1

"Lexi, I think some weird guys are chasing us," I tapped my friend's arm slyly. She rolled her eyes in surprise, "Calm down, I told you going this way wasn't a good idea, but now just listen to me and pay attention," I whispered, as we continued walking down the street we had unfortunately decided to take to get back to the university.

By touch I could feel how loud my best friend's breathing had become, as well as my own. We were tied by the arms.

For some reason it had felt right for us to go out alone to a nightclub that had just opened in town, since my boyfriend had gone on a trip and I didn't have to worry about him, however, at that moment, I was questioning if I did wrong.

"Are you sure about what you're saying, Evie?, what do we do?," she murmured gravely, uneasily.

"First, you have to calm down, they can't realize we're scared or they might attack us," I said and she didn't seem too convinced of what I was saying, "We have to do something, we're alone," I sighed heavily, seeing that the buildings around us were mostly off, as were the stores I managed to recognize.

Why me, knowing the risks of going out alone in the middle of the night, where the moon is at its highest point and people in the eighth sleep, without the possibility of having witnesses or a savior being to protect us at a time like that?

I was supposed to be working as a criminalist, I was supposed to know them all; the ways in which people died or disappeared according to all the cases I had had to read in two long years of career.

"Like what?, run?, there's no one," her voice trembled and I immediately noticed she was starting to cry, even though she was making an attempt to calm down, "We're going to die, Evie."

"No, it won't happen," I sighed stressed, "I brought the gear I bought online for personal protection, but we could get away unscathed if I knew how many there were."

"How many?, is it more than two?," she looked at me horrified.

• Omniscient Narrator -

The brown-haired woman, had all her senses on alert due to the dangerous situation she was in, as if her survival instinct had been activated. Although nothing like this had ever happened to her before, she had prepared herself mentally to face it, even buying some tools that could help her escape from any dangerous situation.

What she did not know, however, was that her current situation, like that of her best friend, was coldly calculated, that their escape was only a worst-case scenario.

Evie, in the midst of trying to calm her friend and herself, noticed through the reflection of a car that one of them was dangerously close and was about to take them by surprise, however, she was more skillful and turned on the taser she had in her hand.

As soon as he decided to attack, she turned around being driven by fear and plunged the electricity of the device into the man's neck, at the same time she screamed with her friend for the reaction of the moment.

As soon as the man fell to the ground, his breath hitched and his hands were shaking, while her friend didn't even know where she had been.

She didn't have time to think, when her friend pushed her to make her realize that her torment didn't end there.

Two more men, surprised by Evie's bravery and angry at the same time at why he was knocked unconscious, moved to attack them.

"Lexi, run!" the chestnut shouted and they turned to flee as if being chased by the soul of death. Though in that plan, it seemed no different to them; the imminent risk they both felt, from knowing so many ways to die due to the information they gathered daily, was one more urge to beg to be saved.

At a corner they stopped for a second to catch their breath, but the redhead had to take off her high shoes to run.

"I can't anymore, Evie," she said, sweating, as if her lungs were going to burst out in a huff.

"No, Lexi. I think we should split up. Don't stop running, until you're safe, yeah?"," she grabbed her friend by the face so she could see her, "I'm obviously more athletic than you, I can distract them and you get a safe place."

"What? Are you crazy? They'll get you, I'm not going to leave you alone."

"If we go on together, we'll both get caught and it would be the same as having done nothing. You have to go and call the police, I'll keep them busy," she told him quickly, before changing direction, drawing the men's attention.

"No, Evie," growled in a whisper her friend, who filled with panic and fear couldn't stop herself from crying. However, she was surrounded by the arriving men.

She covered her mouth trying to hold back her sobs so they wouldn't hear her, as she watched them go after her friend.

She stayed on the ground for a second, before grabbing her cell phone and dialing the emergency number. However, in the process of the call advising her location and what was happening, she was not alone.

They could see her through all the cameras that were in the area, as they calculated that this would be the area in which they would pass, so Lexi fell unconscious after being hit in the neck by a gun, sending the cell phone several meters away from her even with the call.

On the other hand, the brunette was still running through the sea of cars that were parked in front of the residential buildings, where no one around could know that this was happening.

Evie had been a gymnast since childhood, plus her parents had instilled martial arts in her, so her physique was unsurpassed and the agility with which she ran, surpassed that of the men who followed her.

However, she did not expect that this kidnapping was not just a coincidence, but was planned by the person she trusted the most.

One of the guys grabbed her by the hair as she tried to escape, but she buried a small knife hidden in a key and climbed on top of the cars without caring about the problems, especially that their alarms would alert the residents and what she needed was to give her friend enough time to call the police.

What she never thought she would have to do to survive was happening and she could not believe that her parents' insistence was paying off; the agility with which she avoided obstacles and the agility with which she escaped surprised her in such a tense moment.

"Jum," grunted the man, watching the cameras, "Your little girlfriend came out more agile than you expected," he asked raising an eyebrow, towards Mauro, who was tensing his jaw in annoyance, "But don't worry, that makes her more valuable. I thought you were going to let me down again, but I see you did your job well," he got up from the chair he was sitting in and grabbed him by the shoulders from behind, "They'll offer an incredible payout for her on the market, after they see these recordings."

The blond swallowed saliva, as soon as Evie was surprised by more than five men as she turned a corner, where she planned to hide to rest.

She shook as much as she could, but in the end it didn't work, she was knocked unconscious.