'The game has just begun'

On that particular day, the air in Duskwood was charged with electricity. There were grey clouds on the horizon, heavy with promises of rain and obscuring the sky like a grim omen.

A storm was coming.

Hannah picked up the pace along the crosswalk, feeling her heart in her mouth while the hand holding up her phone was shaking badly. She couldn't put into words the peculiar sensation that had been following her for all those months, but the certainty of being observed weighted heavily on her shoulders.

Jake was on the other side of the videocall trying to reassure her with comforting words. Despite half of his face was hidden by a mask, Hannah was quite certain he was as frightened as her.

"Something's wrong, Jake" the girl stated again, looking all around her with a sense of increasing unease, panic filling her voice.

"Keep going Hannah, you're almost there" Jake replied with urgency.

Hannah knew that logically he was right, her car was almost in front of her, keys ready in her free hand, but she couldn't shake off that feeling. Jake kept carefully watching her and he swore he could pinpoint the exact moment her expression changed to actual horror.

"No, no, something's com..."

Hannah's words were abruptly cut off by a white tissue over her mouth and a gloved hand pressing it firmly against her while another kept her head steady. She struggled with fierce strength, trying to free herself but the liquid on the cloth was intoxicating, clouding her mind and making her reaction sloppy. She dropped her keys, her only weapon available and Hannah knew that was it for her, her stalker had won.

Jake started yelling her name with desperation in his voice, but he was powerless against the aggressor. In the end, the only things connecting him to his half-sister was a stupid phone call.

The last thing Hannah saw before the darkness overcame her were a pair of soft blue eyes reflected in the car windshield, looking down on her with a weird pang of sadness. Hannah's head rolled back against the mysterious assailant shoulder as she lost consciousness.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Jake swore, a raging fire building in his lungs, "Don't you dare touch her!"

Soon enough, he lost sight of Hannah's aggressor as the phone slipped loose from the girl's fingers, crashing on the ground, a deafening sound in the eerie silence of her surroundings. A low rumble of thunder murmured through the quietness.

The camera pointing at the grey sky captured a bit of movement: Jake could make out a long coat over a black pair of jeans and combat boots while the man moved around, likely laying Hannah in his car.

The kidnapper stopped for a minute, quietly watching the unconscious girl with an odd look of longing in his eyes, the only thing visible of his face. Stroking softly her cheek while whispering a "I'm so sorry" plea, he finally turned his attention back to Hannah's phone.

The other young man was still screaming and swearing profanities against the mysterious abductor, suddenly stopping once he came face to face with him.

A mask covered half of his face in a similar manner to Jake, leaving out only his piercing, cerulean eyes and a strand of blonde hair that had escaped the black hat during the collision with Hannah.

"Drop the act, Jake" the aggressor spat out with venom in his voice, marking his name like a curse and a promise of wreckage.

Jake was frozen in shock and disbelief because the man wasn't a man at all.

It was a woman.

Jake looked down for a moment, slamming a fist against the hardwood table in front of him.