness, trying her best to make out shapes and shadows.

“Is that you?”   Mia appeared out of the darkness, panting as she pulled out a bunch of keys from underneath her dress.

“I’m going to get you out of here, Chloe,” she muttered as she began shoving each keys in the bunch into the keyhole.