AN: What's Sarah been doing all this time? And how did she get her hands on a phone? Well, read and find out!

Chapter 12

A little while before…

"Sarah, is that you? What are you doing?" "Yeah, what are you doing?" "Stop moving around, you're going to step in the throw up."

Sarah brushed her hair out of the way and bent down to feel around in the box again. She wanted a nice, heavy book. A-ha! Perfect. "Just sit still and wait. I've got a plan. You'll see." She made her way to the door and sat down against the wall. All she had to do now was wait for lunch.

Footsteps could be heard clomping just outside the door. The sound of keys clanging against the door as it was unlocked. 3, 2, 1—

The door opened to reveal the silhouette of the tall skinny man. Sarah threw the hardcover book at him as hard as she could, catching him in the forehead.

"Oww! What the--?" While the man grabbed his head in pain, dropping the tray of sandwiches in the process, Sarah launched herself at him, knocking him over. Kneeling on his chest, she slammed her fist in his face, once, twice, before he recovered and shoved her off.

"Why you little…" He reached out and grabbed her, turning her so that his arm was across her neck, blocking her airway. She couldn't breathe. She squirmed around and elbowed him in the place where Michael, one of the security guards back at home, had taught her to hit if a man ever grabbed her like that.

The man grunted and bent over to clutch at his groin. Eyes watering in pain, he still held on to her with one hand. She couldn't pull away, so she opened her mouth and bit his hand with sharp little teeth. It was nasty; all hairy and skinny, who knew where it'd been?

"Oww!" he cried again, but didn't have the chance to say anything else before Sarah hit him over the head with the book, effectively knocking him out.

Breathing hard, Sarah examined her handiwork with satisfaction. Giving him a kick in the ribs for good measure, she said smugly, "Didn't you know? Girls kick butt! Says so on the t-shirt."

Glancing back at the dark room, she saw three dropped jaws and six wide eyes to go with them.

She grinned and gestured for the others to come out. "Hey, guys, come on. Let's go."

Brittany came first, brown eyes worried. "Sarah, are you sure about this?"

Sarah shrugged, and knelt down by the prone body at her feet. "No, but it's the only chance we've got." She pushed aside the book. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. How appropriate.

Lindsey looked apprehensive. "But—"

Sarah looked up and glared at her fellow kidnappees. "Move it! Or stay here if you're chicken, but I'm getting out of here." She continued to rummage in the skinny dude's pockets.

Brittany stepped close to her. "What are you doing?"

"Getting his cell phone," Sarah answered without looking up. "Got it." She stood and led the way up the dark (but lighter than the basement) stairs.

The others scrambled to follow. Jake grumbled behind her, "This was your brilliant plan? Knock the guy out, grab his cell, and run? What if there's more of 'em?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Jake," she muttered out of the side of her mouth.

"That's a bad word. I'm telling on you." Sarah could practically see him pouting from behind her.

She huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Who are you gonna tell? And what part of 'Shut up' didn't you get?" she snapped.

"Well, Jake's got a point," put in Lindsey timidly. She didn't want Sarah biting her head off like she did Jake's. "What are we gonna do now?"

Sarah flattened herself against the wall as she neared the corner. "I'm thinking."

Brittany followed her lead and pressed her body close to the cold brick. "So you don't have a real plan?"

Sarah looked back at the other kids and grinned. "I'm kinda making it up as I go."

Satisfied that the coast was clear, she moved forward out into the room. There were shelves arranged in rows all across the room. Bookshelves, some with the books still lined up on them and others with them piled up all over the floor. It was still pretty dark, but from what Sarah could see, there wasn't anyone there.

To tell the truth, she was a little disappointed. It would have been cool to have another tussle with some bad guys. This experience had been a little boring at first, but this, this was fun. Her own bona fide adventure. This was way cooler than school.

"Okay guys. Wait here. I'll go look around, case the place out. I'll be back," she whispered.

Brittany protested, "Sarah, you can't go by yourself. It's too dangerous. They could find you."

"I'll be fine. Just…just stay. Watch the others." Sarah looked around and moved towards the nearest set of shelves.

Brittany caught her hand. "Hey, be careful."

Sarah gave her a smile that she hoped looked brave. "I will."

She walked quietly through the aisles, trying to keep her fear at bay. Fear and excitement. How awesome was this?! She couldn't hear anything, so she pulled out the phone and dialed the number that she knew would get her help the quickest. No, not 9-1-1. Her dad's number.

It started ringing. C'mon, pick up. Pick up, pick up, pi—

"Hello?" Oh, thank god. Her father's voice was a wonderful thing to hear on a normal day, but to hear him now was…well, you get the picture. Sarah was positively giddy with relief.

"Dad?" Please save me. I'm scared.

"Sarah? Are you all right?" He sounded worried. Well, duh, Sarah. Of course he's worried.

"Yeah. I, uh, can't talk for long. We kinda busted out and—" She heard a noise coming from her right. "Oh my god, what was that?"

Listening more carefully, almost straining her ears to do so, Sarah determined that the noise wasn't anything more than a couple of mice. She hoped. "Sarah? Sarah?" She heard her father's voice calling her name over the phone and turned her attention back.

"Never mind. False alarm. I'm fine." Sarah hoped she sounded as fine as she'd said she was.

"Do you know where you are?" Her dad asked.

That was what she'd been trying to figure out since she'd gotten to this room. "No, I wasn't awake when we got here. We're still inside. Sorry." She looked around at the shelves. "Umm, there're all these bookshelves around, though. I think it's some kind of a bookstore or library."

"A bookstore or a library? Okay, baby. That's good. That should help us out." It was silly, but Sarah felt proud of herself when he said that. She was helping them find her. "Hey, just stay on the line, okay? We're tracing your call, so we'll be able to find you."

"Okay." Sarah looked around. The silence and the dark combined to make a creepy atmosphere. "I'm scared," she whispered, hating that her voice was shaking. She wanted her dad.

"We're gonna find you, baby, I promise. You gotta be brave for me, all right? Can you do that?" Sarah concentrated on her father's calming voice. She found that her heartbeat was slowing down from its jack-hammering pace of before.

"Mm-hm. I'll try, Daddy." Sarah nodded, even though she knew he couldn't possibly see her. Then she heard the creak of a door opening in the room. She gasped and managed a hurried "I have to go" before ending the conversation.

Sarah quickly erased the last dialed number and closed the phone before hiding it on the shelf next to her so they wouldn't know that she'd called for help and cautiously turned the corner just in time to face—

Uh-oh. The large and extremely ugly man in front of her had a feral grin and a malicious glint in his eyes as he advanced towards her. She backed up a few steps. Okay. This was bad.

Oh no, the others. "Run! Brittany, get them out of here!" Hopefully, they'd get out…even if she didn't.

"Hey there, girlie. Whatcha doin' all the way out here? Thought you could get out without us noticin'?" Sarah felt goosebumps rise on her skin and a shiver made its way down her spine. She gulped. Maybe she could escape by running away. She could run very fast if she really wanted to, and oh boy, did she want to right now.

Backing up a few more steps, she turned around to dash away but was met by a wall of books. Dead end. Oh no, she was trapped, doomed. She was gonna die. Sarah didn't want to die.

Fatso, as she now dubbed him in her mind, let out a gravelly laugh that grated on her nerves. He walked towards her, slowly, relishing her fear. What kind of sick person got their kicks out of scaring children? Oh right, the kind of sick person who would also participate in kidnapping them.

Sarah bared her teeth at the man as he grabbed her shoulder. "Well, you were stupid enough to let me get this far. But then again you aren't very smart, are you? 'Cause you don't seem to know that donuts aren't love. You look like you've eaten Dunkin' Donuts out of business and Krispy Kreme, too," she said in as brave a tone as she could muster.

It struck her a little late that making him mad was not the thing to do as the meaty fist swung at her. The hit connected and she cried out. She tasted copper as her head snapped back. Tears sprung to her eyes at the sudden pain, but she tamped them down. No, she wouldn't cry, not in front of him.

The man's ugly face leered at her, his bad breath polluting the air around her. "You little shit. That should teach you your manners and to show respect to your betters."

Sarah glared at him. "Oh, I already do. To my betters," she said, smirking and drawing out the last word. Oh yeah, she was definitely her father's daughter. Unfortunately, because her smart-mouthed reply earned her another punch, and this time, she saw black.

AN: Reviews? Pretty please?