A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've been pretty busy. I am going to try my hardest to get the next section up soon, but no promises.....
It was a crappy apartment. Lance looked at the three mismatched couches and couldn't understand what he was doing here. His immediate urge was to leave, but he appeared stuck. Never one for dramatics he didn't bother to care. There were several hours until the sun rose. He looked at the three mismatched couches along the walls and let out a groan. This was too tacky.
All of his reluctance vanished the second the door opened. He turned to see Serena walk into the room. She was wearing leggings and a baggy teal sweater, he wondered if this was where she lived because there was no way the average person would leave their home dressed this way. That was when he noticed the other people. The tiny apartment was full of them.
Serena stood alone at the door. Lance walked over to her.
"I missed you," he said.
She took no notice of him and instead tucked her chin down. She spun and put her hand on the door, ready to walk out again. A boy appeared, in human years him and Lance looked the same, but Lance could feel the inexperience radiating off of him.
"You came," the stranger said.
"I didn't realize it was all friends here," Serena said.
"It's not," he said. "I'm Jacob. I wasn't sure if you remembered."
"Serena," she said.
The Jacob character reached out and grabbed her hand. Lance tried to grab her and stop this interaction, but his touch did nothing. She walked right through his arms. The two walked to the kitchen. He saw the keg full of beer and rolled his eyes as Jacob poured two cups for them.
"So are you passionate about Women's rights?" Jacob asked.
"I guess," Serena said.
Lance loved watching the discomfort on her face and the ease at which she corrected herself.
"I mean," Serena said. "As a woman, I've never really felt disadvantaged. But I don't think that the sexes should be treated differently."
" As a respectable male of the species, please take this beer I poured in front of you," Jacob said.
Serena gave a nervous laugh. It was strange to see her so out of her element.
"So Serena what's your major?" Jacob asked.
Lance rolled his eyes at the awkward attempt at flirting. Before he could hear her response the scene shifted. There were less people in the apartment. Serena was sitting very close to Jacob. Lance felt his fangs descend, uncomfortable with what he was watching.
"This is the first time I've legally drank," Serena said.
Jacob brought his arm up around her shoulder.
"If you had told me that earlier I would have force fed you shots," he said.
"Well I'm glad I kept my mouth shut," she said.
"I am too," Jacob said. "Or else you would have been too drunk for me to do this."
Lance watched as the other man brought his hand up and grabbed ahold of Serena's chin. He pressed his mouth against hers. To Lance's shock she brought her hands up to his face and returned his kiss. He felt like he was dying a little on this inside watching this play out. Her lips were meant for him and he was helpless to stop it. Some relief came to him when Serena pulled away.
"It's getting late," Serena said. "I should go."
"Do you want me to take you home?" Jacob asked.
"No," Serena said. "I live really close."
"Would it be outside of the spirit of women's rights if I insisted?"
"Fine," Serena replied. "But it's just a walk back to the dorm. I'm not inviting you inside."
The images around Lance switched again and they were standing outside a tall building.
"Can I have your number?" Jacob asked.
Lance watched as Serena grabbed his phone and typed on the keypad. This all felt too juvenile for him. Particularly the way he was responding to the situation.
"I have a busy week," Serena said. "But maybe you can call me next weekend?"
"I think you can expect some text messages over the next few days," Jacob said. "Only if that's alright with you of course."
Serena leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. Lance again felt his anger boil.
"Goodnight Jacob," Serena said.
Lance watched as she walked into the building, leaving the young man standing on the porch with a big grin. Lance knew if he ever saw this man he would drain him on the spot.
Before Lance could focus on his last thought he was sprung from his sleep. His back arched and he let out a guttural scream, knowing exactly where it was coming from. Serena was in trouble.
Lance moved quickly to the bedroom door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. He started kicking and still the door remained steady. He was unsure what material it was made of, but had a feeling Malcolm's vampire safe rooms now served a duel purpose. Nobody could get in, but Lance couldn't get out either.
He continued banging around the room, hoping that someone would hear and he could save Serena before it was too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Adam woke with a groan. His muscles were so stiff from running all night. He hadn't meant to fall asleep in the forest, but he was fairly certain it had been more of a passing out from exhaustion type of situation instead of a deciding to curl up and go to bed.
His head was clear, for what felt like the first time in weeks. He stretched and picked himself up off the ground. He couldn't believe he had threatened Lance over a silly human. As soon as the thought crossed his mind so did the image of Serena. He felt a heat spread from his heart. Shit. It was going to happen again. He tried to remind himself the feelings weren't real.
Of course they're real, Adam thought. She was perfect. His angel, and he would do anything to protect her. Even if that meant taking her away from this place against her will. That was exactly what he would do. Once she realized how much she loved him then she would be grateful he had taken her.
His mother was in Florida, maybe they could start there. A new place for the both of them. Once it was just the two of them Serena would understand how much she needed him.
Adam started towards town, pleased with his plan. He knew Malcolm would approve, since the idea was to take her away anyhow. Not that Malcolm's approval mattered to him. But he thought maybe it would be a good idea to stay on his intended's family's good side.
Rather than go straight to Serena Adam thought she would like it if he brought some of her things. He made up his mind to head straight for her apartment and pack up. That way they could get on the road in just a few hours.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pain radiated from Serena's head. She wanted to bring her hand up to apply some pressure, but couldn't. Her hands were tied firmly behind her back. She opened her eyes to total darkness, blinking several times in the hopes her vision would return did nothing. She felt panic start to take over.
The memory of the man's feet came back to her as well as the direness of her situation. Panicking would do nothing. She steadied her breathing and took inventory of her surroundings. She was on her side with her hands tied behind her back and ankles tied together. It felt like plastic ties were binding her. Whatever she was lying on was vibrating. She tried to sit up and her head smacked a low roof. She was in the trunk of a car, not a very large one.
Screaming would do her no good. She needed to pop out one of the tail-lights. That way she could stick a hand out and signal to another driver she was in the trunk and hopefully they would call the police.
Serena tried to bend her body in the hopes of moving her hands to her front. She regretted not continuing with gymnastics or participating in dance classes. That flexibility would have come in handy at the moment. As she stretched her muscles in vain the car came to a stop. Serena froze, not sure what came next. The sound of a car door opening was unmistakable. She heard the crunch of footsteps and held her breath.
"I can hear you wiggling around in there," a familiar voice said.
The sound of keys jingling came and Serena sat up on her elbows, hoping to propel herself out of the trunk. Before she could even see her assailant's face she was met with blinding sunlight.
"We can't have that," he said.
She opened her mouth to scream, but a cloth was shoved over her nose. She moved backwards, but the hand moved with her. She tried her hardest not to, but had to take a breath.
"That's a good girl," he said. "Sleep the rest of the way huh?"
Serena focused on the sun. As long as nothing happened until it was dark she was safe. Lance would come for her. She mumbled his name as she slipped back into unconsciousness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Adam was in good spirits when he approached town. He's managed to grab some clothes and made his way to Serena's apartment. When he got closer he spotted a black town car out front. He wondered if Malcolm had brought Serena back here. He felt giddy about seeing her again, more than ready to forgive her indiscretion with Lance. Maybe Malcolm would still send them somewhere and they could skip the Florida idea.
When he got closer the coppery scent of blood filled the air. It had to be a decent amount if he could smell it this far away. Adam started increasing his pace, before breaking into a full on sprint. As the black car came into view so did the driver. He was slumped over the steering wheel. Adam put his hand on his shoulder and pulled him back. There was a gunshot wound on his temple. It went straight through. Before Adam could deal with him he saw the door next to the accounting firm was open.
Adam took the stairs three at a time and burst into Serena's apartment. There was a small pool of blood on the floor. Adam knew right away it was from Serena. Someone had taken her before he'd had the chance. A scream sliced through the air. Piper. Adam turned and went back outside.
Standing next to the car was his sister, her mate was trying to hold her up as she stared at the driver's body. Adam went towards them, Piper made eye contact and went hard.
"What have you done?" She yelled.
Adam stood frozen, suddenly too aware of how the situation looked. He didn't have time to worry about this. He turned and started to run but before he made it two steps a force knocked him to the ground. Adam spun around and started to fight against Thomas, but before he could get a good hit in Thomas' fist came down hard, knocking Adam's head into the concrete and his consciousness faded to black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Time to wake up beautiful," Jacob said.
Serena felt her chin being lifted. Her vision was still blurry and it took her a moment to remember what happened.
"Where am I?" Serena asked.
"Where you belong," Jacob said. "With me."
The haze disappeared with those words and Serena's adrenaline soared. She pulled her face back from his hands and went to slap him, only to discover she was now tied to a chair. Before she could yell out his hand came back with a hard slap across her cheek. He picked her head back up and gripped her chin in his hands.
"That's no way to greet your love," he said.
He pressed his lips against hers, not moving his hand. Serena was powerless to sit there, sure he was kissing her hard enough to make her lips bleed from being pushed against her teeth too hard. He broke away and had a smile on his face again.
"That's more like it," he said.
Serena looked around the room. It appeared to be a small cabin. There was one window though and the sun was certainly still up. She did the math in her head and figured at the most they were six hours away from Juliet, in which direction she was no sure. That meant Lance wouldn't be able to rescue her for at least ninety minutes.
