Joe must have felt me tense up, because he tried to calm me down.

"Taylor, it's ok. I won't let them hurt you again. They'll have to get through me first." He wrapped his arm around me and I relaxed slightly.

"They'll have to get through me, too, Taylor. Don't worry." Nick also tried to calm me down. I heard yelling in the other cell.

"Wait a minute. No!" Juliet cried.

"Waaahhhh!" Aly started crying. Our door began opening and Joe quickly placed me behind him. I saw Kevin with one man, his hands bound behind him, like we had been. I was behind Joe and Nick, but as the men came closer, I pressed my body against Joe's back. I was shaking a little. He put his arms behind him and pulled me close to him. Then Nick moved behind me.

"Well, well, well, protecting the girl are we?" One of the men said tauntingly. He made a sudden move towards me, but Joe was quicker and punched him in the chest.

"Leave the girl. We need them." The second man said.

"Fine." The first one said.

"Will you two yahoos hurry up?" the man holding Kevin called to his partners. One of the men grabbed Nick and began tying him up. The man who had tried to get at me roughly pulled Joe away and began tying him up as well. He held Joe tightly and came up to me. I was beginning to tremble. I didn't want to get hit again. Joe was struggling in the man's iron grip, trying to get to me. He pushed Joe down and slapped me hard across the face. I teared up a little as he pulled Joe to his feet. Nick and Joe were hustled out the door and it slammed shut. Joe gave me a look saying "I'll be fine. We'll be fine. Don't worry." I stared into his eyes until he disappeared and tried to calm myself down. I sat down on the cot and began to silently cry. After awhile, I heard Juliet's voice.

"Hey, Tay. Are you okay?" she asked gently. I nodded and continued to sob.

"Come up here. I want to talk to you and Aly wants to see you. She misses her big sister. And so do I." I nodded again and pulled myself together before climbing onto the boxes Nick had stacked. Nick. I hope they are okay.

"I'm here." I said.

"You okay? I know you're worried about Joe. I saw what happened. Is your face okay? It was torture for him to watch that, you know that right? He never wants you to get hurt. He started telling me about this a year ago. He would give his life for you." Juliet said. I nodded at all her questions and looked at her sadly.

"They'll be fine." She assured me. "Now say hi to Aly." I watched Aly appear as Juliet lifted her up.

"Hi Al." I told her.

"Hi sissy. Is Kevin going to be okay?" Aly asked me.

"Of course he is. And then when he gets back, do you know you're going to do. You're going to play another rousing game of Eye-Spy with Juliet, Kevin, and Nick." I laughed at the thought of Nick playing again. Aly nodded and Juliet put her down.

"Juliet, I wonder how Emily and mom are doing. And Mr. and Mrs. Jonas."

"They're probably looking for us." She said.

"I have a bad feeling that they won't free all of us when they find us. Like maybe they'll only get a chance to free you three before the men hide me, Nick, and Joe somewhere else." I told her.

"Don't you worry. If that does happen, I won't sleep until we find you."

"Thanks Juliet. See you later. When they come back, I'll be sure to send Nick up to play Eye-Spy with you guys." She smiled and began climbing down.

"Yay!" I heard Aly cheer when I said Eye-Spy.

Joe's POV

I am going to kill one of these guys someday. I can't believe they hurt Taylor again. She didn't even do anything. I thought. The three men were marching down a hallway as Taylor had said. I thin I'm going to have to read. That's what her note said, anyway. I guess I shouldn't try to escape. When Taylor did, that guy almost killed her. Woo-hoo, there's a door up ahead with three chairs. Here we go.

The guys made me tie Kevin and Nick to the chairs and put tape over their mouths. Then, they tied me to the last chair. One of them put a paper in my lap and told me to start reading.