Disclaimer: My name is Anthony Horowitz -cough- I mean... Zanthony Corowitz!

Alex struggled uselessly against the men that held him. Confusion swirled around his mind and he was just about to strike with his elbow when a gun was pressed to his back. It was all the language he needed to understand the situation.

The men led him to their car and pushed him onto the floor as they took advantage of the plush leather seats. The cold steel of handcuffs were locked around his wrists.

"Well, Alex, the assassin was cheated. How naïve he was to think that I would keep my end of the bargain. He was going to trade you for Ari. But, as you just witnessed, that didn't work out so well for him," The one man, obviously the leader, smirked.

Alex felt a stab in the gut. But what could he expect from Yassen? He cared about Ari. The rest of the ride was spent in silence. After a long while, they finally stopped in front of the same mansion that Ari was brought to.

Alex was escorted into a cell. The guard assured him that it was escape proof with a laugh and mocking smile. The handcuffs were unlocked from his wrists and the guards left.

The door banged shut and Alex was alone.

Ari watched from the balcony as Alex was transported inside. She was given new clothes and a bath then released with the confinement of the mansion grounds.

Though her freedom wasn't actually freedom, not in its truest sense. It seemed like there was always someone watching her. She was never left alone - save going to the toilet - and it was getting on her nerves.

Henry didn't bother her at all since their first meeting. A younger guy named Blake, her guard, would talk to her from time to time, but stuck to his job of shadowing her.

"So... other than the obvious, why am I here?" Ari asked for the millionth time.

As usual, Blake said nothing, just regarded her with amused eyes.

Ari sighed. She just wanted to be at home with her father, was that too much to ask? "I'm going to use the toilet. Try not to bore yourself to tears while I'm gone," she got up and left the room. Before passing through the threshold and closing the door, she caught a glimpse of Blake making sure she was where she said she would be.

Once inside, she looked for an escape, now ready to take drastic measures. Unfortunately, the only things in the room were a toilet, a sink, and a small window.

Having already tried the window before, she didn't give it a second glance as she climbed on top of the toilet and punched a ceiling tile. It gave way and came up, opening a square of darkness above her head. She coughed as dust was released.

Using the sink as a step, she pulled herself up into the small space, wincing as the strain irritated her bullet wound.

Eventually, the pain reduced to an ignorable level and she replaced the tile. She swore at the fact that it was pitch black in the crawl space and hadn't thought of bringing a torch or matches.

Sighing, Ari set off, crawling blindly, hand after hand, knee after knee.

Jagged pieces of metal tore at her clothes and skin, threatening infection from the dust and grime that surrounded Ari.

Wincing ever so often, she pushed on and soon came to another section of ceiling tile. She pulled it away as quietly as possible and stuck her head into the room.

There was no one there. Perfect. She replaced the tile and moved in the general direction of a dresser she had seen in the room. She estimated being over it and pulled away the tile to see she was one or two off. Deciding that it wasn't worth it to try again, Ari swung her lower body out of the hole and maneuvered so she was standing on the dresser. She pulled the tile back in place and silently climbed down from the dresser.

It was perfectly set up, the room she had found had a second floor balcony in which she could climb the trellis' down.

She unlatched the French doors and walked out onto the balcony. Behind the house, there were woods as far as the eye could see. If she went out about a league (6 miles), then she could double around and come back to the road and hopefully get help.

She managed with difficulty to climb down the trellis she had seen before. She felt the exhilaration of freedom in front of her as she ran through the grass, hardly noticing that she was missing shoes or that anyone in the house could see her.

Alex sat in his cell, utterly bored. The guard had been right, there was no way to escape, though if he would have had one of Smither's stud earrings, it would have done the trick. There's nothing like explosives packed into a tiny little capsule to help you escape.

As much as Alex pushed the emotions away, he felt jealous of Ari. He had no father that would rush to his aide and not think twice about sacrificing another kid for his own.

Locking his emotions away tight, he stared at the door of the cell, willing it to open.

It did.

But not in the form Alex was hoping for. A uniformed guard came in and hauled Alex to his feet and dragged him out the door.

When they passed a window, Alex caught the briefest glimpse of something running into the trees. Even though she was too far away to make out clearly, he knew that it was his friend. He willed Ari to run hard and get as far away as possible from these creeps.

Noting Alex's preoccupation, the guard saw Ari running into the woods. Gun forgotten, he grabbed the walkie-talkie from his belt and began relaying orders into it.

Alex struck, slamming his foot into the man's collar bone. He meant to hit his neck, but the guard was a little too tall for Alex's leg.

Roaring in pain, the guard slammed his fist into Alex's stomach, knocking the air out of him. Knocked off balance because of an inconveniently placed rug, Alex fell onto his butt. The guards foot swung around and kicked him in the same place Alex had just been hit. Alex curled into a defensive ball, which gave the guard time to draw his gun and place it against Alex's temple.

"Nice try kid," he growled and grabbed hold of the back of Alex's shirt, dragging him the rest of the way.

Thanks to all my reviewers:

VampireSithLordDarthTryphineus: Yay! Thanks!

CherubChick92: Thanks, your story is good, keep writing it!

Jedi Knight of Middle-Earth: yes, -sigh- you have outvoted me. :p No, don't worry, he just gets mad. hehe!

Josephine18: Thanks! I love you too! (hehe) I will try and update soon, but the week after next I will!

Updated: January 18, 2009