WHY ME?

Cheers, claps, hoots, and wolf-whistles. That is what greeted the ears of the sweaty but elated brunette in black. Black cargo pants, black tank top, black skate shoes, black safety gear; in fact, the only non-black would be the toxic green dripping skull design on her skateboard. Her signature shadowy getup is what gave her the name, albeit quite (read immensely) lame, Shadow Skater.

"Wooooh! YEAH!" a scruffy blonde cheered as he half hugged the grinning brunette. Drew Callahan was dressed in army print cargo pants and a plain olive green V-neck t-shirt that was glued to his back with sweat. His helmet was unbuckled, the straps loose and swinging against his jaw, but he still had his guards on. His light brown eyes were bright and alive despite his tiredness. "That was FUCKING AWESOME Ty! You kicked their asses!" He was still as hyper as ever though.

Ty winced slightly but grinned, "Drew, you're gonna destroy my eardrums and I rather enjoy being able to hear stuff."

Drew ignored his best friend and continued to scream and holler praises of "insanely rad-tastic killer moves", his exact words. Though it sounded like he was bragging instead of praising.

She let the hyper boy carry on damaging eardrums while she eased out of his grasp to breathe the cool, cold and electric air. She hi-fived, fist-bumped, guy-hugged, and thanked the many other spectators and skaters who came up to her until she was stopped by a tense hand on her shoulder. She turned around to face three boys also decked out in skate gear though they had scowls instead of grins decorating their faces.

Ty smirked and removed the hand from her person, "Hey there. Your last kick-flip was pretty good but your finish was a bit..." She moved her hand in a seesaw motion with a small mock-grimace. "Ehhh."

The leader of the trio, George Friedman, a burly, class A misogynistic douchebag, forever burned into Ty's hit list, growled and his scowl deepened. His blue eyes darkened in anger as he spat, "Shut up, bitch. There is no way a fucking girl could win."

It was Ty's turn to scowl. Even though she received comments of this nature quite often, she still got pissed as hell. The amount of male stupidity and perverseness truly astounded her, and not in the good way. Her short temper didn't help either.

She was about to retort (cussing, insulting, provoking and maybe a few harmful physical actions included) when a certain scruffy blonde returned to interrupt, "Then what do you think just happened, Friedman?" Drew stood beside Ty and his mere presence calmed her considerably. Now she no longer wished to decapitate, dismember and disembowel the idiot in front of her. Just mortally wound him a bit. Just a bit.

Ty cut in again, "Drew, don't be mean." Drew gave her a questioning look and the trio let their scowls slip to create masks of confusion. She answered their unvoiced questions, "You know that thinking isn't his strongest of points. We don't need to get an ambulance for when his brain explodes from overuse when it can be prevented."

It was incredibly difficult for Ty to keep a straight face while she spoke in a completely innocent, matter-of-fact, 'duhh' kind of voice. Drew let his surprise show on his face, wide-eyed and raised eyebrows with a gaping jaw, before he struggled to keep his laughter down as he agreed. He threw on an apologetic look with all the sincerity of the most narcissistic narcissist calling someone else more beautiful towards Friedman before waving and pulling the brunette away. Just in time before Friedman and his two followers realized what had happened and tried to start an all out fist fight with curses and profanities that would require at least four bars of soap.

When out of sight of the trio, Ty clutched her stomach in laughter. "Holy shit...did you....see....their.....faces? Shit, that...was fucking hilarious," she gasped out and held onto Drew's shoulder for support.

Drew wasn't a stable support for long before his shoulder began to shake and quiver with his own rumble of laughter. The two were bent over using the other as a stand so as to not writhe on the concrete floor. They received a few curious glances, but were otherwise ignored. Most of the skaters knew they weren't dying or having a seizure, as it was relatively normal behavior for the two.

"Shadow! Shadow's shadow!" voices called out, causing Drew and Ty to raise their heads. Their faces were flushed and they were panting, trying to recover the air they lost in their laughing fit. If one didn't know any better, they would assume that Ty and Drew had recently completed acts expected of hormonal teenagers.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that stupid name? You all know my name so use it, dipshits," Ty answered with a grin as a group of four boys, all in skate gear, came up to her and Drew.

Two were brunets like Ty, the third a redhead and the fourth black haired. The brunets, Henry Evans and Jimmy Jenkins, had shaggy hair, one short the other long, respectively. Other differences between the two who could have been brothers were their eyes and height. Jimmy, the shorter of the two had dark brown while Henry had light blue. The redhead, Fred Fox, had short curls paired with light brown eyes that reflected his emotions no matter how hard he tried to hide them. The dark haired boy, Grant Malcolm had an army-like buzz cut with chocolate skin, though he'd deck anyone who described his skin to be like that of the sugary treat. He was never too touchy about being called black in a derogatory way, but his friends always stood up for him and made sure no exceptionally racist assholes were injury free.

Before they could answer, Drew interrupted in a dramatic disbelieving tone, "Shadow's shadow? How thou pierceth my pride! To put me in such a place and name me a mere shadow's shadow? Thou art no longer my bestest of friends!" He finished by putting a hand over his chest and overdoing a look of distraught.

Fred snorted, "Yeah, yeah. This is the fifteenth time, Drama King. And bestest isn't a word."

Drew retorted, "Well since I'm a king you have to bow down to me and serve me grapes and shit whenever I want. Also, since I'm a royal and the top of the royals I can make up words, so bestest is too a word, Red."

Grant ignored the slight banter between Fred and Drew and directed his question to Ty who was watching the normal display with open amusement. "So Ty, you coming to Sal's? Some other guys wanted to grab a bite too and already left. They're gonna meet us there."

Ty smiled but shook her head, "Nah, can't, sorry Buzz." She smirked slightly as he grimaced at the new nickname his recent hairstyle helped acquire. It also didn't help that the same day he first appeared outside with the new do, his little brother had stuck his Buzz Lightyear action figure in Buzz's bag. Coincidence? No, it was a brat called Brady.

Henry pouted and whined, "Aww, c'mon Ty! It's a celebratory party for winning! You gotta come."

"Celebratory party, my ass," she scoffed with a knowing grin and eye roll. "We go there whenever possible for no reason whatsoever. But no matter how much you whine, Rinny, I can't. I gotta go home. The 'rents are coming back and I have to be there to 'welcome them'. Trust me, I'd much rather stuff my face at Sal's than spend any time with my parents." Ty mentally grimaced at the inevitable encounter with her parents. She didn't hate them per say, just couldn't stand their snobbish ways.

Drew and Fred had stopped arguing about the importance of having the word 'bestest' as a legit word and were giving Ty sympathetic looks as were Henry, Grant and Jimmy. They knew about the complications of Ty's more or less dysfunctional family but never pressed her and gave her space when shit hit the fan at home. Knowing one another since preschool and being closer than kin since, they knew every last thing about each other down to the last drop of useless information.

Slightly miffed at feeling pitied, Ty smiled encouragingly, "Okay get those looks of your ugly faces, it just makes you look more monkey butt-like. I just gotta open the door, listen to them bitch and then do Monday's homework." After she got skeptical looks from the five she amended, "Okay, I'll probably end up playing Skyrim or something and not bother looking for where my homework is. Anyway, I've got some stuff to do tomorrow and with them here..." she shrugged, letting the thought fade, unfinished. "So I'll see you and the others at school on Monday. Tell 'em I'm sorry I couldn't make it. Later losers."

She said her usual goodbye and walked out of the skate park and waited until she was on the empty sidewalk before hopping onto her board. She rolled along silently, the long since familiar and comforting sound of wheels turning on corroded concrete filling her ears. She opted for the long route back to her place of residence. Prolong the torturous meeting.

Her parents were never around, always going off to some island, city, mountain, ocean or whatever leaving Ty with an overly paid sitter she never bothered to remember as they were all different and of a plentiful variety. It wouldn't be far from the truth to say that Ty was loaded. Both her parents came from old money. A lot of old money. Adding to their wealth, her father, John Jackson, was a succeeding businessman in the automobile industry while her mother, Heather Jackson, was a well-known fashion designer and had recently started up a perfume line.

They valued materialistic goods and status over anything else, even their only child and their own marriage was based on mutual benefits. They wanted to be the perfect rich family and forced Ty to behave accordingly. She put up with it to please them, but soon realized nothing was ever enough and she felt miserable. Everything her parents wanted her to be brilliant at, she either hated or had no talent for or even both.

She was horrible at anything remotely musical and hated piano with all her being. She was just barely average at anything academic, her strongest subject being physical education. Sports varied. It seemed as though Ty was made to be disastrous at what her parents forced her to do, such as tennis, golf and swimming, but great at what her parents disapproved of and was "unfit for a girl" like skateboarding, basketball and rugby, or American football as her friends repeatedly corrected her. Chess was out of the question and everyone's eyes would be saved if she never picked up a paintbrush. All the art related crafts were to be left to Henry; he even painted the skull on her skateboard. Ballet? Memories that should forever be forgotten.

She was skating through an old park, one she and her friends spent many a days causing trouble in and sometimes still do, recalling her less than happy childhood relating to her neglectful, superficial parents, when she was abruptly startled back to the almost vacant area.

Even though it was a late Saturday night, the streets were quiet and empty. Not a single drunk couple in sight or sound. The only lights were the lamps' dull orangey-yellow glow that flickered inconsistently since no one bothered to replace a few measly bulbs in a long abandoned park frequented by rambunctious teenagers. Other than her, there were two men in dark brown coats talking near a bench.

What startled her out of her own mind was the sound of a gunshot. At least it was a gunshot if TV, movies, FPSRussia and video games were anything to go by.

She immediately stopped and whipped her head towards the direction of the sound. She saw the two men she only barely noticed before. One fell to the floor with a gasp of pain while the other stood completely unharmed and unfazed. Her eyes widened and her body froze in paralyzed fear and shock as she took in how the fallen man had stilled, now a fresh corpse. Almost immediately after, a whole group of men in dark clothes emerged from crevices that were not there previously. Under the dim light, she saw a flash of silver.

Guns.

They have fucking guns. Well no shit, there was that fucking GUNSHOT. Why am I still here? They're gonna kill me next!

She was about to kick off the floor and speed away when another group of men in dark clothes emerged from other crevices her brain didn't deem important enough to notice. In a matter of seconds, the two groups were attacking each other. More gunshots echoed, mixed with sounds of pain and agony. It was amazing how their commotion attracted practically nothing, just the unfortunate brunette who had been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ty was completely paralyzed and no matter how much her mind told her to get the fuck out of there, she couldn't move. She watched in amazed horror as the two groups clashed. She differentiated the groups by color. The first group was in bland brown clothing while the second was in dark blue and black. To her, it looked like Brown was losing as most of their numbers had fallen to the floor.

She noticed that guns were not the only weapons of choice. A Blue was brandishing a very sharp looking knife that sliced the arm of a Brown, drawing blood and a pained grunt. They carried on, and she watched, unnoticed as of yet. Not long after, only a few Browns were remaining and a little less than half the Blues were wounded.

Too bad for Ty as her luck ran out. A Brown had looked past his blue enemies and surprise decorated his face. The Blues noticed and turned around to discover Ty gawking. One of them, after the awkward staring in shock moment, shouted, "Get him!"

Him? Never mind that, I have to get out of here! Ty's common sense finally reached and was understood by her brain and she kicked off the floor to propel her towards the nearest exit. She skated with all her strength, adrenaline pumping her heart and making her gain speed. She just reached the park exit when an object hit her back, making her lose her balance and fall forward. She took the crash with her hands and knees, thankful for safety gear. She quickly got up and scanned for the object that hit her eliminating a bullet since she was still very much alive and not bleeding profusely. Her gaze fell upon a lone potato. What the fuck? Psycho murderers with guns use...potato launchers?

Pushing potato launchers out of her mind, she quickly picked up her skateboard and ran for everything she was worth, which could be quite a lot if she were to be held ransom considering who her parents were. Her shoes slapped the sidewalk and her breathing became ragged and shallow. She didn't look behind for fear of seeing crazy psychos with guns aimed directly at her. She couldn't hear steps other than her own, but didn't want to look behind despite the paranoia.

When it was too hard to resist, she finally looked back and saw...nothing. An empty street.

Confused, Ty slowed to a stop and gratefully caught her breath. She looked around for any sign of a gun, knife or potato-wielding killer but only saw empty streets, stray cats and flickering street lamps. Her ears only heard her own thumping heartbeat and ragged breaths as she tried to remember how to breathe normally.

Sighing, she turned around and opened her eyes to come face to chin with a man in dark blue almost black clothes. She didn't scream, but did use the board still in her hands to whack the man's head completely out of pure instinct. He fell over backwards, unable to do anything to stop the board from connecting to his skull. He didn't even have time to replace his hidden smug smirk with a stunned expression.

Immediately, Ty began to run again, going right past the figure of the guy she temporarily knocked out without a backward glance. Her body was piloting completely on fear and adrenaline as she raced once again despite her chest and legs' protests.

She barely got a few blocks away when five more people from Blue appeared in front of her and when she turned she was greeted by three more. Looking left and right, her chances of escape diminished when the eight fanned out to surround her in a circle. A circle that was slowly getting smaller and smaller.

Ty's eyes darted wildly, looking for any possible way to escape, but none were present unless she could turn invisible, teleport or have superhuman speed or strength to take on the eight burly, threatening men. Standing straight, she attempted to look fierce, but knew that her fear was very well evident. Her frantic, panicked running was certainly a tipoff. Still, she tried to keep her voice firm when she spoke, "Leave me alone. I have nothing to do with you and I will not go to the police. I doubt they'd be able to do anything anyway so there really is no point in killing me. I don't even know who the fuck you guys are!" Her voice cracked slightly at the end as she fought the creeping hysteria that made her want to burst into tears or uncontrollable laughter at her fucked up luck and stupidity.

The eight men gave no indication of hearing her speak. They only closed in on her in agonizing slowness.

Ty's fingers turned white as her grip on her board tightened and her arms tensed to the point of going numb with tension.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. I'm dead. They are going to kidnap me and then slowly kill me by dissecting me and selling my body parts to weird creepy body part collectors. Shit.

As the group in front of her stepped closer, she instinctively stepped backwards, only to fall right into the hands of the men behind her. Strong, seemingly unbreakable hands fastened on to her arms and squeezed, eliciting a gasp of pain that was muffled by the hand that clamped over her mouth. Her board fell from her grasp and almost clattered on the floor, but was caught by the man directly in front of her. The men grunted in hushed whispers and Ty couldn't understand a word. Her fear-riddled mind couldn't make out the words to be English, French, Spanish, Pig Latin, German, Hebrew or any known language. In fact, she could barely tell that they were speaking words at all.

The only thing she could hear was her own thoughts. I am going to die. They will kill me. I'm going to die. They won't let a witness live. Why did I take the long way? Why didn't I go to Sal's? My parent's don't actually care and it wouldn't be the first time I ditched them. I am going to die. I. Am. Going. To. Fucking. Die.

One of the men flipped open his phone and spoke rapidly in it before quickly shutting it and stuffing it into his pocket. Not a minute later, a sleek black car quietly but quickly pulled up beside the group. Ty was immediately shoved in once the door opened and a little less than half the group entered the vehicle. Her hands were held behind her back, and one sharp tug would either dislocate the bones completely or create blinding pain. Most likely both. They replaced the hand over her mouth with a foul tasting cloth that made her gag.

When the door closed and the car lurched forward, Ty's fight or flight response activated once again. This time as flight was not quite possible, she went with fight. She began to writhe and struggle, trying to release her hands despite the sharp stings of pain that erupted with every move. She thrashed her feet, kicking out at anything and anyone. Her kidnappers were caught off guard and received a few stray blows before growling and grabbing her flailing limbs.

The one who had hold of her hands lost his grip for a moment and Ty used the opportunity to lunge forwards and punch the first person in sight. She socked him right in the eye and immediately dove to the door, hoping desperately that they were stupid enough not to lock it.

She pulled the handle, kicking back at the people in the crowded car, and her heart sped up when the door actually opened. They are fucking idiots! Murderous, kidnapping idiots, but idiots nonetheless.

She used her knee to hit the closest man's most prized possessions and used the extended time to open the door completely and jump out. She dived right out the door and landed on the pavement, her arms breaking her fall and getting scraped along the way. She barrel rolled to a stop and quickly got up despite the pain in her arms and hammering heart.

The car had slid to a screeching stop as soon as she had jumped out of the vehicle and the men who avoided Ty's limbs climbed out. This time they had their guns out and aimed at her. Ty's heart stopped in fear and she paled visibly. Her throat dried and her tongue decided to unveil its transformation abilities to turn into crackly, rough sandpaper.

She slowly backed up before turning and running blindly. She had no idea where she was; she just had to get away. She passed alleys, homeless high hobos, demon cats, broken lamps and creepy shops without pause. She barely noticed the drunkards too wasted to be of any help making lewd remarks, the skeletal dogs barking, the possums raiding dumpsters and the second black car that shadowed the first one.

She took a sharp turn into a narrow street and risked a look behind her. They were still there, running angrily. The man who received her punch was leading and he looked pissed as hell. Ty turned to face the front again but was too late to notice the discarded, cheap beer bottles.

She flew forward, the glass breaking and clinking loud enough to raise the deaf dead. As her face decided to meet the puke stained floor, she felt a rush of air fly over her head, just skimming her dark brown locks. When she looked up, the trashcan in front of her had a bullet hole.

They tried to shoot me. They tried to shoot me! They SHOT AT ME! Holy shit. Cheap beer bottles temporarily saved my life.

Ty shook the thoughts that would have been amusing had they not been so true out of her head and quickly got back to her feet. Her legs and hands got cut numerous times by the bottles she had broken and the already broken shards of glass that already resided in the dank alley.

Promising to thank the invention of bottles at a later time, she continued her frantic escape. Her energy to run had been refueled at her extremely close contact with death, but she was thinking more clearly now. Actually, she was actually thinking.

The gunshot had snapped her mind back together and she was searching for ways to escape instead of running like a mad woman. Her luck shone through in the form of a very narrow crack in the wall that she could just fit into. It was behind a dumpster, and as predictable and clichéd as it was, she immediately slipped inside.

She quickly removed the cloth that left a rancid aftertaste and tried to even her breathing. She waited and mentally chanted, "Please don't look here. Please keep running. Please don't look here. Please keep running."

Her heart froze as the sound of footsteps grew closer and closer to her location. She squeezed her eyes shut, rambling promises in her mind for what she would do if she made it.

I'll stop harassing people. I'll repaint Mr. Yvuicks car back to its original color and never mess with it again. I'll stop being a complete bitch with my parents. I'll never pick up a bottle of alcohol or a cigarette again. I'll give Jimmy his video game I stole last month and Buzz's comic book from five months ago. I'll call Buzz Grant again. I'll stop ditching class. I'll do my homework. I'll... I'll, uhh, I don't know, but I'll do anything. Just please don't let them catch me!

She almost released a huge relieved breath and crumpled to the ground when the footsteps didn't slow down or stop, but kept going past her. Only when she was absolutely positive that they were gone did she creep out of the hole and ran back in the direction she had come from.

When she finally got out of the alley she put her hands on her knees and finally got a chance to catch her breath. Breathing heavily she allowed a small smile to form on her exhausted face.

"I got away," she whispered under her ragged breathing. Standing up, Ty almost chuckled at her unbelievable luck, but the chuckling turned into a muffled scream when an arm grabbed her around the waist from behind and the other hand pressed a cloth to her face, covering her nose and mouth completely. She didn't have time to fight before she fell under a thick layer of darkness.

Italian Lingo:

Stronza - bitch (stronzo is the masculine form meaning asshole)

Bambina - child (feminine form, bambino is masculine)/ little girl

Baldracca - whore

Scusa - sorry

Chapter Two

"She should have been up by now, it's been almost two hours."

"Maybe the chloroform dose was a bit too much?"

"She deserved it, whacking me with that fucking skateboard."

"This pathetic little stronza actually caused so much trouble?"

Ty groaned and moved to try and get up, but her body protested. Even though her eyes were closed, she felt like she had done four continuous backflips and then rode one of those spinny thingies the astronauts had to ride. Okay, not that bad, but she did feel pretty sick. What are those called anyway?

"Hey, she's coming to," a deep, low voice said much too loudly for Ty's ears and thumping head.

Ty groaned again and mumbled croakily, "Urgh... Keep it down, idiot. I'll run you over with a lawnmower when I find one." Speaking had been a bad idea. All the liquid in her mouth had dried up; leaving a coarse, burning and scratchy sensation that had been intensified when she had spoken.

She heard a surprised "what?" and a low, amused chuckle. Ty was too groggy to open her eyes and her memory was a bit fuzzy. She also desperately needed to ease her burning throat.

Someone shuffled next to her and she could hear their breathing and rustle of their clothes. A large hand lifted her head and a cold glass was pressed to her mouth. The glass was tipped and a cool liquid slipped passed her parched lips. She greedily swallowed the water until not a single drop was left. The stranger removed the glass from her lips and gently put her head back onto the soft cushion it was on previously.

After a little more shuffling and the tinkle of glass being placed down, the figure spoke softly to her in a very relaxing, slightly accented male voice, "Don't try to move too much. How do you feel?"

Ty cleared her throat to respond but kept her eyes closed. "Like I have the worst fucking hangover ever. By the way, what's the spinny training thingy astronauts have to go on and makes 'em sick as hell?"

The man chuckled. It was the chuckling man from before. Ty immediately decided to dub him Chucky, at least until she knew his real name. Ehh, who am I kidding? I'm probably gonna call him Chucky either way.

Chucky responded, clearly amused, "I'm not sure what 'spinny training thingy' you're talking about, but the hangover feeling will go away. Do you think you can sit up?"

Ty sluggishly nodded and attempted to get up again, this time slowly and carefully. Chucky's calloused hands supported her until she was able to sit up relatively straight. She clutched her stomach as a wave of nausea tumbled over her and she ducked her head down between her knees.

Her head still ducked, she mumbled, "Geez, the rest of you just going to stand and watch me prepare to throw up?"

This time, Chucky's chuckle turned into outright laughter. It was a nice sound even to Ty's throbbing ears.

The wave of nausea passed and Ty slowly pulled her head up and opened her eyes. She opened them too quickly and was blinded by the light, so the second time around she slowly opened them until her eyes adjusted to the fluorescent bulbs.

She took in her surroundings in awe. She was sitting on a wine red three-seater sofa in a very fancy looking living room that had signs that people actually lived there. The curtains were a few shades darker than the sofa and there were two other couches that were double-seaters. The couches surrounded a large, dark, almost black, rectangular coffee table that was littered with newspapers, some books and a few remotes. In the spaces between each couch was a small side table with an antiquely styled lamp and one had an empty glass with remnants of the clear liquid it used to contain. There was also a matching armchair and a huge widescreen TV built into the elegant cream wall.

Even though Ty lived in a pretty luxurious apartment herself, the room was still magnificent and she found herself gawking. Also, this one actually had a homey feel, like a family actually lived here. Unlike the cookie-cutter, straight-from-a-magazine, jail-cell-in-disguise rooms at her so-called home.

"Like the room?" a middle-aged man in his late thirties with strawberry blonde hair asked with a kind smile. From the sound of his relaxing tone Ty recognized him as Chucky.

She smiled at him and nodded, "Yeah, it's pretty sweet, especially that TV."

Chucky grinned, but it disappeared when Ty asked, "Where exactly am I? My memory is kind of fuzzy."

"What do you remember?" the same low voice as before asked, the one whose owner Ty had threatened with a lawnmower. That was when Ty noticed the others in the room; though they probably should have been the first things she should have noticed. Then again, she did have a particular skill to be completely oblivious to the most obvious of things.

There were three men besides Chucky who were staring down at her with various expressions though they all held some form of curiosity and wariness.

Chucky was standing beside her in a pair of black slacks and dark grey t-shirt that was one size too big for him. He had a bit of a beard that matched the coloring of his hair and it looked like he forgot to shave in the morning. Not that it looked bad, some guys cannot pull of a bit of whiskers, but Chucky sure as hell could. He even had a black stud piercing in his right ear. If he were single, Ty wouldn't be surprised if lonely, lustful ladies in their mid-thirties or twenties staked claims on him. She doubted even him being married or at least dating would deter them. Heck, even if he were gay they would still probably hunt his ass.

Among the other three men, the youngest looked about 16. He was in a white wife-beater that clung to his frame and a pair of low hung, hip hugging, washed out jeans. He had amber eyes that were slightly covered by his brown streaked blonde hair. Said hair poked out at a few places like he had just woken up a few hours ago from a nap or something and didn't bother combing it. There were also a few black smudges around his cheeks and ears like he had been working on some sort of mechanics previously. His skin was a nice Mediterranean type bronze tan that did not look like it came from a can or human microwave. He also had an ear piercing, a simple black stud on his right ear. Despite his roughish looking appearance, he had a more boyish charm that was more cute than sexy. His expression, though mainly blank, had a sort of puzzled look that was mostly well hidden accompanied by one of minor annoyance. He didn't seem to want to be there at the moment, but he was still curious enough to remain.

Next to him was a man who must have been his brother since they had the same bronze coloring and amber eyes. He looked about the same age though most likely older. This guy though had deep black hair that was much shorter, but cut more roughly and had Band-Aids and fading cuts instead of the black smudges. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans and tight black t-shirt that hugged him in all the right places that would leave the girls and certain guys at Ty's, or really anyone's, school salivating. He had the whole 'tall, dark and handsome' thing floating about to kick the notch up too. Clearly the stereotypical bad boy. He even had more piercings than his brother and Chucky. Along with the same black stud, he had two small silver rings and a hexagonal screw head piercing lined along his right ear. He stood in a seemingly relaxed posture, but was completely alert to everything in the room. His amber eyes were trained solely on Ty but his face gave away no expression. He was also nursing a head injury if the cold pack pressed to his head was any indication.

The third man though was not so good at keeping his emotions in check, or at least he hadn't bothered to. His blue eyes were flaming in barely controlled anger as he glared openly at Ty. Even this burly man had a black stud in his right ear. He was dressed similarly to the dark haired bad boy but had a looser dark red shirt on and looked to be more around Chucky's age. He was physically stronger too, appearance wise, with more prominent muscles. Those muscles were clenched and visibly stiff from his tightened fists that were mildly shaking.

"What do you remember?" the low voice asked again, his impatience showing. It was the second guy who had spoken. He removed the cold pack from his head and tossed it to the armchair and stepped forward to stare Ty down with emotionless, interrogative eyes.

Ty instinctively shrank back, but mentally berated herself and relaxed again. She scrunched her brow and bit her bottom lip, trying to remember. Any normal person would have been questioning relentlessly, been paranoid and suspicious to the max, but Ty was a very special case. Far too easily distracted being one of her more prominent traits.

"Umm... I was at the skate park with the guys. We kicked ass," she smirked but then frowned again as she tried to recall what had happened afterwards.

"I was going home...but I took the long way 'cause of... oh right my parents were coming back today and I was supposed to 'welcome' them or some shit." Ty looked for a clock but couldn't find one and shrugged. "Ehh it's late now anyway so I guess it doesn't really matter."

The men, or at least the two who seemed to have a shared dislike towards Ty, were growing impatient, as she easily got distracted. The dark-haired boy tapped his foot impatiently and put an arm next to Ty's head against the back of the sofa, effectively caging her in. He caught her eyes with his own burning ones and repeated, each word emphasized with a slight accent tinting his tone, "What. Do. You. Remember."

Ty was momentarily stunned by the sudden aggression, and quickly scowled at the amber-eyed boy she immediately dubbed Jackass. She growled slightly earning a few quick startled expressions, "Get out of my face, Jackass."

Did she really just growl? Did we catch a little puppy? "Answer the question, bitch," he glowered back, hiding his surprise at her snarky remark despite the situation. She should have been intimidated into submission. He knew she had feared him; her attempt to hide into the sofa had not gone unnoticed by his perceptive gaze.

They held a scowling contest for seconds that seemed to drag on, bursts of static threatening to spark out from the tension that formed between their warring gazes. Before anything detonated, Chucky put a hand on Jackass' shoulder and gave him a warning look. Jackass remained in his position for a moment longer before reluctantly pulling back. He still gave another dirty look to Ty who was wearing a smug mask across her face.

Chucky sat beside Ty on the couch and turned to face her with a calm and smiling face. "Sorry, he is not very patient and has a bit of a temper problem. Now, could you tell us what you remember after leaving the skate park, bambina?"

Ty frowned at the unfamiliar word that was definitely not English. She let it slide though and wracked her brain. After splitting ways with her friends, her mind came up with splotchy blanks and blurred images. "Hmm, er, I was skating through the park. And then..."

She looked down at her hands to see that she was no longer wearing her wrist guards and her arms were littered with cuts and scrapes. She frowned, not remembering how she received the new injuries and looked further down to her legs to see that her knee guards were also missing and she had similar cuts that she definitely did not remember getting so recently. She hadn't gotten any new injuries from skateboarding lately and there was no way a skating accident could create the finger shaped bruises on her arms.

With full force, her brain finally connected the last few wires that had been cut off. Ty's eyes widened as her mind replayed the events from the Blue versus Brown park fight to the hands grabbing her and shoving the cloth to her face.

She immediately shot up off of the couch and dashed for the door. She barely got four feet from the couch before the pissed off blue-eyed man grabbed her arms and held them behind her back, rendering her immobile and in pain.

"Let me go you goddamn murderers!" Ty yelled and wriggled in the strong man's grip. He tugged sharply on her arms and she let out a yelp as a sharp sting of pain shot through her soon-to-be dislocated joints.

"Mario, don't harm her," Chucky scolded as a worried look flashed across his face when Ty yelped.

The grip on Ty's arms loosened considerably, but was still too firm for her to break out of. Unable to resist, she snorted through the receding pain, "Mario? You have a little brother called Luigi and get high on shrooms?" She never really had much control over her actions.

If Ty hadn't had her back facing Mario, she would have seen the darkened look that covered his rugged face and burning eyes that glared holes into her head. He had more than thirty different scenarios flash through his mind in which Ty would be a heaping pile of agony at the very edge of death.

"Looks like she remembers," the youngest boy stated needlessly. The comment earned him a glare from his brother and an absentminded eye roll from Ty.

"Luca, shut up," Jackass deadpanned just as Ty jeered monotonously, "No shit, Sherlock."

Luca ignored his brother but gave Ty a quizzical look. Does she not realize what kind of situation she's in right now? Her life is in our hands and Mario looks like he wants to send her to death and yank her back just before she's completely gone only to repeat until she begs for her life to end.

Jackass turned back to Ty with a cold, impassive expression. If Ty paid more attention to detail, she would have noticed the curiously interested glint in his eyes.

"What exactly do you remember? Don't bother lying or trying to run, Mario's pretty strong and you did piss him off."

Despite wanting to question what she did to piss of Mario since she was the one currently held hostage and she had just met him, she kept her mouth shut firmly. Even though she should have probably been spilling every detail and begging to live, she held her chin up in defiance.

"Keeping quiet won't do you any good either," he stated, slightly amused at Ty's stubbornness.

Ty snorted, "Yeah, and I'm so sure you lot are a shit ton better. Thanks, but I'll take my chances being a selective mute."

Jackass opened his mouth to respond but found he wasn't exactly sure how. He was saved when a knock on the closed, wooden slide doors diverted his attention. Everyone's gaze focused on the left door that slid open to reveal another rugged man in jeans and a plain t-shirt. And what a surprise, he had a black stud piercing too.

"Lorenzo, the boss is ready for her," the new stranger relayed his message in a respectful tone. He briefly nodded to the two brothers but otherwise ignored everyone save for the person he was speaking to.

The new man only left the room once he received a nod from Chucky, apparently called Lorenzo. "We'll be right there." His previous amused expressions were long gone, as if they had never been there in the beginning, and he turned to face Jackass and Luca blankly. "You two lead, Mario walk her and I'll be right behind you. I don't want you to get hurt, so just follow along and don't try anything." He directed the last words to Ty with the briefest flash of concern flickering in his dark brown eyes.

They obeyed without a word, though Mario was a bit rough in pushing Ty out the door and down the halls. To keep busy, Ty observed the path they took, looking for any possible way to escape, or to map out her current position at the very least.

She knew it would be pointless to try and escape with Mario restraining her, the two brothers in front and Lorenzo right behind. Even though Lorenzo seemed to show some sort of concern for Ty, she knew that he would prevent her from escaping.

She was so absorbed in figuring out her surroundings, she never noticed the backward glances she received from the two brothers, the younger one giving more frequent ones. When Jackass had looked out of pure curiosity, he held a scoff as he could easily read the determined glint in the girl's searching eyes that held fear and caution. He saw her mind trying to work out a plan of some sort, no doubt one to escape, and he almost pitied her for escape from them was close to impossible. Almost being the key word. He was actually barely containing himself with sadistic enjoyment, waiting for that light to snuff out and see her crumple into the depressed, desperate heap of fear that was expected of her.

They walked in silence through a long corridor with plain walls. Left, straight, right, past a painting of a dead tree, a spiraling staircase and more hallways. Ty momentarily questioned the income of murderers as these seemed quite well off seeing as they had the huge mansion filled with tasteful décor. Before she could delve deeper in that thought river, they finally stopped in front of a dark brown set of double doors with gleaming, gold painted handles.

Lorenzo stepped towards the intimidating doors and knocked thrice, waited a second and then one more knock. He waited until he heard a muted call from inside before gripping the handles, pushing down and pulling open one of the double doors.

Mario shoved Ty forward behind Jackass, Luca and Lorenzo until she was situated in the center of the room. It was a well-furnished study with dark maroon walls and dark wooden furniture giving it a regal setting. There was a large office desk cluttered with papers, files, a picture frame and a medium sized, glossy black vase with a single white, trumpet-shaped flower.

Behind the desk was a man a little bit older than Lorenzo, maybe early or mid forties, sitting in a black, swivel-type leather office chair. Since he was sitting and behind the desk, the bottom half of him was hidden from view though Ty would bet he too was wearing some sort of jeans.

He was in a simple, pale blue button down with a white undershirt peaking out from the slightly loosened collar and of course, the same black stud that everyone in the mansion seemed to sport on his right ear. The man must have been Luca and Jackass' father because they looked so much like him, but with differences that must have come from their mother. The two boys got their amber eyes from him and Jackass must have gotten his dark hair from the intimidating man as well.

His cold amber orbs observed the girl in front of him. She was dressed completely in black and he honestly wondered how his men could have mistaken her for a boy, even if it was dark and they were "sort of busy at the moment". Her short choppy brunette locks had been released from her helmet which was being kept with her other safety gear. Even though it was cut in a boyish style, her facial structure was still clearly female as was the rest of her body. Her grey eyes were observing the items on his desk with fear, alertness and intrigue. There was also faint signs of a strong will and determination that he found quite interesting. It seemed that Lorenzo also noticed something from the way he seemed slightly concerned for the female.

The man eyed Mario and barely nodded his head, but Mario saw and pushed Ty towards the simple cushioned chair in front of the desk. Ty grew tense as she was herded closer to the man on the other side of the desk. Mario squeezed none-too-softly on her bound arms in warning and she reluctantly sat down in the chair.

She tried to keep her expression as blank as possible, thinking of how she would keep her face when she was playing poker or pranking the guys. A smile almost decorated her lips but she remembered where she was. The almost change in her expression did not go unnoticed, but was not mentioned.

"Hello, how are you feeling?" the man asked.

Ty was speechless for a moment trying to register what he had said. When her brain understood his question, she laughed harshly, her words leaving a bitter taste in the air, "How am I feeling? Oh, just peachy. Fine and dandy. Couldn't be better! I mean, I just woke up from being drugged feeling like I was put in that astronaut training thingy and then realized I was kidnapped by a bunch of murderers. I'm just fan-fucking-tastic!"

Her outburst surprised everyone in the room and after a slight delayed reaction Mario scowled, "Show some respect, baldracca."

"Mario," the man warned just before Ty responded with continued sarcasm.

"Well sorry, but I for one do not show respect to my fucking kidnappers. Also, bald dragon or whatever the hell you called me is not effective since I don't even fucking know what it means, Plumber Boy."

Mario growled but Lorenzo made a gruff throat clearing noise to tell him to shut up. Luca covered a snicker with his hand that was ignored while Jackass only revealed a small smirk that bordered an amused grin, but he quickly got rid of it.

The man ignored the interruption and remained blank faced, but the tiniest bit of admiration and amusement could be seen by the most perceptive people had they paid attention to his eyes and extremely subtle facial changes. He only showed a significant change when the door was knocked upon again. He called out to let them in with slight annoyance tingeing his tone. He did not like interruptions of any variety and had specifically ordered that none disturb him. His office was off-limits to everyone save for his sons and Lorenzo unless stated otherwise by himself.

A blond haired boy with amber eyes entered confidently but with a slight apologetic smile towards the man. Looking at him, Ty cursed the family for their unbelievably good genes.

He was in loose clothes compared to his brothers with a green t-shirt and dark khaki shorts but he too had a single black stud in his right ear. What is with that piercing? Some sort of murderer initiation reward? Kill your first innocent and ta-da! You are eligible to join the ranks of a bunch of good-looking crazies!

It seemed as if the fair haired boy could hear Ty's thoughts as he caught her gaze and smiled brilliantly at her, which surprised her since she didn't expect the family of murders to be able to smile so pleasantly. Then again, why was a family of murderers Abercrombie model worthy? So the victims can have some eye candy before departing to the netherworld?

"Carlos, where have you been?" the man asked impassively, like this was a usual occurrence.

Carlos returned his gaze to his father and replied, "Scusa Papà, took a little longer than expected to finish up and our guest was rather unexpected."

The man nodded and returned his attention to Ty who was still staring at Carlos.

When he moved to stand beside his brothers it was easy to see the relation. Not only did all three have the same amber eyes, they also had similar builds and a certain edge that matched the man who was still silently observing the young woman seated before him.

Jackass whispered something to Carlos and received a reply that made him frown slightly. Luca furrowed his eyebrows and whispered something back making the other two return their attention to their confused and wary guest.

The man cleared his throat to regain Ty's attention and she immediately returned her grey gaze to him, watching him warily.

"I should have done the introductions first. I am Roberto and you have met my sons Carlos, Dante and Luca. You have also met Lorenzo and Mario," Roberto coolly introduced.

Ty stared blankly back, nodding slightly to show she heard, but wasn't really listening. She was still looking for anything to use to get away. Besides, she didn't really care who her captors were. Even if she did escape, she highly doubted the police would have been able to do something. She could already tell that these were no ordinary murderers.

Roberto looked expectantly at her, waiting.

After receiving no response, Dante grew impatient and murmured loud enough for Ty to hear, "When someone introduces themself, it's polite to give your own name."

Ty rolled her eyes and snorted, "Yeah and it's also polite to not kidnap people and take their stuff. Where's my skateboard?"

Roberto hid a small smile at Ty's blunt response that drew out an annoyed grunt from his son who looked the most like him. Instead, he raised a hand gesture to Mario. Mario nodded and walked to a tall cupboard, opening it and taking out a clothed object before closing the door. Ty followed him with her eyes that widened when the cloth was removed to reveal the black and toxic green board in question.

Ty stood up immediately and moved for her board, ignoring the surprised expressions of everyone else in the room. The sudden action prompted Dante and Luca to move quickly and grab her arms, effectively restraining her.

She jerked her body to try and make Dante and Luca release her, but their hands were fastened to her arms.

"Let me go," she gritted out as she stopped squirming. She didn't want to add to her already numerous injuries.

"Sit back down and don't try anything," Dante replied, letting little emotion through even though his temper was quickly thinning. He had no idea why or how the girl could so easily make him lose his calm. He found her incredibly irritating and he had only just barely met her.

"Give me my board back and we'll see, fuckface," Ty spat back.

"Shouldn't you be crying, begging and or screaming to not be killed or threatening to call the police or something?" Carlos asked, genuinely curious. He was honestly expecting her to be screaming bloody murder and empty threats until she broke down in tears. But there she was, fighting back confidently and vigorously. He knew she was afraid, but she was strong willed and fiery. Or just plain stupid and naïve.

Ty was surprised by Carlos' question and turned her head to respond, "Would it make a difference? Would you just let me leave with my stuff, walk right out the doors and leave me alone?"

When no one answered she smiled mirthlessly, "I thought not."

Roberto was impressed with the girl's courage that most would consider ignorance and stupidity, though traces of those may have been in play. It wasn't everyday that a recent abductee, accidental or not, answered back rudely without pleading for their life, at least not for him. He heard from his men that she definitely put up a fight, even when they had gotten her in the car. One throbbing black eye, injuries to the groin, bruises, an almost concussion and frustrated men were what he was given back when they finally caught her.

"We won't hurt you as long as you don't fight. I just want to talk to you and then you can get your skateboard and gear back," Roberto said calmly.

He shared a look with his sons and they forcefully led Ty back to her seat though she didn't protest much for the sake of her board. She glared back and her jaw tightened as she reluctantly sat back down.

Roberto clasped his hands in front of him on the table speaking evenly, "How about we start of with your name?" When she was brought back, they searched her and found that she had not carried any form of identification. No jewelry, wallet or even a phone. All she had was her skateboard and gear.

"What's the use in knowing the name of a dead person?" Ty asked back. She thought for a second and added, "Well a soon-to-be dead person."

Roberto thought for a moment before answering, "Well, that's true in some cases. But a name would be useful if an address for a ransom were needed or knowing the place to send the body if I felt compassionate enough." He didn't have to answer her questions and could easily force answers from her, but there was just something about the reckless girl's impulsive behaviour that made him want to at least humor her. And besides, he had never had such an entertaining guest before. She was intriguing, to say the least.

"If you want a ransom, you'd have to already know that your prisoner was rich or had whatever you wanted, therefore, you'd already know their name and probably a bunch of other stalker-like info. If you wanted to return the body it'd be sending the evidence back and you'd be tracked down, right?" Ty responded, relying on her extensive knowledge gained from TV and video games and her ability to think on her feet to avoid too much trouble. She was trying to keep him talking, get more time to think. If running her mouth could work with teachers, other adults and jerks her own age, maybe it would work with kidnappers.

Roberto leaned forward, a small grin threatening to stretch across his face. He was well practiced at keeping his emotions concealed, but this girl was easily making him put his guard down. "You seem to know a lot about the basics of kidnapping, bambina."

Ty frowned, "Don't call me whatever the hell that was. First bald dragon and now Bambi? I don't even know what language that was."

Behind her, Luca snuffed another chuckle while Lorenzo and Carlos let a small grin slip, Carlos' a bit wider than Lorenzo's. Even Mario's anger was slowly dissipating momentarily and Dante was almost smiling.

Roberto laughed internally, She's extraordinary. Was it fate that sent her to me? Who am I to deny such an interesting child? Externally he barely smiled saying, "Bambina means child or little girl in Italian, my home language. You'll have to learn a bit of Italian. Basic phrases should be enough though learning the whole language would be preferable."

Ty frowned and quirked an eyebrow, confused at what direction his interrogation was taking. "Why?" she slowly, hesitantly asked the question that ran through everyone else's minds.

Roberto ignored her and beckoned for his sons to come to the right of his desk as he got up and walked to where he made them stand. None of them knew what their father was planning now, but listened to him anyway. Roberto never did anything without reason before so he must have something planned. They lined up beginning with Luca on the farthest left, Dante on the farthest right and Carlos in the middle.

Roberto put a hand on Luca's shoulder keeping eye contact with Ty. "This is my youngest son, Luca Rizzo. He's 16 years old, plays around with mechanics and is always messing with the firearms for an experiment or another. A bright boy with a skill for technology that rivals any technician."

Roberto moved down the line and spoke again, "My eldest boy, Carlos Rizzo. He's 18 years old, 19 in a month. He is what you would call a bookworm and spends his free time in the library or his room with a stack of books or hacking something on one of his computers. He's a genius and ahead of most people his age and older."

He moved down the line again to place a hand on Dante's shoulder. Roberto completely ignored the questioning and skeptical gazes of his confused companions and kin as he continued, "And this is Dante Rizzo, my 17 year old. He is one of my best fighters and has excellent aim. Extremely athletic and is always found in the gym or training areas whenever possible. He is quite adept at keeping his emotions locked but warms up to those he cares about."

Ty nodded warily, completely and utterly lost. "Okay, but why am I supposed to care?" Where the hell is this going, Mr. Bossman?

Roberto smiled and though it looked quite nice on his face, it did not feel comforting for Ty or the boys. "I'd think you'd want to know a little bit about your fiancé candidates."

Ty was frozen in complete shock. What?

"Fiancé candidates? What are you talking about, Papà? Cosa candidati fidanzato?" Dante asked, his brow furrowed into a sharp V. He had slipped from English to Italian from the complete abruptness of the announcement.

The declaration came as a surprise to everyone. Even Lorenzo hadn't been told or hinted about his boss and old friend's sudden interest in having the girl, or any girl for that matter, marry one of his sons. The girl was an accident, a mission mishap; she wasn't supposed to be here.

Roberto sat back down and clasped his hands loosely on his desk before replying, "In our line of business, living till old age is a rarity. You three are also always in danger of dying early and none of you even have a girlfriend in the least, just the occasional hook up with some girl at a club. Besides, I want to see at least one of you boys get married and meet at least one of my grandchildren before I greet Satan."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Ty stuttered shakily as she stood up with a doubting and confused expression.

"You," she pointed to Roberto, "want me," she pointed to herself, "to...marry...one of them," she pointed to the boys, "and...and have kids?"

Roberto nodded, curious about Ty's suddenly weird and stuttery behavior. He thought he had made himself quite clear and had refrained from using the Italian terms for his new daughter-in-law's benefit.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" she asked incredulously. "If this is some kind of joke, I wish I had a truckload of rotten tomatoes and a machete to save the world from such horrible humor."

"Why would I joke about nipoti and a beautiful daughter-in-law?" Roberto asked, slightly amused with Ty's panicking. He was so comfortable and unwary around her that the Italian word slipped even though using a foreign language would not help his newly decided daughter-in-law understand completely. The girl's quick-changing, open emotions were refreshing as he was getting bored of the blank faced, stony expressions worn by most in his presence and he himself. It was a pleasant feeling to have some real, unguarded emotions around. Something he had not been faced with in quite a while.

"No fucking way! You can't just kidnap someone to marry one of your sons, even if they are kinda hot!" she yelled with her hands gripping her hair in bewilderment and anger, ignoring the small bit of flattery.

The Rizzo boys lost their temporary confusion to form small smirkish smiles at Ty's declaration, even if she was having a minor panic attack at the moment. No matter the occasion, a stroke to the ego was generally welcome.

"I am not going to fucking marry anyone or have frickin' kids! I'm not even legally allowed to drink or smoke yet!" she yelled again, this time she started pacing a few steps and her fists were shaking in outrage. Never mind that I already drink and smoke occasionally, but that's beside the point.

Roberto could see that Ty's breathing was becoming quick paced and shallow and that she was becoming increasingly frantic and unstable. He slowly stood up and calmly tried to ease her nervousness, "Okay, just calm down, bambina. We can discuss this calmly without you ending up hyperventilating and passing out again."

She turned to glare at Roberto, her sudden shift in emotions temporarily confusing the others in the room once again.

Grey eyes burning she calmly stated, "Discuss this."

Roberto faintly narrowed his eyes in puzzlement but widened them, along with raising his brow noticeably, when Ty picked up the sleek black vase and threw it at him without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Blood pumped in Ty's chest, speeding her heart rate when the glass shattered. She ran on autopilot and quickly turned to Mario. He was wide eyed at her act, and no one seemed able to move. She took advantage of their temporary stunned behavior to grab Mario's shoulders and drive her knee up sharply. She hit her mark with complete accuracy and Mario released a grunt of immense pain as he crumpled to the floor, clutching his abused crotch. Without wasting a moment, Ty snatched up the discarded skateboard and charged out of the maroon study.

Dante stared at the broken vase, his slightly cut up father, the groaning body of Mario and then the opened door before shouting, "Inseguire il suo!" and following his own orders.

Luca, Carlos and Lorenzo instantly snapped out of their bewildered daze. Luca went to his father to see how badly the vase cut him, Carlos ran after Dante while Lorenzo checked on Mario.

Roberto only had a few cuts on his arms since he had just enough time to shield his face from the impact of the fragile black vase that was now oddly shaped, glistening shards littering the floor and his desk. He was soaked from the water and the lone, broken white flower was slowly turning a pale red on the floor.

Mario cursed through his pain but gritted out that he was fine to Lorenzo. "That... stronza...I kill...her..." he grunted as Lorenzo left him in search of Dante, Carlos and Ty.

Ty ran past the long hallways, fearful of bumping into any other residents of the mansion. Having no idea where the exit of the fancy prison was, she ran past the various décor feeling lost and like a lab rat before seeing the painting of a dead tree that she had passed before. The staircase came to view and she ran up it, just like all escapees who seemed to have it stuck in their mindset that gaining height equals escape. Behind her she heard yelling and footsteps that gave her a burst of speed and energy completely fueled by fear and adrenaline.

They stormed after her; others of the household joining Carlos, Lorenzo and Dante chase the fleeing brunette.

Ty kept running up the stairs, tripping, stumbling and acquiring new bruises and cuts in her haste, but charging forwards nonetheless. She ran up the smooth, polished wooden steps, passing uncounted floors until she reached a door. Struggling, she hurriedly fumbled to open the door, hearing the stomping steps and yells of her chasers. She managed to open the door and ran out only to see that she had reached the roof.

She shut the door knowing it would only save her a few precious seconds and sprinted to the edge of the roof. She looked over to see that she was well above the ground and a large tree was the only thing that may have been within jumping distance. No ladder, trellis or drainage pipe that was even mildly climbable.

"Fuck..." she cursed, seeing no way of a non suicidal escape.

"Nowhere else to run?"

She whipped back to face the door to see that Dante had caught up. He was alone, but she was certain that the others were following behind. He wasn't even breathing that heavily, like he had only jogged to catch up.

Caught you, he thought wickedly, keeping his face expressionless though he could feel a smirk trying to pull at his lips. His eyes scanned her haggard form. She was breathing heavily, a flush on her face and her stormy eyes displayed her fear, fatigue but also the unrelenting stubbornness he had quickly learned she possessed. He noticed the newly acquired red swellings that joined her previous injuries from her first attempted escape when she had been spotted in the park.

Dante took slow, deliberate steps towards Ty and she backed away until she came to the very edge of the roof. One more step and she'd fall over to her possible death. Or a concussion and many broken bones at the very least.

"...Can't you just let me go?" she whined, unable to come up with a decent retort. Ty clutched the board closer to her chest and eyed Dante warily. "I just want to go home. You have no idea how rare it is for me to say that when my parents are back, heck I barely ever say that phrase."

Dante continue to slowly stroll towards Ty and she was tempted to step backwards but knew she had nowhere to step.

What she had said about her parents confused him though he didn't let it show. Family troubles, maybe? Wait, why do I even care? I don't, he quickly shoved the thought away. He was also surprised by her whiny request, especially after seeing how violent she could be and how she could hold his gaze that many feared.

Her level of panic increased and she looked over her shoulder again to see if she somehow missed something that would help her escape. A rope, moss covered ladder, teleportation pad, lost flying broom stick, Aladdin's carpet, something.

"C'mon, please? I'm practically begging here, man," she pleaded, still looking around for some miracle.

Dante still silently treaded forward. Behind him, Carlos and Lorenzo had caught up along with a few other men Ty did not recognize.

"Stupid...bloody...what the hell did I do...damn...motherfuckers..." Ty grumbled incoherently. They began to corner her, their alertness and defense lowering as she was trapped on the roof and was just a teenaged girl.

"What was that?" Dante questioned, unable to stop a smug smirk from decorating his face. He always did like the thrill of the chase and the final capture. Made his blood rush with excitement and a sense of satisfaction. The taste of victory always so sweet, in fact the only sweet thing he enjoyed.

Ty looked back over the roof and then at the cluster of men in front of her. I am pretty desperate... With a crooked smirk that caught the men off guard, she tightened her grip on her board under her right arm, "Later fuckers." With that comment she turned on the balls of her feet and jumped over the ledge of the roof.