Behind

Chapter 17

I sat in shock as I was dropped in a corner of the empty back of a van. There were no seats in the back and it literally looked like a pedophile's kidnapping van. I scrambled to the corner and turned around timidly to see a few of the guys taking their hoods off and looking at me.

JC and another member crouched down and smiled at me. 

"Nice to see you again." JC smirked. The driver of the van and the boy in the front seat were two other O2L members, I supposed.

"I swear to God I will jump out of this van." I threatened.

"You could do that," The guy next to JC said as he sat down in front of me. "Or you could give us a few answers and make things easier for you." I clenched my jaw and he smiled at me. "I'm Sam by the way."

I scoffed. "I don't really care who you are, you can't just kidnap me."

"Well sweetheart," JC put his hand on my chin. "Look what we just did." 

I smacked his arm away and slid to the back door of the van. "What do you want?" I demanded through closed teeth.

JC laughed at his hand I had whipped away from my body. "Answers. We want answers." 

"Yeah?" I spat. "Well I don't have them."

Sam slid himself closer to me. "Listen here pretty lady, it's simple. Either we get the answers, or you don't ever see your little posse again."

I shook my head. "You wouldn't dare kill me."

"Not without torture." A guy in the front seat snickered.

I let out a long, shaky, and frustrated exhale and shut my eyes. "What do you want to know?"

JC scratched his chin then knelt down to level himself with my face, the moving van throwing him off balance here and there. "There's one thing we generally want and need to know." He stared at me, taunting me. "What's the big secret?"

"Secret?" The van went over a bumb I set one hand firmly against the floor of the van and the other against the wall. "What secret?"

"We saw that Magcon was in high stresses yesterday about something. What was it about?" 

I sat there thinking for a second. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Last night I had dinner with Shawn and took him home afterwards, then I talked to Nash on the phone. Other than Bart being at the house, everything seemed normal. Maybe something occurred at their hotel that I'm not aware of. 

JC stared intentely at my face. "Well?" 

"I can honestly tell you that I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't seen anything happening." 

"You're lying." He growled.

"No!" I panicked. "I'm really not lying." 

He stared at my face before he snapped his fingers at Sam and another guy. "Take care of her." The guys moved towards me and reached in a big backpack. 

Nervously, I yelled out again. "Wait!" 

The guy stopped rustling in the bag and the other boy stopped advancing towards me. 

"Wouldn't it be more rewarding if you got me when I was able to fight back? Not when I'm defenseless or on a mysterious drug you have?

JC looked at me for a moment. "What are you trying to pull?"

"Nothing," I shook my head. "Just trying to make this work for the both of us."

"Why should we just let you go?" He snarled. "You know we're after you and you'll go tattle this business to your friends."

I laughed. "I'm not that stupid."

Sam, JC, and another guy stared at each other and whispered something inaudible for my ears. 

"Ricky, pull the car over." JC demanded. The car pulled to the curb and JC pushed me aside and forcefully kicked the back trunk doors open. He grabbed my arm and leaned down in my ear. "You better hope you're really clueless as to all of the events going on, or we'll find out, and you'll receive hell for acting ignorant." 

Ha, as if I wasn't already experiencing hell now. 

He yanked me towards the exit. "You know, I feel really bad for you."

"Why?" I asked, trying to break free of his grip.

"Because they're all lying to you."

I blinked dramatically. "Excuse me?"

"You really think they're all focused on keeping you and your petty friends safe?" He chuckled. "Think again, honey."

"They are," I protested. "That's what they're about. Unlike this mess of a group."

"Watch your mouth." His facial features grew darker with each sentence. "We'll just see who you believe after it comes down to your safety or theirs." He shoved me out of the van. "And we're always accepting new members, so feel free to stop by. We'd love to have you." He winked.

I scoffed. "Yeah, never in a million years." 

JC smiled. "Oh and babe, don't forget, no running off and telling your friends. Wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt." 

With that he slammed the door and the van sped off. I quickly memorized the license plate and opened my phone. I quickly dialed in three numbers. 

"Yes, 911? There's a suspicious vehicle trailing around town." I restated the license plate. "Please check them out, they seem dangerous." I shut my phone and walked around my neighborhood, eventually leading to my street.

They said to not tattle to my friends, not the authorities.