The sound of voices downstairs sent a frenzy of terror through my body. Not only was it getting darker by the minute outside, but it was also awfully quiet in this house. That was proven true when I heard the creaking of the staircase below us.

"Think they've already been here?" one muffled voice asked.

"It's likely," the other answered farther away. "But the boss wants us to check, so."

The sound of someone ascending the stairs sent Melissa and I into a state of panic. We quickly searched for an escape, but realized there was nowhere to go. At least not yet.

So, Melissa shoved me into a closet and shut the door behind her.

It was nearly pitch black. Footsteps approached slowly as the floorboards squealed under heavy boots. The loudest thing was probably my heart and shallowed breathing. God, why couldn't I get it under control?

Melissa moved slightly, and another creak made her stop immediately.

We could hear the footsteps in the room besides ours. Slow and steady, as if he was trying to sniff us out of hiding like a bloodhound. I could only pray they weren't checking every nook and cranny of this dusty old house.

I moved my hand and came into contact with what felt to be a cobweb, nearly losing my composure. I sucked in a tight breath only to have Melissa's hand slap over my mouth in response.

Then the man entered our room.

I slowed my breathing as I listened to his boots skim across the old wooden floors. From what I could see through the cracks of the closet door, he was studying the final letter Paige had written me.

"Jeez," he said.

At this, I realized Paige was even crazy to this bounty hunter of a man.

But when he turned, the gun in his right hand was blatantly noticeable, and my heart clenched at the sight.

I remained still with fear, unable to even look over at Melissa to signal he had a gun. I just hoped she could see the same thing I could from where she was.

I closed my eyes and wondered if a prayer would do any good. I figured it couldn't do any harm, considering the situation.

The movement of the floorboards under his heavy feet continued as he seemed to be making his way back towards the door. If we could just wait them out...

Then a cramp shot up my leg from the strained position. I shifted in pain as a small creak echoed through the eerily silent house. I clenched my fists.

The man's footsteps stopped. I could hear him breathing, that's how quiet it was. I tried to ignore the pain riding up and down my leg as I slowly allowed a deep breath to escape my nose.

He turned back around, as if his instincts were telling him to check the closet. That was the only way he could make sure it wasn't just his imagination, right?

As he moved closer I already knew that this was it. We were about to have to fight for our lives one more time to get out of here. Dad was right. Maybe we should've waited for him to get back.

I could see the man through the cracks again. He was eyeing the closet warily, but he was set on checking it now. His job was to make sure we weren't here, and the only way to do his job correctly was to leave no stone unturned.

I looked at Melissa who was already looking at me. We were on the same page. I mouthed the word "gun" to her, which she understood, even through the dark.

I could kill him. Hell, we still had the advantage. I could put one right between his eyes. But what about his friend? Was he coming up here too? If I dropped this guy, how many seconds would I have to prepare myself for the other? And a moving target was always difficult. Near impossible, really.

Before his hand could touch the door, a voice called.

"Anything?" it asked.

His hand retracted, but his eyes remained on the closet.

"No!" he answered.

I jumped at the loudness.

Okay, the other voice sounded far away. But, as soon as I decided I was going to go for it, he turned away. I looked at Melissa, who seemed to be able to breathe again.

He left the room we were in and I listened carefully to disappearing footsteps. As he made his way down the hall, I allowed my body to relax. The fact that he had been inches from me managed to put things into perspective.

"I'm gonna check outside!" the one downstairs called.

"Alright!" the other answered.

His voice was small enough to make me believe we might be able to make a break for it. When I looked at Melissa, she seemed to be thinking the same thing.

I opened the closet and we stepped out, silently listening for movement outside the room. There didn't seem to be anything. Maybe the other man was downstairs.

We crept out of our room and peeked around the corner. The house was almost pitch black. Soon, we wouldn't be able to see anything.

Melissa paced in front of me. Slow and steady and cautious of any movement in front of her. We were trying hard to walk light and not make any noise, and so far, we were successful.

"I think if we make a run for it-"

Her sentence was cut short as the man emerged from behind the corner. His gun pressed against her temple as her hands raised above her head. I didn't dare reach for my gun in this moment, even though the first thing I wanted to do was put a bullet in his skull.

I knew I should've done it earlier.

"Wow, you two are good," he teased. "Unfortunately, I'm better."

Melissa's eyes were locked on me. She was telling me something. She was telling me she could get out of this, but she would need my help. It would need to be quick, and before the other one came back looking for his friend.

"See, you should've taken our proposition," the man said. "But now we're gonna have to make sure both of you get taken of. Properly, this time."

We remained silent. Waiting.

"You, go," he ordered.

I complied, but kept my eyes on his finger the entire time. As soon as I saw his finger move away from the trigger, I gave Melissa a nod.

Everything seemed to happen so fast that we barely had time to really react. At this point, it was all instinct.

Melissa dropped to her knees, causing the man to lose his balance. In the same instant, I grabbed his wrist and struggled to keep his gun aimed as high as possible and away from us.

But he wasn't going down without a fight, and neither were we.

He strained against my hold, but was naturally stronger and overpowered me. Melissa didn't waste any time pulling her gun and shooting him in the leg.

"Bitch!" he screamed in agony, dropping his gun.

I grabbed it and we bolted for the door. We weren't sure where his friend was, but I was sure he had heard the noise we had made. We wouldn't have much time to get to the car.

But when we made it outside, a force knocked me to the ground. The stolen gun skidded across the porch as the throbbing in my head amplified.

Melissa struggled against him as I noticed he too, had a gun. And as much as I wanted to shoot, I couldn't. Not while Melissa was so close to the line of fire.

She managed to free herself from his grasp and shove him clean from the porch. He fell backwards and hit the ground hard, losing his breath for a minute. This allowed us to narrowly escape him and bolt for our car.

But the ringing of a gunshot echoed through the night.

"Shit!" I yelled.

"Alexa, drive," Melissa stated calmly, tossing over the keys.

I caught them with one hand, nearly hood-sliding towards the driver's seat as we made it to the car. When I started it up, the headlights showed the injured man limping his way towards his friend who was already in their own car.

"Go, go, go," Melissa ordered.

I punched the gas, tearing through the gravel and dirt as we shot off towards the main road.

After adjusting my mirrors, I spotted a pair of headlights follow in behind me. They weren't close, at least not yet, but we were about to find out how fast this little car could go.

"Where exactly did you shoot him?" I asked.

"Bad enough to need medical assistance, soon," she answered. "They can't trail us forever."

Although it had grown dark, there were still cars around on this secluded road. I swerved around one and prayed the cops wouldn't become involved in this chase either. That was the last thing we needed.

Road signs indicated sharp turns ahead, so I was forced to slow. The training I had at camp resurfaced, and I switched the Hyundia into sport mode.

I made the curve and revved the engine, drifting slightly into the oncoming lane and narrowly avoiding a pair of headlights. The sound of a loud horn caused my heart to jump to my throat.

"Jesus," Melissa said as she grabbed onto the handle above her window.

Unfortunately, the two men had nearly caught up to us. It was obvious they were used to things like this.

"Can this thing go any faster?" Melissa wondered.

"I'm trying."

I pressed harder as our speed hit eighty. It was risky on these curvy roads, but I couldn't let them catch up to us. I was positive they were going to try and run us straight off the road.

That's when Melissa rolled down her window.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled over the loudness of air entering the car.

"Helping you out," she deadpanned.

Her pony-tail danced as the wind whipped past her head. Half of her body hung out the window as I tried to keep my eyes on the road. She was insane!

Gun shots rang out, and I knew she was firing at them rather than vice versa. I checked my rearview mirror as I saw their headlights swerve from the oncoming bullets that seemed to miss their car.

The long stretch of road gave Melissa enough chanced to clean out her gun and reach back in for mine.

"Give me your gun," she demanded.

I held the wheel tight. "I'm kinda busy."

She groaned and reached into the waistband of my pants, releasing the gun from its holster. Even in this high intensity moment, my body heated up as her hand grazed my stomach. When she looked up, those eyes held a fire I hadn't seen before.

And then she kissed me, hard, as I kept my eyes trained on the road.

"In case we die before I can get rid of these guys," she explained.

Then she was firing again, this time hitting the windshield. I watched a hole appear in the middle, which missed the driver, unfortunately.

That's when I noticed a hard turn was coming up, and if Melissa didn't get her ass back in this vehicle, she would surely fly out of the window.

"Melissa!" I called.

She ignored me.

"Melissa, look!"

She fired one more time, this time getting a little closer to her target.

I could feel my palms growing sweaty as they gripped the wheel.

"Melissa!" I screamed.

Her final shot rang out as I reached out and grabbed the edge of her jacket. The headlights behind us swerved hard as I pumped my brakes.

As I pulled Melissa back and attempted to control my skidding car, I watched in horror as the vehicle behind me lost control.

"I hit him!" she said. "I fucking hit the driver!"

I swerved around the sharp curve that over-looked a cliff and turned back.

The black suburban began to roll. Its speed was the perfect ingredient for inertia to take hold and cause it to start flipping towards the edge. Scraps of metal flew through the night and scattered in all directions. When the vehicle hit the gate, it merely flipped over and tumbled out of sight.

"Holy shit!" I yelled.

The visual of the suburban flipping over the cliff managed to make an evil satisfaction flow through my veins. Had that really just happened?

It was a bitter feeling, but knowing we were safe from harm, at least from them, was reassuring.

"Drive," Melissa ordered. "Now."

"No one saw that, right?" I asked as I took off. "Were there any witnesses?"

"No." She sighed. "No one saw."

I drove away from the scene fast, taking random roads just to get as far away as possible.

Lookslike that was one problem down. And now, we just had one more to go.