LAST TIME-

"How are we going to get out of here?" she asked after a couple of minutes, her eyes finding her boyfriends. Vash had been told to stand by them, in case they decided to do anything stupid, which crushed all hopes of jumping overboard.

"I don't know, every minute we sit here we're getting farther and farther away from help," Troy answered. She glared up to Vash, who had a smile plastered across his face. The moment only lasted a second as she felt Troy stiffen beside her, both of their eyes widening in realization.

They were slowing down—their time had run out—and for lack of better words, that really, really sucked.

Troy felt and heard the front of the boat hit shore, the rocks scratching against the hull as it slowed to a complete stop. He lifted his head over the side, his eyes scanning the surroundings. They were on an island in the middle of the lake. Troy turned and glanced behind him. The fog had grown thicker; he couldn't see the pier, or anything else. Black was in front of him and pulling him up before he knew what was happening, Gabriella right behind him with Vash.

"Let's go," Chase Barker announced, as if they were setting off on some glorious expedition.

Troy was pushed forward, his feet hitting the uneven ground of rocks and pebbles. They advanced towards the tree line, the ground turning from rock to muddy dirt beneath their feet. The forest was incredibly dense for being positioned on an island, the tall pine trees blocking most of the falling rain. They climbed sever steep hills, advancing towards the center, before coming to a stop in a decent sized clearing. A steep hill was to their back and trees of all kinds surrounded them, pinecones and needles littered the floor along with small shrubs and bushes. Chase Barker stopped and glanced around, his hands on his hips.

"This seems as good a place as any," he turned, his eyes finding Gabriella. The disturbing smile on his face made Troy's stomach turn. "Let's get started." Troy was caught off guard as Chase lunged forward, his fist hurtling towards Gabriella's face.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Taylor stepped out of the passenger's side of Chad's Scion tc, the rain pelting down on her shoulders. She glanced behind her to Jason and Kelsi, who both nodded and advanced towards the mysterious white van parked in the Red Wolf Lake parking lot. The security guard had asked no questions, recognizing Sharpay and Ryan immediately. Taylor sighed. She had to admit that Sharpay and Ryan had become very valuable friends, something she never really thought would happen.

Her eyes scanned the dark sky before returning to ground level. One word described Red Wolf Lake: monstrous. How the hell were they going to find Troy and Gabriella? The map she was standing in front of bragged that the lake consisted of one hundred acres. The deepest point was fifty feet and that all kinds of wildlife called it home. She rolled her eyes as Kelsi's voice broke her from her thoughts.

"It's her phone," she yelled, holding up Gabriella's silver Blackberry as she crawled out of the back of the white van. "The battery's dead, though."

"So they didn't get caught?" Taylor asked, relief flooding over her.

"I don't think so." Kelsi answered with a small smile, relief passing over her as well.

"So, there here?" Sharpay asked, the blond and her brother joining the group at the edge of their pier.

"Looks like it," Jason answered, looking out across the lake, shaking his head. "The fogs so thick."

"Think they went out?" Chad asked to no one in particular, turning around and pacing to the end of the pier.

"We can take a look," Ryan answered, stepping away from the group and motioning them to follow. "My boats over here."

The group approached a boat that was long and narrow, the engine taking up half the back. The red paint crawled along the side, a galloping horse sketched onto the side. The paint job looked expensive. The leather seating, and steering wheel were custom with swayed and everything shiny was chrome.

"You sure this is okay?" Kelsi asked, eyeing the expensive machine.

"Yeah, my dad has three of these," Ryan answered, hopping down into the front, and plopping down in the tall sawed seat. "This one's technically mine."

"Yours?" Jason asked, jumping down as well, glancing to Sharpay, as she landed next to him. "Don't you two, like, share?"

"She has the car," Ryan shrugged out, turning on the engine. "I get the boat."

Kelsi walked to the back, examining the large boat engine. "Won't they hear us coming?"

"That's what I was thinking," Chad put in as he helped Taylor into the boat. The six friends fit comfortably, however comfortable you could be when your two friends have been kidnapped and your searching for them on a lake in thick fog while rain pounded down on your shoulders.

Taylor shrugged, and then shivered. At least they had finally acted. Sitting had been killing her. The moment caught up with her, what was happening to Gabriella and Troy right now? Were they in more trouble than they were already in, were they ok? Were they safe? She wanted to know the answers to those questions. She was draw to Ryan as he spoke, a triumphant grin on his face.

"No," Ryan answered, smiling. "I just installed a new state of the art motor. It runs silent, only taking about three knots off of the speed; he paused, his smile growing. "They wont know were coming."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The left side of her bruised face was searing in pain, but Gabriella spat the blood to the side and returned her piercing glare to Chase Barker. He swung hard into her stomach, causing her to gasp at the sudden pain and collapse down to her knees, her right one making tears leak from her eyes. Chase smiled as he stomped down on her back and grinned as she fell facedown onto the muddy ground of the forest floor.

Then, he turned, gazing at the pain filled eyes of Troy Bolton. It was quite amusing, this whole ordeal, how he was forced to watch the woman he loves get beaten down in front of him and be unable to do anything to stop it. He advanced forward, towards the raging boy, Troy's blue eyes flashing with fury. The teen lunged forward, but Vash and Black's hold on his shoulders were firm, not letting him go. Chase drew back a fist, ready to make the boy fear him.

Gabriella forced her body up and off the wet ground. The two steps making her knee burn with pain. She ignored it the best she could as she flung herself onto the back of Chase Barker. He sagged under her weight as she wrapped her arms around his throat. She saw Vash and Blake eyes go wide, they started to advance forward, but Chase stopped them.

"Don't let him go!" he gasped. "I'll handle this!"

Before she could prepare herself, he brought back his elbow, the strong joint landing a blow to her left side. She choked, air catching in her throat, but increased the pressure around his neck. She was not letting go. The blow came again, still she held on, feeling his knee's sag with the lack of oxygen. If she could just hold on for a little longer. She had to be strong, for herself, for Troy. She tightened her grip as her teeth ground together, the veins in her neck popping out with the effort. But the third blow made her grip loosen, the white-hot pain spreading from her ribs to her chest. She whimpered as the forth blow knocked her from his back. She hit the ground hard, rolling to her hands and knees.

"Stupid bitch!" he yelled as he turned, drawing back a leg.

"Gabriella!" Troy cried out, the warning edged with pure pain. She looked up, finding his face. His blue eyes were filled with fear, something they didn't show often. She let a small smile cross her face as he shook his head, his eyes going wide, willing her to move.

The laces of Chase's boot slammed into her side, the steal toe digging deep into her ribs. The blow picked her off the ground, pure momentum making her rotate in mid air. She landed and rolled, coming to a stop on her stomach, her head facing Troy and the others. She could feel the cold rain on her cheek, every hit making her eyes flutter. As everything stilled, she realized just how cold she really was. Her body didn't feel like it was warming itself properly anymore.

Liquid rushed up from the inside and she opened her mouth, letting the blood flow out. A strangled scream was caught in her throat as she found it suddenly impossible to breathe. She tried, the breath making her vision turn a sharp white as her chest tightened, the broken ribs pressing against her lungs as more blood came out. A cough racked her battered body. She choked, a mixture of blood and saliva and she felt the red liquid slip out of her mouth and down her chin. Her eyes were slowly closing, and felt that she wasn't even breathing anymore. She could hear Troy's desperate pleas in the back of her mind, but the darkness was stronger, and it didn't hurt as much. Her body shook as she fought to stay conscious, but it was getting so hard to suppress the infinite oblivion. She had fought for so long, couldn't she take a break?

Don't you dare! Her mind screamed. The fight isn't over!

She pulled her eyes open, an annoyed sigh escaping her lips. She felt the cold rain on her back, the soft drone making her tire again. She flickered her eyes, trying to find Troy. The bodies were so blurred; she couldn't tell which one out of the four was him. She tried to move, tried to get closer, but the pain spread to her back, making her cease all movement. Everything hurt, her head, side, shoulders, knee, everything, everywhere. She tried twitching her finger, moving something small, but pain laced up her forearm, setting into her bones. Her eyelids felt like lead as the time passed, the loud voices getting farther and farther away.

A pair of blue eyes found their way into her mind. The stupid yet adorable lopsided smile, the longer brown hair that she had nagged and nagger him to cut. He would never leave her, so she couldn't leave him.

"—no—" she whispered out, her voice making the men stop their conversation, the closest to her turned.

"Oh, my," Chase Barker's astonished voice entered her subconscious. "Why do you fight so hard?"

"don't—hurt—him—" she pleaded with the last of her strength, her eyes falling close.

I'm sorry

The darkness offered so much comfort, how could she turn it down?