NOTE: Happy New Year! Here is the first chapter of the new decade! Here's to hopes of reboots, and great stories coming your way that I can't wait for you guys to read!
?-?
Jack strained to hear what was being said in the front seat, but because they were whispering, he couldn't hear much. But he didn't like the words he did hear. "Kingston? Border? Are we going into Canada?" he thought. He knew that they were only few hours away, but he didn't dare tell his fears to Sue.
They drove for what seemed like hours. It felt much longer than it really was because of the blindfolds, and not knowing anything. Finally, they stopped.
"Where are we?" Sue asked, feeling the car stopped.
"DON'T KNOW." Jack replied, even though he had an idea.
"Get out." He heard someone say. He gently pulled Sue's arm to let her know that they needed to get out of the car. She complied, following right behind him.
They were led inside a building with a very foul smell. Sue scrunched up her nose, trying not to breathe in, but she still smelled it even if she breathed through her mouth. They were then tied to something like a pole in what seemed like the middle of the room, and then left alone. Sue tried finding Jack's hand, even though her hands were tied up, and she was pretty sure his was too. Finally, their tips of their fingers touched. Sue let out a sigh of relief. If Jack was with her, she felt safe, even if they were captured and blindfolded.
?-?
Mya was deep in thought searching through anything and everything she could find that might help figure out where Tony took Jack and Sue. She had already been searching for an hour, and nothing came up. She had tried tracking Sue and Jack's phones, but the phone's IP was still near the race site. Upon investigation by Tara, she found Sue's purse was still in the car, and Jack's phone was in his backpack that he gave to Bobby before going in with Tony, so neither person had their phones or any identification on them. It was all with the rest of the team. She tried looking for past locations of Tony that were nearby with no luck. There was no leads, no clues, nothing. She sighed. Unless she thought of another way, there was nothing she could do.
"I just have to find something!" she complained quietly to herself.
Josh silently walked up to her and leaned against her desk.
"What?" she asked, not looking away from her computer.
"Look at me."
"Can't." she replied, still typing.
He touched her cheek, and gently turned it towards him. "Take in a deep breath."
"It won't help." She replied, turning her head back towards her computer.
He turned her head back towards him. "Yes, it will."
She pursed her lips, but complied.
"Now. Let's not think about if for a second."
"But-" she started.
"No buts. When you get so focused, you get too narrow-minded. Let's take a break from research, and focus on the party for 5 minutes. Then you can go back to research. A little deviation will help."
She sighed, knowing he was right. "Alright."
Maddy smiled, knowing that her sister would never listen to her the same way she did Josh. "How about we say a quick prayer first?"
Josh nodded. Good idea."
?-?
After searching for an hour around the grounds, the group went back to the hotel. There was no use looking for Sue and Jack there, they were long gone.
"I wish we could do something." Tara said, sinking down into one of the chairs in the lobby.
"Mya's searching the internet, we've searched the grounds, the other team's panning the whole area, we're doing everything." Bobby replied, sitting in a nearby chair.
"I know, I just feel like we're missing something."
Bobby nodded, not sure how to answer that.
Meanwhile, Myles somehow got the job of trying to calm down Howie.
"Oh God, it's all my fault. What have I done? I shouldn't have brought them here. That's it. Then they'd be safe." Howie ranted, pacing.
"Howie." Myles said firmly, grabbing him by his shoulders. "You couldn't have known. Just calm down."
"Calm down?!" Howie said franticly.
"We'll find them. You just have to wait."
"No, I need to figure out what to do." Howie said, walking back to his hotel room.
Myles sighed, There was nothing he could do either, and it was eating him up inside as well.
?-?
Sue and Jack sat there for what seemed like hours, but really was a few minutes. Then she smelled it.
"Smoke! Jack! Smoke! She loudly whispered. She wasn't sure where Tony and his gang was, so she didn't want to alarm them that she knew if they were nearby. She started pulling on the ropes that tied her hands. They didn't budge. She paused for a second. She felt vibration in the pole that her and Jack's hands were tied to Sue. Then she coughed. Jack must be coughing too. The smoke was getting thicker, and if she didn't put something over her face soon, she would be asphyxiated. Through her wiggling, she felt a rope end come into her hand. The smoke was getting thicker, and combine the smell of smoke and the smell of the building, the smell was not pretty.
Once she got a good grip of the rope, she pulled. It was like a miracle. She was free. She quickly untied the handkerchief around her eyes and looked around. It was an old, dilapidated, small barn. She quickly spotted the fire, which was in the corner closest to Jack.
"Jack!" she exclaimed, seeing him on the other side of the pole she was just attached to. He was standing, but leaning against the pole, and passed out from the smoke.
Sue quickly untied his hands, and his handkerchief. There was no waking him up, so she quickly but gently laid him down on the ground, and started pulling him by his feet to the door.
The fire was getting closer to the door. She looked from the fire to the door to Jack.
"Please, God." She whispered between a fit of coughs. She really needed to cover her mouth, but she needed two hands to pull Jack's feet towards the door. Sue felt herself grow weaker by each step.
"Please, God, a few more steps."
Finally, they were at the door. The flames were dangerously close, but she had to risk it. It was either be burned and be alive, or be burned alive.
Sue opened the door. She bit her lip when she saw what was outside. She didn't remember the three steps into the building until she saw them. There was wide opening doors that probably didn't have any steps on the other side of the building, but those were already partially in flames.
"I guess it's better to have a concussion than to be burned." She said to herself as she continued to pull Jack out the door. She tried as gently as she could bringing him down the stairs, but she knew Jack's head hit each of those stairs. How hard, she couldn't tell. Finally, they cleared the stairs, and were in the snow. She pulled Jack far enough that they were safe from the flames.
By this time, Sue was exhausted, so she plopped down in the snow as well.
"Jack, Please wake up!" she exclaimed, hoping he would wake up soon. She needed to call for help, but without a phone, and the main road who knows how far away, they were a bit stuck.
"Please God, I don't know what to do." She whispered.
