Who Chases Them? Running...But From What?

By Taylor Storm

Sarah and Brad’s home was invaded, and Brad ended up in the hospital. Sarah decides they need to move when he gets out. However, while she was at home that evening, a few grizzly people barged into the apartment saying they were going to paint it. Sarah couldn’t understand this and decided they were sent by the people who invaded their home before.

Sarah runs into a couple young girls who end up helping her in her efforts to get Brad. The one girl knew of a place where they could go and be safe, which Sarah thought was a woman’s shelter, but ended up being a brothel. Now they needed to run again. The three girls started making plans.... What about Brad? They head to the hospital...the police get involved....

Taylor Storm is a Minnesota-based author, and admires the works of: Justice Gray, Amanda Hocking, Stephen King, and E L James.

Who Chases Them? Is the fifth of a new series of novels, the Who--? Series—Who Are They? Who Loves Them? Who Loves Her? and Who Am I? The sixth novel in the series is planned to be out soon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Justice Gray
• Release date: Mar 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310754401

Book preview

Who Chases Them?

Running…But From What?

By Taylor Storm

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Who--? Series

Book 5

Taylor Storm

[e-mail]

Copyright: © 2014 by Reality Today Forum. All rights reserved

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of author.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 1

There was absolutely no way that one could imagine the possibility of evil lurking in the shadows of such a lovely day. Not when the sun was out in all its glory, being tempted by a light, wispy morning breeze that whispered sweet nothings in the ears of young lovers and promised good fortune for all who cared to bask in its loveliness. Not when the golden sunlight, pure yellow, seemed to fill the air with splendid possibilities and bathed each and every household with glowing warmth, perfectly complemented by the backdrop of an equally agreeable blue sky.

It was a fabulous Saturday morning filled with warmth, birds singing, chirping crickets and a leisurely, charming atmosphere that encouraged light-heartedness and endearing expressions.

As for Brad and Sarah, it held them in a time capsule in which they could have remained forever if the laws of time and physics could have been circumvented. It was a picture worth a thousand words that any loving couple would have wanted to be reminded by if they could have stayed that way, frozen in time. What with Sarah perched comfortably on the lap of her boyfriend, who in turn was seated on the edge of their bed, leaning on one elbow while resting the other hand on the small of her back, as he stared lovingly at her. Sarah, who was reading a book, pretended to be oblivious to the way Brad was looking at her, flirtingly glancing at him through the corner of her eyes every now and then whenever she turned a page. On the other hand, Brad was determined to stay in his current position for as long as she needed, despite his growing discomfort.

This discomfort was due to the fact that they had been sitting like this for close to an hour and although Sarah was quite lithe, the pressure of her weight was starting to impress upon his thigh muscles. He dared not shift position though, because he was so engrossed in just looking at his girlfriend, and possibly future wife. He was caught up in the way her silky brown hair tumbled onto her shoulders in unruly tendrils, the arch of her neck, the creaminess of her skin, the mystique of her beautiful chestnut eyes, the way her heart-shaped lips moved as she read, sometimes inaudibly, and the way the shape of her body flowed in alignment with her smooth curves--from the top of her head down to her lower back and the rest of her that dangled over his lower half.

To say he loved her was almost an understatement and anyone who could have seen them at that moment would have been in total agreement. Sarah loved him too, although she was somewhat more reserved in her expression of it than Brad. She had taken her time falling in love with him because her previous relationship had ended badly. Back then, she had vowed never to love again, but Brad had slowly broken down the barriers to her heart and slowly but surely, Sarah had opened up more and more to him. A few months earlier, it would have been unnerving for her to find Brad looking at her so intently, but now she was more receptive, even craving that level of attention.

They were now together for close to a year, and their relationship seemed to be growing stronger each and every day. It wouldn’t have been far from the truth to say that they were living together, because Sarah spent most of her days and nights at Brad’s house and spent less and less time at her own apartment. In a way, they both knew that it was only a matter of time before they made it official, but Brad did not want her to feel pressured, and she was waiting for the right time for the topic to come up.

Mornings like these were starting to become commonplace, especially when they didn’t have to go to work and when there were such idyllic conditions prevailing. So as they sat there, basking in each other’s presence and the perfectness of the day’s aura, it didn’t seem as if anything could have mattered, or that they could have been perturbed by any disturbance. Not even by the loud bang that was presently being heard at the front door. It didn’t even occur to either of them that there had been a tapping noise coming from the entrance to the lovely, sprawling bungalow before the massive thud. It took Brad a few seconds to slip out of his reverie as it slowly dawned on him that the noise had come from their front door. Sarah simultaneously became roused and slid off his lap as they both became suspicious. There was another heavy sound, as if someone was pounding on the door with a hammer and Brad quickly sprang to his feet.

What the hell… began Sarah.

Stay here, Brad ordered as he exited the bedroom.

He rubbed his right thigh as he walked, as the blood circulation which had been compromised from Sarah sitting on him for so long, slowly resumed. He couldn’t imagine who could be so insensitive to be banging on their door so loudly. They were not expecting anyone, and none of their friends were obnoxious enough to be disturbing them in such a manner. Plus, they would have called before coming over.

Who the hell is that? he shouted, as he got closer to the door.

He was about to reach for the knob to open it when there was an even louder sound, and he just managed to lean away as the door flew open from the force of whatever struck it. The impact caused Brad to lose his balance and he fell sideways, but prevented himself from falling flat on the ground by landing on his left palm. Before he could manage to get up however, he felt something cold and hard being shoved roughly into his face.

Don’t move, said a cold, unfamiliar voice.

Chapter 2

It was weird. His puzzled mind momentarily grappled with why the first thing that came to his mind was memories of Afghanistan. Images of Al-Qaeda rebels standing over him and his colleagues with AK-47s pointed to the back of their heads flooded back to his mind. The deadly tone of their utterances in their unfamiliar language replayed in Brad’s head. Utterances which he later found out to mean Don’t move American pig. You’re going to die, you infidel…

The voice telling him not to move was certainly that of an American, but the effect felt the same to him. The same chilling sensation ran down his spine and he could feel his heart rate elevating dramatically.

Despite the order, Brad managed to look up. His eyes staring at the long nozzle of the shotgun pressed against his cheek, past its barrel, up to the large hand holding it, and finally up into the hard eyes of his assailant. Already, his military-trained mind was calculating the circumstances and formulating a plan of escape, but when three other gruff-looking men stepped in, two holding handguns and one with a large knife, his mind switched to Sarah, and he hoped that she would obey his order, just like his lieutenants did who had stood with him in several showdowns with the rebels in the middle East.

The sound of the bedroom doorknob turning behind him however, told him that she hadn’t. Her blood curdling scream that followed also told him that things were about to get worse for both of them.

Shut up bitch, said one of the three other men.

He stepped closer to Sarah, grabbed her by the hair, and stuck his gun into her side.

Leave her alone, shouted Brad.

You shut up too, ordered the one who held the shotgun to Brad’s face.

He shoved the shotgun harder against his cheek and that caused Brad to lose his balance and fall over. Reaching forward, the man grabbed Brad by the arm, roughly pulling him to his feet before pushing him into a corner of the room.

What do you want? asked Brad.

He was now able to get a full view of the men who had invaded their house. The shotgun holder, who appeared to be the leader, was roughly dressed in a shabby plaid shirt, torn jeans and hard boots. It appeared that he had used those big, heavy boots to kick the door open after tampering with the door lock which Brad could see was slightly askew. He was a large man, not in terms of height, but he was heavily built with wide shoulders and seemed to be in his late forties, showing hints of grey in his dirty-looking mop of dark hair.

The other three men were dressed similarly in torn jeans and wrinkled shirts, but one was over six feet tall and lanky while the other two were of average height and build. They all seemed to be in the same age group, however, somewhere between late forties and early fifties. All in all, they looked pretty ragged and would have passed for plain old vagrants in another setting and without the guns.

What do we want? Now, that’s the question, replied the leader, before turning to the other three and asking: "What do we want, boys?"

All three men started howling with laughter, and the one who had custody of Sarah leaned closer and laughed into her face. Sarah grimaced from the smell of his breath which was a combination of stale smoke, stale alcohol and lack of proper dental hygiene.

Why don’t we show ‘em boss? said the one who was carrying the knife.

He didn’t look any less mean or untidy without a gun. In fact, his eyes had an even crueler, crazed glint to them which made him look as if he was ready to dismember both of them at the drop of a hat.

Watch the door, Jerry, said the leader, motioning to the tall one who was closest to the gaping door.

Jerry stepped out and looked around to see if anyone from the neighboring house or the building further up the avenue had become aware of their presence. Brad and Sarah were silently hoping that someone had noticed and called 911, but they knew that their chances were slim. They were quite new to the area, having moved there a month earlier and didn’t really know anyone or have any friends nearby. Besides that, the residents living in the fairly new community were mostly working professionals who were hardly ever around. Even on a Saturday morning, it was pretty rare to find anyone at home, and to make matters worse, Brad and Sarah’s house was on a corner lot facing away from the front of the house adjacent to theirs.

All clear Bob, answered Jerry.

Great. Now they know my name, you fool. Why not just go ahead and tell them where I live too?

Jerry looked puzzled and seemed ready to protest at the fact that Bob was the one who had called him by his name first, but shook his head and didn’t bother.

This exchange slightly amused Brad and he watched to see if it would escalate into a situation which he could exploit. However, Jerry was obviously not in favor of arguing with the apparent leader and meekly said, Sorry boss which put the issue to rest.

Bob grunted an acknowledgement before turning his attention back to Brad and Sarah.

Okay, here’s how it’s gonna go, said Bob in a threatening tone to Brad. You’re both gonna follow us outside. If your little girlfriend screams or tries anything stupid, I will blow out your freaking brains. If you get any dumb ideas and try to be a hero, my crazy friend here will gladly cut off your girl’s pretty little head with his hunting knife without hesitation. Do you understand?

The couple, who were just minutes earlier lovingly basking in each other’s presence, exchanged worried looks before they both nodded in agreement. Brad had an especially pained expression on his face as the feeling of helplessness engulfed him. On his own, he was pretty sure that he could have disarmed his captor and taken out at least one of the others, but with Sarah’s life under threat and the way she was kept out of his reach, it was obvious that he couldn’t save her if he tried anything at this point. Nonetheless, he made mental notes of the names he had learnt so far and tried his best to take quick, unsuspecting mental photographs of their facial features.

Move! barked Bob, nudging Brad forward with a kick to the heel while poking him with the shotgun.

Outside, Brad looked around at the street and then to the adjacent house to see if there were any signs of human life, but all he saw was closed windows and doors. The only thing noticeable was a large black van and two motorbikes which he didn’t recognize and which were conspicuously parked in their driveway. Before he knew it, he was being shoved in the back of the large black van which was occupied by two other armed men. He could also see that there were two other men sitting in the front of the van. He was pulled roughly this way and that before being made to sit in a corner behind the driver’s seat. The two new men looked a bit nervous as if they were doing this for the first time and were afraid of being caught, but Brad knew that by being nervous only made them more dangerous as they were more likely to be trigger-happy.

Put a hole in his face if he looks at you too hard, said Bob to the two men who came and sat on either side of Brad with their guns aimed at him.

Bob turned around and took Sarah from the other three who were escorting her. Having helped her into the van, he forced her to sit at the extreme corner at the back door, which was facing Brad. The one who was identified as Jerry along with the other guy who had the large knife, came in and sat on either side of Sarah, both pointing their weapons threateningly at her.

Bob was about to slam the door shut when one of the men guarding Brad spoke up.

Aren’t you forgetting the…to…uh…to give them the c-candy, Boss? he asked, nervously.

Ah yes, good thing you have a younger brain than me, Alfred. Two bars of candy coming up, replied Bob.

B – Boss..? Alfred stammered, his eyes wild with fear, My name…y – you said my name…

Don’t worry about it. They know my name too. After we’re done with them, they won’t even remember their own names, Bob said with an air of nonchalance.

Alfred didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t say anything else, only turning his attention back to Brad who was looking at him directly.