When my eyelids flutter open I am assaulted by harsh florescent lights. I squint up at the ceiling before I attempt to sit up but fail because I am to dizzy. "I wouldn't do that Ami." I man says from across the room. I turn my head and look over at Chandler. The sight of him makes me want to throw up. "Fuck you." I hiss which earns me a harsh glare. "Speak one more time I dare you." "I'm not scared of you Chandler." He walks over and slaps me hard across the face causing me to wince but I don't give him the satisfaction of a whimper or a tear. He looks down at me smug. "Scared now?" "Not in the slightest." I lie and mentally brace myself for another slap that I don't receive. "You got brave Ami, I'll give you that but it's not going to get you anywhere." Chandler sneers at me. I scoff at his words. "Isn't it?" I ask as I pull my small hands out from under the claps that I have been loosening and jump at Chandler. He grunts as he hits the floor before I punch him with all I have in the throat. He grunts once again from pain before I grab his hair and smash his head against the ground. "Clearly it did." I whisper smugly and stand up and look around the room. I had been laying on a metallic table with ropes dangling off the edges. They are attached to the bottom of the table so I assume that's what they used to hold my hands down unsuccessfully. There is a second table off to the side of the room and it has my phone, my two bobby pins and my hair tie on it. I grab the hair tie first and pull my hair up and grab the bobby pins and out them in random spots of my hair so I don't lose them them I grab my phone and check for service. There isn't any so I'll just need to find some. I go to the door and twist the knob to find it locked so I go back to Chandler and reluctantly reach into his pocket and take out his key ring with a grand total of one key on it. I rush back over to the door and unlock it and slowly open it to see who is out in the hall. No one. The pristine white hall is completely empty so walk out into it and choose a direction and start walking. I walk straight for who knows how long before I reach the end of the hall where there is an unmarked door. I open it with the assistance of Chandler's key and peer inside. It is a stairwell so I choose to go up because I must be underground if I don't have service. I walk up and up and up until I reach the very top where there is a door on the ceiling. I reach up and come up short. I can't reach the door by a long shot so I look around the brightly lit landing for anything that can help but come up empty. What can you do? I think to myself then it dawns on me. If I am at the top there should be service right? I jerk my phone out of my phone and almost scream when I see I have reception. I call Calum right away but he doesn't pick up. I am deflated so I call Luke instead. "AMI?!" He sounds so hopeful. "Luke." I whisper in relief. I relax which is my first mistake. "It is so good to here your voice where are you?" I instinctively look around me then shake my head. "I have no clue but call the police, have them trace this call." I tense at the sound of feet pounding up the staircase and I look down but see no one. "Luke someone coming I have to go. I love you." Before he can say anything I hang up and run down to the last door I saw a flight of stairs down and unlock it. I don't hesitate to walk through it and shut it behind me. When I look around, I am surrounded by numbered doors. I start opening them one by one. Each leads to another hall. The 5th door opens to a hall with a light at the end and I instantly run down it in a rush when I hear the door of the stairwell jiggle as someone unlocks it. A man dressed in black with keys in hand bursts into the hallway after me and I am pushed forward my adrenaline and that's the only thing that allows my short legs to beat the man to the door. I open it in a blind rush and run out into the sunlight and keep running. Instantly I am surrounded by trees but I keep going. I push forward faster, faster until I find a tree with a low enough branch that I can climb without being suspected. I scramble up the tree and nestle myself high enough that no one of any real threat could reach me. "AMI?!" The man calls. "AMI I KNOW YOU'RE OUT HERE! YOU CAN'T KEEP HIDING FROM US!" I shudder but stay quiet when I am and pull out my phone to see 27 missed calls. I call Luke but I don't talk at all. I just let him listen to what the man is saying. Luke sounds worried but I keep the speaker the way it is and wait for the man to leave. "Ami?" Luke whispers when I finally put the phone to my ear. "Luke listen, call the police. Have them trace this so you can find me." "We already did and the police are on their way. How did you get away?" Luke sounds dead tired and broken. He also sounds hopeful. "I beat up Cha- the guy in my room and stole his keys and ran." I almost said Chandler's name and as much as I'd love for him to go under, I can't risk Amanda. I don't even know if she is still involved with him and Ella but I can take the chance. "You," Luke emphasizes the word 'you' before continuing. "beat up the big guy who kidnapped you?" Luke sounds as as though he is in disbelief. "You don't think I can?" I put as much mock offence into my whisper voice as I can. "Well..." Luke teases. "Look just stay where you are the cops are here and they want the phone. Make sure you tell them everything." I nod even though he can't see me and a new voice comes over the line. "Ami?" A woman asks. "Here." I whisper. "Okay where are you? Describe it to exact detail for me." I nod again and look around. "A forest. I'm up really high in a tree so I can't see very much. They are looking for me on the ground." My adrenalin is coming down now and I'm becoming shaky and scared. "Who is they?" The woman asks. "The men in black who took me." "Did you see any of their faces." There is a rustling of paper on the end of the line so I know she is going to write this down. "No they left masks on the whole time." I lied. My stomach twists making me shift my position in the tree. "Okay I need you to be very quiet now so we can hear your surroundings." I do as she says and also hold the phone away from my mouth so my breathing isn't in the way. About two minutes later I put it back to my ear. "Good job Ami. We know roughly where you are but we can't get there quickly so we need you to work with us." The lady on the other end explains her plan to me and has me whisper it back to her. "I'm hanging up now." I hear the click and end the call from my end as well before looking below me and listening for voices. There is no one around so I start to lower myself. When I get low enough, I hang my head down to see if there is anyone and there's no one. I start running in the opposite direction I came from and constantly stop to listen for any sounds. I puzzle over the fact that the guard that ran after me before I climbed the tree hasn't alerted anyone yet and neither has Chandler. I curse my inability so come up with answers before I pull myself up another tree to see roughly how close I am to my check point. As I near the top of the tree, my phone buzzes and I answer it. "Hel-" "AMI DO NOT LISTEN TO A WORD THE WOMAN SAID TO ON THE PHONE. HER NAME IS ELLA IF THAT MEANS ANYTHING TO YOU. DO NOT DO WHAT SHE SAYS." Morgan screams into the phone. I am shocked. "Ami?" She asks. "It okay. I'm half way there though. What do I do?" I am close to tears from frustration. Why the fuck do Ella and Chandler suddenly care so much about me? I can't give them anything and I refuse to hand my body out for Chandlers benefit. No thanks. "It'll be okay Ami. I promise it'll be okay." Morgans voice helps but I am still close to tears. "Where's Calum?" And my hands start to shake. "One of the guys hit him and he has been unconscious ever since." I let out a sob. "Shush Ami don't worry we will find you babe. I promise." I chock out another sob before sucking in a breath and making an affirmative sound into the phone. "Can you call the emergency number for LA? They are expecting you. Just say your name and they'll know what to do." I make the same sound but for saying goodbye and hanging up. Just as I'm about to call the emergency number, there are foot steps beneath me. I freeze and hit the call button, silently thanking myself for shutting off the clicks on my iPhone. A woman answers but I say nothing. I'm afraid to look below me as the sounds of crunching and snapping pine and twigs beneath feet approaches. "AMI!" Chandler drags out the end of my name. "I know you're out here. Ella told me. And she told me you have your phone. I'm going to have to take that back from you. I squeeze my eyes shut as he passes beneath me and hold my breath. He doesn't stop, pause or hesitate beneath me, only keeps walking. The lady who answered the phone is also quiet, listening only to what is happening. "Where are you my dear. You are mine after all. I raised you sweetie." I grit my teeth at his lie. Amanda raised me not a piece of scum who thinks in some twisted way he is my dad. I listen to his footsteps get lighter and lighter before I dare bring the phone to my ear to talk. "Hello?" I whisper. "Ami it's okay, okay?" The operator comforts. "We know where you are and we are going to send uniforms. Armed ones. I want you to start moving north but stay in the trees. You can take all the time you want okay?" I grunt affirmatively before listening for Chandler. He is coming back so I quiet down and hold the phone out again. "Ami come down from your tree." I look down to see him looking up at me. "Not a chance." I put my phone in my bra, still connected to the operator and I start moving what I think is north. Some of the branches are a bit iffy but I manage to place my feet in the correct places every time. My heart is in my throat and I can hardly breath as I look down to see Chandler casually following me. "It's no use Ami. I know you probably called your precious big brother but he can't do jack shit." "Why is that?" I humour him. "Because he is a scrawny, tone def, hormonal teenager." I scoff at his insults. "If you're going to be rude about my brother, come up with proper insults instead of phrases I would have used in third grade." "I taught you third grade." "Wow you're fucking stupid. Aman-" I stop myself because the operator is still on the line. "You didn't teach me anything." I quickly amend myself then continue my venture through the tree tops. I decide that I have moved far enough and make myself comfortable in the branches. "Tired Ami?" Chandler teases with venom in his voice. I laugh a little. "Nope I'm at my check point so I don't have to do anything and you can't do anything." I laugh at the sour face Chandler pulls and rest my feet up on the branches. "I can easily get you down." "How." I say sarcastically without even looking down. "Climbing up." "And breaking all the branches you fatass." Chandler lets out an angry roar before proving my point and breaking the lower branches in the tree as he tries to climb up. I laugh at his stupidity before pulling my phone from my shirt. "Hello?" I ask into my phone. "Ami it's not smart to provoke him." I sigh. "I'm sorry miss it's just that he has tormented me since I was four years old." "This is the man that held you on an island?" "Yes." I confirm and nod my head even though I know the woman on the other end cannot see me. "He and his wife Ella." There is the faint sound of clicking as the operator types information into her keyboard. "We have located you sweetie. I have sent police to come for you. I just need you to stay put okay?" "Okay miss. Can I call my brother back now?" "No we need you on the line so we can have your location." "Alright." I sigh and look down. Chandler is gone and I start to panic. Where would he have gone. I scan the forest floor frantically with my eyes before I finally spot movement from the tree next to me. Chandler managed to climb half way up the tree next to me but is struggling to get any higher worth such thin branches. My heart instantly goes into my throat as I struggle to stand again and almost fall. I leap over about eleven trees at a breakneck speed to get away from Chandler. The adrenalin from before has returned and I look back to see Chandler still struggling in the same place. I almost stop but I keep going until three trees later and my foot slips and I fall down. My exposed legs and arms sting the whole way down as the branches rake along my skin. The wind is knocked out me when I land flat on my back on the forest floor. I lay stunned before I hear footsteps con wing towards me and even then I can't find it in me to stand up. I hear my name faintly coming through the speaker of my phone when someone squats down next to me and takes my body into their arms. I try and open my eyes but I can't. For the first part if the walk I thought it was Chandler then I payed attention to who was holding me and I knew it wasn't. "Amanda?" I squeak our but she hushes me. "Don't worry Ami. I got here as soon as possible but we need to do now. I talked to the lady on the phone and we need to meet them somewhere." I nod and try again to open my eyes but don't succeed. Amanda carries me for about another 20 minutes before I start to hear commotion around us. I panic because at first, I thought it was behind us but it's actually in front. Amanda hushes me when she senses my emotions and continues her brisk pace forward into a group of people. Shouting people. "WOULD YOU GUYS MOVE SHE NEEDS MEDICAL CARE." Amanda shouts and I wince at the added noise. Our surrounding quiet down a bit and Amanda carries on forward and sets me down on a blanket by the feel of it. I am to tired to try and grab for her and I fall asleep almost as soon as I fall back onto the blanket. When I open my eyes, I'm lain on an uncomfortable bed and for a moment, I think I am back with Chandler but as I look around, I realize I'm just in a hospital. There are sleeping people haphazardly strewn about the room. Calum is on a chair pulled close to the side of the bed and he is keying with his head on the bad and his hand is grasping mine. Luke is on the other side of the bed and Morgan is sleeping curled up next to Ashton. Michael is no where to be seen. I shake Calum and his hard slowly pops up and his eyes widen when he realizes I'm awake. Instead of saying anything, I pull on his hand so that he comes closer to me and kiss him. He responds immediately and kisses me back. "I missed you." He whispers when we pull apart. "I was only gone for a day." I say with a slight smile. "You were gone five days before you called us then you have been unconscious for two days." I raise an eyebrow. He must be kidding. Turn and poke Luke until he wakes up. "Luke how long was I gone?" He sleepily repeats everything Calum says and I lay back on the bed to contemplate. "How did this even happen." I want to curl up into a ball but there is an IV in my arm and a cast on my leg. "What did I do?" I ask and point at the hulking white plaster cast encasing my leg. "You fell out of a tree." Calum smirks a bit. "You were running from some guy and you fell." I grin because he is right, it is silly sounding. "Don't I get to pick a colour to go around this?" I ask Luke. "Yeah you get that today then since you've been out so long they are going to do some tests then we get to leave." I sigh. "At least I didn't have to deal with hospital food." Calum cracks a smile and I giggle. "Can someone go get a doctor then?" I ask and Calum volunteers his services. "So what actually happened. None of the bullshit you told people on the phone." Luke says when Calum turns the corner. "Who the hell is Amanda and Chandler and Emma and why did Chandler take you to a place for prostitution?" I sigh and look away from look, finding the window interesting. "Ami." Luke says and I look over at him. "They're who I stayed on the island with but Amanda took me away from the island to you." Luke looks taken aback by my abruptness. "Look Luke, I just want to forget this and I want to go back to being silly with you guys." "I feel that Calum is going to get 'silly' with your crutches." Luke wiggles his eyebrows as he says it and I laugh obnoxiously loud and Morgan and Ashton both wake up. Morgan comes over right away and starts fussing with my hair and face. "God dammit are you okay?" She looks at me with genuine worry written on her face. I smile. "I will be as long as I don't have to eat hospital food." "But you've never had it before?" She looks at my with her head tilted to the side a little. "And I don't want to have it now because both books and movies make it sound terrible." She laughs and hugs me. "Okay Ami let's go." The doctor smiles as she walks into the room with Calum in tow. I look at her like she is stupid as she clues in that I can't go anywhere. "Okay hold on." She rushes out of the room and comes back with a wheel chair. I grin and allow Calum to pick my up and plop me in the chair. "Mare you guys later." I wink and allow the doctor to wheel me out of the room. We are stopped, however by police who want to talk to me. "Ask her the questions here and quick we need to go to get tests done." The doctor says impatiently. The two tall men proceed to have me explain everything everything I remember. "We will be in touch." Is all they say before walking off. "Weird." "Yeah anyways let's go." The doctor nods and pushes me to a room where they take my blood pressure weight and do a physical assessment. Then I choose black for my cast and the doctor that pushed me here pushed me back and gave my a silver Sharpie marker when we arrived. "You need to get her crutches downstairs. They'll be 20 dollars or something like that alright. Have a nice time." Then she walks out and I shrug. Calum comes and pushes my wheelchair out of the room and everyone follows. We go through the process of paying for the crutches and filling out papers before getting to actually leave. There is a black can waiting for us. "Where is Mikey?" I ask and turn to Luke. "He is at the house. He couldn't sleep in the room." Oh I nod my head and allow Calum to help me into the roomy can. When we return to the house all I really want to do is sleep. But first, I grab my phone and keek. "So I broke my leg guys." I say as I turn my phone so they can see. "Ummm... I feel out of a tree...." "BECAUSE SHE'S A DOOFUS!" Calum calls from the kitchen. "Shut up Calum." I say and end the keek. At least now fans won't be so confused as to why I disappeared for so long.
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