The dark of the night engulfed his senses as the boy stalked through the stinking alleys of the city. Soft, thudding footfalls alerted him to the impeding approach of the girl. Swiftly, he arranged himself on the very edge of the rusted fire escape he had been perched on for the past twenty minutes. As silently as he could manage, he unzipped his backpack and withdrew his tools. Specifically; the stained rag and small bottle that resided in the back pocket. Agonizingly slow, he turned the cap of the small bottle, desperate to not alert the girl of his presence. Her mother had insisted that she not be made aware of the situation – he was to subdue her, and take her to the van that would be waiting for them. From there, the girl was the property of whoever bid the highest. After he had soaked the worn material with the liquid, he placed the bottle next to his pack, and readied himself.

When the footsteps at last reached his location, he dropped into the alley below, slightly jarring his feet on the unforgiving cement. A chill stole into his bones, part nerves, combined with a dash of excitement. The butterflies raged against the adrenaline, creating a swell of emotion in his stomach, threatening to spill up and over onto the pavement.

But no, he had not resorted to that in years.

After swallowing the saliva that had subsequently pooled under his tongue, he stepped forward into the dim illumination cast by the lone street lamp. His appearance was met with a gasp, followed by a sigh of relief.

"James? You scared me. I was kind of worried I was in trouble, for a moment there."
Oh, little girl. You have no idea what kind of trouble you've walked yourself into.
She placed her hand over her breast, no doubt to feel the thundering beat that had been caused by his scuffling around in the darkness of the alley.
He smiled.
"You're happy tonight. What's that in your hand, James?" One more stride brought him face to face with the girl, their noses only inches apart. He smiled at the girl. She was in his Spanish class at school, and evidently thought that he was just another harmless teenager. Oh, how wrong he would prove her to be. His hand darted to her face, cupping the soaked rag to her nose and mouth. She breathed in deeply in surprise, not even fighting his grasp. It did not take long, soon her eyes were glazed and she was holding onto him for dear life.

He allowed himself a slight chuckle, before slinging the now limp form of the girl over his shoulder. Easily, he marched into the shadows of the alley, to the rear where his transport was waiting, and also the mother of the girl. The door of the van slid open abruptly, and a hulking man with brown curls beckoned him closer. The boy offered up the girl, and she was taken from his arms easily by the colossal person. His arms were almost the size of James himself, and if he was being honest...That frightened him. The man smiled at him, and gestured behind him with a flick of his head. The boy climbed up into the vehicle, and nodded at the girl's mother who sat, shaking, her arms drawn up around her knees.

"A- Are you sure this is legal?"
The man responded with a chuckle, and set the girl onto the greasy carpet. After slamming the door shut, he tapped loudly on the wire cage separating them from the invisible driver, who instantly began driving at a dangerous speed.

"Of course it is, ma'am. It will be as if she was never born – nobody will ever know".
She blinked rapidly, obviously becoming stressed at the concept of someone discovering what she had done.
"What if she gets away? Wouldn't she tell someone?"
With a distinctly repulsed expression, he placed an enormous hand on her shoulder.
"She won't remember a thing".

The woman's only answer was to dig her nails deep into the creases of her elbows. James noticed the track marks, and looked away in disgust. She turned to him and cleared her throat.
"I'll pay you once they do, okay?"
He simply inclined his head in her direction, and watched the girl strewn haphazardly across the floor of the van. She really was pretty, he decided. It was a shame that her mother evidently had a habit that she could not afford. James would take pleasure in revealing the woman's secrets to the police the next day, and also in describing the people who were responsible. The girl hadn't done anything to deserve what her mother was doing, and James would be doing the city a great service.

A harsh ringing erupted from the pocket of the giant's pants, and he quickly answered his cell.
"Yes?"
James couldn't hear anything on the other end, but the man's eyes narrowed and the hand that wasn't holding the phone clenched into a fist.
"I'll deal with it," he said before terminating the call. First, he returned to the woman.
"You tell nobody of what happened tonight. You take your money, and you go".
Tremors shook her body, and a single tear ran over her cheek. The man sighed heavily, and slammed his hand on the metal divider. The van came to an abrupt stop, throwing James off his seat and onto the filthy carpet beside the girl. He stared at her closed eyes, and an unknown emotion twisted through his chest.
Guilt.
The door was thrown open, revealing the tall shape of a man, his features thrown into darkness by the full moon that shone from behind him.

"Come here, woman".
She obeyed instantly, all traces of fear obliterated. When she reached him, the man grabbed her small hand in his.
"Your daughter has gone to live with her father in Washington. She will not be back. You do not have to call her, she does not want you to. You got this money from a friend, it was a gift," He pressed a large duffle bag into her hands, "You will use this to move far away from Phoenix."
She was nodding along with his words, clutching the bag to her chest.
"Be gone".
She obeyed, scrambling out of the van into the night.

James shuddered as the man turned to him. Even though he could not see his eyes, he knew that they were centred on him alone.
"Bo-"
The muscled man stepped into his line of sight, interrupting what the shadowy figure had been about to say. James expected an audible conversation, but they conversed in hisses that he could not decipher. A strong sense of trepidation made itself present, and he closed his fingers tightly around the penknife in his pocket. If it came to a fight, James had no doubts that they would win. However, he was prepared to go down swinging. The large man with the monstrous arms interrupted the other with a growl, and this was answered with the unknown stranger slamming the door. He was now alone with the unconscious girl and the large, muscled one. He smiled at James, but his teeth promised anything but reassurance.

"You've been a naughty boy, Jimmy".
Terror whispered to his limbs, and they struck out of their own accord, slashing at the man with the blade that he had flicked out the instant the door shut. The clumsy attack was dodged easily, and he shot forward to shove James up against the metal side of the van, throwing his head back with the force. It bounced off the steel with a sickening thud, and he saw stars. The man held him with an iron grip, one arm up against his neck, strangling him and keeping him pinned.
"Going to tell the authority, were you?"
He punctuated the question by pulling James forward by the shirt, and then cracking him back into his previous position - being suffocated by one of his meaty arms. He couldn't get a deep enough breath to respond to the man, and this only seemed to make him smile.
"I have no time for your excuses. I was going to have this lovely girl for dinner, but Jasper quickly shut down that idea. I'll just have to make do with you".

The man bared his teeth, and his head blurred forward. Razors sunk into the flesh of his throat, and a liquid gurgled up into his mouth. He was drowning in his own blood. It was done quickly, the man removed his teeth from his neck as a haze threatened the edges of James' vision. No longer supported, he slumped heavily to the carpet. The body of the girl stirred, and James stopped feeling the heat of pain. He slid down until he was lying beside her. He could feel the blood oozing from his wound onto the floor.
That was when it hit him.
You're going to die here. On the cold, unforgiving floor of a van.
Denial.
No, it's a dream. Monsters aren't real.
Acceptance.
Yes, they are.
As his eyes drifted shut, he braved one last glance at the girl. Her lids were fluttering open, and she relaxed the moment she spotted him. Blissfully unaware for a split second, she took in a breath to talk – no doubt question James on their location. Then, it hit her. Her gaze shot to the gruesome slash in his throat, and she started screaming. James smiled weakly, and closed his eyes.
She'll be fine.