Hello

I know, it's been ages! I apologize a thousand times over, and hope that this chapter will suffice.

Read, Review and Enjoy!

Duncan's heart was racing. Everyone seemed glued to the floor, and Skye seemed to be sobbing a little bit more than before. Shaking his head, he turned around from his post at the bedside drawers and faced the others; they only had seconds.

"Go out the back!" Duncan whispered- although the urgency of his voice raised the volume anyway. He then latched onto Hamish's wrist and dragged him, with Jade, Cara, Jason and Chase all following suit. They formed a small train linked together and darted out the door, with Skye shuffling behind them, shaking.

The ensemble scuttled through the labyrinth of the house, knees bent low to enhance concealment. Cara's uneasy breathing shook through Duncan, only sending him further into fear. Trying his best to push his qualms to one side, he arrived at the back door and grabbed the knob with a sweaty hand.

He could hear the police officer force himself through the front door. He stood up and yanked the knob open. His stomach dropped. As soon as Duncan opened their path to freedom, he found himself staring down the receiving end of a gun. As if the prospect of possible death wasn't enough of a shock, Duncan nearly collapsed at the sight of Maria's hands gripping the rifle. The glint in her eyes showed no sign of emotion.

Jade screeched painfully at the revelation. She spun around hoarsely in an attempt to exit through the front, but found herself face to face with a police officer. His gun was also held between his hands, and the glint in his eye was much like Maria's. In fact, they were exactly the same colour.

"Father…" Maria breathed.

Maria's father nodded, grinning with yellowing teeth. He stepped into the group of terrified teens and took Skye by the shoulder, shaking her slightly and placing a big wet kiss on her left cheek.

"Grazie, bella," he muttered, "without you, we would've never had a chance." Skye was shaking in tears, and whimpered slightly as Maria's father guided her back to his post in front of their victims; his gun hadn't moved position the entire time.

Jade was fuming. Her chest was heaving up and down as she released another scream. The noise reverberated off the walls and Duncan swore he felt the pain in her voice stab at his flesh.

"WE TRUSTED YOU!" Jade bellowed, throwing a trembling finger into Maria's stony face. Maria remained still, finger on the trigger. Maria's father chuckled to himself softly, and Duncan's would've punched the lowlife's face in if he wasn't held at gunpoint.

"Give us Duncan and no one gets hurt." Maria said emotionlessly. Her fingers shook slightly.

Duncan knew it. His stomach dropped even further, and if he didn't know any better he would've thought it had fallen out of his butt and onto the carpet. A chilling silence followed. Duncan felt queasy. He couldn't tell if his companions were quiet out of fear, or because they were seriously considering placing their wellbeings above his own. He tried his best to believe he had the beneift of the doubt.

Cara was the first to break the terrible stillness. She stepped forwards, took a deep breath, and suddenly her hand was latched around Duncan's wrist so tightly he struggled to bite back a yelp. Duncan couldn't hear himself think over the beating of his heart as Cara dragged him towards Maria, her eyes like saucers.

Maria sighed softly. Duncan could hear her father chuckle softly to himself. Cara's free hand curled into a fist. Her eyes narrowed.

It happened in a matter of seconds, seconds that Duncan could barely comprehend. He was still stuck in a bottomless daze when he heard the swift movement of Cara's arm, the sickening crack of Maria's jaw coupled with her cry of agony, and the next thing he knew he was being dragged out of the house by Cara's grip.

He could hear the others' footsteps cruching the dry, desolate grass. The sound of gunshots rang through his ears like an impending death sentence. All he could see was black and teal. A warm smile, that infectious giggle, a minute smear of lipstick on the most mundane of onjects... Duncan didn't seem to care that his hand was turning purple from Cara's clamp, because he felt like his legs would've dissolved without her pulling him across the field.

Cara made a sharp right turn at a shed, sending Duncan skidding clumsily and the other's following suit. Maria's father skidded to a stop (Duncan could barely hear) and yelled something to Skye and Maria about a car out the front, and that there was someone waiting. She turned on her side and crahsed open a pair of green wooden doors with her gathered momentum; but that didn't do much to restrain the wince that escaped her throat. Duncan didn't even have time to worry about her, because less than a second later Cara had swung the back door of a sleek black sports car and thrown Duncan in carelessly.

He managed to sit upright just before Jade, Chase and Jason crammed themselves in next to him, shoulder to shoulder. Hamish assumed the passanger seat and Cara rammed her foot on the accelerator barely one milesecond after all the door were closed. It was an extremely tight fit, and the speed that they were travelling with would've made Duncan projectile vomit in a normal situation, but it seemed his dinner managed to stay down in a moment of certain doom.

They skidded out of the shed and onto the country road, travelling at top speed and no doubt violating every road rule in the book. Duncan had to hold onto the seat to make sure he wasn't going to go flying out the window, and Hamish was yelling directions frantically to Cara, who was turning a sickly pale.

Jade was still vibrating in anger beside Duncan, with Chase trying his best to console her and disregarding his own feelings of betrayal. Jason had his head in his hands, and Duncan swore when he heard the sound of screeching tires rear up behind them.

Duncan used all the strength he had left to turn his head around and glance at the car behind them. It was a murky white colour. He could see Skye crying in the back seat with Maria up against her. It was who was in the front that caught him by total and utter surprise. He couldn't quite tell which was more terryfying: Seeing Jackson driving the car like a maniac, or seeing Maria's father reload his gun and lean out the window.

"He's going to shoot!" Duncan screamed, but it seemed that Jade was way ahead of him. Still panting heavily, she dug under the seat until she emerged with a thin rifle. She struggled to climb over Duncan and Chase, but when she stationed herself at the window, her anger engulfed her fully.

She released one final scream before firing a series of bullets that hit the bonnet, the side view mirrors, and one even made it through the windscreen and missed Maria's father by a centimetre. This near death experience seemed to rouse the police officer further. He closed on eye, and took aim. Jade was still shooting frantically, and was too focused on inflicting as much damage as possible that she was too slow to dodge the bullet that was heading straight to her...

It was yet another blur. Duncan could barely remember Jade's shrill exclaimation pierce the air, but he remembered the horrbible red hue as bright as day. Everything was red: Chase's hands as he pulled Jade in and cradled her, the seats of the car, Duncan's jeans, all red.

It was the only thing that stuck with him the most from that day.

Duncan chanced another look back at the car, and he almost didn't believe his eyes. Maria had her father by his neck against the passenger seat, and Jackson was now leaning out of the back with his gun poised. Skye drove the car with shaking hands, her face stained with tears.

His eyes hardened at the sight of her, but as soon as he met hers...

Duncan stared into Skye's eyes. They were desperate. Even though the glance lasted no more than five seconds, her sad and longing eyes etched themselved into Duncan's mind.

It was straight after Skye's curious stare when she tightened her grip on the steering wheel, and veered the car violenly to the right. The bonnet of the car collided with a tree, the sound of crunching metal muffled through the glass of the car.

"What happened?" Cara asked, looking up at the rear view mirror, "why did they just crash?"

"Just drive!" Chase bellowed, lowering his forehead into Jade's bloody chest.

And so they drove. The had no idea where they were going, or where they could go. Duncan was a mess, Cara was struggling to stay awake, Jade and Chase were now just as bloody as each other, Jason hadn't moved a muscle, and Hamish's harsh breathing from the front did nothing to ease the tension. As Duncan's eyelids threatened to close upon him, he thought he saw a small flash of teal and black.

Ewww, corny ending...

Anyways, that was a little action packed chapter for you. Now for anyone scratching their heads in confusion, never fret. The next chapter will explain all, and may be a bit longer than this onw. No promises, but I've got a feeling.

Don't forget to leave a review: CRITISISM IS VERY VERY APPRECIATED!

BFG