Archer's P.OV.

I felt horrible.

The moment I watched that bastard drag Gemma up those stairs my choice had already been made.

I was going to go after her.

I kept telling myself that there was no way I would have been able to find everyone else in time anyway.

Or at least that's the excuse I kept telling myself. In reality, had they been right there in front of me and I was given the choice I still would've chose Gemma.

To be honest, there was no one in that group that meant more to me than Gemma and that's why making my decision had taken only a split second.

It's also what made me feel awful.

They were all probably dead and it felt like it was somewhat my fault.

What if I could've found them in time and got them all out?

I instantly shook my head.

There was no use in thinking about it now. All it would succeed in doing is slowing me down and I couldn't afford to be slow.

Not now.

Not when Gemma was with him.

I had just made it up the steps they had went up not that long ago and came face to face with a large clearing that eventually turned into a large forest a few yards in front of me.

I took a look around the clearing searching for any sign of where Gemma and that psychotic asshole could have gone so quickly when I spotted a white van not too far off by the edge of forest.

I could see the exhaust coming out the tail pipe and the back lights were on letting me know it was running.

Not wanting to waste anymore time I instantly headed for the van.

I had just made it to the edge of the clearing a few feet from the van when a loud explosion sounded behind me and not long after I was literally knocked off my feet.

I was propelled forward and landed face first in the grass, stray branches and stones digging into my palms and face.

Ears ringing, I rolled onto my back with a grunt before slowly propping myself up on my elbows.

My heart instantly dropped into my stomach as I watched the hotel I was in only moments before, go up in a cloud of dark smoke and flames.

I only had a few seconds to stare at the sight before me before my attention was drawn to my left.

The van!

I watched as it immediately accelerated and took off down the edge of the clearing before hooking a sharp left and disappearing down a trail straight into the forest leaving only a cloud of dust in its wake.

I quickly clambered to my feet and had to use a nearby tree for support as the world seemed to spin and tilt on its axis.

I only allowed myself a few seconds to catch my breath and for the world to stop spinning so fast in my vision before I straightened and headed in the same direction as the van before I lost it completely.

Time wasn't on my side right now.

I had just cleared about half the distance between me and the trail the van had sped down when the faint sound of police sirens met my ears over the sound of the blaze.

Turning to my right, I could just make out the ends of a few police cars and the blue and red flashing lights from where I stood behind the building.

Someone had finally called the police!

I hesitated.

Did I chance trying to get help from the police?

They were better equipped to deal with situations like this, hell it was their job, but if I went to them for help there was no doubt they'd keep me from trying to find Gemma myself and there was no way I was going to sit back and wait for somebody else to try and find her.

By the time they found her- if they found her, it'd be too late.

I took one last look at the flashing lights before continuing on.

If Gemma was going to get out of this alive, I was going to have to be the one to do it. If he knew the police were on his tail it might make that bastard do something drastic and that wasn't a risk I was willing to take. Not with Gemma's life at stake.

I glanced in the direction of the police a second time before trudging forward again.

I made it to the edge of the clearing and to the path the van had sped down. I could still see dirt and dust floating in the air from where the van had disturbed the ground when it sped through.

I allowed myself to look over my shoulder one last time before I started forward.

I didn't have time to second guess myself.

I couldn't go back on any decision I made.

Every decision I made from this point on was the difference between life and death. A game I was all too familiar with but hated playing.

I prayed I had made the right decision.

~ ~ ~

Hours.

That's how long it felt like I had been wandering around these damn God forsaken woods.

I'm pretty sure I had lost the van's trail a mile back when the trail itself had disappeared.

He had went off the trail with Gemma and I was no closer to finding her than I was when I started.

You'd think there be some kind of clue as to which way they went when a big ass van came hurdling through a forest otherwise untouched by humans.

Flattened grass, birds flying up, scattering animals. Something.

There was nothing.

The fact that it was untouched by humans was actually what caused me problems. Everything was so overgrown and dense I couldn't see too far ahead of me.

Which brought on the question, how the hell did he maneuver a big ass van through here?

There's no way.

Frowning, I glanced over my shoulder and looked back the way I had come.

Unless...

Spinning around fast enough to give myself whiplash, I started sprinting back the way I had come.

I must've missed something.

I had to have missed something.

There was no way he could get a van through a forest that densely packed. Which meant he had to have stopped somewhere before he got here and somehow... somehow I missed it.

I picked up my pace and ran as fast as I could, stray branches slapping and scratching me across the face, back to where the trail had first ended.

Once I reached the trail's end I blindly turned in a circle looking for anything that could've been out of place.

I couldn't move my eyes fast enough.

There had to be something here.

Out of breath and panting, I slowed my spinning and tried to will myself to do this slowly. I wasn't going to find anything wildly looking like this.

I allowed myself five seconds to close my eyes and take a deep breath.

Focus.

When I opened my eyes again, I slowly took in everything around me.

The trees with thick trunks covered in moss that towered above me.

The forest floor covered in dirt and fallen dead leaves and branches.

The squirrel that was floating to my right.

The-

The squirrel that was floating?!

I snapped my attention back to the squirrel trying to make out exactly what the hell it was that I was seeing right now.

I took a step closer and squinted.

No, it wasn't floating.

It was sitting on top of something.

A very large something.

I wasn't losing my mind after all.

At first glance, you'd think it was just a large pile of fallen leaves and sticks that maybe someone had pushed to the side to clear the trail and had built up over time from other falling leaves and sticks, but to me this was like finding a needle in a haystack.

The placement, how the leaves were strewn together, how the sticks were placed, none of it looked natural, like someone had just haphazardly pushed them to the side.

Taking another step forward, and then another until I was right in front of it.

Reaching forward I slowly grabbed a leaf and tugged.

I watched with my heart beating in my ears as the leaf in my hand, and the leaf next to it, and the branch above it, all moved together.

It was camouflage netting!

Like the kind you see snipers in action movies hid underneath right before they put a fucking bullet in your head.

Grabbing it with both hands I took a few steps backwards and yanked until the netting fell away to reveal what I had been searching so desperately for.

I stood there for a moment and stared at the dirty old van. It looked exactly like what parents warned their kids to stay away from to avoid being kidnapped.

Tinted windows, old, no license plate.

All I needed now was a creepy old guy to pop out and go, "Hey little guy. Want some candy?"

If only some creepy, kidnapping, pedophile was my issue right now.

I glanced at the double doors that opened up into the back of the van.

I had much bigger problems to deal with.

It was probably wishful thinking. He had probably taken Gemma with him.

But what I'd he hadn't?

Holding my breath I counted to three in my head.

One...

Two...

Three!

I flung the doors open and although I knew what I'd find, my stomach still dropped in disappointment.

Gemma was no where in sight.

Slamming the doors in frustration I took a step back and took in my surroundings.

Even if she wasn't in the back of this van, she had to be somewhere around here if the van was hidden here.

They weren't anywhere behind or in front of me after the trail ended since the van was here and the forest got too thick up ahead after the trail ended.

Which meant going left or right were my only two options.

There was no real logic to my choice other than the fact that because I found the van on the right I choose to go in that direction too.

I made my way through the trees, stepping over fallen logs, stomping through dead leaves, and scaring the occasional squirrel or rabbit.

After about fifteen minutes of mindless wandering with no real clue as to where I was going, I was almost convinced that I had picked the wrong way to go when I saw it.

Sitting a few feet away from me down a little slope where the trees thinned out was an old looking cabin that looked like it had been abandoned for years.

The front windows were covered in a film of dust that was so thick I could see it even from here where I stood and one of them looked like it had taken a brick or branch to it as it was busted out. Only a few jagged shards were left hanging from the frame.

The steps leading up to the small wrap around porch looked as if you even tried to put the weight of one foot on them it'd go right through. The bottom step was even missing. The wooden railing that made up the wrap around porch was also nothing but damp rotting wood at this point.

It looked like the cabin version of Charlie's house from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Honestly the whole place looked like it was one good gust of wind away from toppling over or collapsing in on itself.

I would have thought the place was really abandoned too had I been a normal passerby under normal circumstances, but these weren't normal circumstances.

They were anything but. I knew exactly what I was going to find when I walked through that door, I could feel it in my gut and that's why I started forward and headed down the little slope towards the cabin.