Eugh… She pushed herself away from the pillow as she reached for her alarm… Her blonde locks fell framing her face as she tried to shake sleep from her body. Hanna slid out of bed towards her shower as she tried not to focus on what vile lessons awaited her today at Rosewood High.
An hour later she dragged her unwilling body through the doors of the school, unhappily making her way towards her first class. English. At least her friends were there, and the to and fro of extremely subtle sexual tension between Mr Fitz and Aria definitely made it an entertaining period… Smiling to herself as she thought about how happy her best friend had been recently, she made her way to her locker and eventually towards the classroom just as the bell rang to signal the start of the school day.
Finally! Lunch time! Hanna, Aria and Spencer made their way through the canteen to an empty table.
'Seriously though, where is she? Its so weird that she would miss school?'
'Yeah especially because it's only a week until her swim meet… She would normally be buzzing about, running her mouth about needing to get to the pool at every spare moment!'
Hanna listened to the exchange between Spencer and Aria as she tried Emily's cell again. No answer… Again. 'Why wont she pick up?!' Hanna groaned as she pushed her phone back into her bag… 'We should go round after school…'
As the final bell of the day rang, the liars gathered outside of the school building and headed towards Emily's house. As they approached the right house, Emily's mom met them coming out of their front door.
'Hi girls! Where is Emily?' She smiled at them
'Uh, Mrs Fields… that's why we're here… she wasn't at school today and we wanted to make sure she was okay?' Hanna stated, panic starting to infiltrate her mind.
'Hanna… what do you mean? She stayed with you last night? Why didn't she go with you to school?' Mrs Fields countered, confusion masking the terror that threatened to spill over.
'What?... No… She didn't?!' Hanna couldn't hide it anymore, shear panic took over in her voice. 'Why would you think that…? The last time I spoke to her she was about to go for a run before she had a girly evening with you when you got in from work?!'
'Oh my god. No. That was our plan… But she text me… She text me saying she was staying at yours for the night… that you had had some kind of emergency…' Mrs Fields felt as if everything was spinning at about 150 mph. How... why… what did this mean…?!
Spencer, having snapped into action when she realised neither they nor Mrs Fields had heard from Emily since the night before, finished her call to the police stating: 'We need to go down to the station. The police have some questions.'
Hanna put her arm around Mrs Fields, who seemed to be in a state of shock, she had lost all colour and her hands hadn't left her face since realisation had begun to creep into her thoughts.
Emily was missing.
Emily felt her body rocking gently from side to side, she felt vibrations from an engine as she brought herself back into the world of consciousness, batting her eyelids to once again fight off their heavy rebellion as she sought to take in her surroundings more clearly. She made a small groan, muffled against the gag, as the pounding in her head grew stronger. This noise alerted her captors to her awakening state.
A small laugh escaped the driver's throat as he saw her face contort with the pain of the effects of the drugs. He didn't miss the look of pure hatred that she attempted to throw at him.
'Look who has re-joined the land of the living boys!' He shouted to the two men sitting either side of her.
She heard two grunts as she looked around the car trying to see any distinctive scenery.
Ten minutes passed, so far… nothing helpful. She looked around the car… still nothing particularly useful… the driver was smoking… the cigarette lighter hadn't been replaced properly so she could see the amber glow emerging from the port. If only her hands weren't tied. She could make an attempt to grab it and burn them and and and … and then what..? She was trapped by two tall muscular men either side of her, and any attempt to reach the driver would undoubtedly result in pain on her front. Damn this, what was she going to do?! … The car seemed to be slowing down… Her feet weren't tied… could she make a break for it…? Please park close to a woods… Please park somewhere close to a sheltered area… please?!
Unfortunately all her mental pleading did no good. The driver pulled them into a large open space, the only shelter provided by a large mansion. Eugh… can I not catch a break?! She thought to herself.
As the car pulled to a halt, the driver got out and signalled to the two men to do the same. Emily tested her bonds as her arms pulled against her restraints, nothing. This is just getting better and better. Stuck in her thoughts, she didn't hear the driver shout at her until one of the goons roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her from the car, removing her gag.
'OI! WHEN I TALK TO YOU, YOU WILL ANSWER! IS THAT CLEAR?!' He got close to her face when she did not respond. She could taste his repulsive overly minted breath as he reached for her throat enunciating his next words. 'I SAID. IS. THAT. CLEAR?!'
Still she just glared in response. She would not give him the satisfaction. Earning her a hard slap across her face. The only reason she remained standing was because of the vice like grip of the goons holding her still tied arms in place.
The driver encroached upon her personal space once more as his hand reached for and held her face painfully tight. He whispered to her: 'Don't piss me off. It will not work out well for you sweetheart. Trust me on this.' Pushing her face away as he released his grip.
'Do one.' She uttered, her words filled with false confidence, but that confidence drained as she saw his face swell and boil over with anger. He struck her again. This time not even the sheer steel grip of the two goons could keep her in place as her knees buckled and her body fell to the ground. As he lowered his hand, still shaking from anger, she began to push herself up from the floor. Instinctively her fight or flight instinct kicked in and she ran.
She bolted passed the car unsure of where she was going, 'don't fall… don't fall... don't fall' she repeated to herself as she continued with one foot after the other. She could hear footsteps behind her, gaining on her. Damn it, this would be so much easier if she could use her arms! Suddenly she felt a blow to her back as she was propelled forwards towards the ground. She landed with a painful thud, pinned to the floor by a heavy mass that she soon realised was one of the goons. He roughly pulled her to her feet and began to drag her back to the house, no matter how much she tried she could not shake off his grip. She kicked him in the shin in an attempt to escape but all the seemed to was anger him. Growling he spun her around and punched her hard in the stomach. Her attempted to escape faltered as she tried to retrieve the air back into her lungs.
'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT?! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS THIS IS?! DO YOU THINK THIS IS GOING TO WORK OUT WELL FOR YOU IF YOU KEEP PISSING US OFF?!' The driver yelled as she was brought back beside the car. A sudden realisation seemed to hit him, lowering his voice he muttered evilly 'I don't think she is scared enough, boys.' He grinned maliciously.
The goon holding her let out a menacing laugh as he pulled her body into his, wrapping one arm around her waist, whilst the other reached and pulled her hair, forcing her head back. The driver walked slowly towards them, he reached to pull a knife from its sheath at his belt. He pressed the cool metal against her bare neck. 'I could kill you. Right here… Right now… and not even think twice.' He said, his eyes baring into hers, his words pouring out of him like a vile poison that upon impact rendered her frozen and utterly incapacitated. Emily didn't know what to think. Even her thoughts were frozen in place.
'Let's make a deal… you behave and maybe I won't kill you. But piss me off again and you won't live long enough to regret it. Understand?!' He challenged, pressing the knife into her neck, drawing a little blood just to emphasise his point.
Suddenly she found her confidence… From where she did not know. She attempted to replace her look of terror with one of indifference. A sharp tug of her hair reminded her she hadn't answered his question. 'Yes.' Was all she said through gritted teeth as the driver replaced his knife and she let a quiet breathe of relief.
'Looks like she's going to be trouble… I trust you two can keep her in line?! That is if you can even keep hold of her this time?!' He questioned the two other men. To be rewarded with two grunts as their only response.
He walked into the mansion confidently as the two men followed dragging a struggling Emily along with them. The driver stopped at a grand door, he knocked three times and upon invitation, slowly and respectfully entered, signalling that the two other men should follow.
Forcing her into the room ahead of them, the two men kept a tight grip on her, unbothered by her resistance. Once inside, the door was shut by the driver. She was once again pulled into the body of one of the goons as a figure stepped out of the shadows.
'Oh my god..' she breathed as a paralyzing cocktail of panic, terror and utter shock took over her body.
