"Tick, tock. Tick, tock." The clock was the only thing keeping Melanie company for the past day. She was given soup she was forced to drink through a straw three times a day. After this, she would never have tomato soup again. Other than that, she had a straw connected to her mouth that had a glass of water on the other end. And as for bathroom problems, well she didn't want to ask, because that would lead to an escort. And she didn't think using her pants was much of an option, so she tried not to drink to much water. She had waited longer.

At one point, Evan entered. "So, Mel, here's the deal. Either you join us, or we erase the last few months from your head. What do you say?"

"What would you do with me then?"

"Return you home for the reward money. $1 million is worth more than the time it would take to persuade you."

"My parents are offering $1 million?"

"And it escalates every day."

"Well sorry to disappoint, but I'm not doing either of those."

"Oh, Melanie. I don't think you have much of a choice." Evan leaned over the table, but before he could say anything else, she spit in his eye.

"I think I do."

"Guess again. We will erase the last few months tomorrow morning. Have fun until then. No food or water for you."

He stood up, and as he left, he tipped her water glass onto her.

She had to think of an escape plan. She knew she wouldn't be able to sneak out of the truck as she was moving, but she knew she had to get out. She scanned the room. No windows, obviously. They apparently hadn't thought to install a camera system. The doors didn't seem to have a lock from her inspection three feet away.

After two hours of planning, she had one. All she had to do was undo her bindings. It was a good thing she was extremely thin, otherwise she was royally screwed. After some struggling, her hands were undone. She quickly ran to the door.

"I'm telling you, Legolas, once we get to Pennsylvania, it will be easy. No need to worry. We are already in Kansas. Only a day or two more driving" Evan said as he walked down the hall. Melanie took a quick step back as they disappeared into another room. Melanie stepped out and made a dash towards the trailers door. Towards her last room, she ran smack dab into Dean.

"Shh…" Melanie said, using charm speak,"I'm going to put you to sleep, and you aren't going to scream." Melanie then knocked him unconscious, using a move she had learned in self defense class. She dragged him to her holding room, then ran to the trailer. She knew she had noticed a ladder.

She climbed to the top and noticed a four foot storage space between the rooms and ceiling. "Well, that's convenient," she whispered to herself. She found a tarp and crawled underneath it. Approximately five minutes later, she heard a door slam.

"What the heck, Dean?! Where did she go?" Evan yelled.

"What? What happened? How did I end up here?"

"She used charm speak on you. You idiot! I warned you! Where did she go?"

"I-I-I remember. I was headed to the kitchen, and then… I don't remember," Dean said.

"Oh! So you remember, and then you don't remember. Great!"

"How are we going to find her?"

"Pull over," Evan said.

There was a moment of static, and then a French accent saying, "Got it."

"You lost the key to our plan! I thought you said you installed a security system when you made this thing?"

Wait. She was the key to their plan? How?

"I said I was going to."

Just then the truck was pulled to the side. Melanie almost rolled off the top, but managed to hold onto a metal railing.

"I want this place searches top to bottom! Cameron, watch the exit. Thorn, come watch the other hostages. Everybody else, spread out."

Melanie wasn't good at coming up with plans quickly, but this one came to her quickly. She prayed to her mom that it would work.

As they were searching, Garrett scanned the storage area where Melanie was hiding. "All clear!" he yelled.

She waited until they were done searching, then waited for Cameron to enter the truck as Dr. Thorn was coming out. She made a mad dash for the trailer door and yanked on it as gravity pulled her downwards. Melanie let go of the door and let gravity do its job. She then turned and locked the door as she heard a loud thud. Dr. Thorn had run for the door and missed. She made a mad dash for the driver door.

There was a loud bang, and Melanie turned to see Dr. Thorn approach her. She tried to run the rest of the way to the truck, but before she could turn she was struck by something invisible. She fell down and began to clutch her shoulder.

"Ah, Miss Livingston. I'm sure you will find our living conditions quite nice. Shall you return?"

"I think she'd rather not," said a voice behind Dr. Thorn. Nico. He ran forward and cut off Dr. Thorn's head. Melanie gasped. She thought she was going to see a lot of blood, but instead the doctor quickly evaporated into dust. Nico quickly dashed to Melanie and gave her a one armed hug. "You okay?" He asked as he held his sword in the other hand.

Melanie felt dizzy from the manticore poison but managed to yell, "Nico! Behind you!" She then jerked him to the side as a blade landed where they had sat moments before. Dean lifted his blade and charged for them again, but not before Nico could stand up and hit him with the end of his sword. Dean fell to the ground unceremoniously.

Garrett then appeared and advanced. He was sly, but not graceful. He slipped on the loose asphalt and face-planted, knocking himself out. Evan came out, but he was the only one who actually put up a good fight.

Melanie stood on the sidelines watching as she felt a hand on her mouth and one around her waist.

"Nico, if I were you I would stop what you are doing before your little friend gets hurt," Evan said.

Nico turned to Melanie. He saw her eyes. They were wide and full of fear. He set his blade down.

"That's what I thought," Evan said as he led them into the truck.

And here you were thinking they were getting free. Ha. Sorry. I want you people to review more please. Thanks for the support I've already gotten.