I'm not really sure what I expected when I spun around to face the men.

Part of me was envisioning a movie fight scene.

A stare off twenty feet apart perhaps as I figure out my next move like in the Wild West or even to have the whole world suddenly slow down and give me enough time to defend myself against various blows Matrix style.

I've never been or seen any real fights before, but I couldn't focus on that right now.
I didn't spin around to beat them, I span around to distract them.

Sadly however there was no scream of 'action' and instantly as soon as I spun around I briefly saw two tense, greedy hands reaching for my body.

I barely had time to gasp as I side stepped out of their reach and it took everything in me not to just start running again.

The first man, the one with the long hair couldn't stop his momentum and as he missed me he slammed harshly into the dirt a few feet ahead.
Even from where I was standing I could tell that it would have hurt like a bitch, but there was no time for a celebration because the moment the first guy went down a hand firmly latched itself around my arm.

Triggering my defence reflexes that I don't even recall learning I quickly plunged my elbow into my newest threats stomach, I ignore the firmness of his stomach and lack of pain and quickly opt for option two which was to slam my head into his nose.

Now that gave me the response that I was looking for.

"Ah, shit!" The guy screamed and I was surprised by his thick accent, it sounded Russian but then again we don't get many tourists here in our little town.

My arm was abruptly released and not wanting to waste my opportunity of power I take two steps forward before spinning and slamming my foot into his stomach, propelling him into the ground like his sidekick.

His grunt of pain sends a thrill of victory through my veins but not enough to calm me down, the battle wasn't over yet.

As I turn and face the other guy who has finally gotten back onto his feet I fight the look of fear that desperately wants to stain my face as he glares at me with a look dark enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Not good.

Ignoring the film of tears covering my eyes I force myself to crack a smirk refusing to let the tears fall.

Easily half a block away I see Dana and Flynn still running desperately and my heart swells with pride, those kids are gonna do some great things.
However I won't attempt to ditch these two thugs until I'm well and truly sure that they've lost them for good.

"You've got a little smear, right here."
I taunt pointing at my chin as the guys mud stricken face turns into a snarl.

He takes a large step forward, easily the equivalent of two of my own and I hold his intense stare, the closer he is to me means the further he is from the ones I love.
I hear a groan from behind me but I'm not stupid enough to turn around, the man in front of me is slowly reaching me, purposely taking his time and I begin assessing his body, looking for a weak spot.

Just as I settle for his knee caps I feel a hand wrap tightly around my ankle, jolting I try to wrench my leg out of the Russian man's grip but he refuses to budge.

"Stop wasting time Axel, I've got this one, get the others!"

"No!" I scream and I'm equally as surprised as the men by the sheer volume and panic in the single word.

I watch the man apparently known as Axel stare into my wide blue eyes for a moment longer before his rage fades and a smirk eases his expression.

Without a word he turns and begins sprinting after Dana and Flynn who are metres away from turning the street corner and disappearing.
They're so close!

I turn my focus back onto my foot and without thinking lift my free foot to stamp on my captors hand, hoping to release it and chase Axel down to distract him further.
However this is what the Russian man was waiting for and made the most of my uneven balance by tugging my foot harshly and dragging me to the hard ground with a thud.

I let out a gasp of air as I find myself winded by the fall, however my breath is cut short and the man crawls up next to me and places his hand roughly over my mouth.
Being this close I'm able to get a closer look at the long scar on his neck, from this angle I can tell that it was far from a clean job, the scar runs the entire length of his neck, from just to the left of his chin and straight down, past his shirt.

The scar looks old but it must have been deep seeing as some patches of the scar still hold an angry pink tinge. The man notices me staring and quickly tugs me up into a sitting position until I am practically sitting in his lap.

"You're not making this any easier are you?" He grumbles as I instantly start writhing in his grip, trying to free myself from this uncomfortable position, God only knows what the neighbors would think... Neighbors!

Looking around I spot a few cars in driveways and curse myself for not thinking to use my surroundings sooner.
Wasting no more time I let out an ear splitting shriek, screaming for help and frantically scan the windows around me, praying for even a rustle of a curtain.

I only manage to scream for a few seconds at most before the man slaps his hand back over my mouth, this time covering my nose as well.

I know that panicking will make the situation worse, I know that struggling will only shorten my breath further but I'm far from a rational mentality.

All I know is that I can't breathe and that's not okay.

I thrash my body erratically from my toes to my head and don't stop until I feel my last spurt of air whoosh out of my lungs.
Instant regret and pain fills my brain and I struggle to continue moving my now sluggish limbs.

My captor remained silent and stoic throughout the whole ordeal and it isn't until now that he finally pulls my swaying body to my feet and turns me around, keeping his hand firmly over my airways.

I try to glare at him through my heavy eye lids but I know that I look no more threatening than a drunk about to drop down.

I feel my consciousness fade rapidly fast and as much as I despise it I have no choice but to lay my arms against his chest, trying to remain upright.
If this is how I'm going to die then I'm going to die standing straight and staring this monster down, it'll make it easier to find him as a ghost and haunt his ass.

Seconds before I finally succumb to the eerie darkness I blankly watch as the man carefully lifts his other hand and lightly brush away my red curls that are stuck to my face with sweat.

I want to shudder, I want to gasp I want to be able to physically show him how much he disgusts me but all I can do is lay my head against his chest and finally sag into him, having no other choice but to let the darkness take me away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wasn't out for long.

A few minutes, ten at the maximum I'm guessing as I sit up choking and scouting the area.

I'm no longer in the dirt but the moment I take in my whereabouts I suddenly wish that I was again.

Surrounding my shaking body is four walls covered in a soft fabric of sorts, the one in front of me is split in the middle indicating doors and I realise that I'm in the back of their van.

I fight the urge to scream, my body is still quivering from lack of oxygen and I can only imagine how much it'll hurt to speak right now, let alone scream my heart out.

I'm both relieved and panicked that the van currently isn't moving, it means that we haven't left my town but also means that they must still be hunting my cousins.

Feeling helpless I struggle to my feet and stumble towards the doors, I doubt that they'll be open but at least I can look out the small windows.
Just as I expected the doors won't budge as I slam my body against them and I quickly stifle my claustrophobia, now isn't the time.

Reaching up on my tippy toes I press my face against the window and attempt to peer through, both windows are heavily tinted but I can just make out slight shapes if I squint hard enough.

As I peer through I notice a blurry figure begin to walk past the van, roughly three metres away and I instantly begin hitting and kicking the soft padded walls, still not confident to scream but confident enough in the force behind my hits.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll only hurt yourself." I freeze mid kick, certain that I was alone in the van however glancing at the back wall causes my blood to run cold.

Staring through a hatch which can be opened and closed was the Russian man from earlier, his nose was obviously swollen and purple bruising was beginning to show but that didn't stop him from smirking at my shaking form.

How long has he been watching?

I clear my throat loudly and refuse to answer him, instead I spin around and continue bashing on the walls.
Surely some sound must be breaking through.

I hear the man shuffling in his chair, I continue to bash the wall, feeling my arms begin to bruise but I push on. Then I hear a slight click which sends my body into frozen mess.

I hear the guy chuckle as he notices my reaction and as much as I don't want to see my last few seconds I know deep down that I want him to see mine.
Let him feel guilt for what he's going to do, let him see the judgement in my eyes as they fade, carrying me away into the unknown.

I clench my eyes tightly while turning around, trying desperately to get my lids to soak up my tears.

I can't let them fall.

As I finally face the back of the van I let out a deep breath and begin counting down from five.

I hear the next click before I even reach three.