My eyes peeled open as I heard the barn door squeak, the back of my head throbbing from the strain of hanging for so long.
"Rose?" A hushed voice carried across the room.
A small whimper escaped as I lifted my head, the skin on my back pulling from the movement.
Footsteps moved faster in my direction. "Rose? Shit! We have to get you off of that thing."
My eyes widened as I glanced up. "Lisa?"
Her lips lifted in a half smile. "The one and only."
I stared in disbelief as she inspected the rope wrapped around my wrists. "What are you doing here? You need to leave. Now." My heart sped up at the thought of her being found.
"I followed you. Jackson and I knew something was up when you took too long coming back to the car, so he went out to find you." She whispered out as her fingers pulled at the ropes, causing me to wince slightly. "Crap. I'll have to find something to cut this."
I nodded my head towards the barn wall. "The wall behind you, there are some tools hanging on it." She glanced behind her, giving me a quick nod before she made her way to it.
"Did you see Jackson? Was he...is he..." My voice trailed off, a lump forming in my throat as I tried to get the question I desperately needed answered out. Lisa paused in her search, her sorrow filled gaze moving to mine.
"I was hoping he was here with you." She admitted softly. "After the gun went off, everyone panicked. I saw the car come speeding from the back parking lot and your head against the window. I didn't think, I just followed. I assumed they had both of you." Her voice trailed off as she made her way back over, a rusted saw in her hands.
"They shot him." I choked out, the lump in my throat growing bigger. "He was trying to save me....and they shot him." Lisa's face started to blur as my eyes began to sting. "They left him there." A quiet sob left my throat.
"Maybe..." She started softly as she brought the saw up to cut the ropes. "Maybe someone found him. Someone had to have called the police after hearing the gun shot." She paused, her lips trembling slightly as she attempted a reassuring smile. "Don't let go of your hope just yet."
I took a deep breath, reeling in my emotions as I gave her a quick nod. Now was not the time to dwell on things I couldn't change.
A few minutes went by before Lisa let out a huff, throwing the dull saw on the ground. "This isn't working." She ground out, swiveling around and gazing at the wall of tools. "Everything here is too dull and rusty."
"Lisa, it's ok. You should get out of here. Go and get some help." I urged, wincing as the pounding in my head grew.
She let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, I guess that would have been smarter. I've always been bad about reacting before I think things through." She furrowed her brows for a moment. "I may have something in my car, I'll be back in a moment."
"Yeah, you're not going anywhere." My heart dropped as Jacob's voice rang through the barn. Lisa's eyes widened in fear as her gaze met mine.
I leaned my head closer to hers. "When he gets to us, run. I'll distract him. You need to get away." I whispered as lowly as I could. Her gaze moved to mine, her head shaking back and forth quickly causing my eyes to narrow. "It's the only way we're getting out of this. You need to go get help."
His footsteps were getting closer, my eyes hardened as Lisa and I stared at each other. I understood where she was coming from, if the situation were reversed I wouldn't want to leave her either. But the situation wasn't reversed, and if I wasn't about to let her go through the same things I had. I let out a sigh of relief as she finally nodded in agreement.
I glanced up to see Jacob a few feet behind her, I braced myself for what was about to come. Only, someone else appeared behind him.
I ground my teeth together in frustration as I scrambled for another plan. I didn't have to try to form a plan for long, though. The figure behind him lifted their arms up, before slamming something down on the back of Jacob's head. My eyes widened as he crumpled to the ground.
"Good lord that man was getting on my last nerves." I glanced up in confusion and relief. Luke sent me a sheepish smile as his gaze met mine. "Hey sis." His hand came up to scratch the back of his head.
"Did he just call you sis?" I could barley hear Lisa's words, my gaze locked on Luke's nearing form.
I had questions, lots of questions. Where has he been all these years? Why was he with Jacob? I felt my body tense as he flicked open a knife, my gaze moving to it before meeting his eyes.
I felt a wave of guilt wash through me as his eyes filled with slight hurt. He glanced away before reaching up to cut the rope binding my hands. I let out a sigh of relief as the strain in my shoulder fell, before my body followed. Luke's arms wrapped around me as my body sagged into his.
"I know I have a lot to explain," he started softly. "But we have to get moving first."
I gave a wary nod, before turning to Lisa who had made her way over. She grabbed my left arm, wrapping it around her shoulder as she wrapped her own arm around my back. I couldn't stop the whimper that left me as her arm made contact with the open wounds. Blood rushed through my ears as I shut my eyes, clenching my teeth as I took quick shallow breaths.
A small moment passed before I opened my eyes again, looking away as Lisa and Luke's concerned ones met my own.
"Let's go." I croaked out, taking a step toward the barn door.
I let out a sigh of relief as we made it to Lisa's car, my heart quickly dropping as my gaze ran over it.
"Shit!" Luke hissed out, his hand coming up to run through his hair.
The hood was popped open, multiple empty spaces where car parts used to be. The tires that were previously holding the car up, were tossed to the side, cinder blocks in their place.
"You have a car, don't you?" Lisa asked, gazing over at Luke with hopeful eyes.
"Nah." I jumped at the new voice, my gaze swiveling around to see Brett. He had a satisfied smirk on his face as he walked towards us, his hands in his pocket. "I mean he used to, but let's just say it's not in the best driving shape now." He shrugged his shoulders with a small laugh.
I glanced over at Luke, whose gaze was already on me. His eyes moved to the left behind me, before moving back again. I stared at him for a moment, furrowing my brows in confusion. He rolled his eyes before doing it again, dramatically slow. I followed his gaze, realization flooding through me as I saw the woods slightly behind me. I glanced back at him, giving a small nod in understanding.
"You know," Brett started, his hand coming up to scratch the side of his jaw. "I thought it was odd, when I came out to do a sweep and saw this random car parked here. Knew it shouldn't be here, so I decided to make sure it couldn't leave."
He cocked his head to the side as he got closer to us. "Figured I would mention it to Jacob, only to find him knocked clean out on the barn floor." His gaze moved over each of us, before his head nodded towards Luke. "I didn't have much trust for Andrew here when Jacob wanted to bring him in. Then I just happened to catch you all moving, very slowly might I add, out the corner of my eye. Decided his car deserved the same treatment."
I couldn't stop the glare that came over my face, the fury that spread through my body.
He let out another laugh. "Had to find something to waste my time on while I waited for you all go see my," he spread his arms out towards the car, "artwork."
As soon as he finished his sentence Luke's body shifted towards him, their bodies colliding and slamming into the ground.
"Go!" Luke growled out. Letting out a grunt as Brett's fist slammed into the side of his face, before quickly retaliating with a punch of his own.
I grabbed Lisa's hand, quickly pulling her towards the line of trees ahead of us.
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This chapter took me way too long to write, there was a lot of typing and erasing. I have decided to rewrite this book. I will go ahead and finish it out, and possibly write a couple more books of the series before rewriting them all with better detailing.
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