"What do you think he's doing now?" came a shout from a back bedroom.

"Too much information!" Madison shouted back, grinning from ear to ear.

"See ya!" She went and grabbed her bags and hauled them up to the front door. Sasha was at a student council meeting and Billy was at the station. Most everyone else had gone to watch Heda play. She wished they'd been here to see her off, but life went on. She made sure that everything was in order in her room, then headed outside.

"Ms. Sloan," said Mr. Vern as he got out his large black SUV. Mr. Vern had been the primary recipient of Madison's verbal tirade when she had found out that her father had hired private security for her without her knowledge or consent. It turned out that he was a very nice man, and he treated Madison with respect. And a little fear.

After all, she had thrown things at his SUV and come up with some creative insults.

“Hey Vern, I need to meet up with someone for a bit. I promised him that I'd be available to talk, so is it okay if we leave a bit early?"

"Your wish, as always, is my command."

“You know, I'm not seeing you right now, but I'm pretty sure that you just bowed and are silently laughing at me."

"Me? Never."

"Get my bags, Vern."

"Yes ma'am. And where are we going?"

She gave him an address on campus. It would be mostly deserted today, so parking would not be a problem. Mr. Vern was calling in their activity when the car pulled up next to the medical center. Madison saw Detrius sitting on a wall out front. He looked up and seemed temporarily alarmed. Madison rolled down her window as he approached.

“Hey, hope you haven't been waiting long," she said.

Detrius just stared at her for a second.

“Long enough. You . . . you brought someone. I didn't think you'd bring someone.”

Madison felt bad for the guy. Madison had found the first victim of the kidnapper, and Detrius had found the second. She had promised him that she would be available to talk if he was feeling freaked out, and he appeared to be freaked out.

"I know. He can wait here if you want to have a Little more privacy. I can't stay long, but --"

"I'm sorry," Detrius interrupted, looking from her to Vern and then back.

"No, it's okay. I promised I'd come, and here I am."

"No, I'm sorry that you're going to have to stay," he whispered.

Suddenly he whipped a strange looking gun out from the back of his pants and fired twice at Mr. Vern. Two darts came out, one embedding itself in Vern's neck and the other in his arm. Vern literally froze in place, his face a mask of anger and surprise.

"“Detrius?!" Madison yelped, trying to push the dart gun away while rolling the window back up. Detrius's other hand shot through and punched Madison hard in the jaw. She released the gun, and she felt blood dribbling down her chin from her busted lip. She pushed her way across the seat towards Vern's unmoving body, kicking the door with both feet.

Detrius had started to open the door, so it wound up flying into his face when Madison kicked it. He stumbled backward while she reached for Vern's phone. She had dialed 911 when she felt something impact the side of her leg. She tried to turn and look, but nothing happened. She could not move her body . . . not even her eyes. A chill had erupted in her blood, and she felt like she was dying. She tried to shift, but her body ignored her. The world started to move in front of her as she was dragged from the vehicle.

“I'm really, really sorry," came Detrius's voice again. But not Detrius's voice. Something much colder was talking down to her.