"okay Sam. do you remember when I walked you to your car yesterday and how I said that it was my job to worry about you?" I nodded my head. "well, it is quite literally my job. before Lucas left for his first deployment in Afghanistan, he came to see me. he asked me to promise him something, that I would never let anyone hurt you and that I had to protect you from them." I was so confused. "who is them?" "the tala ban. your brother was working an operation a few years back, before Afghanistan, in Iran. he got into some trouble with the tala ban. he escaped from their captivity, but they found him. they didn't hurt him, but they made a vow to him that one day they were going to come after you. Of course, Lucas had to make sure that would never happen." was he serious? my brother got into trouble with tala ban? and now they want to take me to who knows where and most likely kill me? I couldn't believe this. it couldn't be real. I was only 18 years old, planning on going to college next year. "Dylan, what are we going to do? Does coach know about this?" he answered, but he was almost hesitant."yes, coach knows. I'm keeping in contact with him. next time we talk, I'll let you get on the phone." "Dylan, I can't let you do this. I can't let you risk your life for me. I'm not worth it." he looked at me like I was a wounded puppy. "you are worth everything and so much more. just like your favorite song by For King and Country, you are priceless! You mean the world to me Sam and you mean even more to God. I know it sounds crazy, but I would lay my life down for you. I'm going to protect you with every ounce of my being. no one is going to take you from me. I can't live without you." tears started to form at the corners of my eyes because I realized that no one had ever cared about me that much. "you have no idea what that means to me Dylan. I trust you completely and we are going to get through this with God's help. it's kinda crazy ya know?" "what is?" Dylan reached over and grabbed my hand. "all my life I longed for excitement and adventure, but this isn't an adventure, Dylan. this is a nightmare. and I'm ready to wake up."
