Ties That Bind

Ties That Bind

****

Brandon drove the ATV they had taken from Dylan like a maniac as he chased after Shawn and Matt’s ATVs with Zack trying to hold on behind him. They had lost shovels about a mile back when they bumped against a tree root and almost flipped over. Now they were unarmed as they sped after the would-be kidnappers. They didn’t know how they would stop them, especially a giant like Matt, but they had to try.

It was easy to follow the trail, the churned-up mud clearly marked the path their quarry followed. And if they had taken the time to study the ground, they might have noticed the scattered leaves, the crushed grass, and dry branches that marked the passage of other ATVs and realized just how long Shawn and his crew had been spying on them.

Either way, Zack and Brandon chased after their former schoolmates, now turned kidnappers. They had already broken free and captured most of Shawn’s crew, and they had rescued their friends and Heather. They could have easily stayed back and told the police that Shawn, Kendra, and Matt had gotten away. Still, something inside them urged them to give chase.

Brandon felt betrayed by his “friends,” Dylan and Shawn, especially Dylan. That really hurt him. He genuinely regarded at Dylan as a cool friend. Now he was mad as hell that he’d been taken so easily for a fool by both of them. He’d been the one who told them where they were going for the week. And they had come to kidnap, and maybe even **** his sister and his girlfriend. Brandon was out for blood.

So was Zack. He had known what Matt was going to do to his Chloe, almost as if he had been there watching him through Chloe’s eyes and hearing all the terrible things he had planned to do to her. He didn’t know how, but he knew. And if he closed his eyes, he could imagine Matt’s lecherous face looming over his Chloe’s frightened eyes. He wasn’t going to let that slide. ‘Nobody threatens my mate,’ he scowled using the same word Chloe had used for him before.

And so, the once rivals now chased down their prey through the forest, running them to ground.

***

Logan hurried from the rocky shore, across the road, and into the forest. His eyes kept sweeping back and forth, from the screen showing his progress to the faint game trail he followed as he closed in on the same destination as Zack and Brandon. As he got closer to Shawn’s location, he slowed down, turning his head from side to side, trying to pick up any sound or glimpse of his quarry.

Then, he heard it, the faint sound of an engine getting closer. He realized that he had somehow beaten them back to their campsite. Logan ran forward, sprinting through the trees to get there before Shawn did. He hoped to surprise Shawn by jumping on him as he arrived and freeing Heather.

Reaching the campsite, he spotted the RV parked in a small clearing off the road, a cold campfire a few feet away surrounded by empty lounge chairs. He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed nobody was in sight and slipped around the RV to hide and wait.

Logan didn’t have to wait long, the ATV with Shawn and Kendra pulled up almost immediately, followed by Matt in another one. No sign of Heather. Logan’s heart froze in his chest, ‘What did they do to her?’ he thought as fear twisted his guts.

“They’re still coming!” Matt yelled as he pulled up next to Shawn.

“We’ll just have to get rid of them.” Shawn snarled as they all got off their ATV, Shawn reaching behind him to pull out a pocket pistol from the small of his back. He spread his legs and took aim at the forest.

They could hear the roar of the ATV’s engine and the snapping branches as someone fast approached the campsite. Logan wasn’t sure who was coming, but if Shawn was going to shoot them, then they might be good guys. More importantly, they might know where Heather was. Logan caught movement beyond the trees, another ATV coming down the same trail Shawn and Matt had taken. He didn’t have much time.

Logan dashed from his hiding spot behind the RV and raced towards Shawn. He jumped into the air and landed a flying kick aimed at Shawn’s arm, knocking his gun high into the air. Shawn let out a cry of pain and surprise as the gun went off. Matt and Kendra turned around to see what had happened.

That was all the distraction Brandon and Zack unknowingly needed.

They barreled into the clearing at full speed, surprised to see RV and the two ATVs parked right in front of them. Zack and Brandon flinched when they heard the gunshot, ducked their heads, and plowed into the parked ATVs as everyone scattered out of their way.

For a brief moment, everything was in confusion as they all scrambled to their feet. Brandon tried to tackle Matt, but the giant stepped aside, grabbed his arm, and spun him around. Brandon flew a dozen feet away and fell rolling on the grassy floor. Zack took the chance and jumped on Matt’s back. One arm wrapping around his head, blocking his view.

Matt spun as he tried to elbow Zack, but the angle was all wrong. Zack held on for dear life as he called out to Brandon to help him. Kendra came up behind them and tried to hit Zack with a stick she had picked up, almost knocking him over the head with it.

Off to the side, Shawn swept Logan’s feet from under him, making the teenager stumble towards the brawl in the center of the clearing. Shawn looked around, trying to find his gun, when he saw Brandon pick himself up and charge Matt again.

Just as it looked like Matt and Kendra were about to knock off Zack, Brandon charged again. The football player threw himself at Matt and tackled them all to the ground. Scattered on the ground, the huge man shoved the two teens aside as if they weighted nothing before suddenly doubling over with a gasp.

Logan’s fist had struck Matt’s solar plexus like a hammer, paralyzing his diaphragm. A second and a third blow brought him to his knees, and then Logan’s hand came down hard. The knife-edge hitting the back of Matt’s head twice before knocking him out.

“SHAWN!” Kendra screamed as she scrambled to her feet, but before she could flee, Zack managed to catch her ankle, and she slammed face-first into the ground. Shawn gunned his ATV and tore off down the dirt road, abandoning his girlfriend and partners in crime.

And then it was all over.

“Get something to tie them up!” Zack called out as he pinned a struggling and screaming Kendra to the ground.

“Where is Heather!” Logan demanded as he looked around, hoping that perhaps Heather was somewhere around.

“Should be back at the cabin!” Brandon said, dusting himself off, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

***

“Look at me,” Taylor ordered, shining a penlight in his eyes. Her voice was flat, devoid of the friendly warmth they all knew.

“My head hurts,” Dylan mumbled, trying to push her hand away.

“Too bad,” she retorted, replacing the light. She tried not to see him as Dylan, just as an anatomical problem to solve and stabilize. ‘Got to be professional about this,’ she told herself.

Dylan rolled his head and his eyes blinked, unfocused, then drifted closed again.

“Stay with me,” Taylor whispered.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled. “Just tired.”

“You’re concussed,” she said sharply. “You’re not fine.”

Her nerves were frayed from holding it together. The makeshift living room smelled like antiseptic and fear. The others had cleared out the clutter to make space for the injured, but the silence that hung over the cabin was worse than any noise.

Heather poked her head through the door. “How’s he doing?”

“Stable, but we’ve got to keep him awake. He’s got a pretty bad concussion.” Taylor said, “What did you hit him with?”

“Brandon hit him with a shove,” Heather shrugged, “He was wearing a helmet. How did he get a concussion?”

Taylor just shrugged as she stood up. She really didn’t know how. Those things were supposed to protect against this very type of injury. “Someone has to stay with him and keep him awake,” she said.

“Don’t look at me!” Heather scoffed and frowned as she crossed her arms. “Have his ‘friends’ take care of him.”

“HA! Sure they will!” Hannah cut in with a sarcastic laugh, “Hey, I got an idea. Tell Kurt to look after him with that other kid… Timmy? Tommy? T-something? Whatever.”

Dylan mumbled something incoherent as he sat against the wall, looking green around the gills. His head lolled to one side.

"Is he going to throw up again?" Hannah asked, standing well back with her arms crossed.

"Probably," Taylor sighed.

"He needs monitoring," Taylor said. "If he falls asleep, he might not wake up."

"Can't we just... let him?" Heather suggested. Several girls nodded in agreement.

"Heather!" Taylor snapped halfheartedly, although she was clearly tempted by the idea. Still, she sighed and grabbed another cloth. "Someone get him a bucket. And keep him sitting upright."

“Might be best to keep them all together.” Peter chimed in and agreed as he helped Dylan up and moved him next to the other tied-up kidnappers. “Let's see how everyone else is doing?”

***

The cabin hummed with a nervous, anxious energy. Some paced. Some sat. It seemed nobody could sit still for long.

Gavin and Trent were on the roof installing the new dish and router in record time. Trent even asked how come this time it was going so much faster, but Gavin just mumbled something about ‘second time around,’ as he avoided letting on that he had been toying with Trent and Brandon the first time.

Grace had set up her laptop on the kitchen counter, tracking the boys' movements through the GPS coordinates she'd programmed into Logan's phone. Bonnie stood beside her, gnawing on her thumbnail.

“He stopped moving,” Grace said, zooming in on the balloon that was Logan’s location at Shawn’s campsite.

“Is-that-good-or-bad?” Bonnie asked nervously, “but he’s moving!”

“That’s just the circular error built into the GPS on that sat-phone,” Grace explained, and Bonnie looked at her without understanding.

“Is he with Brandon!” Ashley cut in before Bonnie could ask, while Vicky hovered behind her, looking over her friend’s shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Grace said, shrugging. The waiting was giving her too much time to think. She thought Scarlett and Logan liked each other, but then he had kissed her before racing off to the rescue. What did that mean? Was Bonnie wrong, and he really was a player? Did he like her? Or was it gratitude? ‘Why is this so fracking hard?’ she asked herself.

“I hope he’s alright.” Bonnie said as she stood up and started pacing around the cabin.

“Why did he run off like that?” Vicky asked.

"Logan's going to get himself killed trying to be a hero," Heather said sharply as she joined them. They all looked at her with raised eyebrows. She was reminded how just about an hour ago she had joined Hannah in trying to seduce and distract the kidnappers. “Yeah, yeah, we're idiots like that. But had a good reason to do it!"

***

Outside, Meagan joined Madison and Chloe, who were holding hands while they looked out at the spot in the forest where Brandon and Zack had disappeared. "I should have stayed with him," Chloe said berating herself.

"Girl, you did your part," Meagan said, putting an arm around her friend's shoulders. "You got Heather out. Now you let them finish it."

"But what if—" Madison began to say, but stopped herself. She dreaded to say the words, as if by simply uttering them it would invoke the disaster they all feared.

“They’re okay,” Chloe said, as if it were true.

Madison smiled faintly. “You really believe that?”

“I can feel it,” Chloe whispered, and it was true; somehow she knew it was true. Not even the gray storm clouds above could change her mind.

***

“Why isn’t he moving?” Bonnie asked again.

It had been almost an hour since Logan had called Grace’s sat-phone to tell the rest that he had met up with Brandon and Zack, and that they would soon be heading back.

“I don’t know.” Grace held her hands up in the air for the umpteenth time. As if she somehow had the answer just because she had the tech.

“Don’t look at me!” Heather hurried to say before Bonnie could ask the question.

They were all starting to wonder if the call hadn’t been fake. That somehow Shawn had bested them and **** Logan to make the call.

“Look! He’s moving!” Ashley pointed at the screen, and sure enough, the red balloon that was Logan started moving towards the lake, and a few minutes later, it was on the water and heading back to the cabin. Everyone rushed to the small pier by the lake, hoping for the best.

It only took a few minutes for Logan, Zack, and Brandon to return with Matt and Kendra, both securely tied up. Their only worry was if the boat would make it back before it sank. When Logan had run it aground, the hull had cracked near the waterline and had started taking on water. Fortunately, the small boat was only ankle deep in water by the time they made it back. But it would not make the trip back to Azure Rock without being patched up.

As soon as they reached the pier, Chloe and Ashley rushed forward, jumping on their boyfriend, hugging and kissing them, and almost falling into the lake.

Madison was there a second later, punching her brother's arm. "You idiot! You could have been killed!"

"But I wasn't," Brandon grinned, pulling his sister into a one-armed hug while keeping Ashley close with the other.

Heather sprinted toward Logan, who caught her in a fierce embrace. "You stupid, stupid—" she was half-laughing, half-crying. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking my cousin needed help," Logan said into her ear. "And I wasn't going to let Shawn,” Logan’s voice trailed away softly.

"He got away," Heather said, pulling back to look at him. "Didn't he?"

Logan's jaw tightened. "Yeah. But we got these two. That's something."

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Heather accepted and then caught the hesitant looks on Bonnie and Grace. She leaned into Logan’s ear and whispered. “I think you got a couple of worried fans over there.”

Logan chuckled as Heather let go of him to go start berating Matt and Kendra while Peter and Trent hauled them back into the cabin, zip-tying them with the others. Hannah, of course, supervised the arrangement with grim satisfaction, occasionally making cutting remarks and belt slapping that made the prisoners flinch and Peter and Taylor roll their eyes.

Logan approached the two blonde’s who nervously waited at the edge, “Hey,” he offered, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Hey!” Bonnie said too quickly. She looked at him anxiously; she was wound up and ready to spring away or into his arms. She didn’t know which.

Logan smirked and opened his arms to her, and Bonnie jumped into him and hugged him. Logan spread his other arm to Grace and pulled her close to him. “Thanks, Grace, I couldn’t find them without you. And thanks, Bonnie, for helping,” he added, planting a soft kiss on each girl's forehead.

It was soon a whirlwind of questions as the girls all asked each on to retell their story and how they chased down and fought Shawn and Matt and took down Kendra. They were all in high spirits, and the few raindrops that started to fall went unnoticed till they heard the sound of boats approaching.

Two boats were approaching, one flashing the blue and red lights of Azure Rock police and the other the green flashing lights of the Park Rangers.

***

Carlos Rivera was the first to jump off the police boat, followed by the rest of the agents. Heather and Hannah almost scoffed at them for arriving too late, but their friends jabbed their elbows into them and shut them up before they could sling their bards. Entering the cabin, they soon took in the sorry state of the kidnappers and especially Dylan’s and Kurt’s injuries.

It took a while, but Carlos finally put his foot down and had the teens quiet down, broke them into groups, and with the rest of the officers started taking their statements, gathering evidence and pictures of the crime scene.

“You did a good job with first aid.” Park Ranger Jennifer told Taylor after she checked in on the two. “Officer Carlos,” she added, turning to where he was still taking Heather’s detailed account of the events, “We need to take these two back now, they need medical treatment. ASAP!”

“We’ve got to take their statements first and then take them all down to the station.” Joan McClane cut in as she subtly reminded everyone that they had to follow their procedure.

“I know, but these two need medical aid,” Jennifer repeated, “And it’s going to start raining soon.”

Carlos looked around the room and took in the situation. He quickly realized that there wasn’t enough room in the two boats to take everyone back. ‘Can barely fit the perps in,’ he thought as he counted the tied-up kids on the floor.

“Alright! Listen up people,” Carlos raised his voice and called everyone’s attention. “Get a short 5-minute statement from everyone, from the kids. We’ll get their statement back at the station,” he added, pointing to the kidnappers. “You kids will have to come down to the station tomorrow to make a full statement.”

A few drops were starting to fall outside, and Carlos caught Ranger Jennifer’s worried look. ‘Yeah, it won’t look good to bring these guys in all wet and catching a cold. Or these kids,’ he and the other officers had a good first account of what happened, and Tommy Licht was a fountain of information as he hurried to spill everything that he knew of Shawn’s plans.

“OK! Change of plan. We’re leaving now!” Carlos called out and got people moving. “You kids come give your statement tomorrow,” he glanced out at the stormy sky, “Or when the storm ends.”

Soon, the two boats left with Shawn’s crew and an injured Kurt, leaving the rest of the teens in the cabin. A sense of relief drained the tension from them as they watched the two boats leave.

“You know what we need.” Heather’s voice seemed to break the spell, “We need a PARTY!”