The Chosen Ones Book 4: A New Enemy

Chapter 7

Casey rushed to her side and began untying her. Matt walked slowly behind her, fearing the worst.
"Help me, goddamnit!" Casey swore at him.
"Case." Matt replied, quietly. "I don't think...."

Suddenly Sam came to. She thrashed in the wooden chair, eyes wide, screaming and swinging her one arm that Casey had just untied. The others came running in at the sound of the commotion.

"Sam!" Casey yelled. "Samantha! It's me, babe. You're safe now. You're okay. Hey, look at me!"
Sam focused in on her and started crying uncontrollably. Her eyes were both black and blue with the left one swollen shut. Her bottom lip was split with dry blood on it, a sign that whatever happened was done days ago. Her wrists and ankles were burned and bleeding from the rope.

Matt helped Casey finish untying her. Then Sam fell into Casey's arms.
"Gavin!" Sam cried out.
"Where is he?" Tyler asked.
She was crying so hard she could barely speak.
"I-I don't know." She managed to get out.

"Search the house." Matt said. "Be careful, whoever did this could still be here."
Tyler, Sierra, and Phil took off. Matt picked up Sam and carried her to the sofa. Shannon draped a blanket over her and she leaned up against Casey. She couldn't stop shivering.

"We got him!" Came Tyler's voice.
Matt nodded for Shannon to go. She followed Tyler's voice to an open door that led to the basement. When she looked down the stairs she saw Gavin at the bottom, tied to a wooden chair. From the looks of it he had been thrown down the stairs while still tied to the chair.

There were probably about thirty wooden stairs that led down. Phil and Tyler were already untying him. He was conscious and leaned on both the guys as they helped him up the stairs. He too had been badly beaten.

Sierra cleared a path so the guys could lead him to Sam. Gavin looked at Tyler.
"Tell me she's alive, man." He said.
Tyler nodded. "She's is."
Gavin closed his eyes and fought back the urge to break down. While trapped in the basement that's all he could think about. He could hear the stranger beating Sam while he laid there, helpless.

Sam couldn't hold her emotions in, she broke down again at the sight of Gavin. She had imagined the worst. She hugged him tight as he took a seat next to her. The others all sat around, giving them a moment. It was a miracle that they were still alive. The question was WHY were they still alive?

Whoever this guy was could have easily have killed both of them.
"What happened?" Casey asked. She took Sam's hand. "Start from the beginning."
Sam was still shaking as she recalled the events that took place.

"We were sleeping." She started. "We heard a noise, I don't know who woke up first but it was loud. We both sat up in bed and this guy, a young guy, long blonde hair, he was standing at the foot of our bed."

"I reached for my gun." Gavin continued. "But this guy was fast. I've only seen one person move that fast." He said. He looked directly at Tyler. "He moved like you." He told him.
"Exactly like me?" Tyler asked.
Gavin nodded.

"He took us both on at the same time. He was so strong, we were just sleeping so we were out of sorts..." Sam explained. She seemed to be still trying to make sense of how they were both overpowered.

"He beat the shit out of us. Knocked us both out, tied us to the chairs. Threw me down the stairs, and God knows what he did to Sam." Gavin said. He turned his head away from Sam. His pride was killing him thinking of how he wasn't able to protect her.

"All he did was beat me, he didn't touch me any other way." She said, trying to comfort him. He took her hand again.
"Gav, there was no way you could have been ready for an attack like that." Matt told him.
"I should have been. We're TRAINED to be." He replied.

Just then it hit Sam.
"Jenna!" She yelled. "We have to warn her! He kept mentioning her!"
The others all looked at each other, none of them wanted to tell her. She had been through enough. But Sam read their faces, and so did Gavin. He got up and flipped the coffee table.
"No." Sam cried. "No, no, no."

"We found her tonight. She texted me there was someone in her office." Matt said to them. "We just couldn't make it there in time.
"I'm gonna kill this motherfucker!" Gavin swore.
"Get in line, man." Tyler told him.

"So what's our next move?" Shannon asked.
"He's coming for all of us." Sam said. "He left us alive as a warning."
"Does he know where the rest of us are?" Phil asked Gavin.
He shook his head. "No, he kept asking me. And I'm sure he asked Sam."
She nodded. "He doesn't have a clue. He only knew where Jenna was because..... well, everybody knew where she was."

"I say we head back to my place in Virginia." Matt suggested. "This area is comprised. He's probably been to Tyler and Sierra's house by now. He'll be watching it."
"Pack your stuff." Shannon said to Gavin and Sam. "We're going on a road trip."

Tyler moved in front of Sam. She smiled at him through her tears. She knew what was coming. He respectfully touched all her wounds and bruises, which were extensive. After only a minute she was good as new and hugged Tyler.
"Thank you."

He got up and walked into the kitchen to find Gavin. He was getting a beer out of the fridge and tossed one to Tyler.
"You're not touching me, man." Gavin said with a slight grin.
"C'mon, it won't wake long. I know you're in pain. Your fucking arm is broken."

Gavin chugged his beer. "Sam could have been killed tonight." He said.
Tyler nodded. "Yeah, you both could have. That's why we have to find this guy and kill him."
He had fire in his eyes. He always wished he would have been old enough to have fought alongside his dad and friends back in the day. He was finally going to get his chance.

"I was beginning to think we wouldn't ever have to do that again." Gavin admitted.
"Yeah but aren't you a little pumped? We finally get to fight someone with equal abilities as us." Tyler stated, his adrenaline pumping with every word.

"Equal to you." Gavin corrected. "None of us are his equal. Maybe Casey."
"He killed Jenna. He has to pay."
Gavin nodded. "He does. And he will." He placed his empty beer can on the table.

"Alright, c'mon. Let's get this over with." Gavin said.
Tyler approached him, ready to take his pain away.
"Don't look at me when you do it. It's weird." Gavin said, grinning.

They both laughed. They had a true brotherly bond. It was strange that Tyler was five years old and Gavin nineteen when they met. But that didn't bother them now, especially since they looked the same age. Tyler was eighteen, and even though Gavin was technically thirty-two, he still looked nineteen.

His wounds weren't as bad as Sam's and Tyler was finished in no time.
Gavin held out his hand. "Let's go get this guy." He said.
Tyler took it. "For Jenna."