"I'm worried about her."'

"Who?"

"Katie. Who else would I be talking about that would involve a lady friend of ours that is in trouble?" Thomas rose a brow at Nick.

Nick chuckled softly and shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, we have a few friends that are girls. You know that. Though I get what you mean, man. I'm worried about her two. She's my friend as well."

Maggie looked like she had seen something terrifying as she walked into the room where they were, "Do you guys think that Katie will be alright? I mean, her parents are-" she was surprised when she was cut off by Thomas.

"They don't treat her the best. I know," he snapped at her out of habit. Then sighed. "I'm sorry, Maggie. I didn't mean to snap like that at you."

Maggie smiled, "It's alright. You're worried about, Katie. We all are. I believe that some of us handle certain situations such as this differently. I don't expect you to be acting calm and happy right now knowing what Katie's in for."

Thomas nodded, though that didn't make him feel any better, "Yeah, I know. I just, I just wish we could do more for her. I feel like we aren't doing enough to save her from her misery and torment. She's out in her house suffering, and what are we doing? Waiting here! Enjoying ourselves until we pass out probably! She's never had a break from all of this crap before! Not a full one at least. Not from Them!" He felt his blood boil, and he wasn't willing to wait and stand around doing nothing anymore. He wanted to take action, and wanted to do it now. His breaths were deep, and he felt like his head could explode.

Nick placed a gentle hand on his best friend's shoulder. He sighed before saying anything, "Look, I know it's been hard. It's been hard for both of us too. You know how the police are when we try to report something like this. They claimed that they needed evidence, and we couldn't provide some. What do you expect us to do?"

Thomas didn't stand his ground, "Are you saying you want to give up? To give up on Katie? Our best friend?"

"Of course not! What I'm saying is that we need a plan, and an opportunity to be able to report this the right way, as well as save Katie. As much as I hate waiting, we will need to wait for the perfect timing."

"Perfect timing? Perfect timing?!" His voice rose after each word he spoke. "Isn't it perfect timing now?! She's in trouble, and in need of help! You don't think that now would be a perfect time to save her?"

"I'm not saying that," Nick did his best to keep his cool. "But we can't just bust in there because of our emotions. You know for a fact that if we follow our emotions only, that only leads to more trouble than what we wanted. Do you want that, Thomas? Do you?"

"No! Of course not! I just want the best for Katie!"

Maggie was almost in tears as she saw the commotion arise, "We all do, Thomas! Can't you see that?"

"Then why aren't we doing anything?"

"If we barge in there, there's more of a risk for Katie becoming more hurt than she was beforehand. Now, I'll ask you the same question, do you really want this, Thomas?"

Thomas was silent as he sighed, finally calming himself down, "No... I don't..."

"Then, let's think of something that is useful, but something that can help Katie, and so no one else gets hurt. Alright?" Her voice was more sweet and kind.

Thomas sighed, feeling terrible, "Yeah... Sure. Sounds good."

"Thomas-" Nick couldn't even start his sentence before Thomas cut him off.

"What? I know what you're gonna say, Nick. That I don't have to do this. That I can stay back. Stuff like that. Well, I'm helping you guys because I feel ready for it. I don't care if I'm drained or not, I'm not letting both have all of the fun."

Nick rose a brow, "I was just going to say don't worry, we'll get Katie out of there. Whatever it takes."

He nodded as he acted like a recorder, "Whatever it takes."

******************************************************************************

Katie woke up dizzy. Everything was blurry, and she was curious to where she actually was. My head feels like it's going to fall off my body. Oh no... Now I don't feel so... She puked into a bucket that somehow was next to her. How in the everlasting fire did this thing get here? Wait... Where am I anyway? Don't tell me that I'm back in my room! If I am then, this sucks! How did my father catch up to me if he did?

"Ah, I see you're awake!"

She groaned. My predictions were right.

Her mother chuckled, "We were worried that you were never going to wake up! Welcome home, dear."

Katie tried moving, but something else her back. She turned her head to find rope around each wrist and ankle. She turned back to both of her parents, "How did I get here?"

"Your own father brought you back. Isn't that nice of him?" She spoke as sweetly as she could muster.

"No. Then I get to spend the rest of the day with both of you."

"Don't you want that? Don't you want to be with your poor, old parents? Are we not worth anything to you anymore?"

I was never worth anything to you. Why would you be of any worth to me?"

Her mother looked as if she was trying to cling onto someone or something, "How could you say such a thing, Katie? We worked our butts off just for you, and this is how you repay us? You're supposed to respect us! We're your parents! We are the only family left for you!"

Katie flinched every now and then, but did her best to stay calm. She wasn't willing to please them anymore. She wanted to fight, yet wanted to give up and give in. She closed her eyes, doing her best to calm her mind, and clear it from any fears and anger that was dwelling inside her soul. It was almost as if she was meditating.

"What are you doing, Katie? Pay attention to me!" Her mother called out, but Katie had blocked everything out of her mind.

All she wanted to do was relax and run into her own little world.

"I said look at me!" Her mother sounded like she was getting desperate.

"Don't worry, dear. She'll listen," her father chuckled. "Besides, she will be forced to watch what will happen to her. She will have no other choice."

"How do we do that?"

"Like we always do. Force her eyes open, and only allowing her to blink, but not shut her eyes completely," he grinned mechanically. "We need her to see the whole thing."

"What if I don't want to?" Katie fought.

"Like I said, you'll have no choice, Katie."

"When do I ever have a choice?"

******************************************************************************

It was about half an hour before anyone said their first words.

Katie laughed softly, "Now you both are the silent ones. Must be odd to know what it feels, huh?"

Her father acted out of anger, "If you think we will let you escape because of this, then you're wrong!"

She shrugged, "I never said anything about abandoning you two in a miserable of a house. I have no idea where you got that idea from."

He looked liked that he could scream at the top of his lungs, "That's usually because that's what you end up doing, whether you succeed or not. Thankfully for us, that doesn't succeed, and you will be ours forever, even when you move out of the house."

"Why is that?"

"You will end up returning to us, whether you like it or not. We have helped plant into your mind that without everything you have experienced your body will go into a "withdrawal" that will bring you back to us."

"You already brought me back. That's too late for that."

"Exactly. Though one day, you'll be able to understand our point of view. That is our hope at least."

Katie rolled her eyes, trying to break free, "Well, I won't be surprised if I disappoint you, like I always have before."

He chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised either," he kept on chuckling. "Now, shall we get started?"

******************************************************************************

"So, let's go through this again," Maggie broke the silence.

"First, we will act like we are some new neighbors across the street," Nick continued.

"Then, we present something to them, and get Katie out of there by two of us distracting," Thomas concluded. He turned to his friends. "I'm going to get her out of there."

Maggie looked terrified, "Are you sure you, Thomas? I'm not saying that you aren't capable to do this, but you know how her parents are like. They won't go down without a fight, and you know that."

He nodded, "I know, but neither will I."

His friends didn't say anything. They only nodded in response.

He grinned, "Let's go get her."

******************************************************************************

"C'mon guys, this way!" Maggie violently whispered to her two of her best friends as she swung her arm to motion them to follow her. "Over here!"

Thomas put a finger to his mouth, "Keep it down, Maggie. They could be hearing us right now. We don't want that yet."

Maggie nodded, turning towards the house, then back at Thomas.

He breathed out quietly.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Thomas. I promise that we will bring her back. No matter what happens, we will find her."

He nodded, "Yeah... We will. We'll bring her back. We're not going to give up on her."

"And we won't," Nick pithed in. "Let's do this so she doesn't have to suffer any longer."

Thomas nodded as he sighed once more, "Alright. Let's do this."

Maggie grinned, "Let's get this party started."

Both Maggie and Nick snuck their way toward the front door of the house. They carefully watched their steps, just in case their footsteps stepped on anything that made their surroundings louder than they needed to be.

You got this guys... C'mon, you can do it! Thomas cheered them on, even though he wasn't a cheerleader. He held his breath until they finally made it to the door. Phew... Good. Everything is going as planned.

He watched Maggie knock on the door as he hid in the bushes on the side of them. They did their best to look as presentable as they possibly could.

No one answered for a few minutes. They waited longer, just in case they were being a bit slow.

Maggie turned to face Thomas as she saw him mouth, Ring the doorbell! She nodded as she rang the doorbell that was located on the side of the door. She swung her head at Nick, "Hopefully they answer soon.."

In a blink of an eye, an older woman answered the door. Her dark brown hair was stretched into a ponytail as she slightly glared at both of them, "What do you want? We're currently busy. If you're looking to do something, you might as well take yourselves and get out of here. Goodbye!" She was about to slam the door, but Nick caught the door before it shut completely. "I said we're busy. Now please, leave us alone before I am forced to call the cops on you children."

Nick sighed, "Look, ma'am. We won't take too much of your time. We just are here to sell you something that you must see."