**Trigger Warning**
Kidnapping, Sexual assault

Alex woke again with a jerk. She yawned and slipped out from under Chloe and went rummaging around in the cupboards and fridge, giving her nervous energy an outlet. Finding nothing, she closed the cupboard door a little louder than she intended, causing Chloe to wake up.

"Oh shuck, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Alex sighed.

She got up and limped over to the couch. Her calf was burning and her ankle was throbbing. Chloe rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Sssokay. I guess we need to get going soon. Zach always kept us moving, never staying in one place for long." Alex smiled sadly at the girl.

"Let's eat first. Refill our bottles." Alex suggested.

Chloe nodded. Breakfast was quiet, each eating their own cans, lost in their own thoughts. Chloe had just got back from the bathroom and was shouldering her pack when there was a crash from the front of the store. Both girls froze.

Chloe's eyes went wide. Alex placed her finger on her lips, and slowly pulled her pistol out of her belt. Alex quickly glanced around, pointed to the cupboard. Chloe nodded, she quietly tip-toed over to it. She opened the door and crawled inside. Before Alex closed the door she handed Chloe a knife and mouthed, "wait until I tell you it's safe."

Alex stood up and crept to the door, she could hear voices. Alex crept down the short hall, towards the main store, she crept to the corner when she felt something cold and sharp held to her neck.

"Don't move."

Alex froze. Her lungs forgot how to work, but her heart was working overtime. Every muscle was coiled, ready to either run or fight. She felt the cold steel move a little higher on her neck and a huge body press against her back. Alex felt her necklace cord rip as the knife moved again. It fell to the ground; taking all Alex's hopes of finding the guys with it.

"Look what we found guys!"

"Isn't this a pretty little thing!"

"Hmmm, she would make us a pretty penny!"

Alex didn't dare move her head, with the blade held to her throat, it was giving her Chris flashbacks. She tried not to hyperventilate. Her eyes traveled around the room, trying to locate the voices. She spotted one guy, he was short and squat and looked really rumbled. There was a woman standing beside him, who looked like she had slept in her makeup, lipstick and eyeliner smeared. She was giggling.

Pretty sure she's not all there. Shuck. More cranks.

"Definitely a pretty penny. Let's bring her to Gemma! We could be done for the day already!" The voice said from behind her. He had taken a handful of her hair and smelt it. "Yup. She will definitely be worth more than one payment!"

He cackled. He lowered the knife a little. He also ripped the gun from her shaking hands.

"Guys... I already made plans for today. Maybe we can rain check?" Alex asked.

The woman in front of her stopped giggling. She pounced forwards, clamping her hand around Alex's chin, and squeezed her checks, her dirty nails digging into her checks.

"I don't like a mouthy girl." She whispered, her face inches from Alex's.

"That is unfortunate, isn't it." Alex replied, mock concern laced in her voice.

She hated cranks, and these guys were sane enough to know that they were going to kidnap her and sell her to someone.

The woman did not like her response, she let go of Alex's face and slapped her. Alex's head whipped to the side, her check stinging.

"Wow. Do you feel better now? A grown up slapping a child. But also you slap like a wet noodle."

Alex's anger bubbling up and coming out in sarcasm. The woman shrieked and raised her hand again to slap her when a large hand from behind Alex grabbed the woman.

"Enough. Don't damage the girl anymore. You damage her and say goodbye to your portion of payment!" The man behind her growled.

Alex cocked an eyebrow at the woman, silently daring her. The woman hissed at her.

"Tie her hands and gage her." The man behind her commanded.

The short man ambled forwards and tied a rope around Alex's wrists, and took a strip of dirty cloth and tied it around her mouth, effectively making sarcastic comments impossible. Alex growled in frustration.

What about Chloe? Will she be safe? Will someone else find her? Will these guys find her? Shuck shuck!

A voice in her mind whispered, sounding an awful lot like the crank she saw in the mirror last night, "Told you. You are a failure. You never keep your promises. You can't even last a day."

"Now, go check the other rooms, Ned. See if she's alone."

The short squat rumpled man waddle passed them and down the hall. Alex closed her eyes and prayed to Chuckles above that Chloe was quiet and he wasn't smart enough to look in the cupboards.

Once her mouth was gagged, the crank behind her looped a rope around her neck. He gave it a quick tug pulling Alex forward. She had no choice but to follow. They took the pistol she had. Her knife was with Chloe and she couldn't get the little knife in her boot, her hands were tied and she couldn't call for help. The crank who held a knife to her throat was tall, he had long stringy hair pulled into a ponytail. His eyes were calculating, in a crazy wild way. Her tiny frame had nothing on this giant of a Man Crank.

The short crank named Ned came back into the main room and shook his head. Relief washed over Alex. They didn't find her!

"Fine. Let's go. We can be done early." The huge blond crank said.

He pulled Alex out of the store front door and into the bright morning sunlight. Alex squinted, the sun was so bright. She hadn't seen the sun in a few days. Her situation sucked-

When does my situation ever not suck? Like seriously.

-but the sunshine was welcome.

She kept her eyes open, trying to figure out where she was, where they were going and see if by any chance she could see her friends. The one crank dragged her through the street. The woman was bouncing around the tall blond, batting her eyelashes and flipping her greasy dirty hair, giggling constantly. The short crank following behind Alex, he didn't say anything, but kept glancing around himself. He was fidgety and jumpy.

The street Alex was being dragged down was crowded with dirty people in ragged clothing. There were tents everywhere and little shops and stalls set up, fires burnt in barrels and garbage cans. A few of the people glanced at Alex, and gave her looks of pity, yet no one dared to say anything or move to help.

The blond crank walked straight down the middle, the people walked around them. He would pull on the rope every once in a while, causing Alex to stumble and the woman to giggle. On one rather harsh tug Alex fell to the ground, ripping her pants, skinning her knees and hands. The crank behind her helped her to her feet, giving her a sad look.

Dread filled Alex, she had no idea where they were taking her, but everyone seemed scared of these cranks or at least the one at the end of her leash. They all saw she was tied and gagged, yet no one did anything. The further down the street they went, the louder a thumping noise became and more crowded the street became. Most of the people now were carrying bottles of all coloured liquid, and stumbling around.

The woman crank skipped ahead to a huge two story building. There were flags hanging from the windows, loud music was blasting and people were laying, sitting and stumbling on the front steps. The woman skipped up to a man and started pointing towards Alex and the two cranks, who pulled her up the steps. The blond crank pushed her in front of the man.

"Look at this little treasure we found this morning!" The woman purred, running a finger down Alex's check. Alex jerked her head away with a growl, glaring at the woman. "She's feisty. And mouthy."

The man hummed. He grabbed Alex's chin, twisting her head left and right.

"Well those scars on her chest.." he muttered.

He ran his hand down Alex's neck and onto her chest. His eyes glittered, they were hungry, greedy and creepy. Alex growled, trying to yell into her gag. She twisted away. She bumped into the blond crank, who grabbed her shoulders, holding her still. The man chuckled.

"Those scars are a disappointment, but that ass makes up for it." He slapped Alex's butt.

Alex's chest was rising and falling rapidly, the heat was rising inside of her. Her eyes were flicking everywhere, trying to find a way out of this situation. She didn't see anyone or anything that could help.

"Take her to the back, to Gemma. Tell her she's worth..hmm triple." He said with a wave of his hand. The woman clapped and giggled wildly.

The blond crank pulled the rope. Alex tried pulling back, but he was stronger. Alex struggled and cried against the gage, pulling on the rope. The blond grunted and jerked the rope. She had no idea where they were taking her, but she knew it was not good.

Alex had rope burn on her wrists and neck, but she still struggled. She fought until the woman grew impatient and pulled a blade out and held it up to Alex's throat. Alex stopped struggling, a terrified tear leaked over her eyelashes. She knew this crank would love to slice her just for the fun of it. Her throat felt tight, and her heart was beating rapidly, causing her to sweat, despite feeling cold and shivering.

The cranks marched her to a door at the back of the building, and knocked. A scantily dressed woman opened the door.

_____________________________________________

**Uh oh. This isn't a good situation.

**Okay. Next chapter is intense- however I do not go into Gorey details, but if you're squeamish or have any triggers you can skip- I'll have a warning right before the major triggers.