Two and Three

Wait, what was that noise?

Her eyes flickered over the table at Tony who was staring over the table, at Lisha's glass, like he was wishing it was filled with beer. "What's taking her so long?" He muttered. "I've barely had time to charm her into going on a date with me..."

"Dude, that's all you've been doing since we got here," Michael laughed as Abbie set her own glass back down on the table.

Ian flicked a grape at Tony before adding. "You probably scared her off."

The percussionist's eyes seemed to perk up at the possibility, causing his signature smirk to return just as quickly as it left. "I guess she couldn't take too much of this sexy man beast."

As the guys chattered on, Abbie looked around toward the doors. Tony was right about one thing, it didn't take that long to lock up the restaurant. She should have been back already.

"No seriously, where is she?" Abbie asked nervously as her friend's words from the practice field echoed back at her. Do you ever feel like something bad is going to happen? Abbie had laughed it off then, of course, but now, her stomach rumbled in unease. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but....

It took the guys all of twelve seconds to catch whiff of the storm brewing under her skin and when they did, the dinner was plunged into high charged silence.

"The back door sometimes get jammed with the key in it. She's probably still trying to lock it," Ian pushed his seat back and got to his feet. "I'll go check on her." And like that, he disappeared into the kitchen after Lisha, leaving Abbie, Michael, and Tony alone with their thoughts.

"Do you ever feel like something bad is going to happen?" Abbie murmured toward her folded hands.

"Do you?" Michael countered just as quietly.

The three of them sat in silence as the seconds on the clock ticked by. Seconds turned into minutes and still neither Ian nor Lisha returned from the kitchen.

"What are you guys doing back there!?" Tony yelled suddenly. It was probably meant to lighten the mood, but all it did was make the other two jump.

After five minutes slipped by, Michael stood from his seat. "I'm going to go check on them," he smiled jokingly, but the skin was stiff against his jaw line. He was just as tense as they were. "If I'm not back in two minutes, call for help."

After he was gone, it was just Tony and Abbie left at the table with a half slice of uneaten pie getting cold between them. "It's nothing right?" He looked up at her. "We're totally over reacting about this, aren't we?"

"God, I sure hope so," she replied under her breath, but the silence in the restaurant was so real, that she was positive he had heard her.

They both looked up at each at the same moment and started laughing nervously. That was the thing about Tony, even when worse came to worse, he could always make her laugh -- even if it was nervous false laughter, it was still laughter.

"I bet they're all having an --" but she never got to finish that sentence.

Just then, her sentence was cut short by a bloodcurdling scream that sent Abbie's heart hammering in her chest. She and Tony shared a panicked look as they both abruptly leaped from their chairs and ran toward the back door.

It was Michael.

Accompanying the scream was a large blast of the light from above as the ceiling lights all blew out simultaneously. Abbie's breaths grew ragged as the two of them were plunged into darkness, cold, raw, darkness.

A shallow beam of white light broke the blank as Tony flicked his phone light on. They were in the kitchen, surrounded by hanging pots, long tables and a deep fryer to their right.

"Lisha?" Tony called uncertainly. "Lish. You here? Ian? Mike?" He nodded at Abbie to follow him, like she was actually going to sit alone in the dark and let him check out the situation by himself.

The two of them crept deeper into the dark kitchen, Abbie's heart pounded so loudly, she was sure she wasn't the only one who could hear it.

Above the echo of their footsteps, she cold feel a cold draft drifting in from somewhere in front of them. She patted Tony's arm and whispered  for him to move the light toward the draft. Be complied and they were both shocked to find the back door hanging wide open.

And the others were no where to be seen.

"Where are they?" She murmured as she glances outside.

Tony moved his light to look at her, and instantly his lipped parted a little while his eyes widened. Abbie couldn't comprehend the look of sheer terror on his face until his phone hand started shaking violently causing her to catch sight of a third looming shadow stretched over the floor.

"He's behind me isn't he?"

Abbie only had time to register a brief nod before a hard object struck her from behind and her legs crumpled beneath her.