A Shot In The Dark ~ A Tyler Scheid AU ~

Chapter Three

Emily stood there in her room staring at the now closed door as the man who had invaded her apartment shut it behind him.

Was he serious? He wants me to leave now? Emily thought, her hands shaking as she ran them through her hair and took in a few deep breaths.

She wanted to pick up her phone and phone Victoria, even though she was in the other room, but she couldn't risk the man hearing her and she knew that texting wouldn't have woken her up; she was left to deal with this issue herself.

There was no way she was going to be able to find a way out of the apartment without the man catching her.

Her bedroom window didn't open up onto anything that would allow her to climb out and the only other way out of the apartment other than the front door would be the balcony door that lead down to the fire escape but still she would have to run across the apartment, unlock the door and make it down the fire escape without the man seeing her; there was no way that was going to happen.

A heavy sigh left Emily's lips, and she gave in. She made her way over to her closet and pulled out a black backpack, filling it with a few days worth of clothes, her makeup, hair brush and the bear that she slept with every night; the same bear that Wade had given to her on her first birthday. It was a little torn up but it was the only connection left to her brother that she had.

After scratching down a quick note on a piece of paper to leave for Victoria, telling her that she'd contact her whenever she could and not to worry, she exited her bedroom.

True to his word, the man who had broken in stood in the lounge, surveying the room and paying close attention to the photos that Emily and Victoria had around there apartment.

"You're packed, good let's go."
"Hang on," Emily slipped the note under Victorias' door and turned to the man "How am I meant to come with you if I don't even know your name?" The man had a small smirk in the corner of his mouth, his hands still in the pockets of his suit.

He didn't answer to her at first, moving smoothly over to the front door, laying a hand on the cold metal doorknob before acknowledging her.

"I'm Mark, can we leave now?" Emily rolled her eyes slightly but she knew that it was probably the best she was going to be getting out of him and decided to take it, following him out of the door, taking one last look at her apartment before closing the door quietly behind her. She had no idea when she was going to be coming back.

On the streets of Los Angeles, there wasn't a single car on the road. For the first time in a long time Emily could smile at how peaceful her city looked. The sun was still hidden, the sky a deep navy colour and the stars in sky sparkled in the night.

A slight cold breeze nipped past the pair as they walked closer and closer to Mark's black suburban; the typical car for a bad guy in a movie Emily thought.

Mark took a hold of Emily's bag and tossed it into the trunk of the car before opening her passenger side door, slamming it shut after she'd climbed in.

The inside of the car had that 'new car smell' that Emily usually loved, although the situation dulled down the euphoria that she felt.

The black leather seats felt cool, and the leather stuck slightly to Emily's clammy bare legs. Mark climbed into the seat next to her, turning the key in the ignition and quickly turning down the air conditioning that blasted through the car.

The pair of them never spoke a word to one another as Mark pulled away from the apartment complex, Emily stared out the window and watched the skyline pass her by, not bothering to take note of where she was going; she knew there was no way she was going to be able to make it home without someone noticing her absence.

Part of her was worried about what was going to happen to her now that she was being taken away from her life, taken away from her friends but then there was another part of her. The part that had been looking for her brother for months and now she had validation that she wasn't going insane, that she actually had a right to worry. She was getting one step closer to figuring out the riddle of what had happened; that was something she couldn't pass up.

When Emily woke up from her nap in the car, the sun was just rising, the sky a deep shade of lavender and she was parked up in front of an obnoxiously large house, but she didn't know what else to expect when it came to Los Angeles. From the front all Emily could see was the white exterior of the house and the completely flat roof. Some of the walls were completely windows and the only light coming from the house was from the back yard and a few slithers that had managed to push their way out of the closed curtains.

Emily stepped out of the car and grabbed the backpack that Mark was holding out for her and followed him up to the house, leaving the car in the front driveway and making his way up the small flight of white stairs that lead to the large glass front door.

Emily didn't know what to expect when she entered the house. Who else was going to be there? The house was far too big for just Mark to be living there and by the sound of what was going on in the back yard, the small murmur of voices that Emily could hear; she knew that he wasn't home alone even if he did live here alone.

She pulled her bag tighter to her chest and took in a deep breath and followed Mark into the dark hallway, letting him close the door behind him.

"This way." He motioned his arm to the room to the left, the door was closed but this was the source of the light at the front window of the house, orange light slid underneath the door.

Another deep breath and Emily was half ready to meetwhoever was waiting for her on the other side of the door. She didn't know ifshe was going to make it out of this alive but she couldn't help but think thatif she happened to die in this moment, at least it would be in a mansion.