Kidnapped

Chapter 1

It was a dark night. The city lights blinded me every few steps I took. No one was around, except for my best friend Elizabeth and I. The nice cool breeze blew my --uber straight blonde hair back from my face.

"Where did they say it was?" I asked Beth. (Beth is Elizabeth's nickname. Sometimes we even call her Bethany.)

"It is over on Edison street," she answered."Just a block away from here." We rounded the corner and came across two men loading what looked like heavy boxes into a large rusted white van. It looked really beaten down and very old. When the men spotted us, they gave cold smiles, and carried on.

"So are the guys already at Taco Bell, or-" I was interrupted by a car--'er, van--roaring to life. I turned around, but i did not see anything out of the ordinary, so I kept strolling.

"There it is, over there!" Beth shouted. I turned my head to the right and saw the gigantic taco of Eat The Tacos', and Tyler's car. Tony must have ridden with him.

Beth, Tony, Tyler, and I have known each other since Preschool. It all started when I jumped off a cliff. Well at least that is what it felt like. I jumped--er, fell--off the monkey bars, thinking I would turn into a bird and fly away. (I know, I was a stupid kid.) Luckily, (and strangely) we had a sand covered playground, so I was not injured. As I sat on the ground crying, Tyler and Tony walked over and started to laugh at me.

That is when Elizabeth came in. She had threatened to beat the boys' up then chased them around the playground until it was time to go inside. Beth has always been so full of energy. During the rest of the day, Beth hung around me, and at the end of the day Tyler and Tony finally came to their senses and decided to apologize.

[3]

"Brielle, get over here!" I looked up by the door of Eat The Tacos' then took off in a dead sprint towards Tyler. He held his arms up, swooped me up and twirled me around in his arms. As Beth approach Tony, he swung his arm around her shoulders as they quietly walked and giggled. Even though all of us hung around together, it has always been Tyler and I a little closer, and Tony and Beth a little closer.

When Tyler set me down, we entered Eat The Tacos' and joined Beth and Tony. The smell of tacos made my mouth water.

"So are you guys going to tell us how the trip was?" Beth asked. The guys had gone on a trip to Hollywood, California and were gone for a week and a half. They had got to see the Hollywood sign and everything!! They kept us posted the entire time. The best thing was Marvel Studios!

"Well do you guys want to hear about the whole trip or just the Marvel Studios?" Tyler asked. Beth and I exchanged looks, then looked back at the boys'.

"What do you think?" we said in unison. Tyler and Tony laughed and started telling us about Marvel Studios.

Apparently many of the original Marvel superheroes were there, including the Avengers. Tyler's and I's favorite super heroes have always been Thor and Iron Man. We could never explain why, but they have just been favorites of ours.

"Were the Guardians of the Galaxy there?" asked Beth excitedly.

"Hey, one Hero group at a time!" Tony exclaimed. Beth giggled as Tyler continued.

"Anyway, the Avengers were there. Obviously I wanted to see Thor first, but fanboy over here wanted to see the Super Soldier." Tyler sighed.

"Hey, Captain America was the first Avenger, and he was in the army!"

"Oh yeah? Well Thor is a God, and he has a hammer that no nobody can move, even the Hulk, as demonstrated in Marvel's Avengers. Plus, Mr. Super Soldier is just a bunch of steroids."

"Really? Then, um.... what does S.H.I.E.L.D stand for?"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division." Tyler finished.

"So what about the Guardians?" Beth asked again.

"Wait, I have one more question." I looked at Tony."What does J.A.R.V.I.S stand for?" I asked. Tyler and Tony stared at me blankly. Beth, had started to tick each letter of the acronym off her fingers.

"Just. A. Rather. Very. Intelligent. System!" Beth exclaimed.

"Correct! That is one point for Bethany!" I laughed. Just then, a waitress, about our age,approached us and asked us if we were going to order something. I glanced at her name tag. BRENNA I read silently.

Unsure of what the waitress would do if we said no, I ordered Tyler and I Root Beer, and Tony and Beth Sprite. After that we just sat there, chatting about the rest of their trip and stuff. At one point, Tyler dropped an arm around me, and I leaned into his side. Tony fake gagged and Beth giggled into her hands.

"Oh relax! You guys are so immature." I rolled my eyes, and continued to listen to Tony's crazy theory on how a furry potato would one day become president.

Everyone at school always thought that Tyler and I were an "item". Tyler has always been undeniably handsome, and apparently every girl at Jackson High agrees.

Eventually Beth got up saying that she had curfew. I checked my watch and realized I did, too. The guys gave us last minute hugs, and Beth and i headed back home.

"Oh my goodness, I would kill to go on a vacation to Hollyw-" Beth was cut off by a vaguely familiar white van screeching to a stop, right in front of us. Beth screamed.

"Get in if you value your lives!" the driver shouted angrily. The sliding of the door loudly slide open and behind it stood the other man that we has seen earlier that night.

"Get in the van!" he screamed. He pointed a Glock right at me, and Beth nearly fainted.

"Now!" the driver fired the gun and the shot barely missed my foot. 

"Get in this van or that shot will be a lot closer to you." I heard one of them say to Beth.

I heard quiet sobs that I knew were coming from Beth.

"What are your names?" asked the driver. Before Beth could respond, i said, "This is Bethany and I'm Briar."

"Briar?" The driver chuckled. "What a stupid name."

For the rest of the ride I closed my eyes, but a nagging feeling in the back of my head wouldn't let me drift away to the only solution to this horrible predicament Beth and I were in; we were being kidnapped.