Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must, just never ever no matter what the circumstance ever give up. 

It felt like my heart stopped beating. My entire body trembled, and I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat. "H-how did you find me?" I stutter out. He throws me to the corner, banging my head against the wall. Pain shot through me, but I pretended not to notice. 

He laughs humorlessly. "It wasn't hard." He had scars all over his face and hands. I wondered if any of them were from Jake beating the shit out of him. It wasn't Derek, thank god. I wouldn't have been able to handle that. I can barely handle things as they are. Heck, I've already lost control. Nothing is going as I planned. 

"Where is my necklace?" I manage to ask with pure detestation in my voice. I hated this man more than anything else in existence. I still couldn't believe after all these years, all those nightmares and sleepless nights caused by him, and here I am face to face with him in the same room. The man that ruined my life. 

"Oh..." He holds something up in front of me, just enough distance away so I couldn't grab it. "You mean this?"

My necklace. In his hands. The hands that held the gun that shot my parents and boyfriend. I glare at him and reach for it in a swift movement. 

"What do you want from me!?" I scream when he yanks it away. 

"Shut up. Be quiet or I'll do exactly what I did to your parents," he threatens. Tears streamed down my face as he kicked me in the face. I held my hand to my chin where the toe of his shoe had just collided. 

"You bastard," I spit out.

"You sentenced me to a life of brutality years ago," he says, getting close to my face. I looked at him with no sympathy whatsoever. I despised this man. I wanted him to burn in hell forever. He sent me a glare as he stared me down. "You deserve to feel the pain that I did. Sitting in jail all those years. I was beaten." His hand smacked across my face and I winced in pain.

Where are the cops when you need them? I'm sure they're on their way. Who knows anymore? Austin said they would be at the apartment waiting, but they're not. God only knows what else he's lied about just to make me feel safer. 

"I was treated like a piece of trash," he says, punching me across my jaw. I held my hand to my face to try and ease the pain. It didn't work. When I pulled my hand back it was covered in blood. He didn't look even close to being finished. I leaned back and shut my eyes. 

I never should have done this...

***Niall’s Point of View***

I was still sitting and staring at the phone. I couldn't sleep last night, and the bags were now fully formed under my eyes. I was exhausted, but I felt if I went to sleep she would call. Something would happen, and I would be asleep for it. I hate this. I want to know what's going on. 

Suddenly, an idea popped in my head. An idea I hadn't thought of. She's not alone, right? Her brother and her sister are there too. 

I can't believe I hadn't thought of this earlier. 

***Austin’s Point of View***

I opened my eyes and looked around. For a moment I didn't remember where I was and had a sudden urge of panic. Then the events of last night came back to me and I recognized Claire's big blue eyes staring at me. 

"Austin?" she says curiously. I sit up and wipe the sleep from my eyes. 

"Yeah?" I ask, still waking up. 

"What does this say?" she asks, handing me a sheet of folded up paper. I unfolded it and read it over. 

Austin and Claire,

I'm sorry. I know you won't be happy when you read this. You will probably be angry and worried. I've gone back to the apartment. I'm sorry Austin, but I'm not letting that man get my necklace. If the cops are there then they will keep me safe. I'll be okay. I will try to get in and out as fast as possible, but I'm not sure how long I will be gone for. Don't come after me. I can handle things on my own. 

Love, Alexis

 My heart stopped. "W-where did you find this?" I ask Claire. She pointed to Lexi's bed, and I started to panic. I rushed to get Claire ready and grabbed our bags. I checked out as fast as I possibly could from the hotel and ran outside to the car. Claire was confused, but I had no time to explain. 

This can't be happening. No no no. Is she trying to get herself killed?! She's insane! Oh my god...this has to be a prank or something. Nah, it can't be. Who jokes about something like this?!

I drove way over the speed limit. Even at the highest speed I felt like it wasn't fast enough.

Come on, come on, come onnnnn! LET'S GO! Ughh.... 

My sister is in danger. There's not a single second to spare. 

My phone rang from the passenger seat. "Claire, can you hit answer, and put it on speaker for me?" I ask her as nicely as I could. It sounded more like an order in my stressed out state. I can't believe Lex pulled a move like this.... 

"It's Nialler!" she says happily. 

"Hello?" Niall's Irish voice rang out. 

"Hey Ni, can't talk now man. Sorry." 

"It's really quick. Is Alexis okay? She won't answer her phone, and I'm seriously freaking out." 

 "Her phone is from the UK. Doesn't get service in America unless it's at my place."

"Oh. Well is she okay?"

I bite my lip. "Umm....Can I get back to you on that?”

"Wait, what?! What's going on?" I could hear the worry and panic in his tone. 

"There's been a....situation. She's in danger, but I'm handling it." 

"What do you mean she's in danger?!" 

"It's a long story. I'll call you back later." I pressed end and thanked Claire for picking it up. 

"Where's Lexiboo?" Claire asks, completely oblivious. 

"You know that scary man we talked about?" I asked her in the best friendly tone I could manage. I think even she could hear the panic in my voice. She nods her head anyway. "Well I think he might be with Lexi right now. I'm not sure though, so we have to go there and save the day just in case," I try to explain. She thinks, but doesn't say anything as I race against the clock.

I could hear my phone ringing over and over. I wish I could tell Niall something to calm him down, but nothing came to my mind unless I wanted to lie to him. Poor guy. Must be worried sick. 

I hope I get there before it's too late. God, I hope she's okay. She has to be okay. She's Lexi. She's a fighter. 

***Lexi’s Point of View***

I sat in the corner, shaking so violently I didn't think it was possible. I made a few attempts to fight back, jabbing at him a few times, but I failed. I was sitting beaten in the corner. My limp body couldn't move. He wouldn't even need to shoot me at this point. I would probably die anyways. 

"Where are the cops?" I choke out, clutching my bleeding shoulder. 

"Ha! I lost them when I reached California. There's no one left to help you." He grins evilly and backhands me across the face. 

Blood trickled down my face, and I had cuts and bruises on my arms and legs. I probably looked like a zombie. I was too weak to call for help. I was too crippled to reach for my phone sitting only a few feet away. I saw it light up as the killer took another blow at my gut, knocking the air right out of me. I glanced at my phone again and heard it buzzing as Niall's picture appeared. His smiling face and his happy glow couldn't even brighten my mood at this point. 

I wanted to answer it. I slowly lifted my arm and reached for it, but a heavy foot came crashing down and I heard a loud crack. I screamed in pain as my arm burned. "Fuck you," I say through all my shaking and tears. He smirked at me and came real close to my ear. 

"You deserve this. Every second of it," he whispers in my ear. 

"Get....the fuck....away....from me," I spit at him through clenched teeth. I somehow gain the strength to lift my foot and send a weak kick at his stomach. He stepped back groaning, but I was sure I hadn't done any real damage. He quickly recovered and started laughing like a mad man. 

"How cute. You still think you can make it through this. I have news for you. This day is your last. It's time to stop fighting. Give up," he says, spitting on my face as he talked. Anger filled his eyes. Rage. Hate. 

"I don't give up," I spit back. A creepy grin spread across his face, and he picked up my phone. I would have tried to stop him, but my arm couldn't move. It was like I'd lost all feeling. He put it on speaker as he answered. 

"Hello? Alexis?! Oh my gosh! Thank god you're okay! I've been freaking out, and you haven't answered! Are you okay? Austin said he wasn't sure, and I didn't know what to think....Hello?" Niall says, relief flooded his voice. "Alexis?" now he sounded worried. His voice sent tears down my cheeks. I glared at the killer, and he smirked back. 

"Alexis isn't available at the moment," the man says into the phone. 

"Who is this?" Niall asks, slightly scared but more outraged than anything. 

"That's not something you need to know. You just need to know that if you or anyone else comes anywhere near here then you won't see Alexis again," he replies, still smirking. 

"What the hell? Am I supposed to believe that?" Now Niall sounded a lot more scared, but I could tell he was trying to be strong. Brave. For me. 

The man lifted his foot, and I shut my eyes, waiting for the impact. He stepped on my broken arm again, and I cried out in pain. I tried to hold it in, but I couldn't. I didn't want Niall to hear me hurting. 

"Alexis?!" he cries into the phone.

"Niall! Don't come here! Stay where you are!" I tell him, struggling to be heard with my low and scratchy voice. I didn't want him anywhere near this terrible man. He would die. 

"Don't touch her! If you lay another fucking finger on her I swear to God you are going to regret it!" Niall threatens into the phone, sounding a lot more ferocious than I had ever heard him before. More tears rolled down my cheeks. 

"No promises," the man says, hanging up and tossing my phone onto the floor behind him, way out of my reach. He started laughing to himself. What a crazy ass bastard. I hope he dies a slow and painful death. He deserves it. 

"You're a terrible person," I say through clenched teeth, trying to stay as strong as I possibly could. All these words earned me was another punch in the gut. I groaned in pain. This was never going to end. 

He pulled out his gun. "You miss your parents, don't you?" he asks, examining his black pistol. "Your boyfriend?" He reloads it. "I'm sure you want to see them again...." He smiles at me. It was a creepy, deranged smile. It gave me chills. "Would you tell them I say hi?" he asks, still smiling as he points the gun at me. 

This is it. I'm going to die. Today I'm leaving Claire and Austin. I'm leaving Niall. I'm leaving the boys, my friends, my fans. I'm going the same way my parents had. The same way Jake had. 

Today I'm giving up. 

AUTHORS NOTE

omg :O im not even gonna give any hints.... what do you think will happen? by the way the last chapter got SO MANY comments. Like more than any of my other chapters have in such a short time. I read them all and I LOVED them. they all made me smile like a fool and do a little happy dance XD Just don't forget to vote!!! PLEASE!! this story will be ending soon btw...just a warning so when I end it you arent all like WHAT? XD There will be an epilogue, so yeah. you will know when it ends(: i love you poptarts<333 thank you so much for reading and im glad you enjoy it(: