[b] Scarlett - Motel - Katie/Tyler/Liam/Strangers[/b]

For the first time in weeks, maybe months, Scarlett had actually had a restful night. No dreams, really, just sleep. The only reason she had woken up was because Liam had gotten up before her and tripped. Did he trip? There was a loud thump. Knowing him, he probably did. She had sat on their make shift bed, staring out into space as the boy got ready. 

"Have fun and be safe Leeyum!" She grinned as she turned to see him heading to the door. She always liked the name Liam. It was her friends name in high school and she'd always enunciate the word to annoy him. She stood up after he left the room and made her way to the bathroom that they had in the room. She cleaned herself up a bit until she heard a knock on the door, followed by a sing song voice from a little girl. Scarlett grinned and practically skipped to the door, opening it slowly before peeking through the small opening. "Who is it?" She smiled as she answered it in the same sing-song voice.

Scarlett let Katie in after she answered and  left the door open as both of them walked over to the bed. "So I was wondering, maybe we could do a fish tail braid today?" Scarlett sat down and waited for Katie to sit before running her hand through the little girl's long hair and beginning to comb through it with the pink comb she had already sat down. "I think your dad will like it. It keeps the hair out of your face, so he can see your pretty eyes. And it isn't tight, so you won't get bothered by it." The young woman heard Katie out as she combed her hair. She would take the little girls opinions into consideration. 

She had barely begun to weave the first strand of hair, while telling Katie a story about when she pranked Sam in Disney World, when she heard a strange yell. "What was that?" Scarlett turned towards the door and listened intently, cringing at the sound of sudden loud thumps, as if someone had fallen down the stairs. Scarlett stopped immediately and turned to Katie, putting a finger to her lips and making the [i] Shhh[/i] sound. She gestured for Katie to stay put and walked quickly out of the door and towards the stairs. The voice sounded like Tyler's but at the same time it didn't. The octave was a bit higher and Tyler didn't shout or yell like that, did he?

Scarlett stopped at the top of the stairs, eyes wide and blood drained from her face as she saw Tyler at the foot of the stairs with a man standing over him. She was frozen in fear and shock as she watched the men drag him a bit ways from the stairs and more showed up. "Tyler...." Her voice was a quiet whisper as she tried to register what was going on. Unfortunately there wouldn't be much time for that. One of the men had looked up and made eye contact with her, sending Scarlett into panic mode as she quickly ran through a million thoughts. The main one being Tyler's voice shouting Katie's name. With a quick blink, Scarlett was already sprinting back towards the room before the men had even registered that she was up there. 

With adrenaline coursing through her, Scarlett shut the door behind her and ran to Katie, picking her up and placing her in the corner of the room. There was no way out and they were on the second story. They wouldn't be able to jump. Scarlett wanted to cry but she would be strong for both herself and the child. "Katie, baby, I need you to listen and listen well. There are some men downstairs. Bad men. They have your dad  and I think they might have Liam. There's no way out so I'm going to keep them off of you. Here." Scarlett pulled out a small pocket knife from her boot and placed it in Katie's hands. "Only for emergencies. We can't do anything too bad because they might hurt your dad. Please Katie. Let me handle this. Also, stay with [i]me[/i]. At all times. I won't let them hurt you." The sound of footsteps broke her minute of silence with Katie, driving Scarlett to hug the little girl tightly and give her head a kiss before standing up and standing protectively in front of her.  It didn't take the men long to find them. They had split up, probably, since after they had spotted them one of them shouted to the others and two more walked in. There was a total of four of them in the room and they bee lined straight to the Katie and herself. "Don't touch her. She stays with me." The men ignored Scarlett's warning, one of them grabbing her by the arm and pulling her harshly. Scarlett turned red and she immediately reached for the hand that was on her arm, grabbing it and forcing her thumb to slide in between and to his palm. She pressed down hard and reached up with her other hand, place the other thumb on the same spot and pressing with it as well.

'Thank god for self defense classes.'

Once her hands were placed fairly well on his hand, Scarlett twisted it backwards, earning herself a satisfactory yelp from the grown man. She kept going though, using the momentum to get him off of his feet and flip him so that he'd land on the floor on his back. Scarlett smirked and walked back again, keeping Katie close to her and to the wall. "I said, she stays with [i]me[/i]" Scarlett practically growled at the other guy as she glared at him, her hand on her blade. 

"Fine." Was all the bearded man said, taking out his own blade and gestured for them to move away from the wall. Scarlett kept her eyes on them but turned quickly to grab Katie and pick her up, huffing quietly as she lifted the little girl. The men had little patience and before Scarlett could grab anything else, they were already barking orders to get out of the room. Although livid, Scarlett complied and made her way out and down the stairs to where Liam and George were now with Tyler. She set down Katie gently and knelt down to check Tyler before looking up at the men holding them there. "What did you do to him?!" She turned back and held his face in her hands, trying to get him to wake up. "Fucking cunts" she muttered under her breath as she looked up from Tyler to Liam. He wasn't harmed but the poor boy looked scared half to death. Scarlett reached out to him with her arms to hug him close but didn't move from Tyler and Katie's side. There were too many of them for her to try anything and she had to think of the kids and what would be the best move for them. At the moment, it was to see what the men wanted and to make sure Tyler would be fine. 

______________________________________________

[b] Samantha - Apartment - Tina & friends/Abram/Turisa[/b]

Since the small group had ran into Tina and her companions, Samantha had felt something weird. Kind of like a nagging voice in the back of her head, but the moment that they mentioned Scarlett, everything else on her mind had completely become irrelevant and her undivided attention was on the an named Caleb, who seemed to be the only one willing to give up any details on Scarlett. 

They found themselves in the apartment where Tina and her friends kept sheltered. It wasn't much but they seemed to be doing well off. "She's here?" She paid little attention to what Tina had said. Her mind was set on finding her sister and nothing more. "She's in Baton Rouge..." That was about all Samantha had said since they had gotten to the apartment. Tears had escaped her eyes here and there but it wasn't enough to draw attention. They were more from happiness than anything else. Scarlett was alive and she was with a group, which meant she was doing well. 

"Wait... Why did they leave?" Finally, Sam broke out of her daze. The young woman glanced up from the hair in her face and looked at Tina and Caleb. She was suddenly on edge. [I]'Why would they leave the safety of this group.... The thugs won't bother them. That's stupid.[/i] "Do you know where they went? I've got to go find her. I don't care if I go alone...." By now, Samantha was blabbering. She was blabbering every thought that came to her mind in no specific order, "Why did you want it to work out? What didn't work out? What do you trade with this Tremblay person?" It was an all out interrogation now. Maybe staying in her dazed and shocked state was better than this. Her voice was getting louder and the octaves were getting higher. "I need to go find her." Her voice trailed off as she turned to look at Abram, who by now probably thought she was crazy or getting there. "Abe.... I have to go find her. Maybe she's still here! You can stay here if you want but I'm not going to miss out on an opportunity like this."