Calamitous (Kaylor)

32

"So what's the plan?" Karlie asked as she drove, her knuckles white from how hard she was gripping the steering wheel. They had tried to call her parents already, but no one had picked up, almost sending her into a panic before Taylor had pointed out that they only had a phone downstairs and were likely asleep. Besides, Arsyn was unlikely to have made a move that early in the night.

"Working on it," Taylor said. She ran through all of the information that Frostbyte had given them. The gang never carried guns, a point of personal pride - they didn't need them. But that didn't mean that Toni's gang wouldn't have any, so they would have to be aware. This wasn't a mission to kill Tracy and Kurt, but rather a hostage attempt - which meant it could still get violent. According to Frostbyte, the goal was to use them to trade for Taylor.

"I told you she was obsessed with you," Karlie had said when she heard this. Taylor had rolled her eyes.

"From a strategic standpoint, it makes perfect sense," she reasoned. "I'm not exactly someone you'd want working against you."

"You've got that right," Karlie had muttered.

They finally arrived at the house, pulling into the driveway. "I think I'll put the car in the garage," Karlie said. "We probably want to keep some element of surprise, don't we?"

"I guess so," Taylor answered. "Should we have your team over here? We could use some help, and the ultimate goal is to arrest them." Karlie groaned.

"Yeah, they're usually pretty useless, but I'll call Lily and have her assemble a group," she agreed. "How's that plan coming?" They had pulled into the garage and shut the door after, now heading to the door into the house.

"Our best bet is to get your parents out of here now. I'm not sure where to send them, but just getting them out of the house is a start. Then I guess we just wait for people to arrive and hope that the officers are here before Arsyn is." They stepped inside and locked the door behind them, leaving the lights off. Karlie led the way up the stairs and to her parents' room.

After a few knocks, they could see the light shining from under the door and hear her parents' voices. "Mom?" Karlie called. "It's Karlie. We've got a bit of a situation." Seconds later, the door swung open, revealing Tracy.

"Karlie, what on earth are you and Taylor doing here this time of night?" she asked. "It's nearly midnight!"

"Mom, you and Dad need to get up and get ready to leave. We don't know how much time we have, but you're in danger." Kurt appeared in the doorway behind Tracy, face expressionless.

"It's because of her, isn't it," he said, nodding his head toward Taylor. Karlie moved to shield her girlfriend, expecting her to shrink behind her, but the blonde stood her ground.

"It is. I'm sorry," she said, maintaining eye contact. Kurt stared at her for a moment before nodding.

"Okay. We'll be out in a minute, and then you can explain."

True to his word, Kurt and Tracy appeared again quickly and allowed their daughter to hustle them toward the stairs with Taylor in the lead. "We don't have much time to talk now," Karlie whispered, "but basically a very dangerous criminal is planning to take you hostage to trade for Taylor, and we're not going to let that happen."

Kurt began to ask a question but Taylor suddenly hushed him. Confused, Karlie also went to speak but was shut down similarly. The blonde stood at the foot of the stairs, standing extremely still with an alert look about her. She was staring at the front door. Karlie quietly stepped up beside her, unsure what she was looking at.

"What is it?" she whispered softly into the shorter girl's ear.

"I think I just saw that lock turn," Taylor whispered back. Karlie's breath caught in her throat as she focussed on the lock. Even in the dim light she was pretty sure she saw it move too.