CHAPTER 9: YOU'RE COMING WITH ME

'And that's a wrap!' Joanne said as the crew rounded up rehearsals.

'Bye everyone.' Meghan announced before she exited the building. She had invited Mike to her place again but he had to visit his mum at the hospital. Ever since their last 'street adventure', she had decided to walk home more often, even though she couldn't compare the feeling of walking with Mike to the boringness of striding alone. The sky wasn't even as bright as the last time. She observed the busy yet calm surrounding. She held the hands of her backpack at her sides. She walked at a steady pace, humming when she noticed a man not far from where she was. His figure was huge and he looked rather unkempt. Even though he was bald, he was in great need of a barber. His sideburns were rather long and his beard looked dirty. He wore a black shirt, black shoes, ripped jeans and looked like he was homeless. As she continued to walk, she realized that the man was following her. She increased her pace.

'How do I lose him?' She wondered. She decided to take an unfamiliar route instead, at least for the meantime. After a few turns, she didn't see the strange looking man anymore.'

'Thank God!' She muttered taking a few deep breaths.

Where she was gave her the creeps. It was seemed lonely, even though there were some mischievous-looking men in sight. She was surrounded by very tall trees, few cars and houses that looked abandoned. Some of them even had yellow crime scene barricade tapes.

'How the spell did I get here?' she cursed inwardly. Recollecting the turns and steps she made, the turned to leave immediately, but she lost her balance when she ran into someone.

'Ssss,' she hissed in pain as she fell on her butt and bruised her palms on the ground. The wrist bead she wore broke and all the beads fell to the ground.

'I wasn't looking, I'm…,' she was still apologizing when she looked to see a familiar huge and shabby male figure. Her eyes were wide in shock and her body stiffen as she sat on the ground.

'Need help?' the man said with a smile that made Meghan even more alarmed.

'Uh…no, thank you.' She said nervously, standing up and dusting her back and hands. She held the hands of her bag at her sides and tried to quickly stride away from the man, at least until she could find somewhere she would teleport back home without being seen. As she was about to move, the man gripped her left arm so tightly that it hurt.

'You're coming with me,' he said, pulling her to his very soft torso.

'What do you want?' she shrieked in panic.

'I saw you do the thing with the apple at the market last week.' He smiled revealing his brown unhealthy teeth.

'What thing?' She asked trying to mask the distress she felt. His grip on her arm became even tighter.

'Ouch! You're hurting me!'

'Shut up!' He barked. His breath smelled like rancid milk.

He reached for his phone in his pocket and called someone.

'Yes, I've got her. We're at the Detroit Alley,' he said and then put the phone back in his pocket.

Meghan felt sudden slight pain in her chest and her heart beat raced.

Did he just say Detroit Alley?

Ashley had told her stories about this place.

'It's infamous for harbouring criminals like robbers, kidnappers, burglars and other crooks,' Ashley's voice reiterated in her mind. She had just led herself to her own doom. She was all alone in a street filled with criminals, with a criminal! The thought of more scoundrels capturing her made the situation even worse. What were they going to do with her?

'It was a magic trick.' She tried to convince him but once again he silenced her.

She usually didn't have to defend herself by fighting. She used magic and her instincts to solve her problems. She hated being helpless more than anything in the world. 'What would Bracha do?' she thought to herself. Giving little to no thought to what she was about to do, she stomped on the man's toes, hit his neck with her elbows, punched his abdomen and ran as fast as she could.

The man groaned, his neck and toes were hurting.

'Come back here bitch!' he cursed loudly as he ran after her.

Meghan was blocked by a yellow rickety car with tinted back windows. The driver puffed some out of his mouth and the guy at the passenger seat was lighting a cig. They wore matching leather jackets and face caps. Her eyes widened in shock. Instantly, she knew they were the maniac's back up.

'Gotcha!' the maniac said panting as he pulled her hair from behind.

'Ah!' Meghan cried in pain. Goosebumps filled her skin as she just realized what just happened. She felt mainly two things; weak and helpless. Her legs grew feeble and the pain the man was causing from pulling her hair was excruciating. She was out of breath and adrenaline ran through her veins, causing her chest to hurt.

The man on the passenger seat got out the car, laughing hysterically. He also had a horrible set of teeth and a horrid appearance. Seriously, what did these men have against hygiene? He walked towards her with a look that further made the witch feel uneasy in her stomach.

'We've struck gold. She's a pretty one.' He said rubbing her face with his rough fingers. Meghan stiffened. If only she could blind them and poof away.

'She look like the mermaid in that kids show. What's the name again?' he said furrowing his eyebrows and asking the one pulling her hair.

'Shut up and get her in the car.' He replied simply, loosening his grip on her hair.

The man brought out a black sack and covered her head with it.