New to the Family

Jacob and Alex

"Have a seat at the table," Jared told the two men. "I'm just going to go upstairs and look for a map."

"Okay," the man said with the sunglasses said. "We really appreciate this. My name is Jacob and this is Alex."

"Nice to meet you," he said. "Leah, get them a glass of water."

I nodded my head and Jared went up the steps. I filled up two glasses of water at the sink. Jacob leaned against the kitchen counter. Alex's eyes were scanning the room, and he stopped when he saw the bars that covered the windows. My hands were shaking as I handed them each a glass.

"That's quite some security you have got there," Alex said.

I kept my eyes down on the floor and nodded my head. Alex raised his glass to his mouth, but stopped before he could take a drink.

"Why do you look so familiar?" he asked me.

My heart pounded in my chest. I shrugged my shoulders, but kept my gaze down to the floor. I did not want to imagine what was about to happen to these two innocent souls.

"He said your name is Leah, right?" Alex asked, and then paused for a moment. "You're Leah Marshall, aren't you?"

I took in a sharp breath. It has been forever since I heard my old last name. If they knew me then that must mean people are looking for me. My mom must have filed me as a missing person. She is so worried about me, and there was no way for me to tell her I was safe. These two were the only ones who could give her a message from me. I could not let Jared kill them.

I listened for any noise, but I could not hear Jared moving around upstairs. Lindsay's crying had also disappeared.

"You need to get out of here," I said in a harsh whisper. "You need to go and tell my mom that I am safe."

"What's going on?" Jacob asked.

"Please, get out of here," I said.

The stairs creaked as Jared came down the stairs. Gabe was trailing behind him. I sucked in a deep breath and bit down on my cheeks. I prayed that they didn't hear what I told the two men.

"We've got a map here," Jared said, holding up a folded up map. "Where are you trying to go?"

"We're just trying to get back into town," Alex said. "We can just turn around and go back. You know, spend the night in a hotel or something."

"Don't be silly." Gabe ripped the map out Jared's hand. He opened it up and placed it on the dining room table. "Take a look at the map. We need to talk to Leah for a second."

My heart pounded as Jared put his arm over my shoulders. Alex opened his mouth, and I shook my head. I did not need him mentioning that I am a missing person.

Jared pulled me out of the kitchen and into the living room. Gabe was behind us. I picked at the hem of my sweater as I waited for their punishment. They definitely heard what I said. I shouldn't have said anything. I just wanted my mom to know that I was okay.

"Leah, this is time for you to show us how much you love your family," Gabe said. "I want you to kill one of these men."

My jaw hung open and I shook my head.

"No, no, no," I said. "I can't do that."

"Jared is going to take care of him so that he won't hurt you," he said. "I want you to finish him though."

Gabe pulled his knife out of his pocket. He grabbed my wrist and shoved the pocket-knife into my hand. He closed my fingers my fingers over the blade. Knowing the innocent man's fate made the knife seem like it weighed a thousand pounds.