Nick’s point of view

“I’m sorry, but we cannot do anything until twenty four hours passes,” said the police officer behind the desk.
“But she was kidnapped, I know it!” I exclaimed.
“She could’ve lost her bracelet and the fact that there was a chloroform soaked handkerchief there doesn’t mean a thing, it’s circumstantial evidence,” he explained.
“So what are we supposed to do? Sit home and wait?” exclaimed Kevin.
“Yes, that is what I would advise you to do,” said the cop nodding.
“Liz is in danger,” I persisted.
“She might’ve felt like not going to work and going somewhere else,” said the officer shrugging.
“She would never do that!” exclaimed Lana.
“I’m sorry, but my hands are tied,” said the cop.
“Thanks for nothing,” I grumbled and we all left the station.
“So now what?” asked Lana.
“I don’t know,” said Kevin shaking his head as the three of us got back into the car.
“We’re gonna have to find her ourselves,” I said determinedly.
“Nick, we don’t even know who took her,” pointed out Kevin.
“I know it was Brad,” I said seething with anger at the guy.
“How do you know?” asked Lana.
“Because I just know,” I replied.
“Okay smart guy, so how do we go about finding her?” asked Kevin.
“That I don’t know yet, but I will figure it out,” I promised. “I’m not going to let Liz get hurt, not again,” I added.

Liz’s point of view

I opened my eyes slowly and felt a feeling of déjà vu come over me. For a moment I began to panic because I thought that the same thing happened just like that summer. As I gradually came to my senses, I realized that it wasn’t the same thing. I was lying on a bed for one, so I wasn’t in a cold basement. I tried to move my arms and found that one of them had been handcuffed to a bedpost, probably so that I wouldn’t be able to escape. But I still didn’t know who had kidnapped me. Did I have a great way of attracting kidnappers or what? I then heard footsteps and the door opened a few seconds later. I looked at my captor in shock.
“BRAD?” I yelled. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m keeping you to myself,” he replied, in an eerily calm voice. It was then that I began to get scared because the predicament of my situation had finally hit me.
“Brad, let me go,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
“No,” he said simply.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you’re my girlfriend and a girlfriend is supposed to be with her boyfriend,” he answered.
“You’re nuts,” I said shaking my head.
“Don’t you EVER call me crazy!” he exploded and I shrank back in the bed. There was no telling of what he was capable of doing. But to my relief, he then slammed the door and left. I began to breathe a little easier as I looked around the room some more. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to look at. The bed that I was on was basically the only thing in the room, except for a window through which I couldn’t see anything because it was covered with a piece of cardboard. I tried pulling on the handcuffs to maybe try and see if I can get them off, but as soon as I did that the metal dug into my wrist and I immediately gave up. I sighed and tried to tell myself that everything was going to be okay, that Nick was going to rescue me. But even if I didn’t know where I was, how was Nick supposed to find me?

Nick’s point of view

“Okay, so where do you think he would’ve taken her?” I asked. We were back at my house and were trying to come up with a plan.
“I have no idea,” replied Lana. “I’ve only known the guy for as long as Liz has, and I barely spoke to him,” she added shrugging.
“That doesn’t help,” I said sighing.
“Nick, we’ll find her, she’s only been gone a few hours,” said Kevin softly.
I looked at him. “But we have no idea how much time we have!” I exclaimed. “We don’t know what he wants with her.”
“You’re right, we don’t,” agreed Kevin thoughtfully.
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Lana and literally jumped up from the couch.
“What?” asked Kevin and me in unison.
“I think that I might have an idea of where he could’ve taken Liz,” announced Lana proudly.
“WHERE?” I asked anxiously.
“His parents have a cabin near Lake Waner (made-up name), they don’t use it during the winter time, so it should be empty,” replied Lana.
“Do you know how to get there?” asked Kevin.
“No, but I can call his parents and find out,” said Lana and took out her phone.
“Please do,” I said.
Lana nodded and dialed Brad’s house number. “Hi Mrs. Pane, this is Lana, Liz’s friend,” said Lana. “Yeah, I was wondering if you could tell me where your cabin is located, Liz wanted to surprise Brad with something, but she doesn’t know where the cabin is,” she continued. Lana then took a piece of paper and started writing. “Okay, yes I got it, thank you very much, good bye,” she said and hung up. “I got it,” she announced to us triumphantly and held up the piece of paper with the directions on it.
“Let’s go,” I said getting up from the couch. We all went outside and got into my car. Kevin drove again so that I would be able to look at the signs and make sure we were going the right way. Lana was reading the directions out loud. It turned out that the drive to the cabin was going to take at least three hours, and that was without traffic. I really hoped that Liz could hang on till then.

Liz’s point of view

I heard Brad’s footsteps again and he then appeared in the doorway.
“What are you going to do?” I asked him, my voice trembling slightly.
“You really wanna know?” he asked grinning, but his smile scared me.
I nodded, in spite of the feeling that told me that I definitely didn’t want to know.
“Okay, do you remember what you did four years ago?” he asked. I nodded again, this time the feeling of dread turned into pure terror. “Well, I thought that you had a good idea then and I think we should both do it,” he said. It was at that point that I began to be truly afraid for my life. Brad smiled his chilling smile one more time and left again. I sat on the bed trying to stop trembling from the terror. It didn’t work. I had no idea what to do. Then I realized how stupid I was. I had a cell phone in my jacket pocket. Since I was still wearing the jacket, I could call someone and tell them what happened. I almost started to dial Nick’s number when I remembered that I never told him what had happened four years ago, so I decided to call Lana. I quietly dialed and prayed that Brad wouldn’t come back for a while.
“Hello?” said Lana picking up her phone.
“Lana,” I whispered.
“LIZ?” she yelled and I could hear Nick and Kevin in the background also yelling out my name.
“Yes it’s me,” I replied, still whispering, I didn’t want Brad to hear me in case he was nearby. “Listen, I’m going to make this fast, do you remember what I told you that happened four years ago?” I asked.
“Yeah, your secret that you still didn’t tell Nick about,” replied Lana.
“Well, Brad wants to do that, to both of us!” I exclaimed quietly.
“WHAT???” screamed Lana. “Liz, please hang on for as long as you can, we’re half way to you,” she said.
“You mean you know where I am?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’re pretty sure that you’re in the cabin that Brad’s family owns,” said Lana.
“Oh, I am so happy that you’re coming, but Lana, HURRY!” I whispered as loudly as I could.
“We will, just hang on,” repeated Lana.
I then heard Brad’s footsteps again. “I have to go, I think Brad is coming, please don’t call me back, he might hear the phone,” I said.
“Okay, just be brave Liz, and we’ll be there in no time,” said Lana comfortingly.
“I’ll try,” I said and hung up. I then turned off my phone to make sure that there was no way it would ring again. I put it back into my coat pocket and leaned back against the bed. Now the only thing I could do was pray that Lana and the guys would get there in time.

Lana’s point of view

I hung up the phone and put it back into my purse.
“WELL??” exclaimed Nick. “What did she say??”
“Nick, we have to hurry,” I said softly.
“WHY?” he yelled.
“Because Brad is planning to do something drastic,” I replied.
“Does this have anything to do with what happened four years ago?” asked Kevin.
“That’s exactly what he’s planning, only for both of them,” I told him.
Kevin’s face paled and he stepped on the gas.
“WHAT HAPPENED FOUR YEARS AGO??” yelled Nick. “WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??”
“Okay,” I said taking a deep breath. I didn’t know whether or not Liz would be mad at me for telling him, but he definitely deserved to know, especially at a time like this. “Nick…four years ago…Liz…tried to commit suicide,” I told him and Nick’s face went even paler than Kevin’s.
“She…why…how…” he choked out.
“She was very depressed and very unhappy with her life, she decided that it would be better to just end it all and feel no more pain,” I explained.
“What happened?” asked Nick softly.
“She went into the garage and closed the door and turned on the car engine,” I said. “She thought that dying from carbon monoxide poisoning was the least painful way to go. But thankfully, her mom came home just in time to rush her to the hospital and save her life. She had a lot of counseling after that and a lot of recovering, but she’s fine now,” I told him.
“Oh my God, it’s so unreal,” said Nick shaking his head.
“Yeah I know, but Nick, the danger is even greater now,” said Kevin. “Brad plans to commit suicide and take Liz with him, make it look like a double suicide,” he explained.
“I won’t let him,” said Nick determinedly. “He’s not going to hurt Liz,” he added.

Liz’s point of view

I was completely terrified. I had no idea how Brad planned to commit suicide and that made me even more scared. I heard him coming back once again and braced myself. To my surprise, he walked in calmly and placed a muffin in front of me.
“Eat it, you’ll need your strength,” he ordered. I was too afraid to refuse so I quickly ate the muffin while he watched and made sure I ate it. “Good, now it’s only a matter of time,” he said smiling after I was done.
“What do you mean a matter of time?” I asked.
“It’s only a matter of time before you die,” he replied with a strange calmness in his voice. My heart began beating wildly in my chest and I couldn’t say a word, I was frozen with terror. “You see, I made that muffin myself, and I made sure to load it with a lethal dose of painkillers,” he explained and held up another muffin identical to the one I ate. “This is mine, I’m going to eat it in fifteen minutes, but don’t worry Liz, you’ll be dead in an hour,” he said with another chilling smile and left once again.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER
Nick’s point of view

“How much longer?” I asked impatiently.
“About ten minutes,” replied Lana looking at the map.
“Please let Liz be okay when we get there,” I whispered softly.
“She will be, she has to be,” assured Kevin. I turned my attention back onto the road and watched the signs very carefully to make sure we wouldn’t miss our exit.
“That’s it!” I exclaimed seeing Exit number 83. Kevin quickly turned off of the highway and onto the exit. He then drove slowly and followed the directions as Lana read them out loud.
“Okay, now make a right here,” she instructed and Kevin turned right. “Okay, go straight, now a left here,” she said and Kevin turned. “Okay, the cabin should be up ahead,” said Lana putting down the directions. Surely enough, we then saw a cabin. It was isolated from everyone else. I had no doubt in my mind that Liz was there. Kevin stopped the car and we all got out.
“Now what?” asked Lana.
“Now we go get Liz,” I told her and began moving towards the cabin.
“What about Brad?” she asked.
“I don’t care about him, I just need to get Liz before he does something drastic,” I told her.
“Nick, what if he has a gun?” asked Kevin.
“Kev, I took a bullet for her once, and I’ll do it again if I have to,” I told him with the utmost sincerity.
“Let’s just hope it won’t come to that,” said Lana and we all stood near the cabin and looked into the window that wasn’t closed. We saw Brad sitting at a table, but he wasn’t doing anything, he was just sitting there, like he was waiting.
“I don’t see a gun, I say we go straight in there and get Liz,” I suggested.
“I don’t see why not,” said Kevin and we approached the door. “One, two, THREE!” yelled Kevin and we all crashed through the door. Brad wasn’t even startled, he looked like he was expecting us.
“Oh good, you’re here, now you can watch Liz die,” he said.
“WHAT?” we all yelled.
“You’re too late, she’ll be dead in fifteen minutes,” he announced pointing at his watch.
“No she won’t be,” I said and ran past Brad to the back of the cabin. Brad tried to go after me, but Kevin held him back. “LIZ?” I called out loudly and heard a faint response from the room to my right. I quickly opened the door and saw Liz lying on the bed. I rushed up to her and saw that she was drifting in and out of consciousness.
“Nick,” she whispered. “You came.”
“Of course I came,” I told her and held her in my arms. “What did he do to you?” I asked.
Liz closed and opened her eyes slowly. I could see that she was in a lot of pain. “He made a muffin…lethal dose of painkillers…in it,” she managed to say.
“Oh my God,” I said and quickly took out my phone and called 911. After I told them what had happened, they said that they would be there in less than five minutes. I told them to hurry. “It’s okay, help will be here soon,” I said to Liz and rocked her gently back and forth. “Just hang in there,” I added. Liz managed a small nod before she drifted into unconsciousness once again.
Three minutes later, the paramedics and the police burst into the cabin and immediately began hooking up Liz to several machines. Other paramedics went to take care of Brad because he was almost as close to death as Liz was. In my opinion, he didn’t deserve to live, but I knew that it wasn’t up to me.
“Will she live?” I asked one of the paramedics.
“I don’t know, I truly don’t know,” he replied shaking his head sadly at Liz’s still form on the stretcher.

chapter 9 chapter 11