Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues

xXxXxXxXx

Handcuffs, Kidnappings, and Clues

xXxXxXxXx

Amy wasn't sure why she woke up on the floor, all she knew was that she couldn't see anything, and that she had a headache. She squinted her eyes in the darkness, trying to make out anything- anything that looked familiar. Nothing. She tried lifting up her hand, but found that she couldn't. She looked down at her hand. Something cold was wrapped around her wrist. When she tried to lift it up, something came up with it. She touched what was connected to her wrist. Amy's eyes widened. It was a hand.

She shrieked and sat up. After she did so, she heard groans and moans around her. Where was she? What had happened while she was asleep?

"Yo, where are we?"

"I can't see anything!"

"What in Gideon's name is going on?"

Suddenly, the lights flickered on. Everyone gasped at the sudden bright light. Amy looked at the figure besides her. A teen with black hair and amber eyes lay beside her. Ian. Amy squeaked and tried to scoot farther away, but found that she couldn't. She looked at her wrist. Handcuffs. She was handcuffed to Ian Kabra!

She gasped and looked around her. It seemed all of the clue hunters were there. And they all seemed to be handcuffed to someone as well.

"Hey! Where are we?" Hamilton asked. "How'd we get here?"

Amy observed her surroundings. They seemed to be in a large, spacious cement room with a large flat screen T.V. on the wall in front of them. There was one door that seemed to be locked. A keypad was besides it.

"I don't know." Ian spoke, sitting up. He looked down at his and Amy's hands cuffed together. He glanced up at her. "How did this happen?"

Amy blushed and looked away. "I-I don't know..."

This was the first time since the clue hunters had seen each other since the Clue hunt. It had only been a few months since they had been in the Gauntlet.

Natalie shrieked. Dan looked at his handcuffs in horror. They had been handcuffed together.

"What's the meaning of this?" Natalie shrieked. "What is going on?"

The flat screen suddenly turned on. They all averted their attention to the screen. A girl that looked about Amy's age- fifteen- appeared on the screen. She had wavy brown hair and alert green eyes. She didn't look familiar to any of them.

"Hello, Cahills!" she said, cheerfully. "I see you've all woken up."

"Who are you?" Madison demanded. "Where are we?"

"Now, I can't tell you all the details, but I'll just say that you are all somewhere in Europe." said the girl, smiling. "As for who I am, you can just call me Maddie."

"Why are we here?" Ian asked.

"I have brought you all here today for a little game we've set up." said Maddie.

"What game?" Reagan asked.

"And who's we?" Madison said.

"Oh, sorry! I can't say about who "we" is, quite yet. But I can tell you about this game." said Maddie.

"You can't just kidnap us and expect us to go along with whatever you want. You have no right!" Natalie snapped.

Maddie just laughed. "I see you don't care about you're family and friends then."

"Family?" Amy said. The temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees.

"Oh, yes. We've kidnapped some people who are close to you." said Maddie. "And if you want to see them again, you'll have to participate in this game we've set up."

"That's not fair!" Reagan shouted.

"Nothing in this world's fair, Holt. And you're going to participate in this game whether you like it or not." said Maddie.

Amy looked at Dan.

Vesper? she said, through her eyes.

Who else could it be? Dan replied.

Amy shivered at the thought. Maddie caught that shiver.

"Ah, it seems that Ms. Cahill has finally caught on." said Maddie, smirking.

Ian shot Amy a questioning look. Amy kept her attention on the T.V. screen.

"Who have you kidnapped?" Ned asked.

Maddie smiled and the scene on the screen changed. Seven pictures appeared on the screen.

"Recognize them?" Maddie asked.

Amy gasped. The pictures on the screen were very familiar to her.

Dan clenched his fists in anger. Jonah turned pale. The Holts' jaws dropped.

Evan Tolliver, Atticus Rosenbloom, Nellie Gomez, Fiske Cahill, Alistair Oh, Phoenix Wizard, and Mary-Todd Holt were pictured on the screen.

"But that's not fair!" Dan yelled. "Most of those people on the screen are people Amy and I care about! What about the Kabras? The Starlings?"

"Oh, don't worry, Cahill." said Maddie. "If one of you slips up or tries anything funny, one of you will be kidnapped as well. Besides, we decided not to kidnap any of you clue hunters. We wanted you all to participate in the game."

"What is this game, then?" Ian said through clenched teeth.

Maddie smiled. "It's quite simple, actually. You'll all be handed one clue. If you manage to solve it, you'll be given the location of where one of the hostages are. Once you get there, you'll be handed a clue about where exactly they are. Then, it just keeps going over and over again."

"You call that simple?" Dan muttered.

"So, what's with the handcuffs?" Hamilton asked, raising his and Sinead's hands in the air.

Maddie smirked. "That? That, my friends, is for my own amusement. Maybe it'll help you get along. Plus, it'll make this game all the more harder."

"Then why isn't Jonah handcuffed to anyone?" Sinead demanded.

"Because one person has to be un-handcuffed. It'll make things a little easier. Besides, there was no one else available to be handcuffed to him." said Maddie. "You're all handcuffed to the person you can't stand the most."

Ian and Amy were together, Dan and Natalie, Sinead and Hamilton, Ted and Reagan, and Madison and Ned.

Maddie grinned. "You'll all be handed the clue once you manage to do this one task."

"And what's that?" Natalie asked, warily.

Maddie winked. "Get out of there."

The screen faded to black.

xXxXxXxXx

End of Chapter One

xXxXxXxXx

What did you think? Please, review!