Miss Taken

Chapter 10-Vampires

Chapter 10

Who is she?
Best case scenario: she had called the police and they were coming to save us.
Worst case: well... I didn't really know what that was. Maybe a vampire gang coming to sell our blood to a blood bank for profit and then steal it back and drink it, perhaps. Did vampires do that? It sounded pretty smart to me.
I looked down at my hands, unable to remember if I had washed them or not. I shrugged and picked up the yellow soap bar next to the sink again, just to be sure.
When I was done I turned the lock on the door and stepped out into the hallway, walking back to the kitchen. When I entered the kitchen, Bow and Karter looked up, apparently relieved that I hadn't escaped.
Just you wait, I thought. We'll be free tonight. Angela called the cops.
Or the vampires...
We finished up the meal, Riley being her usual social self, despite the fact that we had been kidnapped. Between Riley, Bow, and Angela the mood was kept light. Karter joined in occasionally when he was mentioned in the conversation, but he was mostly quiet.
"Who wants some dessert?" Angela asked. "I made pudding."
"Oh, me!" Riley said excitedly.
"Please," I said. Bow and Karter both nodded.
"Yes, thanks."
Angela stood and stepped around the counter, opening the fridge and setting a bowl of chocolate pudding on the counter. "It's a family tradition to have pudding for dessert in my family," Angela said. "My siblings always used to fight over who got the biggest bowl."
Everyone laughed at this. Everyone, that is, except for Karter. His posture was stiffer now, his head cocked slightly as though he was listening for something. I gave him a questioning look but he ignored it, narrowing his eyes.
"No one else lives with you, do they, Angela?" Karter asked.
Angela glanced up at him, an eyebrow quirked questioningly. "No, I don't. Why do you ask?"
Karter's eyes flicked toward the kitchen door. He shrugged. "Oh, no reason. Never mind."
Angela's eyes narrowed slightly, but the expression disappeared as quickly as it had formed. She slid open the utensils drawer and pulled out six spoons, placing one in the pudding bowl for a serving spoon. "Yes, this house is a bit creaky, I've noticed. But that won't be a problem as long as it's only me here, I imagine." As she said this she looked straight into Karter's eyes and I felt him tense. Apparently he got more meaning out of that sentence than I did.
"Don't worry about me for the pudding, Angela," Karter said. "I've just decided I don't want any."
She raised her eyebrows, the expression a little bit too innocent to be believed, though I think that was intended. "Oh, are you sure?"
"Yes," Karter said as he stood up, his voice dropping into a growl. "I don't take food from lying traitors."
And with that, he launched himself at her.
Angela was quick. Her hand shot to the knives as he vaulted over the counter and she held a black steak knife in her right hand as she fell backwards.
Her head missed the oven by inches and Riley screamed as it smacked the floor. As much as something that loud must have hurt, Angela raised the steak knife and tried to fight back. Karter pinned her arm down, snatching the knife from her hand. But there was a new problem now.
About half a dozen men streamed through the door, dressed in all black and clutching guns. Bow grabbed his plate from the table and threw it at the men, the remaining lasagna and salad splattering over the men and wall behind them. They aimed their guns at him, but Bow dropped to the ground, pulling Riley down with him. I didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what I needed to do. I ducked.
Bullets showered the glass door behind us and glass shards rained down all around us. I heard a clang and saw Karter shove Angela toward the door the guards hadn't entered through, the knife to her back. With impressive speed, Bow stood and thrust the table upwards, food and dishes flying at the men. They ducked to avoid it and Bow took the opportunity to grab Riley and I and pull us after Karter.
We had only just exited the kitchen when the men came back to their senses and charged after us. Bow put on a new burst of speed, all but dragging us now. "Hurry up!" he yelled to us as we launched through the front door.
"It's not so easy in heels!" I shouted back, attempting to kick them off. Bow kept dragging us, however, and the heels stayed on my feet.
Karter was already at the sidewalk with Angela, slashing two of the tires of the mens' Jeep as he ran. The men ran out of the house and chased us down the driveway of my little prison. Karter threw up the door of the garage and popped the trunk, pushing Riley, Angela, and I into the trunk and slamming the door behind us. Angela hit her head hard on the side of the trunk as he threw her in and she slumped over, unconscious. Bow and Karter flung themselves into the front seats and Karter dug the keys from his pocket and shoved them into the ignition, forcing the van into reverse and screeching out of the driveway, nearly bowling over the men as he did so. They leaped out of the way and landed hard on the grass as Karter charged the van down the street as fast as he could without losing control.
"Grab that duct tape back there and bind her arms and legs," Karter ordered from the front seat.
I checked myself for anything broken, but nothing seemed to be. I was only bruised and a bit scratched from the glass. I brushed shards of glass from my tattered dress and grabbed some duct tape from the floor of the van, rolling Angela over and beginning to bind her arms and legs. When I had finished I sat up and combed a hand through my hair, brushing my bangs from my eyes.
"Where are we going?" I asked, leaning over the seat.
"Headquarters," Karter answered.
"But Ian is there," I protested.
"And those guys are not," Karter responded.
"Who even are they?" I asked. I glanced back at Riley as she sniffled. She was nursing a little cut on her arm, not nearly big enough to do her any serious harm. I turned my head back to the front, waiting for an answer.
"We don't really know-" Bow said.
"But we have an idea," Karter interjected.
"Well who are they? What do they want?" I asked.
Karter shrugged. "I couldn't tell you, but Boss will know."
"You said you had an idea," I persisted.
"They're not always good ideas, Laur."
"Ain't that the truth," I said.
Karter glanced at me in the rear view mirror and scowled. I smile back innocently and try to make myself comfortable. That is, as comfortable as one can be in the trunk of an old van cruising down an old creepy neighborhood at double the speed limit with men with guns chasing you and kidnappers driving the car you're in.
I looked out the window behind me. The scenery was already unfamiliar. At least it wasn't vampires, I thought.

A/N: Sorry there isn't much more explained than last time, but I promise I'll start to clear things up in the next chapter. While you are waiting, I encourage anyone and everyone EVER to read Divergent if you haven't already. Besides the fact that it is the best book of all time, the movie is coming out March 21, so there's your incentive! :)