REVENGE (Rewriting)

Taken

Well, I fucked up. Everything was perfect...too damn perfect. God, how could I have been so stupid? Now, my parents have been taken by a much larger enemy, and I'm currently bleeding out on the sunbaked pavement in front of my high school. All because I had been assigned a local case. It was simple and way bellow my pay-grade, but it didn't even necessitate going undercover. Plus, after working in the shadows for nearly four years and balancing that with being a full time student, I was grateful for an assignment that didn't interfere as much with school. It was a straightforward mission of assessing a series of threats against my high school and neutralizing the target. Everything had started so...normal. I guess it was the calm before the storm.

***

My body naturally woke itself up at 6 AM sharp for daily workouts. I drive to my local athletic center where I run an easy ten minute mile on a treadmill, and then run some sprints on the indoor track or shoot some hoops. There were a few other serious athletes here working out and others working off that excess holiday fluff. Afterwards, I drive home, shower, and get ready for school. I checked my email while I was eating my oatmeal and whole grain toast. There was a new assignment. Due to the low-key nature of this particular case, the agency had emailed me the encrypted case file through a secure network. Upon acceptance, I began to study the file before heading into school.

As the warning bell rings, I make a pit stop at my locker to discard a few of my textbooks and jacket before completing my journey to homeroom. Ugh, at this point I'd rather take on three trained assassins than return to school after break. Everyone was of course sporting their newest clothes that they'd gotten for Christmas or Chanukah, and I was no different. Most of the guys have new basketball shoes and athletic wear, while the girls have their matching Uggs or Timberlands. And everyone seemed to have AirPods now. I had paired a cream sweater with a burgundy, corduroy skirt, which I had paid way too much for at my favorite boutique, and these black over the knee boots that I'd gotten for Christmas.

Even if being back at school sucked at least my outfit was cute.

Plopping down in my seat, I pull out my phone to scroll through Instagram when I hear the ruckus of some of the guys entering at the last minute. Liam strays from the group and sits next to me. I can see him looking at me through my periphery.

"Hey, Lana. Happy New Year!" he greets, exuding his natural charisma.

"Ditto," I respond half laughing-half yawning, finally looking up from my phone.

"So, did you have a New Years's kiss?" he asks in a flirtatious manner.

"You know it was," I whisper seductively leaning in, "Want a recap?"

He leans in too with a challenging sparkle in his eyes

"I would want nothing more," is his cheesy-ass response.                  

His lips are so close to mine; I can feel his breaths fan my face as they've picked up in pace due to our proximity. If one of us were to just turn our head ever so slightly our lips would meet. Right as he's about to make his move I stop him.

"Wow, you're gullible," I breathe in a sensual tone.

It takes Liam a second to register my words. Yeah, Liam is hot as hell but I've kissed enough pretty boys on missions to remain unaffected. Then I back up and act as if we weren't just about to kiss as the homeroom teacher strolls in—late as usual.

Thankfully, Liam takes it all in stride. He's naturally flirtatious, though, I guess it's warranted since he's hot and great in bed. I'd know since we've been friends with benefits since last year. It was around a time that my job, school, my ex, and sports were stressing me the fuck out, and he was having family issues. Though, we've it damn clear that it's no strings attached—we can flirt with, sleep with, and date anyone else if we want to. We have agreed to keep our "thing" low key mostly because it's no one else's business but also in case one of us actually wants to commit to a serious relationship. Honestly, I'm enjoying the single life and amazing, no strings attached, sex.

"Such a tease," Liam chuckles as he leans back in his chair before lazily turning his head to me.

I lean back in my chair as well to match him, "You love it though."

"Love what?" Mason pipes up as Liam's friends have finally taken their seats. "You?" he ask pointing a finger at me, "Because we already know that he's basically in love with you. Just put the man out of his misery."

The three of us chuckle as my friends wander in late—not that the teacher neither notices nor cares. Alexis sits behind me, next to Mason, and Fran sits in front of me. Mason's breathing accelerates slightly, and his posture stiffens slightly as Alex slides in next to him.

"He giving you a hard time again?" Alex asks pointing to Mason with her thumb.

"What? Me?" Mason responds in an overdramatic manner that elicits more laughter.

"He's fine," I roll my eyes.

"For now," Mason teases as he smirks at Alex.

After morning announcements and attendance, I swing my bag over my shoulder and head up to the second floor for AP physics. Aside from the fact that my AP/honors classes throw me off the damn deep end with work and assignments, school is normal. We even win our basketball game against a shitty school. After the game, the student section floods the court to congratulate us and leave.

"Good game," Liam says with a grin as he approaches me.

"Thanks, man," I reply.

"Look...uh...I gotta ask you something about us?" he suddenly states looking apprehensive.

"Liam, we agreed no strings-"

"Calm down; it's not like that," he chuckles and I visibly relax, "There was a guy eye fucking you throhgout the game. He was asking about you. I just want to make sure you're still okay with our whole setup."

"No offense to this guy, but I'm not looking for anything serious right now. Plus, I don't sleep around.  I'm fine with this as long as you're okay with it," I reply shrugging.

Okay, so maybe that was slightly abnormal, but it didn't amount to anything. I go home to shower and eat.

"Good night, sweetheart," my mom hugs me at around 9:00 before heading to her bedroom.

"Good night, love you," I respond before returning to my homework.

With the work I did before my game, I still don't finish until around 11--stupid AP classes. My dad comes upstairs at around this time to also say good night before joining my mom.

"Night, Lana. You played amazing tonight," he smiles as he kisses my forehead.

I breathe a laugh and give him a genuine smile, "Thanks, love you."

*******

Around 2:30ish I wake up to use the bathroom, cursing under my breath, not only for having my sleep interrupted but also for having to leave my warm bed. After exiting the bathroom I notice the door to my parents' bedroom ajar and the alarm system off. Knowing the abnormality of this I cautiously enter the dark room to find an open window and the bed empty. A feeling of dread fills my stomach as I'm fully awake now. There is no sign of a struggle, so the kidnappers must be professionals. Closing and locking the window I call HQ before grabbing a pair of latex gloves from the bathrom to examine the room and my parents' special, agency regulated safe. The alarm system off and open window was purposeful--these people wanted me to know that my parents are gone. A text appears on my phone screen from a blocked ID.

______________________________
Blocked ID

Blocked ID
You took my parents, now I've taken yours.

______________________________

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Sorry the first chapter was so long, I'll try to shorten them in the future. I will try to upload a chapter every Saturday or Sunday.
Thanks.