take a chance

chapter 4

I was frozen in fear. Paralyzed. Even if I wanted to move, I wouldn't be able to.

Oh, and there was a guy with a gun pointed at the back of my head telling me to stay put, so obviously I wasn't very inclined to move.

I looked over at Shawn. He didn't seem scared at all, or even surprised. He just said, "Come on, John. Stop trying to scare Lindsey."

The man with the gun laughed, "Joke's on you, man. Your idiot bodyguard is dead. There's no one to protect you now."

Who was John? And why was he dead? And why did Shawn even need a bodyguard?

Shawn's jaw dropped. His face was twisted in a mask of fear. He began to reach in his pocket for something.

The man stopped him, saying, "If you try anything, your little girlfriend here dies."

Shawn froze. I had no idea what was happening, but I knew this was serious. I was terrified. We were out in the middle of the woods in the evening. No one would hear us scream.

I was too young to die. Had I not been a good person my entire life? I helped elderly people hold their groceries, and I volunteered at the food bank every month. Why did I do to deserve this? If I die, who's going to tell my parents?

A tsunami of depressing questions and melancholy thoughts flooded my brain. I shook them out. I couldn't afford to freak out right now, not when there was a gun pressed to my head.

"Get up," the man growled.

He forced us to walk back to the parking lot, where there was a white van parked next to Shawn's Jeep.

"Get in," he growled again. I had to refrain myself from rolling my eyes. Was this guy so dumb that he could only say 2 words at a time?

Lindsey. Now is not the time for sarcastic thoughts.

I turned my attention back to the situation at hand. Ok, there's a gun pointed at my head. We're in the middle of nowhere. There's an armed caveman forcing us into a van. There's another one driving the van. Yea, things were looking pretty bleak.

The man searched us for our phones, pulling them out of our pockets and smashing them with the heel of his shoe.

I winced. Those iPhones had cost my parents a lot of money.

The driver got out of the car and pulled out 2 pairs of handcuffs. Of course. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, they slapped the handcuffs on and threw us in the back of the van.

I landed next to Shawn with a loud thump. At least they hadn't duct-taped our mouths.

The second the big men slammed the door shut and got in the front seats, I turned to Shawn. "SHAWN WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" I screamed at him. I was on the verge of tears.

Shawn took a deep, shaky breath. "I don't know where to start."

I glared at him. "The beginning."

"Um...ok. I haven't been completely honest about my past. I'm part of the Witness Protection Program."

I opened my mouth, but before a stream of questions could flow out, Shawn held up his hand. "Just let me finish before I chicken out and decide not to tell you the story."

"Half a year ago, I was living in Miami with my parents. We lived in the suburbs. Our neighborhood was the kind where everyone knew everyone and had block parties every month. My life was pretty good, until we got in financial trouble. I got 2 jobs to try to earn some money, but nothing worked. We were broke. So my dad decided to get some fast money by borrowing from a loan shark, whose name was Marc Lewis. At first, everything was good again. We paid our bills and my life felt stable again. That didn't last. One day, the loan shark and his goons came to collect the money. My dad hadn't made enough money to pay them back. Marc Lewis wasn't happy, but he gave us one more day to pay it back. My parents panicked. We tried everything. We sold everything. But by the end of the day, it still wasn't enough. So that night, Lewis came again. When they rang our doorbell, my mom revealed a small hiding space under a floorboard, big enough for a kid. She pushed me in and said, 'No matter what happens, your dad and I love you.' That was the last thing she ever said to me. The loan shark and his henchmen-"

Shawn paused. He was too choked up to speak. There were tears in his eyes.

"They killed my parents, Lindsey. They shot them in cold blood, then searched the whole house for me so they could kill me too. I hid in that tiny hole for what felt like hours. I didn't even have a watch. When I heard them leave, I crawled out and saw my parents, sitting on the couch. No kid should ever have to see that. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. The police came and they took me away. Not to an orphanage or anything like that. They put me in the Witness Protection Program. They assigned me a bodyguard, John. John was my best friend. Actually, he was my only friend. He traveled everywhere with me. Every month, we moved to a different city, so Lewis couldn't catch us. There was no time for making friends or socializing. I can't believe he's dead."

Shawn looked like he was about to cry. I scooted over to him and gave him a hug, as best as I could with handcuffs digging into my wrists.

"I'm sorry Shawn. No one should ever have to go through that."

He looked up. "No, I'm sorry, Lindsey. I never should've dragged you into this. Everyone I get close to gets hurt. I'm a natural disaster. I blaze through places and wreck everything in my way."

Despite the situation at hand, I couldn't help but pity Shawn. He needed a friend more than anything right now. I couldn't be mad at him for not telling me about his past.

"So, the guy that just kidnapped us is Marc Lewis?"

"They're both his henchmen. They do everything for him, so he doesn't need to get his hands dirty."

"Why do they want you, though?" I asked him. It didn't make sense. What would they gain from killing Shawn, and kidnapping me?

Shawn shrugged. "Lewis doesn't like leaving a job unfinished, I guess."

I sighed. My parents were probably freaking out by now. I usually came home around 7PM. If I went out, I always texted them where I would be. I hadn't told them where I was with Shawn. Shit. They wouldn't know where to start looking for us.

The back of the van had no windows. There was nothing to do to pass the time, except worry.

So that's what I did.