AJ stared up at the ceiling of the dimly lit room, thinking about how everything had changed so quickly.
Only 3 years earlier she was back on her family's farm, helping her father with all the work. She was only 14 then. And now she was almost 17. She could have been driving by now, going to a normal high school with normal people. But now she was trapped in Jack's clutches, unable to get out, barely able to walk.
AJ had always wondered about what her older brother was doing. She always pictured him in some crazy situation were he'd have to take someone down with a small Teddy Bear, or even a lemon wedge. She had some tiny idea of what he did for a living. She knew he was some sort of assassin, but that had been before she disappeared. She just hoped he had changed for the better.
Her thoughts, for the millionth time, strayed to the day she'd been taken. Before, she blocked the memory out. But now, she let them flow.
The day seemed completely normal. She woke early, got eggs from the coup, and made breakfast for her and her father, after which she headed to school. And she liked it, at least some of it. The social part, definitely. Math, definitely not. And math was her last period of the day.
About twenty minutes into her least favorite class, she was called to check out as quickly as possible. Instantly, her head filled with worry. Her mind darted to her father, then to the farm. The chickens- oh no. Heaven forbid- the horses!
So she ran to her locker, grabbed her things, and jogged into the office. What was waiting made her almost run into one of the leaving students.
"Eliot?" She asked, shocked.
"Hey, AJ," He responded, his charming smile spouting across his face. Then he seemed to remember why he was there and it disappeared immediately and he sobered. "We gotta go."
"Go? Is dad alright?" AJ asked, struggling to keep up with his wide stride as they left.
"Yeah, yeah. He's fine."
"Then what's the matter?"
El said nothing. Then unexpectedly grabbed her arm as soon as they exited the school. "Just promise you'll do whatever I say," He pleaded, stopping and turning her to face him. "Promise!" He snapped when she hesitated.
"I promise!" AJ blurted in response.
Satisfied with that, he led her to his motorcycle parked close by. She smiled. She loved his bike.
But as AJ climbed on, she felt something sharp pierce her neck and she fell back. She felt Eliot barely catch her before she hit the ground.
LEVERAGELEVERAGELEVERAGELEVERAGELEVERAGE
Eliot eased her unconscious body down then carefully pulled the tranquilizer dart out of her neck. He looked around, suddenly alert, looking for the source of the shot. He found the direction, but reacted only a millisecond too late as a tranquilizer dart hit the back of his neck from the completely opposite direction.
It immobilized him. He could see and hear, but couldn't move. He laid there, helpless while men roughly grabbed AJ and threw her like a rag doll into a recently pulled up van. There was no license plate. No distinctive qualities to it. The men wore all black and ski masks.
He couldn't deduce anything, except for the fact that they were professional. No one could get the drop on him, unless they knew whom they were dealing with.
But Eliot knew one thing for certain; he had failed at saving his little sister.