Nothing Wrong with New | Tagged

[Grace Taylor]

Grace knew her dad tried, his food was a little on the weird side at times. Sure ask him to make beans on toast and it was the best, ask him to cook a steak it was just as good but ask him to make a pie and it was anyone’s guess what it would come out like. Basic things were a way of life unless Grace was cooking or they went out for tea. She could remember the last sleep over she had and in the morning she was greeted with the smell of burning pancakes and her dad yelling at the stove and pan that it was all the kitchens fault.

Grace nodded when they spoke about Halloween, “Oh we will, lots and you should see Chicago once it’s decorated for Halloween.” She said with a grin, it was a long time away but even the thought had her excited over the possibilities. It was another difference between her and her dad, Grace loved Halloween and Ben was more then ‘only bad things happen on halloween’ type. Sure his job often demanded that he worked it or just made it home to go out but Grace found some of the Halloween stories he told funny or at least the ones she was allowed to hear.

If she wanted the other ones all she had to do was swing by the house and get someone to tell her. Easy enough done when you were fourteen and could still play the kid card. “See that’s the bonus about having a dad in the fire department, take out becomes a way of life. So there’s this little place on 34th Street does great Chinese food and the Italian on the harbour, phew you’ll never go anywhere else.” She said as she realised how it sounded, “But we do cook in our house, just if dads late or he’s tired... well yeah.” She knew they didnt eat the carrot sticks and lettuce leafs but she had a varied diet most days.

Charcoal if her dad was cooking and something a little healthier if she was, not that she was a health nut but sometimes there were only so many meals she could eat without colourful food on a plate. Grace chuckled when Leslie spoke about not scaring her dad to death, Grace annoyed her dad all the time with things like that. He might hate it but once he got over the initial shock he came around even if it took him a few days or so. “Is he really jumpy?” Grace asked not knowing what that would be like, her dad took a bit to scare him at times but the best times were after shift when he was half asleep anyway. “Well I look forward to it, i’ll make sure not to do anything too out there.” She said grinning, since Leslie was her new friend scaring her dad to death wasn’t high on her list of things to do.

Grace chuckled when Leslie nudged her, “Well least we all made it out alive.” She said glad that practice hadn’t gone as badly as she thought it might have done when she arrived. When it came to baseball Grace would accept any help she could get, at least then she would understand why her own dad yelled at the games so much other than ‘urm aren’t they running around in circles’ comments she usually made. She often wondered how the two of them were related at times but he made sure to explain she took after her mother in some ways too.

“Yeah see now we’ve got it. I mean parents they worry that we need to call them but we can’t miss dinner. We need food to live so technically we’re just foraging for ourselves these days.” She joked grinning, okay she knew between Stephanie and her dad the two of them would have been explaining the key points of having a phone but to her it was just a way to organize things. Besides she wasn’t that interesting to have to call anyone other than that, or ‘hey dad you forgot to come and get from x’.

Grace got her stuff and stuffed her phone into her bag as she grinned, “Oh trust me, I’m half my dad so i’m annoying. Just wait until you meet him.” She teased though yes there wasn’t much arguing that. Her dad could go from calm to crazy in seconds though usually it was over Stephanie or something Grace had done like scraped her knee and then according to her dad she needed the hospital and not a bandage. Any injury was life threatening in her dads eyes though it did have its perks at times.

Like ice cream or chocolate depending on how bad the injury though he had learned that her falling on the floor pretending to scrape her knee didnt work so well now. “Sure well it’s not five star or gourmet but after practice it’s not too bad.” She explained glad that she had found a friend that day.

(Do you want to start the kidnapping part?)

Tag: @leslieh

[Deleted]

His heart was pumping as he ran back to the van, shooting nervous looks over his shoulder. No one was following him, he was sure, but he couldn't shake the impression that someone had seen him, and if that was the case... He could say goodbye to his head. Truly, he would be in a lot of trouble if someone had spotted him, and he really did not want to think of the consequences. Tucking his hands in his pockets he turned a corner, although he did so so quickly he tripped on his feet and lost his balance, crashing against the brick wall of the nearest building. Shit. What was wrong with him? It wasn't his first rodeo, and he could barely stand. "What are you doing?" He heard a familiar voice as he pushed himself up, and his eyes darted towards the white van parked a few feet away.

He scoffed, eyes black as he jogged towards the vehicle. "You think I'm walking in there with that many people? Forget that." He pointed to the way he had come from, taking a moment to catch his breath. The store had been full, could barely walk without hitting anyone, there was no way he could have gotten away with the money and not have been stopped. He had absolutely no interest in being caught. Besides, hadn't he been sent there to take in the place? They hadn't spoken about stealing from it right away. So it was with a very annoyed expression that he glared at Bryant. He'd love to see him go down the street and into the store, see just how full it was.

"Are you serious? If there were less people they'd spot you immediately. Drag your ass back there." Bryant was mad, it was obvious, but Dex couldn't care less. "I'm not going back. How about you go?" Just how he had ended up paired with him was a mystery, but he would have been far happier had it been anyone else. Really, the janitor he would have been fine with. "Don't make me make you." Unimpressed Dex watched as Bryant brought out his gun, waving it in his direction. He wasn't the boss of him, and really, he wasn't intimidating at all. Pushy, quick to anger and maybe brighter than he, but no, intimidating wasn't it. He wouldn't follow on his threat anyway, everyone knew he never did.

- - -

Leslie had started making her way towards the shop Grace had mentioned, making sure he friend was following, of course. She had proposed they went there, she wouldn't leave her behind! Gourmet or not, still, she was very happy to be going there with her. Maybe she would take the opportunity to ask about Chicago, learn a little more, while they waited for their respective transport? Grace had already told her a lot, and she was eager to learn more. She was eager for Halloween to come around as well. Alright, that was still ways away, but it was exciting to think of the city covered in the decorations Grace had mentioned. Another exciting thought was that she had now a few restaurants to try out. Maybe she could try them out with Grace? She had proposed for her friend to come with her one of these days, and she had also proposed for her to come around to her dad's too, try out his cooking, once they had both convinced him to move. She was still going to try that, but that too was a way away.

Yes, her dad was jumpy, and she had answered Grace's question with a laugh. Her dad had such an habit of falling deep into thoughts that she had the feeling he sometimes forgot she was there altogether, or that anyone was there for that matter. It really wasn't anyone's fault if they made him jump in this situation, so she had reassured her friend, still thanking her for proposing to be cautious. She was very grateful for her friend's consideration, and also grateful that she had proposed to help her convince him to stay. Then she would see by herself. Still, even if he was miles away, he still worried, much like Grace had said about parents and phone, and she did call him often. Maybe she was the one that was worried, after all that. So she had laughed with Grace, telling her all of it. She felt a bit like her dad in that instant, but it wasn't that bad. And she doubted that, even if she had said herself to be like her own dad, Grace was any sort of annoying. She was great.

Still making her way up the street, always making sure that she wasn't too ahead of Grace, Leslie came to a stop by a corner, turning to her friend for directions. As she did so, however, a glimpse of a conversation reached her ear, and she rose and eyebrow at Grace. "Or what, you're gonna shoot me?" Wait. She froze, eyes wide and breath cut short. It had sounded so close, what was happening? Or maybe she had imagined it? Worried she turned towards the white van that was parked around the corner on which they stood, looking for an explanation. What she found was two man looking at them, one holding a gun towards the other. "Oh shit." The man who held the gun tore it away from her gaze, hiding it in his coat, but she still was staring at where it had been.

"What do we do?" The man that had had the gun pointed to him turned to the other, visibly worried. Probably more by the situation that had arisen than the previous threat that the gun had been to him, but Leslie had little time to even realise that. "Grab her." What? The gun man quickly turned to the car and opened the side door, pushing his partner towards the girls. Bryant's decision was odd, but in the moment Dex couldn't stop to think about it so he ran towards Leslie and Grace, grabbing Leslie by the arm and dragging her towards him. He reached out grab Grace too but handling two girls at the same time was not easy so he pushed Leslie towards Bryant as he appeared next to him and he went to fully grab Grace. "No let me go!" Leslie screamed but Bryant covered her mouth with his hand and pushed her into the van before she could protest. She landed hard against the floor, her bag rolling next to her. Having heard her scream out Dex made sure to try and cover Grace's mouth as he pushed her towards the vehicle. olling next to her. Having heard her scream out Dex made sure to try and cover Grace's mouth as he pushed her towards the vehicle.

notes: I am so, so, so, sorry it took so, so, so long.

[Grace Taylor]

Grace caught up with Leslie glad to have made a friend during practice, she hadn’t expected to and frankly she had expected to flame out and be sat there waiting for her dad to pick her up. The usual conversation would follow about it not working out and he would drop her off for a couple more weeks until he realised she didnt want to go but this time. He could drop her off for the next ten weeks and it wouldnt bother her because she had finally made a friend, sure she wasnt great at baseball or at least well she was rubbish but it took time and she was just glad to have someone there was fun as Leslie.

She had learned a lot about the girl since they started and getting to know her a little more would be good fun. In the time they had, already there were a few things in the pipe work for being planned and Grace had a feeling that Leslie would enjoy being in Chicago, not that Grace had known any different even though she had been born in a different state home to her was still Chicago since it was all she could remember.

Leslie’s dad sounded to be really jumpy, Grace had practically forged her years making her dad jump or trying to scare him before he jumped out of the closet at her. In her life there were no monsters under the bed just her dad messing around trying to jump out at her while standing in her closet usually not so silently. Patience when it came to pranks wasnt something the man had learned at all, she however took after her mother and had patience to wait and be sneaky if required. Then again that was her dad so jumping out at someone else’s dad wasnt exactly going to go well if they didnt like surprises.

The last thing she wanted to do was upset Leslie or her dad even if she hadn’t met the guy at all. Making their way up the street she couldnt help but smile as they came to the corner Grace was about to point when she heard something about someone gonna shoot someone. So there was welcome to Chicago and welcome to Chicago she thought wondering if it was the more friendly i’m gonna shoot you. When Leslie froze Grace figured she had missed something as she saw the white van on the corner, oh this was the unfriendly version of i’m gonna shoot you she thought barely able to get two words out as she saw one guy holding a gun.

“Leslie... we should go.” Grace said figuring it was like a snake on the discovery channel, if they backed away slowly enough maybe they would be invisible she thought staring at the two men. Grace couldnt even get out a scream as the two men ran toward them one of the grabbing Leslie, Grace tried to struggle and pull her friend back but then hearing her scream. Grace tried to scream too but the hand of Dex made sure that it came out as a muffled sound probably likened to two kids messing around after practice which she wished she now hadn’t opened her mouth.

Grace tried to fight Dex but a fourteen year old versus a grown guy, she was soon flung in next to Leslie as her bag was thrown in too. “What do we do? My dad will kill me for being there.” She said to Leslie as if the current kidnapping situation was the furthest thing from her mind. So she was panicking in the sense that nothing made sense to her right then as she glare at the two men. “Let us go or i’ll bite you both.” She yelled, it had worked with the fire department last time they had tried to stick her in the fire truck.

There was a long story attached to that but then she had been in just as much trouble at that point but not being there for pick up. Her dad would freak out which given that she hadn’t a clue what was going on, if it got them out of there then sure he could freak out all he wanted to. Was this on the top of her list of plans for the day, nope she couldnt even figure out why this was happening as she could feel her heart practically beating right out of her chest as she gave a terrified look to Leslie. She wasnt too sure about her dad freaking out but then she was about to as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

Leslie’s dad wasnt even in the country and her mum, uh oh this was about to backfire she thought figuring if they lived it would mean house arrest for the rest of their lives as Grace tried to work out what to do or if there was anything that they could do. They had a gun, yes one of those real things that could shoot people, nope the whole baseball practice was looking pretty great right around now as Grace simply stared at Leslie for a moment as she reached for her hand.

Tag: @leslieh

(No worries sorry mine took so long)

[Deleted]

Dex was losing it. The little girl in his hands was kicking, flailing, trying to free herself from his grasp and he could feel it failing the more she tried. She was slipping, maybe because he held her in a way he knew she wouldn't hurt, and, by definition, rather weakly, but in this situation, even if he was, in fact, kidnapping her, he had no intention of hurting her. His confusion, helped by how quickly Bryant had decided of their course of action, and his hesitation, helped by the fact that he had never done such a thing before, had glued him to the spot for a moment, and he had watched the other man throw the other girl into the van while he held Grace, questioning if he was dreaming all of this or not. When Bryant had told him to hurry up he, however, knew it wasn't the case, and he lunged towards the car, this time holding the little girl he carried a little tighter, maybe to show he meant business, even if he truly did not feel any of this to be right, or maybe so that she wouldn't know that he had almost dropped her earlier.

So here he was, flinging a little girl and her bag in the back of an unmarked van, when what he had planned for the day was a simple hold up at some corner shop. She hit the floor hard, but he knew probably not as hard as the other girl, flung in by Bryant who had very little care for gentleness. She was actually checking her knees and elbows, scrapped from sliding across the floor of the car, and he wouldn't be surprised if she had hit her head as well. She left them alone quickly enough when he friend joined her, however, looking her over to see if she was unarmed, unlike herself. He almost wanted to reassure her that her friend was fine, but truly, what place did he have to say that? Of course she wasn't fine, neither of them were, they were being kidnapped, and he was the kidnapper.

Then one of the girl shouted, something about biting, which made Leslie immediately reach out to shush her, thinking this kind of attitude would only provoke their assailants more than anything. She wasn't wrong, and as quickly as she told her friend just that Bryant came to Dex's side and banged on the van, visibly fighting not to shout, afraid they would attract way too much attention if he did. "I think you forgot I have a gun." He hissed through his teeth, glaring at the two girls in the van while Dex stared at him with wide eyes. He wouldn't, would he? "Don't you hurt her!" Leslie's voice rose, a little too loud to both men's liking, but as Dex looked at her, it was obvious that she herself was surprised by her outburst, and he could see that she was afraid of how they would react to it. He didn't much, actually, he simply stared at her, but Bryant truly seemed like he was about to jump into the vehicle and do something Dex did not even want to imagine. But he did none of it, simply turned to Dex and pushed the man inside. "Get in the back with them," he started, turning to leave, but as Dex protested and grabbed him by the arm, he added "someone's gotta keep them quiet!" And then, even if Bryant himself would deny it, Dex saw in his eyes that he was as nervous as he was, emotion flashing for a second on the face of the other man. In some strange way, that reassured him, he wasn't alone to find this extremely unnerving.

So he climbed in the back of the van while Bryant went around to climb into the driver seat. Quickly he shut the door behind him, and the darkness that suddenly reigned in the compartment made him even more anxious. It wasn't too dark, however, so he saw the two girls had been holding hands, curled up in the far corner. Leslie could see him looking at them, and automatically she felt herself holding onto Grace's hand a little tighter. What was the man going to do to them? Oh no, what would happen when her mother, or again, when Grace's father would come to the baseball field to pick them up and they wouldn't be there? Her thoughts went to her dad, how far away he was at the time, and that he had no way of knowing what was happening to her. Would she even see him again? She had barely ever seen him since her parent's divorce, and now this... Never in her life she missed as much as she did in this moment.

Dex did not know what to do. He had been sent in the back to make sure they stayed quiet, but they hadn't said a word ever since Bryant had started the car. They were far away from their starting point now, with Bryant not exactly following the speed limits and waving through traffic, and he had moved a little closer to them, pushing them into a corner so they had little space and no way of escaping, but he felt very uncomfortable in this position. Leslie must had been too, because in the darkness he saw her move, a hand slowly moving towards her bag. What was she doing? Wait, was she grabbing her baseball bat? "Oh no you don't!" He jumped, grabbing her hand from out of her bag and kicking the latter so it slid further away.

She had screamed, his ears rang and the echo of Bryant shouting for them to shut it only faintly got to him. If either of them tried anything else, it wouldn't be good. "Need something to tie them up!" He shouted to Bryant, still holding Leslie's arm and twisting it so she couldn't move. For a moment he heard movement from up front, and then a thud behind him. Bryant had tossed him a roll of tape. It would have to do. With his free hand he grabbed it, and before she could do anything Leslie had her two hands tied behind her back, the tape burning her skin. She had her legs free however, so as Dex moved over to grab Grace she kicked him, but he kicked her foot back, successfully tied Grace's hands before she could attempt to hit him again. He truly wished he did not have to do that, but at this point he felt he had no other choice. Sure, like that would be a reasonable defense.

[Grace Taylor]

Grace was still in a state of shock about what was happening to them, they were just going for something to eat and now this? This was happening and despite her struggling the slipping where she thought for a split second she might get free she wasnt about to leave Leslie there. Not her new friend with two guys who she didnt know what they would do. It was only when the man held her a little tighter that Grace knew there was no getting out of it, out of the two he seemed the one who was struggling with the idea of kidnapping as much as she was but then when he flung her into the back of the van with Leslie.

There seemed to be little doubt left about what was going on, they were actually going to go through with kidnapping them or at least keeping them in a van. The one thing Grace hated more than anything right then was reading mystery books so much, sure this was the moment the serial killer jumped out from the shadows and they would never been seen again. Disappearing after baseball practice only to become local town names that they had disappeared one day never to be seen again. Grace wasnt sure she would have believed if Leslie was alright if anyone else told her, she wanted to see for herself because the way these two were they didnt play fair. Even play fighting with her step brother didnt get this level of throwing around.

Grace looked at Leslie when she tried to quiet her, no these two needed to know she bit people not as a general daily task but the last fire chief to try and stop her getting to her parents had found out she bit so why not these two. So for a fourteen year old she wasnt so scary to a grown adult. Grace glared back at him though the gun, yeah she couldnt bite bullets yet but she was sure they could catch then and not in a magic way either as Grace felt silent for a second wondering what it was she could possibly do. “Don’t hurt her either.” Grace added though her tone was more fearful than one of strength as she glanced at Leslie.

She had just made a friend and these two wanted to ruin that for her, yeah right. It was the eyes that Grace didnt like, she could quiet tell who was the crazy one but neither of them exactly screamed kind to her as she held onto Leslies hand not wanting to let go. Being kept quiet was a concept quiet foreign to Grace, she wasnt loud but between her and her dad they spoke a lot and sure they had their arguments but this could she argue her way out of the back of a van when she could barely make sense of it all in her own head let alone what anyone else was going to do.

Grace had no plan for this at all as the van went dark which was even more unnerving than when she could see what was going on exactly. In the corner holding Leslie’s hand Grace didnt know what came next at all, did they get shot or live in a van for the rest of their lives? When Grace felt Leslie hold onto her hand tighter she glanced between her and Dex. She just wanted to go home, why had her dad made her do this today why not next week and why did he have to leave her there at all. If they lived Grace knew she wasnt leaving Stephanie or Ben alone for a second, nope she would stick to the two of them like superglue.

She could only imagine what her dad would do, freak out sure, Stephanie well freak out more? Likely they both would fight but what happened then, her dad had already lost his wife once and every work day she made him promise to come home if she was there but she didnt think this would happen. Then again how long would it take them to realise, would her dad assume she wondered off home because that was extra time and then home maybe she was with Steph and when that ran out at the neighbours but after that check maybe an hour or two but what about Leslie’s mum and her dad was out of the country so what would this do to the man who didnt like surprises. This was all her fault if she hadn’t suggested going for food and just stayed put then this wouldnt be happening.

Grace’s eyes were on Dex as he kept moving toward them, there was barely space for moving anywhere else as it was uncomfortable to practically become van wallpaper. Grace never saw Leslie reaching for her bag until she jumped hearing the words from Dex and Leslie’s scream. “No don’t you touch her. You monster.” She yelled at the man as she tried to hit him though she wasnt exactly practiced in boxing or fighting so it was more of a hand in the dark trying to hit anything human shaped. This was going worse than bad she thought hearing the shout from Bryant.

The crazy guy who was driving was yelling this was worse than bad she thought hearing about being tied up. Grace didnt know what to do as Dex tied Leslie up or rather taped her up. Grace tried to struggle but she didnt get far as soon her own hands were tied though her feet, well she wasnt about to give up as she used her free feet to kick at the man. “Leave us alone just let us go we won’t say anything.” She pleaded not sure that it would work but then something had to she thought glaring at Dex with her best look she could manage.

It was a nightmare as she was unsure if she wanted to shuffle back to Leslie or to cry or simply scream though none of the previous would do much good she guessed. It wasnt like they were asking reasonable adults for anything. “Leslie are you alright?” Grace asked deciding she wanted to know if her friend was alright or not, not that kidnapped was anything to be alright about.

Tag: @leslieh