The sound of keys jingling snaps me out of my daydream.

And yes, I'm dreaming about Ryan Gosling while being locked up in a creepy room by Batman and Ninja Turtle.

Sue me.

The wooden door in front of me opens slowly with a screeching sound.

I expected many things.

The guys from previous with new loaded guns?

Yes.

Some hot dude playing superman like it happens in movies?

Yes.

Maybe even Ryan Gosling shirtless.

But what I didn't expect in a million years was a hesitant Karin looking at me with a scared face.

My jaw drops as my brain tries to process the information.

"Hi." She squeaks out and takes a nervous step towards me.

Glancing outside nervously as if she's worried someone would come, she hurriedly rushes towards me and starts untying the ropes around my wrists and ankles.

I'm still in too much shock to speak so I just gape at her.

What is she doing here?

Why is she helping me?

And why does she look guilty?

"K-Karin?" I ask her wide eyed as the rope slips down from around my wrist. I twist my wrists a few times to get the blood flowing.

Damn, my hands look paler than Edward Cullen.

She doesn't answer me while she undoes the knot around my ankles.

With a nod of her head, she ushers me out to follow her.

"Wait, Karin!" I grab her arm to stop her, "What are you-"

"We don't have time!" she snaps at me, "Please. I'll... Just follow me quietly for now if you don't want your brain to become a mashed potato on the floor."

Shutting my mouth, I nod.

I may act stupid at times...well all the time.

But I know when was the time to shut up.

She grabs my arm and drags me behind her. Outside the creepy room is a narrow corridor that stretched both ways. She looks around as if to check if someone is coming, then she pulls me with her to the left. We jog down the corridor, our light footsteps being the only sound in the dim lit place. Cardboard boxes and wooden crates are lined up on both sides.

I wonder what's in those.

Cotton candy and Ice cream probably.

Really?!

That was sarcasm you idiot!

I see a dead end in front of me and throw her backside a confused look.

Please don't tell me she's going to put her hand on a flat surface and then magically a door will appear out of no where.

It's isn't X-Men for God's sake!

Surprising me she comes to a sudden halt.

I almost smack right into her.

Shooting me an annoyed look, she starts shoving a wooden crate on our right with her shoulder.

Well, tries to anyway. Since the wooden crate is at least 5 feet high and she has the body thinner than that of a stick.

"What are you doing?" I whisper to her.

"Shut up and see," she mumbles as she keeps shoving it. It makes a screeching sound because of the friction between the ground and it's surface, but that's it.

Rolling my eyes, I grab her shoulder and pull her away. "You shut up and see."

I place both of my hands on the flat surface and with all my strength, push it.

"Push, push, push," she chants from beside me.

"I'm not giving birth you bitch!" Shooting her an annoyed look, I grunt.

Making another screeching sound, the crate slowly moves to the other side, revealing a small vent on the wall.

And when I say small, I mean small.

It doesn't even reach my knees.

I turn to look at Karin with a smug look. "And that's why you should've ate all those ice creams."

Giving me a sarcastic smile, she crouches down and peeks inside the vent. "It's clear. Now get inside."

I blink at her. "What?"

She glares up at me. "Are you deaf? I said get inside it."

I glance down at my body and then at the tiny vent. And then repeat the process once again.

"Are you crazy?" I stare at her incredulously. "I can't get in there! Just look at me!"

She slaps her hand on her forehead. "Oh, lord help me. And that's why you shouldn't have ate all those ice creams."

I shoot her the nastiest glare I can muster.

Taking a deep breath, I crouch down beside her.

Putting my hands before me to support myself, I peek inside the vent with a dejected look.

Oh God.

What, just what have I done to deserve this?

Hmm...reading smut on Wattpad, checking out hot guys on Google, lying to your parents, drinking, dancing like a maniac-

Okay, okay I get it!

I turn to look at Karin, probably to whine again, but stop myself when I see the look on her face.

She's staring at the ground beneath us while biting her lip.

I know that look all too well.

It's the look I have when I'm stopping myself from crying.

"Karin?" I ask softly as I put a hesitant hand on her shoulder.

Surprising me, she doesn't push it away.

"Why?" I gently ask, "Why are you helping me?"

She lets out a sigh shakingly and turns to look me in the eyes. "Because I was the one who cause it."

I freeze.

She....?

She's the one?

But isn't she Ryder's friend?

My mind drifts back to our conversation earlier. I didn't give Ryder a chance to explain himself. Would things have been different if I did?

Maybe.

Probably.

Casting a look at her eyes, I decide that I'm not making the same mistake again.

No matter who it is, they always deserve their side of the stories to be heard too.

"Explain."

Her jaw falls open slightly as her eyebrows shoot up to the sky. Her face clearly tells me that she really didn't expect me to listen to her instead of slapping her across the cheek.

After looking at me for a while, she sighs and looks down.

It's silent for a moment. Just when I'm about to give up, she whispers out, "I had always been in love with Ryder. But he had never seen me as something other than his friend....I did everything I could to get his attention. Wear skimpy dresses, go out with his friends, date different guys on different days. Everything. But he never showed even the tiniest signs of being jealous. Then after Aaron died he just looked so distraught and distant.... And then one night I finally had the chance to comfort him."

I gulp, "Comfort him?

I do not like the sound of that.

She averts her gaze from me, "Yeah, you know? Comfort him."

Oh God.

Oh fucking God.

Closing my eyes, I try to erase the mental image of a naked Ryder and Karin that my mind has decided to conjure.

Let me tell you.

A naked Ryder?

Heaven.

A naked Karin?

Warning that you're starting to swing in the other direction.

Now a mix of both of them?

More traumatic than the death scenes in Final Destination.

"But he said it was all a mistake."

My eyes snap open.

"What?"

She sighs sadly, "He was extremely pissed at himself. Saying that he bad ruined our friendship in a drunken haze. No matter how hard I tried to convince him that he was the one that was drunk, not me, he still wouldn't budge. He was just that convinced that we could never be anything else other than friends."

I stay silent and just let her continue.

She starts drawing a smiley face on the dusty pavement absentmindedly, "So I went along. I accepted that it was just a drunken mistake. Shortly after, the situation with the gangs got worse. So he left. And I didn't see him for two years. But when he came back...."

She glances at me, "I realized that he was already head over heels for you."

My jaw drops.

What.

The.

Hell.

I start shaking my head vigorously, "No! You're-"

"I don't have time to be your love guru," she snaps at me, "Do you want to listen to my story or not?"

Pursing my lips, I nod at her to continue.

She sighs, "You can't imagine how hard it was for me. To trail after your friend for so long only to realize that he was already in love with someone else. I was so.... pissed."

Clenching her fists she looks down, "I was so fucking pissed at him. At you. At life. Everything. But mostly I was pissed at myself. Because I knew that I had no right to be pissed. Specially since you were such an amazing person. So much... such a better person than slutty old me."

In that moment, I start seeing Karin in a whole different light. She isn't only a fake plastic barbie with manicured nails and clothes too short for a six year old.

She's also human.

A human who has fallen in love, gotten her heart broken and has insecurities.

Is she really any different from me?

Do I really have the right to judge her?

Do any of us do?

"So I made a deal with the devil...also known as Jay Wilson. That if he took you away, Ryder would be devastated. And he'll have his revenge."

And there goes the moment right out of the window.

I shoot her a nasty glare, "Why you-"

"But I didn't know!" she bites her lip, "I didn't know that he was going to kill you."

"What did you think he was going to do?" I ask sarcastically, "Marry me and then ship me off to Alabama?"

She opens her mouth to defend herself but thinks better of it at the last moment. Dropping her head, she sighs, "I know...I fucked up. I'm sorry. I was just so blinded with rage! I didn't know what I was doing. He was planning to kill Ryder's mother at first. That's why he went to Ryder's house. But fortunately it was you that he found."

"Yes, fortunately."

All pieces of the puzzle seems to fit right in the place.

All pieces but one.

"Then why didn't they kill me on the spot?" I ask her confused.

Don't get me wrong. I'm ecstatic that I'm alive but it made no sense. Why bring me all the way out of here when they could've just killed me right then and there?

Unless...

My eyes widen.

She nods at me sadly, "I didn't know it till it was too late either. Jay is such a manipulative and vile man that he had managed to manipulate even me too. You were never the one that was suppose to die. You were just the bait."

A terrifying fear cripples me with it's vines.

"You mean to say...?"

"Yeah," she looks at me directly in the eye, "It was Ryder who is supposed to be killed. That's why I'm getting you out before he comes. After all it's going to take a lot of time to only figure it who has kidnapped you. So if you hurry, you can reach him before he comes-"

Oh shit.

Oh shit shit shit.

My phone....My call...

Shit.

I have already told Sam who did what. And I don't have a single doubt that she's already on her way here...with Ryder.

"Lisa?" Karin looks at me weirdly, "Are you oka- Never mind that. We've already wasted more than enough time. Get into this vent and crawl through it till you reach the end-"

Suddenly the sound of a gun shot rings, shaking the entire place around to it's core.

"Oh no," Karin whispers out softly, "We're too late."

No matter how much I try to deny it, somewhere in my heart, I know.

I know that something terrible has happened.

had