Disclaimer: If only if only the woodpecker cries, the bark on the tree were as soft as the sky.

Ari woke up slowly. Before she even opened up her eyes, she could tell something was wrong. Darkness had come and the woods were silent. Ari stood up and looked around.

Right into the eyes of a huge wolf. Letting off a terrified sqeak, Ari backed away. The giant wolf growled and crouched low, ready to spring. Taking a deep breath, Ari prepared to scream, but was cut off by a loud howl.

Terrified, she backed away.

Emitting another low growl, the large wolf sprung at Ari.

Screaming, Ari fell over, the wolf's giant paws on her shoulders and his fangs near her neck. With a gleam in his eyes, the wolf bit down, cutting off her scream.

Ari woke up with a start. Eerie light filtered through the canopy, and the first thing she saw was Henry.

Letting out a shriek that reminded her chillingly of the one in her dream, she backed away. "Come, come, we'll have none of that," he said with a smile, reaching out his hand. Ari didn't move.

Looking somewhat more annoyed, he gripped her forearm and pulled Ari to her feet.

A little unsteady at first, Ari held onto a tree branch for support. When she had regained her balance, she looked around at the other people with her.

Henry stood next to her. Blake, not looking happy, in fact, he was glaring, stood next to a guard holding a rather large dog.

Ari took a step back. "What?" Their silence unnerved her to no end. She kept feeling like something was going to happen, but it never did.

She didn't want to go back to the mansion, whether Alex was there or not. Turning, she began to run away.

Still not speaking, Blake sprinted after her, catching up easily. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, causing Ari to fall over. With an annoyed sigh, she realized her balance was just not what it used to be.

He roughly lifted Ari to her feet. She was escorted back to the mansion, a tight grip on her should the whole time.

Going past an open doorway, she heard voices. They didn't sound like guards. Maybe they could help her. She twisted free of the grip on her hand. She flew through the doorway and into the room, crashing into a burly guard who didn't look too happy at her intrusion.

He grabbed her arms, holding her in place as Blake ran in, followed by Henry. The guard with the dog had gone to the kennels to lock him back up.

Ari looked around the room. Three furious faces glared at her, and the one registered shock.

"Alex!" Ari cried, realizing he was sitting there, looking like a trapped animal.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. He thought she had run away.

"They caught me..." she said, frustrated with herself for falling asleep.

The woman stood up. "And who is this, Henry?" she asked, taking in Ari's filthy state.

Henry brushed his coat off and smiled. "I am terribly sorry, Mrs. Rothman." He said, shooting a glare my way. "This is Ari, daughter of Yassen Gregorovitch. She recently escaped and was found again." Another glare. This time, much more fierce.

Ari hardly noticed as the guard let her go. She kept her eyes on the Rothman lady, watching her as she circled around Ari like a vulture.

"Why is she here?" she asked.

"My brother wanted the assassin to do a job for him, but he refused, so instead of killing him, he kidnapped the girl. And Yassen ended up killing him. Hurting Yassen has been fun for me," he said with glee. Ari flinched and he chuckled.

Mrs. Rothman nodded, as if understanding. "Revenge is sweet."

Ari kept staring at her. There was no way she was going to get help from these people. They were just as sadistic as Henry and Victor.

Ari felt someone's gaze. It sent shivers up her back. The man standing against the wall was looking at her curiously. As if he was trying to see inside her mind.

"Hm," Mrs. Rothman said. "How much for the both of them?"

Ari gaped at her. She was buying Yassen and Ari?

"That's illegal!" Ari burst out.

Mrs. Rothman gazed back at her again.

"Many things I do are illegal."

After running a quick search and hacking into a couple of private accounts, Yassen came up with Henry Heines' house address.

Getting into his car, he sped off towards the mansion, all thoughts on getting Ari - and Alex – out. He narrowly avoided hitting a moving truck, which honked it's horn obnoxiously. Yassen ignored him.

Almost missing the exit, Yassen swerved off the highway and onto some quiet roads. A large mansion grew before him.

Finally, he had the mansion in his sights.

Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are great!

Sorry for the length of this chapter!

Updated: March 13, 2009