"Get up," I heard the words and understood, but my body fought the orders. "I said, get UP!" Neville kicked me in the gut, like it would help get me to stand. I looked up from the ground of sticks and rocks, he had only knocked me out. I looked at him with piercing eyes, a burning hatred behind them. I blamed him.

****************Miles and Connor walked into the room where I was crouched beside Jason's body. They came as soon as they heard me call. "Where do you think Charlie is?" Miles looked from Jason to me, but I only sighed, thinking the worst but telling him the best.

"Maybe she was here, or maybe she is somewhere different, looking for Jason before meeting us." I stood and saw Connor almost gleeful. God, it wasn't hard to see the jealousy he had of Charlie and Jason, but this was a different level.

"Or what if she was here and the person who did this took her? To do who knows what with her and then kill her or leave her for dead!" Miles was ballistic and I put my hands out to try and calm him.

"Hey, just look on the bright side," I patted my hand on his shoulder and turned him around.

"What in hell could possibly be the bright side of this?" Miles turned his head dramatically and looked at me with sad eyes. I only smiled and patted his back.

"We didn't find a body, and this blood trail might help us track whoever took her or wherever she went." I smiled at him one last time before releasing my grip and started tracking the girl I've come to admire, respect, and even like. It was weird, after everything we've been through and she hasn't tried to kill me- again. Hmmm…

*****************"If you hadn't let him go to that Patriot camp he wouldn't have tried to kill me!" I forced my body to stand, keeping my eyes on his the whole time.

"Me? You are blaming ME because you put a bullet in my son?" His fists clenched at his side and he breathed heavily.

"No, I'm blaming you for letting those Patriots brainwash him, tattoo a number inside of his eye, and then not even care enough to stop him from showing up at my camp. He tried to kill me, and I tried. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. And now he's dead." I gave him a blank stare. He looked back at me, a flash of hurt showed on his face; I saw it just before he slapped me. "If you're going to kill me, just do it." I never broke eye contact. His face slowly turned into a huge grin, not a good sign.

"Well if death is what you are looking for, then I intend to make it as slow and painful as humanly possible." Mischief gleamed in his eyes and when he grabbed my wrists to tie me up, I didn't object, but I did have a flash of hope that Bass would come and save me again.

****************The trail continued on the street for a while, and continued onto a dirt road in the woods. She was never headed to the meeting point; I'd assume she had been taken but there was only one set of footprints. "Charlie came here on her own. She wasn't taken."

"You're right, only one set of tracks," Connor looked from the ground he'd been thoroughly inspecting and caught my eye, before looking away.

"Ya, that's how I know," I said under my breath. I have a feeling he heard me though because he glanced in my direction immediately after.

(The Next Day)

We had been following Charlie's trail for over a day, and it just kept going. Until it stopped, with a small pool of blood and other tracks.

"Shit," Miles ran both his hands through his hair and kicked a tree.

"Calm down, this could be someone else's blood. There are other tracks now and Charlie is very capable." I was trying to reassure Miles but Connor scoffed.

"You always seem to be praising Charlie, talking about how capable and tough she is. But what about me? You only ever get annoyed with me." Connor was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

"Look kid, this isn't the time to be hashing this out," I was starting to feel uncomfortable at the thought of Connor so jealous of my feelings for Charlie, whatever they may be.

"Would you like Charlie to be your kid instead of me?" Connor dropped his arms and pushed himself off the tree. I held up my hands in defense when he started walking towards me.

"Look, I really don't want Charlie to be my daughter," I don't know why it came out that way but once I said it I knew it was the truth. Connor opened his mouth to speak when a scream erupted from the trees.

"CHARLIE!" I burst into a sprint, not knowing whether Miles and Connor were following me, where she was, or where I was going. I just knew I had to find her. And I started to wonder when I started to care so much for this girl.
**************** Please keep leaving comments because I am really trying to use them to improve the story. Thanks for reading!