-Before Zack arrived-

"Come on we gotta hurry!"

My heart was pounding so hard against my chest, I was scared it was gonna just break out. You and Alexis need to get out, You and Alexis just need to get out. I kept repeating this in my mind to keep myself focused. But Stryders face kept coming back into my mind. I know he’s strong, but I hope he’s okay...NO I need to focus on the task at hand.

I rushed through the dark band hall and made it to their back door. I opened it up and didn’t see a single person around. Perfect, thank goodness my hunch was right. I turned to see where Alexis had got, but she was dragging her feet coming over.

"This can't be happening, this can't be happening.."

I could barely make out what she was saying while she chewed on her thumb. But she repeated it so much I started to decipher it.

"Hey snap out of it! We need to focus on getting out of here! I texted the boys we were leaving already! So we need to keep our word. They’ll worry about us.”

I pushed open the door and snatched her hand, then threw her outside.

"This is all my fault Val" Alexis cried.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

I took out my phone and went to call my dad, but for some reason, it didn’t turn on. Did I seriously forget to charge my phone!? At a time like this!? Wait a second. I looked up and noticed the street lamps in the distance were all off, and I didn’t hear anything. No sirens, no cars moving in the distance, just the screams from panicked students. Did someone turn the city off?

"This has to be my dad. I didn't think he'd do something like this. I didn't-"

I turned around and grabbed Alexis’s shoulders, then forced her to look me in the eyes. But she just averted her gaze.

"Hey, look at me," I demanded.

Alexis’s shoulders slumped, and she bit her lip. I could feel her shaking in my arms. She slowly raised her head and looked me in the eyes.

"I told my dad about them…"

"About who?"

"Zack and Stryder, I told him that they were the Alley of Justice." She sniffled.

A pit formed in my stomach. Her father? Could he actually be behind all this? Wait, Stryder did say something about someone watching them.

"We need to get away from here, but we can talk along the way."

I let her go and clasped her hand firmly. I gave her a confident smile and tried to calm her down. Her body shook more violently this time, and that’s when I noticed she was looking past me. I turned my head, and my heart started to race again.

Even in the darkness, I could see his amber eyes, staring me down like a snake. It was like he walked straight out of an old western movie. The mullet, boots, he even had a big silver belt buckle. The only thing he was missing was the cowboy hat.

"It breaks my heart princess. Seeing you betray me like this again. What did I tell you about talking about things?"

He took a step forward and I moved in front of her, then reached into my purse.

"I have a gun, and I'm not afraid to use it."

"Oh? Is that right?" He hummed.

It was like my heart was gonna come up through my throat. Calm down, be strong, be strong. If you falter even a little he’ll know your bluffing. Even with those thoughts, I couldn’t keep my hands from shaking.

He smirked at me and took one step back. Which made me relax, but then he quickly darted at me. I froze and when he came he punched me in the face. My world went spinning and I fell back onto the muddy ground. My ears started to ring and I watched as he stepped to Alexis. She screamed but she was silenced by one punch to the face. Her body lifelessly fell back against the wall. Then he scooped her up.

"You're gonna pay for disobeying me, princess." He huffed.

I looked down at the mud on my dress. There was a moment of hurt seeing it ruined like this, but it did give me an idea. I forced myself up and charged him, before he knew what was even going on I had already rammed him with all I had. He stumbled back and started to slip on the mud behind him.

"You little-!"

Alexis sat up and bit down on his arm. He screamed and started punching her face. I dashed forward at his legs, but he immediately kicked me back in the face. My world started shaking and my body felt like a sandbag. I dropped back to the ground and my eyes started to get heavy. Alexis never once stopped biting his arm. Get up! Get up! Help your friend! She’s fighting for her life! You need to move!

I watched helplessly as he moved her to the wall and slammed her face into it, again and again.

“Stop..”

It was like he heard me. He immediately stopped, and I watched blood run down Alexis’s face. I blinked, and when I opened my eyes they were gone. Then, everything just went black.

….

Suddenly the light came back to my eyes, and I felt the cold wet mud on my face. I had a massive headache, but it was manageable. I looked around and saw the splatters of dried blood and muddy footprints on the ground.

Right, Alexis!

Plan A to make him slip and fall failed, however, plan B is still doable. I smile proudly at the fresh mud prints on the ground. Now All I need to do is call Stryder or the cops.

I went into my purse and took out my phone charger. I connected it to my phone, but nothing happened. Wait a second. I looked back to the street lamp and saw it was still off. Everything was off. But why? Did we get hit by an EMP? Wait, this means I’m alone. I couldn't call Stryder, I couldn't call the police. I can still run home and- The thought was taken over by memory of Alexis bleeding face. She needs help, right now.

What would Stryder do?

I balled my fists and stood up. Then I stretched and took in some deep breaths. He wouldn't even think about it, he'd save her. So that's what I'm going to do!

I followed the trail of mud for as long as it lasted. It wasn't a long trail to follow, but it was enough. They came to a stop near an industrial area by the school, right off by a sidewalk. Leaving me hundreds of building options...

I prowled around behind the buildings and stayed hidden in the shadows. I decided to check out every abandoned shop first. Which was really hard to do in the darkness, everything old seemed abandoned. After a while of searching, I caught a lucky break.

"I can’t take it anymore! I need to get my smokes from the car!" I heard Alexis’s dad grunt.

"Your smokes aren't more important than the mission." I heard someone growl from inside.

"Like your daddy, dearest is gonna care that I took a smoke break. Or are ya nervous about being alone with a girl?" Alexis’s dad snickered.

He walked out of the building and turned to walk down the road. I didn't see any cars around this street. So he probably parked far away, which was perfect for me. As he made his way far down the road, I snuck around to the front. The door was still cracked open, and I took a peek inside. My stomach dropped when I saw him. It was the blonde kid from the dance! The one that attacked the boys! Does that mean he won!? No, calm down. I know Stryder wouldn’t die that easily. Yeah, he’s basically Superman, he’s gotta be fine. My legs started to buckle as I stared at him.

No, focus, you need to stay strong to save Alexis. It’s your turn to be a hero.

I moved back to the shadows and crept to the back of the building. Once I got to the back, I started banging on the back door. Then I took off to the front of the building. No surprise when I came back around to the front, there was no fire boy insight.

I swiftly moved inside to the small waiting room. Which surprised me for how big the place was on the outside. There were two doors behind the reception desk, one was cracked open and looked like it led to a hallway. While the other was tightly shut. He definitely ran down the hallway, and they were congregating in this area and not some room down the hall.

I ran over to the shut door and opened it up, and I had a wave of shock and horror wash over me. Alexis was there, but she looked like she lost a street fight. Dried blood stained her face, and bumps and bruises were all over her. She had handcuffs on her for some reason. I kneeled down and examined the cuffs, they weren’t attached to anything. This means I can definitely move her.

She groaned and tried to open her eyes. But her right eye was the only one that would open, her left was too swollen. Every part of me was on fire, this was unacceptable! They're not getting away with this!

"V-val what are you?" She mumbled.

I kneeled down and slung her over my shoulder.

"Hey, his sense of smell might be as good as Leo's. So he probably didn't think twice when I was outside because my scent was on your dad. So to surprise him, I'm gonna need you to let off an aphrodisiac wave. Are you able?"

She bit her lip like she wanted to fight it, but she reluctantly nodded. I smiled and I got her up. She could barely walk, so I practically carried her to the hallway door. I set her on the left side of the door, and I laid up against the right side.

Minutes felt like hours as we waited by the door. Pink mist flowed off Alexis’s body and filled the small room. It got hard to stay focused. I was thinking about Stryder a lot. His ocean blue eyes, his strong arms. I chewed on my lip as I imagined how soft his lips would be. It was like I hadn’t eaten in days, and the only thing I was craving was him.

"What the hell.." I heard someone grunt down the hall.

The voice snapped me back into reality, and I readied myself. Holding firmly to my pepper spray. As soon as the door opened I turned and met his eyes, then my pepper spray did.

"Ah not again!" He roared and grabbed his face.

I kicked him aside and he stumbled back. Then I grabbed Alexis’s hand and dragged her down the hall.

"Don't stop letting out the spray!" I yelled.

I saw a big sign ahead of us that said 'Auto body shop'. I pushed through it and came out to a huge open area. There was an unfinished room being built to the right, and the back door to the far left of the room. I tugged Alexis to the back door, but she dropped as soon as I did.

"Leave me, Val, I can barely move right now.." She coughed.

"No way, I'm not leaving you."

Dammit, we're not gonna get far if I have to carry her. I looked around the area and tried to think. What can I do, what can I do? I saw tires, gasoline containers, oil, oil pans, and a toolbox.

He breathed fire and looked exactly like Leo. If I go with my earlier assumption that he has the same abilities as Leo, a fire would be useless against him. I doubt we can even get down the road before he starts chasing after us again either. That's when it hit me. I'll just have to take a gamble.

I picked up Alexis and carried her over to the back door, then I turned back and ran to collect items. Banging and screaming echoed throughout the shop, but I just ignored it.

I grabbed a canister of gasoline, a tire, a few random documents, a lighter, and a few pieces of construction wood. I opened the backdoor and went outside. Alexis did her best to fumble her way out the door. I didn't dwell on her though. I went to the huge trash can and opened it up.

To my horror, it was practically empty. Not my lucky day I guess. I tossed the papers and the wood inside. Then I struggled, but managed to put the tire on top of it all. Then I poured gasoline over it all. I pulled out a piece of paper I saved and lit it with the lighter.

"What are you doing?" Alexis coughed out.

"Letting everyone know we're here."

I tossed the paper in and everything lit up immediately. I stepped back and took out my pepper spray and carefully cracked the top slightly. Then threw it in.

I jogged over to Alexis and kneeled down to pick her up.

BOOM!

I squealed and almost dropped Alexis as an explosion went off in the trash can. I took a breath and let my shaking legs settle. Once I was calmed down enough, I moved out. Now, let’s see how far we get.

"Val you shouldn't have saved me.." She whispered.

"What are you talking about? You're my best friend."

"They didn't know who you were, and now they do."

I grunted and trudged forward. It was like carrying a rock!

"So what." I groaned. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do something."

I heard her start to sniffle.

"Why? I'm not worth anything…"

"Shut up, don't you ever say that again about someone I love so much. You're my best friend. I don’t regret coming to save you. This is something I wanted to do.”

Then, something hard bashed into my back. The wind got knocked out of me and I dropped onto the ground. He must've recovered. I sat up and turned around, and there he was. It was Alexis’s dad!

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, little lady. I let you go back there and this is how you repay me?" He sighed.

Get up, get up. You're not done fighting yet. Stryder wouldn't let something like that keep him down!

I coughed and forced myself up. He had Alexis held up by the hair like she was some kind of fish.

"Let her go.." Grumbled.

I took a step forward and stumbled, but I didn’t fall. He sighed and went into his pocket, pulling out a pistol.

"See, this is a lot more real than the gun you had a while ago."

He walked over casually to the trash can, which was now spewing a gigantic black pillar of smoke. Then, he just kicked the lid back on over it.

"I know that won't hold long. But I'll clean it all nice and good once I deal with you."

No! No! It's all over. Please, please! Stryder! Tell me you saw this. Please tell me you did! Tears started to run down my face, and my body ran cold.

Please come save me.