The hustle and bustle of rush hour polluted Agenda Street with the noise of angry honkers and hastily accelerating cars. 

"Are you sure you don't need me to take you home?" Kei looked down at a short and rather innocent Annabella shyly tucking a wispy strand of ash blonde hair behind her ear.

Annabella lifted her nervous eyes from the busy street and locked into Kei's secure gaze.

"No, don't worry about it," she smiled softly. "My mom should be picking me up any moment now."

Kei nodded. "As long as you get home safely."

***

"It's 1:58..." Naomi murmured while glancing at her phone. She sighed impatiently. Exactly two more minutes. As soon as that a**hole who kidnapped my sister shows up, I'm going to beat him up!

She tapped her foot, looking up at the big Marley Hotel sign. She surveyed the area around her and tightened her fists, anticipating some suspicious hooded figure; a thug with a beanie and earrings; an old dude with a weird grin; anyone with off vibes. Instead, she noticed a couple flirting innocently.

Naomi rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out again.

"Two p.m. ..."

SCRRREEEECHHHH!

A sudden sharp screech of tires sent stabbing chills up her spine.

"Get in the car b****!"

Naomi whirled around, barely catching glimpse of the girl behind her getting dragged into the van.

"You too!"

"No- AGH!"

A strong hand dug into Naomi's skin and yanked her into darkness with one swift pull.

***

The first thing Naomi felt when she came to was the taste of her dry mouth.

"Where... Where am I?"

She groaned as a wave of pain throbbed around her skull.

"Ugh.. my head hurts."

Unsure if the room was dark or her eyes were just closed, Naomi took a few slow breaths and garnered sense of her surroundings. Her back was laying against a cold, hard surface. She opened her eyes. The fuzz adjusted and she identified her legs in front of her. She was slouched over on a shadowy grey vinyl floor.

Naomi shivered but attempted to get up. Her head bumped into something and she was forced to sit back down. She tugged and realized her hands were chained to the wall above her.

"Sis!" a frantic voice bounced off the steely walls.

"Ash?"

"Naomi! You have to save us. Please. I know you can think of something."

Naomi forced herself awake and finally noticed her desperate sister chained to the wall across from her. She gulped down a knot of fear and fury. Ashley's hair was disheveled, her mascara had ran and formed a dark circle around her eyes, and her clothes were stained with blood.

"I'll try."

Naomi scanned the area and found a key. Bingo!

She stretched her leg and used her foot to slide the key toward her. "Yes!" she cried. Instinctively, she moved her hand to pick up the key but remembered they were chained to the wall. She leaned down and used her teeth to pick it up and grabbed them with her hands. Naomi hastily contorted her wrists and attempted to unlock herself, but it was no use.

"Naomi..."

"AGH!" Naomi gritted her teeth and tossed the key across the empty floor. "It doesn't work. They must have played me for an idiot. An IDIOT!" She yanked her wrists helplessly.

"Naomi please..!"

"Of course they wouldn't work.. what kind of dumbass kidnapper leaves the keys? He's making fun of us," she whispered in disbelief.

"Please," whispered Ashley. "We have to come up with something before we get caught!"

"Well excuse me, but you rushing me isn't helping!"

"Us fighting about this is getting us nowhere either! I have been STUCK here LONGER than you have, and frankly, I am out of ideas! Naomi, you MUST think of something."

Naomi shook herself out of her helplessness. She's right. We have to get out of here, NOW.

She tried to remember if she had carried anything with her. Suddenly, she realized that she was still carrying a small gun in her pocket. She shifted so it fell onto the floor.

"Na-Naomi? What the hell is that?"

Naomi kicked the gun and it catapulted into her hands.

"Naomi? What exactly are you going to do? Oh my god, are you going to KILL yourself?!" Ashley cried.

"No you idiot! I'm going to shoot the lock."

"Ohoh, yeah? That makes perfect sense. How are you going to do that when your hands are chained to the frigging WALL!!"

"Be quiet. I need to concentrate."

Naomi's sister began whimpering as Naomi contorted her hands and aimed at the lock.

Silence filled the musty room for a brief moment before the pang of a quick bullet echoed through the room.

"Aha!" Naomi cheered as the chains collapsed and clanked to the ground. She rubbed her sore wrists and stood up. I actually did it, she thought to herself, the blood pulsing through her veins in a dangerous rush of adrenaline. Naomi ran and kneeled next to Ashley.

"It's ok, I'm going to save you too now," she smiled as a tear dripped from her cheek.

"Careful not to shoot me."

Naomi aimed the pistol carefully, ready to shoot at the lock, braced herself, and pulled the trigger.

The blood suddenly drained from her face and left her body cold.

"Oh god. It's out of bullets." What do I do now?  Panic swept over her and her head pounded.

"C'mon sis, help me search around you." Both began to look around Ashley, hoping to find something, anything.

"L-look, there's some p-pliers over there," a trembling Ashley nodded to a corner of the room. "Maybe you can use them to break the lock."

Naomi scrambled up and sprinted to the corner. Sure enough, there was a discarded plier poking out from a layer of bubble wrap on old cardboard boxes. She grabbed them and ran back to Ashley, using all her force to snap the chains apart.

"Yes! Thank you!" Ashley jumped up and hugged her savior sister tightly.

"Come on, let's get out of here!"

They scurried to a rusty metal door near Naomi's broken chains.

Naomi gritted her teeth and grunted as she pulled on the door. "We're locked in," she declared. I must have forgotten something! Her eyes widened. "Hey Ash, did you see where I tossed the k-"

"Here."

***

"What the hell, Jack?!"

Jack and Britney jumped.

"I loved you Jack..." A blonde woman in a black hoodie and loose denim jeans approached pitifully. Her somber eyes quickly turned into those of rage. "Then you betray me and run off with this bitch?"

Britney crossed her arms in anger. "What did you just call me?"

"Natalie, why can't you understand?" Jack stepped in between them and looked her sternly in the eyes. "There was never anything between us!"

"That kiss meant everything to me..."

Suddenly, it all dawned on Britney. She recognized that face. How could she forget? "Wait, you were that girl at the prom..."

"Yes I was," she scoffed. "Poor Brianna, so fucking clueless. But now, I've had enough of you two. Jack, I gave you a chance to love me back. But it's too late now. Bye my dear." Natalie blew a kiss and with that, turned around and walked away.

"What the hell just happened?" Britney attempted to ignore the envy poking at her mind.

Jack shook his head, the wheels starting to turn. "I don't know, but something is suspicious around here."

***

Naomi and Ashley broke through the door and ran. By some miracle, the seemingly hopeless key had worked. Their speedy footsteps and rushed breathing echoed through the ominously dark and empty underground parking lot.

"Stop right there!" A voice screeched.

"Oh my gosh it's her!" Ashley gasped.

"That's the kidnapper?"

"Yeah, too bad nobody's ever going to find out!" The woman before them cackled maniacally at their desperation.

"Wait, I remember someone else..." Naomi clutched her head. Her mind raced back to when she got pulled into the van. Nails had dug into her skin. The terrified face of a pale girl with light wispy ash hair faded from her vision when her head hit the opposite car door. "Someone else was in the car!"

"That would be my daughter, Annabella," the woman disclosed.

"What the hell?"

"Why would you kidnap your own daughter?!" Naomi yelled.

"Oh well, it was time for her to come anyways," she sighed in a light voice while pulling out a cigarette. Sparks cracked as she lit the end and took a drag. "So sad that no one's here to rescue you.. and you were sooo close! I guess you two will have to go back to your miserable chains," she spit out the cigarette and smushed it, "... like the animals you are!"

"If anyone's the animal here, it's you!" Naomi taunted.

"Naomi... what are we going to do? We don't have a weapon or anything!"

"A weapon... oh we do, we do!" Naomi smirked and reached for her pocket, an idea beginning to form. "We have a-"

BANG.

Naomi and Ashley jumped back. Natalie fell abruptly to floor, revealing a dark figure behind her.

"I feel... sleepy."

A pale oriental girl dressed in a grey bulletproof vest, black shorts, and knee-length black boots stepped out of the shadows holding a tranquilizer.

"You have the right to remain silent," she informed, looking down at the dazed woman. "Anything you say or do will be used in court against you."

"Who are you?" Naomi raised an eyebrow.

The girl lifted her gaze. She had short black hair in the form of a bob and wore dark shades. "That is classified information."

Ashley wiped away shocked tears when three uniformed officers suddenly stomped in.

Jack surveyed the scene and found Natalie. "I should have known. Men, take her to the vehicle."

"Yes sir."

"I can't believe this all happened..." Naomi's shoulder sunk. She couldn't stop her heart from beating so fast, but she finally felt a sense of relief knowing it was over.

Next to her, Ashley broke down into heavy sobs. Naomi pulled her in and rubbed her back. "There there... It's going to be okay." She gulped down the knot in her own throat, knowing she had to be strong for her sister.

"I'm sorry you girls had to go through this. I really am," Jack couldn't help but feel guilty. These girls had suffered under the abduction of Natalie because she wanted revenge. Maybe it wasn't even revenge, just madness. All because she and Jack had misinterpreted each other's emotions.

Ashley's hands slowly slipped off of Naomi's shoulders. "I don't feel so good..." Her body collapsed to the ground.

"Ash?" Naomi held her in her lap. "Ash! Please wake up!"

Jack snapped to attention. "I'll go get a doctor!"

Confused sobs riveted Naomi's body. "Oh god Ash... what did she do to you?"