Author's Note: Here's chapter 6 entitled "Trouble in Paradise," just like I said! I thought I should explain my title choice. In the last chapter, Jack commented on how this place must be paradise for Skylar. Well, now there's a little trouble in paradise . . . . Enjoy and review!
Jack's POV
I wake up the next morning feeling better than yesterday. Today I would see my friends again. Yet, I still had the bad feeling that I couldn't get rid of. I decide to tell Skylar about it. I go to her room and knock on her door. "Come in," she says. I enter the room and see her just finish brushing out her curly locks. "Good morning, Jack." She turns around and sees my worried expression. "What's the matter?" she asks, walking up to me. "I don't know exactly, but I have a bad feeling about today," I tell her. "Oh, ok," she says. "Well, I'll tell you what, Jack. Why don't you go shower, and I'll throw your dirty clothes in the washing machine so you can wear them again, and then we'll talk, ok?" she asks. "Ok," I say.
Line Break :)
After I'm finished showering, I walk into the guest room with my towel on and get changed back into my now clean clothes. Then I hear a scream coming from downstairs. I run down and see 6 guys in ski masks trying to grab Skylar and her dad. Jason and the other guards are unconscious on the floor. (A/N Remember when Skylar said that some people were so jealous of her dad's fortune they would try to kill them?) "Hey!" I yell. Everyone simultaneously looks at me. 3 of them come at me while the other 3 continue trying to drag Skylar and her dad out. In a matter of seconds, I have 2 of them on the floor. I turn to face the third one and realize he has a knife. I try to dodge as he swipes at me, but I misjudge a little and he slashes my stomach with it, leaving a long, deep, bleeding gash. "Ahhhh!" I scream in pain. I hear Skylar call my name - good, they haven't taken her yet – and with a burst of strength kick the knife out of my attacker's hand and knock him down. Then, clutching my bleeding stomach, I run at the person holding Skylar and knock them down too. I grab her hand and pull her, running out the door and away from the mansion, into the woods. I know we have to go fast because knife-guy won't stay down for long, and I'm sure he won't leave his knife behind if they all come after us. "Jack, what about my dad?!" Skylar yells. "We can't, Skylar, we need help!" I yell back. My wound is really starting to hurt, and I really want to stop, but I keep running, still dragging Skylar along with me. "What did they want?" I question, trying to take my mind off of the pain . . . . "They want to kill us!" she answers. "But they needed both of us together!" It takes me a moment to comprehend this, then I answer, "Then he should be safe for now! Keep running!" She starts to protest. "Jack, you're hurt, we need to stop and –" I cut her off. "I don't care, we need to get out of here!" We keep running, and after a few minutes I can see Seaford. Well that's lucky I think to myself. While in thought, though, I trip over a rock and fall to the ground, screaming again as my stomach, which is already burning with pain, takes the force of the fall. I start to pass out, but Skylar pulls me up with amazing strength and we are running again, me still clutching my stomach, and we crash out of the woods and into Seaford. People gasp in shock and point at us, but we don't stop. We have to get somewhere safe. Those guys might not be following us, or they might be close behind . . . . I get my answer when I hear more them come crashing out of the woods behind us, people screaming, and footsteps in pursuit, so trying to block out the looks of the shocked people and the pain I'm feeling, I keep running, Skylar by my side.
Kim's POV
I am in the dojo practicing with the guys when I hear commotion coming from somewhere on the other side of the mall. The others apparently hear it too. We all stop what we are doing and move to the glass doors of the dojo, looking out. Rudy comes out of his office and joins us when he sees that we stopped practicing, and asks, "What's going on?" Milton, Jerry, and Eddie just shush him, so I explain, "Something's happening on the other side of the mall. Just watch." So, we watch, and after another minute we hear rapidly approaching footsteps; people are running in our direction. We watch in shock as two teenagers, a boy and a girl, come running toward the dojo. The boy is clutching his stomach, and I see lots of blood. As the pair runs past, the boy that I know is Jack looks up at the guys and me. His eyes meet mine. They are filled with pain, determination, and fear. I have never before known him to feel fear before, and it surprises me a bit. Then, he is gone, and I see 3 guys in ski masks chasing off in the direction Jack and the girl went shortly after they disappear. One has a slightly bloodied knife . . . . I am out the doors of the dojo in pursuit of my best friend, the mystery girl, and the guys who were putting them in danger. I hear footsteps behind me and know that Rudy, Milton, Jerry, and Eddie are right behind me, and I can hear Rudy talking on the phone. I realize he has called the cops, something I hadn't thought to do. I have the bad guys in my sight, but I can no longer see Jack and the girl he had been fleeing with. Oh, where did they go!? I would not loose him again; I refused. I speed up, and I catch up to the masked guy closest to me – the one with the knife who had most likely injured Jack. I kick him down and pin him to the ground, the adrenaline coursing through me making me stronger. I knock him out and kick the knife into the bushes so that I don't contaminate it with my fingerprints, and if this I look up and see that Rudy, Eddie, Jerry, and Milton have managed to take down the other two culprits, who are now unconscious on the ground just like my guy. Now we just have to find Jack.
Jack's POV
As Skylar and I passed by the dojo, mine and Kim's eyes locked, but there was no way I could stop and explain. I had to take Skylar somewhere and make sure she was safe, since we had killers chasing after us and one of them had a knife. It was getting increasingly harder to run, though, as we were both out of breath and I was losing blood fast from the gash on my stomach, and man did it hurt. After a few more minutes it got to the point where Skylar was supporting me as I gave her directions on where to go. We looped around the back way of the mall and to the game arcade. It was closed today, but I knew there was a small window that the owner was leaving cracked open until the air conditioning could be fixed. Skylar opened it enough for us to get in, and then insisted on boosting me up first because of my injury. I crashed to the floor, and I heard her wince when she realized how hard she had pushed me in. I couldn't get up after that; I was too weak from loss of blood and felt so lightheaded, and by now the pain was so great that I couldn't even express it. I could tell that Skylar was freaking out; she had no clue what to do. Luckily, at that point I heard Kim calling out my name. I couldn't find the strength to yell, so I told Skylar she was a friend and to go to the window and let her in. I closed my eyes and tried not to pass out.
Skylar's POV
Ok, I was freaking out. I had no clue what to do to stop Jack from losing any more blood. He had already lost so much, and I knew if he lost much more he was going to pass out. It was then that I heard a girl's voice calling his name. Well, I had figured that this was where Jack was from, so maybe that was one of his friends who had seen us trying to evade the maniacs that had took my father and tried to take me . . . . I look down at Jack as he tells me that this is one of his friends calling him and that I should go to the window and let her in. I walk over and look cautiously out the window. I see a blonde girl farther up the back side of the mall, and behind her are 3 teenage guys and a short blonde-haired adult. "Hey, over here!" I yell. They look in my direction, see me, and start to jog over.
Kim's POV
I am around the back side of the mall with the guys, since I'm not sure where else to look for Jack; we already checked the front side of the mall with no luck. The police were on their way but were stuck in really bad traffic because of a car crash. There was no way anyone could pull over and let them through, which made me furious. I was calling out Jack's name and was about to have the guys help me check the front side of the mall again when I heard a voice call out, "Hey, over here!" We all look in the direction of the voice, and I recognize the girl Jack was running with before. I also recognize her voice from when Jack accidentally face-timed me. Wow, a lot of good came out of him being with her, huh?! I start jogging towards her, and the others follow behind me. I get to the window of the game arcade, and I feel my heart beat faster at the sight of Jack, laying on the floor inside behind this girl, his eyes closed, and losing blood fast . . . .
Author's Note: How was chapter 6? Was it as good as you hoped it would be? Review!