Take Me

Chapter 2

Lauren dropped her bag next to the couch after entering my apartment. I'd been living here for a little over a year now, and still something about doesn't feel like home.

"Don't waste anytime breaking out the booze" Lauren said laughing.

"England's made you an alcoholic hasn't it?" I shake my head laughing.

"The drinking age there is 18 but I saw 15 and 14 years olds drinking like they'd done it their whole life." She said with disbelief. "But enough about England. How's Florida been, I've missed my palm trees"

"Hot and humid" I answer while searching through the cabinets for some wine.

"I can't believe you haven't gotten yourself a boyfriend, with that body and all" She compliments. I think. Either way I smile.

"They're all too full of themselves to even look a girl's way"

"Not English boys, damn their accents have me weak in the knees" She confesses plopping herself down onto the couch, her head leaning back on a pillow as if she's getting ready to take a nap.

"Then why haven't you got yourself a boyfriend, heh?" I ask over my shoulder.

"As much as I would love to get my hands over one of them, studying to become a lawyer is time consuming. I've been crammed in my room. I went a whole three days without going outside"

"Impressive" I complemented sarcastically. I grabbed a dusty bottle of red wine set in the back of my cabinet. "This good?" I ask holding up to the bottle.

"Anything's good" She answers without looking.

"Alright and how about pizza? There's a little a shop just a few blocks down."

"Sounds fantastic"

"Okay I'll be about ten minutes, make yourself at home" I laugh at her feet already propped on the couch, and her eyes closed.

"No problemo" She said with a smirk. "Wait, do you want me to go with you?" She asks sitting up.

"I'll be okay" I assure her. I make this trip at least twice a week.

"I'd feel a lot better if I did considering..."

"Okay then c'mon then I'm hungry"

The beach was dark. Clouds hung low overhead, muting the scuffing of our shoes as we walked along the water where the sand was packed and easier to navigate.

"I miss this" Lauren said, taking a deep breath in. "Just listen to the waves"

"I hear them" I say. I've listened to them since I was born, this moment now didn't make the sound any more special.

Lauren glanced over shoulder. "What is it?" I asked.

"I thought I heard something" She shook her head.

"Probably tourists" I turned and saw the dark outlines of two men about ten yards behind us. They were casual, unhurried. One of them was smoking while another was laughing.

The scrape of shows on sand-covered rock drew my gaze to a low cobblestone wall that separated the beach from a vacant lot. Another dark outline, also a man, was less casual, somewhat furtive.

"What the hell?" Lauren said under her breath.

"They're tourists" I said, reminding not only her but myself. I can tell by the look on Lauren's face my voice didn't sound certain as I wanted to. For years I had taken many solitary walks along this stretch of the beach and not once felt uneasy. If it hadn't been for the bizarre encounter at the airport, I wouldn't have thought twice about sharing the beach with strangers tonight.

"Just keep walking" I told her. "The pizza place isn't that far, there will be people all over" I assure the both of us.

A minute later, I glanced back. The men were less than twenty feet away. No longer casual and no longer laughing. The one with the cigarette flicked it away, and I heard the sizzle when it hit the water.

Fear, for the second time today made my breathing shallow. Lauren and I were pretty much surrounded, with the Gulf to our left, the two men behind them and the other one on the wall who seemed to be guarding the quickest route to public places and safety.

"Lauren" I hissed.

"I think we're in trouble"

"Shit" Lauren muttered.

"Our best bet might be to make a run for it"

"Shit"

"The pizza place is straight ahead. There's a red neon palm tree on the side of the building" I said.

"Where are you going?" I heard the alarm in my best friend's voice and glanced up at her. She was paper white.

"I'm just telling you in case we get separated."

'Damn it, Rach."

"Don't look back it'll slow you down."

"Rach-"

"Go!"

We broke off into a flat run. Behind us, someone swore, and two pairs of heavy feet pounded the sand.

A grunt sounded from the right, and I saw the man from the wall scrambling up from where he had sprawled in the sand. He charged toward me and Lauren like a greyhound after a mechanical rabbit.

Lauren sprinted ahead of me and looked back.

I waved her on. "Go, go, go!" I yelled.

A high-rise towered several yards ahead, just beyond the low wall that was no longer being guarded. I was ahead of the third man now, having gained precious yardage when he'd fallen. Veering across the beach toward the wall, I prayed they would follow me not Lauren and that I would be able to outrun them. The drier sand slowed me down and made the muscles in my calves' cramp as the toes of my shoes sought purchase in the shifting granules. I heard Lauren call my name, a frantic warning.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I was within feet of the wall mere steps away, when a hand landed forcefully between my shoulder blades and shoved. I had just enough time to raise my hands as I crashed into the cobblestone wall. Pain exploded through my right shoulder-the point of impact- and my right knee, which took the rest of the brunt of the fall. I didn't have a chance to roll, play dead or scream before fingers caught in the back of my sweatshirt, and tried to jerk me up. I wriggled out of the sleeves, found freedom and tried to scramble away before a hand landed hard on my shoulder and spun me around.

A scream from the beach- Lauren!- choked off.

I tried to fall back from the man who'd grabbed me, saw over his shoulder and the third man racing toward us. He had something in his hand. A gun?

A fist smashed into my jaw, and I hit the sand, my head striking the ground with a dull thud. Grit crunched in my teeth as I lay still, stunned.

Fingers curled into the front of my shirt and hauled me into a sitting position. Batting a wave of dizziness, I tried to focus on the face thrust near my own.

"Everyone's gonna be so happy to see you, Rachey"

I fought back the tide of blackness that welled behind my eyes. I lost.

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