It was the second silent jeep ride I was taking that night. The only difference was that I was getting tired and more pressured, and the jeep had too many passengers. As if they knew where the twins were Hal drove us through the routes filled with thicker trees and overgrown bushes.

Tara was at the front, with Mel pointing a gun behind her. Alyssa, Amy, and I were cramped in the back. Under other circumstances, I wouldn’t mind being cramped with a buck-naked girl, but that buck-naked girl was angry and was starting to smell bad.

“We stop here,” Hal jumped on the break and all of us in the backseat lurched forwards.

I looked around. In front of us was a little hill. And at the front, the abandoned building rose among the shrubs. It was a bit of a long walk, but Hal had taken precautions.

“Alyssa’s brother,” Hal turned back and grinned at me. “You get the fuck out there and bring Maria to us. I don’t care what lies you sprout and what bullshit you do, but unless you bring Maria to me in another 15 minutes these two girls will be dead.”

Mel probed the pistol at Tara’s head.

“Don’t touch me asshole,” she snapped.

Mel gave a snarky grin and moved his hand to her breast. “How do you plan to stop me?”

I grabbed his arm, trying to keep the anger welling within me. “Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Her.”

Mel stared at me, then smiled and hit me with the butt of the pistol. I didn’t even see the attack coming until something blared on my chin. I felt a pain in my front tooth, and then it faded out with the pain in my bones, and I was pushed backward to the seats.

“Alex!” Tara turned, grabbing Mel by the hand, but Hal was onto her, pushing her back and grabbing her throat. He turned to me. “Do what you are said. You are a smart person Alex. Either you comply with us or you comply while watching your girl get fucked. What’s your choice?”

I wiped the single drop of blood that drooled out of my mouth, then spat on the ground. “Fine.”

I pushed Amy away and jumped out of the jeep. “But if you are a smart person then you know Maria wouldn’t step out of that building if I go alone with blood on me. I’ll need Tara. She knows that I reunited with her. If I go without her she’ll know something is wrong.”

“Bullshit. You are good with words, so I’m sure you can do something. Think about your girlfriend and sister being fucked and that creative part of your brain will work just fine.”

“Use your brain d-” I stopped. I was about to say dumbass, but anger won’t solve the problems I have. “I need something to convince her. If I walk alone I might as well wear a shirt that says ‘It’s a fucking trap!’”

Mel pointed the pistol at Tara. “Are you suuuure?”

I frowned at him. “I am.”

There was a short silence of intense gazes at each other. Hal and Mel at me. Tara at Mel. My sister and Amy, and Amy at Hal.

Then Hal spoke. “Fine! But you don’t take your girlfriend. You take your sister. There’s a good walk from here, so you can think of a good idea. And this is the last chance you get pretty boy. One more word and we start the fucking, just like we did to good old Amy right here,” he groped one of Amy’s breasts as if to prove the point.

Amy didn’t flinch, she just frowned and shrugged his arm away. “I’m going with them.”

“No you won’t,” Hal pushed her out. “I will. But you don’t have to worry. I can’t kill Maria and I won’t. If I really feel like it, I’ll shoot her knee. And then like I promised I’ll fuck her right in front of you. It would be so nice to fuck her while she’s crying in pain…”

Hal licked her lips, and I flinched. Alyssa was right. The bastard was fucked up. I was afraid to leave Tara for even a single moment with them. Keeping Alyssa was the best choice, but I had to work with the chance I got.

“Let’s go then,” I turned to walk. I gave a slight nod at Tara, and if that bastard Mel even kept a hand on her then I’ll tear them off limb by limb.

Amy dragged Alyssa out of the jeep and pushed her at me. “Move.”

Hal grabbed his shotgun and came behind us, sticking to the shadows. “I’ll be coming ten feet away, but let’s not get smart siblings. I am very good with my shotgun. Shotguns aren’t long-range, but the bullets sure reach ten feet.”

“We know,” Alyssa snapped, then grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to the forest.

“Oh, and in case you or your girlfriend here decides to do anything funny we are bringing in the beast,” Hal yelled, as we moved faster. “And you’ll start to think the shotguns are better.”

I pretended not to hear. I already had a good lecture about the stakes.

Alyssa didn’t speak to me until we were halfway through the path. Even then we heard Hal’s sneaky footsteps behind us.

“That was dumb,” Alyssa said in a whisper. “Trying to stop Mel.”

“And let my girlfriend be groped by a psychopath?” I snapped back.

“One stay in silence could have saved you a broken tooth. Sometimes being emotional makes you the most vulnerable.”

I remained in silence, rubbing the ache on my chin. She was right, but Mel touching Tara made every vein in my body pop.

“Does it hurt?” Alyssa asked after a while.

“Wow, look who’s being emotional.”

“I didn’t tell you not to be emotional Alex. I said not to do it at the wrong time. But don’t worry,” when I looked at her she had her wrists clenched, and her eyes were burning. “I’m going to break that bastard Mel’s jaw for what he did to you.”

“I’d like to do that myself,” I looked at the shadow of Hal slowly coming closer. “Let’s hope Maria is here, and she hasn’t planned anything on her own.”