41 Abducted

Silence hung heavy in the air. Michelle's hands rested on the steering wheel of the parked car. Waze sat in the passenger seat staring out the front window at the group of men loitering in the parking lot. Her eyes lingered on the black Lincoln Navigator that they leaned on. Waze could feel her heart hammering in her ears, and assumed the others probably felt the same. Sable, Cassidy, and Byrd sat in the back seat. They were all waiting for someone to make the first move.

All of the girls were dressed in their nicest attire that was still comfortable and easy to move in. Alec had drilled them on the layouts of Westgate all afternoon, they knew the place inside and out. Now it was just time to get there. Michelle was to leave the keys to her car on the inside of the front, left tire. Alec would come pick it up tomorrow morning.

"We can do this, you guys. We'll be fine. Just follow the plan." Waze clenched her fists.

"Let's do this." Cassidy popped open the car door and the others followed her lead. They hopped out of the car and Michelle tucked the keys under the tire. They were really doing this. Waze took a deep breath.

"So I started watching this new series last night, it's really good! You guys should totally check it out." Waze started up some small talk as they made their way over to the men. She made sure to talk loudly, so that they could definitely hear her. Waze glanced at the men and did her best not to freeze in her foot steps.

She knew that face. It was the man with the skin-hardening ability that Waze had broken her foot on. Waze wasn't the only one who recognized him, she could feel Cassidy stiffen beside her. The man seemed to recognize Waze too, and he set down his drink and walked over to the group of girls, the others following behind him.

"What are pretty ladies like you doing out here this late at night?" The man grinned. He had a buzz cut and tattoos covering his head. He wore a pair of dark sunglasses along with a black tank top and jeans. Waze could clearly see the E tattoo on his upper arm. She tried not to let her eyes linger on it for too long.

The girls were doing a good job of looking scared. In reality, they all were fairly terrified but in a different way than how they were letting on. They weren't scared of getting kidnapped, they were scared of what getting kidnapped would be like. But Waze could feel her heart settling in to a rhythm and she took a deep breath. They were literally aiming for the worst case scenario, so this really wouldn't be that bad. She just had to get beat up a bit. They all had to make sure they were careful not to get seriously injured, they'd decided to let the men land a few pseudo hits and go out easy. They could fake injuries easily, it would make things go smoother. Waze put on the most uncomfortable face she could.

"We just needed to stop by the gas station." Waze pointed a shaky finger at the gas station across the lot. Perfect, she was putting on a good show. The others were as well. Waze started to step in that direction, only to find the men had surrounded them.

"We should probably get going boys... we've gotta let our family know that we're not staying over at our friends house tonight." Michelle gave the men a weak smile.

Perfect. Make them believe we were easy targets. Cassidy was up next.

"We're all high steps, you know. It's probably best if you leave us alone." Though it sounded like a threat, it was really an invitation. They were practically painting the target onto their backs.

"High steps, huh?"

"Perfect. Just what we're looking for."

"They're cuties, too."

"Boss'll be psyched."

"What a haul!"

Waze suppressed a grin. It was perfect. The plan was going exactly how they wanted.

"We should go." Sable turned to leave before a man pushed her back toward the center.

"Now, now don't try and run away sweetie. Just come with us and everything will be fine."

"If you want us that bad, you're gonna have to fight for it," Waze said. They couldn't give up immediately, it would seem suspicious. They couldn't really bank on the fact that Ebony hadn't found out about their research, or that Ella hadn't told anyone anything.

"Fine, girlies." The man grinned. "Get em'!"

It took everything in Waze not to expertly dodge their every move. Waze whipped out of the way of a few face shots, before taking a hit square in the gut. Though she had prepared herself, it still hurt like hell. Waze crumpled into a kneeling position. She glanced around to see the other girl's fights going similar. No one was too hurt, everyone was feigning injuries. Waze had to focus on her fight, though. She had to make this perfect. It was time to use her ability, to show she was really was a high step.

Waze channeled her energy into her fist, and felt it glow blue before swinging it full force towards the man. She moved her fist to the side at the last second and pretended she had missed. She wasn't breaking another bone on this asshole. He laughed before wrapping his arms around her. Waze struggled half heartedly. She probably could've easily gotten out of his grip, but that wasn't what she wanted to do. She looked around at the others.

Everyone else was in similar situations. Sable looked ready to kill, and Byrd was on the verge of tears. Cassidy was putting on the perfect show, floundering around perfectly. Michelle was too. Taking hits without really getting hurt, the girls crumpled to the ground.

The man brought a towel around Waze face and Waze struggled even harder. She could feel her vision going black from whatever drug coated the towel. As she lost consciousness, she saw her friends falling around her in similar ways. Slowly, the world went dark.