Hey guys! If you're still reading this story, Kudos to you. I have a whole new found respect for you because I lag on the updating so much. I wouldn't blame ya if you just left. But to those loyal readers, thanks for sticking around thus far and I promise you, it is almost over. Without further ado, I present to you Chapter 15. Enjoy!

Chapter 15

"Hey! Not so rough tough guy!" Owen yelled as a tall thug shoved him into a dark van, his hands tied behind his back. Phil was close by also being roughed up by two thugs with his hands tied behind his back. He was soon thrown in next to Owen and he landed with a heavy thud that seemed to merge with the sound of the back door slamming shut. They were now in complete darkness.

They heard voices muffled outside and he recognized Darius's voice saying, "Yeah we'll keep those two in the front with us. If they make a sound, snuff 'em out."

His breath caught in his throat and he gasped. "Owen, they're gonna kill Keely and Seth! We've gotta get outta here!" he whispered, frantically.

Owen let out an almost heartbreaking sigh. "Phil, what's the use? What's the fucking use? We're so screwed, it's not even funny. They're gonna kill all 4 of us and then that's it. That's how we're gonna be remembered. The kids who were stupid enough to get themselves into this whole mix up! I should've just worked late last night like my boss was asking me. Maybe then I wouldn't be in this mess. But noooo I just had to go home early. Well this is what I get for being such a-"

"Owen, please stop talking like that. Now you're being negative. Are you seriously gonna give up just like that? What happened to your morals?"Phil interrupted. The van suddenly started up and he heard movement as the thugs climbed in. Slowly the van started moving. In the far right corner of the van where he assumed Owen was seated, he heard movement. Pretty soon, he felt Owen nudge him with his elbow.

"Ok, Phil. Since you seem to think that we're Keely's saviors or something. How do you suppose we 'save her'?" Owen said.

Phil sighed and shrugged. "I honestly have no clue at this point. I'm still trying to work some things out in my head." He said. The van hit a hard bump and Phil's head hit the roof of the van. He yelled in pain and abruptly stopped just as suddenly as he had started. It was like something had clicked in his head and a smile crept up on his face. It was as if Owen felt it as he said, "Um Phil…what are you thinking about?"

Phil turned to him. "How'd you know I was thinking of something?"

"I know that smile anywhere Phil. Even in the dark." Owen replied with a smirk. "What are you thinking about?"

"Owen, do you know how stupid these thugs are?" he asked.

Owen shrugged and said, "Pretty stupid I guess? Where are you going with this?"

Phil shook his hands free from the rope that had once held him. "They didn't tie these ropes tight enough. Go ahead and try to remove your ropes. They come right off." He said.

Owen did so and the ropes slid off. He let out a loud laugh. "Those idiots!"

Phil took his ropes and took Owen's ropes and tied them together.

"Ok what now smart boy?" Owen said.

"Just watch" was all Phil said. Suddenly he started groaning in agony. "Ohhhh! Oh god. Ahhh my stomach!" then his voice lowered to a whisper and he said to Owen, "Join me!" and then he continued with his groaning.

Owen caught on quickly and soon enough he started to groan and moan in pain. "Oh crap I think I'm gonna crap myself. Something's seriously wrong with my stomach. Ohhh god."

Soon enough the van came to a stop, just as Phil had expected. He almost couldn't stop himself from smiling when he heard a front door open and a thug stepped out. He held onto the rope tighter and waited. Soon enough, the door to the back of the van swung open and there stood one of Darius's tall thugs.

"Wanna tell me what the hell is going on here?" he bellowed. "Whats with all the moaning and the groaning?"

Owen spoke up first. "Its food poisoning. We had some really bad Shrimp pâté' last night and its come back with a vengeance."

The thug glared at Owen. "And what do the hell do you want us to do about it?"

"If we could just use the bathroom for a quick second, that'd be great. I mean you don't want the van smelling like shit now do you?" Phil said, holding the ropes behind his back.

The thug scoffed. "Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

Phil and Owen stifled a laugh.

"Forget about it. You guys are staying in there, don't try to worm yourself out of this one." The thug continued.

Owen looked at Phil. "Oh well then Phil. We might as well start taking a shit right now." His face twisted into a grimace and he grunted.

"Oh geez. Ok then fine. Come out and do your business right there." He pointed to a shaded area next to a garbage dumpster. It was then that Phil noticed that they were in an empty alleyway. Him and Owen made eye contact and they immediately knew what to do. Suddenly Owen charged at the thug with a loud yell and tackled him down to the floor. He sat on him and held his hand behind his back. Phil jumped down from the van and searched the thug's pockets for a weapon and found a pistol. He took it, cocked it and pointed it at the second thug who had just rounded the corner on his way to see what the commotion was about.

"Drop your gun." Phil said with malice in his voice.

The second thug held his hands up and slowly spoke. "Kid, put the gun down, now. I ain't gonna hurt you. Just put it down 'cuz you're gonna regret this."

Phil shot at the van window 2 inches next to his ear, shattering it. "I said, DROP YOUR WEAPON." He said again through gritted teeth.

The second thug slowly dropped his gun a few feet away from him. Phil advanced towards the 6'3 thug and took him by the arm and pushed him down to his knees. "Where's Keely and Seth?" he said with the gun pointed to the back of the thug's head.

The thug stammered. "I-I don't know w-what you're talking about kid. I don't know who those people are." Phil pushed the gun further into his head. "Keely is the blonde girl and Seth is the boy. Who else could I possibly be talking about?"

"I-I don't-" the thug started.

"Listen to me!" Phil interrupted. "I have been through HELL these past couple of weeks. I've had it up to here with Darius and you thugs and your stupid little games. I want you to hear me loud and clear, dumbass. If you do not tell me where Keely and Seth is, I swear to God I will blow your brains all over this floor. And I'm not afraid to do it! I've lost the one thing I care about so to me there will be no reason for me to be scared of jail. Hell, I'll fucking welcome it! Now…tell me where they are!"

There was silence for a long while. The thug that Owen was sitting on struggled to break free but Owen had a strong grip on him. Finally fed up, Phil cocked his gun a second time and said, "I hope you said goodbye to your family." His finger squeezed the trigger and he was moments from shooting the thug when he heard, "wait!". Phil looked down at the thug who was now sweating bullets. No pun intended. "Well..?" he said.

The thug swallowed hard and said, "They're in another van. Headed southbound to Yates Avenue off of the 11 Freeway. There's a warehouse there and they're planning on killing the boy and keeping the girl so they can….do stuff with her. I don't know the rest but that's all I know. I swear!"

Phil's blood turned cold. Do stuff with her? He glared at Owen and Owen's face was contorted in a face of anger. Phil shoved the thug down on this belly and motioned for the other thug to be brought closer. Owen dragged him next to his buddy and Phil tied up their arms, legs, and stuck on of each of their socks in their mouths.

"Now, we're gonna take the van and leave." Phil said pointing the gun at both of them. He motioned for Owen to grab the other gun. "We're not gonna kill you guys. We're gonna just leave you here and you better hope someone finds you in this dump." Phil smirked and then backed into the driver's seat of the van slowly while keeping an eye on the thugs. Owen slid into the passenger seat. Phil backed out the alleyway onto the main street and was soon headed to the 11 freeway entrance.

Owen leaned back into the passenger seat. "Where to now?" he said.

Phil stared straight ahead and said "Yates Avenue. Hopefully it's our last stop in this whole crazy mess."

"Yeah…. Oh by the way, great fucking display back there. Never seen you like that before. You actually scared the shit out of me!" Owen said and laughed. "But please tell me something.. Were you actually gonna shoot that guy's brains out?"

A smile crept up slowly on Phil's face. "Even if I wanted to, i couldn't do it."

"Why not? Too much of a good heart?" Owen said.

"Nope," Phil said, "There were no more bullets."