Crossfire - a sizzling slow burn with supernatural powers

Taken

I heard a scuffle behind me and coughing. I didn't stop the drills, before Frank hesitantly lowered the pads.

"What the..." he said, before he realized something and tore the pads off his hands.

I turned around and saw a wall of thick smoke rolling through Titan Fitness. Dingo was already running in to the smoke with a loud battle cry. The others in the gym followed his lead.

Smokers. What were they doing here? I heard fighting in the smoke, silhouettes visible for mere moments before being enveloped in smoke again. I raised my fists and ran forward. The smoke hung in the air and scratched my throat. It was uncomfortable to breathe. Someone tried to grab my arm. I turned and punched at head height, hearing the crunch of a nose breaking. I ducked and punched whoever it was in the jaw. The person staggered backwards.

I continued forward towards the open doors at the front of Titan Fitness. I saw others fall. It wasn't the result of fist fights, but the smoke choking the people I trained next to. I knew they were tough and capable. Many of them veterans. I needed to find whoever was controlling the smoke. I pushed forward, where the smoke was thickest. It made my eyes sting. I blinked rapidly to keep them open.

I could see the outlines of three men standing just inside the door. Still. It had to be them controlling the smoke.

I crouched down and moved forward, getting close enough to make my move. Every muscle was ready to erupt into action. The three men were clearer now. The shortest was Juanito, who was watching everything with a worried frown on his face. The middle one was a brute of a man with a leather vest and tattoos on both arms. He was the one sending the smoke in. He took a deep breath and the smoke poured from his palms. The man closest to me was just standing there, watching. I swear I could see glee in his eyes. I needed the get to the leather vest. He was doing this.

Next to me was a work out bench. It was my chance to get some distance in to a jump. I stepped up and threw myself at the man in the leather vest. I hit him and sent him backwards like a ton of bricks. The surprise of my lunge, made him stop creating smoke. I raised my fist and punched him in the jaw. His head followed the blow. I raised my fist again, ready to follow suit, but my arm was pulled forcefully backwards, making my shoulder strain. Another arm grabbed me around my torso and pulled me off the leather vest.

"That's her!" Juanito said excitedly.

I tried to get out of the hold I was in, but it was a vice.

"Quite the vixen," the man holding me purred malevolently.

Leather vest got up and pulled a hood over my head. A few seconds later, my hands were tied with zip ties behind my back and I was walked out of Titan Fitness with a strong grip on my upper arm. The hood was solid, it didn't allow me to squint through the fabric. When I looked down, I could see a small triangular patch at my own feet. Even if I could escape the grip on my arm, I would be running blind.

I was pushed into the back seat of a car and landed on my side as the door was slammed behind me. Someone entered from the other side of the car and helped me sit up. I was pushed back against the seat, as someone reached across my body.

"Let's buckle you in," he said with that same purring undertone. His words sounded dirty and it made me shiver uncomfortably. The buckle snapped as it locked, and he let go of me.

I tried to follow the turns and stops at street signs as the car drove from Titan Fitness. The first few miles, I could see the car driving on the map in my mind, but soon it became too confusing. Had we turned at the second or third street? Which exit to the freeway did we take? I was lost.

Adrenaline coursed through my body and I wanted to thrash about and scream. It was the result of being bound and blindfolded. As if the smokers would just say, that I make too much noise and let me go. I still couldn't fathom why I was taken. To my knowledge, the smokers hadn't taken someone before. They just flooded the premises with smoke, not caring if there was people there or not. This felt different, but I didn't understand.

I inhaled and tried to follow the box breathing exercise, Dingo had taught me. Inhale, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Exhale, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. The four sides of the box completed and I began again. I had to be calm, but ready, and have my wits about me. I couldn't escape, if I was hyperventilating or panicked. My body and mind were somewhat under control. I felt hyper vigilant and immediately felt when we turned off the main road and up a long, paved driveway.

Where would they take me? To the smoker compound that Brandt had surveyed? Perhaps he was still there and he would see get out the car? I instantly felt hopeful, but then I landed again. What was I imagining? For a moment I saw myself as a damsel in distress, waiting for my knight in shining armor. Complete fairy tale stuff. This was the real world. Even if Brandt was watching and recognized me under this hood, storming the smoker compound would be open conflict and possibly suicidal. Maybe the smokers would realize that I was a nobody and let me go.

I sighed and heard a snicker beside me.

The car stopped and the driver, leather vest, exited and came around to my side. He grabbed my arm and pulled, not realizing that I was wearing a seatbelt. The man beside me undid the buckle and I was pulled out of the car with force.

"Juanito, tell Galvan, I'm taking her to the tunnels."

Juanito began to protest, but I suspect he was set in his place by leather vest's countenance. He pulled away from the car and took me into a concrete structure.

"Stairs!" Was the only warning I got before he marched me down four sets of stairs. Everything was concrete, and sound bounced off the walls. At that moment, I was lucky that his grip was tight enough to leave a five-fingered mark, because I would have fallen down the stairs without it. With each set of stairs, it became cooler and clammy.

I was pushed through a hallway and there was the sound of a heavy metal door squeaking open with heavy clangs. Inside felt smaller and the sound didn't bounce as much as in the stairwell. Something scraped along the uneven floor.

"Sit," leather vest barked.