C2 Two

Ryder's POV

"Ruby! Ruby!" I screamed over the phone. It was 11:30 p.m. when Ruby's contact appeared on my screen. I had been worried sick that she hadn't come back to the hotel, but I hadn't been expecting her to be in trouble.

It finally dawned on me. She was kidnapped by the Silents.

The man on the phone sounded Russian, and I still remember the shrill scream of Ruby in pain that gave me goosebumps and made my heart stop.

I had to find her.

I looked around for my shoes and slipped them on my feet.

She could be anywhere right now. I heard Ruby's warning for me to run away, but there was no way in hell that I was leaving her.

The tracker.

I opened up my app and searched for Ruby. The signal was weak, and it said her tracking device was soon to be disabled completely, so I had to hurry.

Her location wasn't that far away, so I ran as fast as I could to the back parts of Downtown OKC.

The blue dot which represented me was nearing the red dot, where Ruby would be.

I stood in front of a warehouse that looked run down and rusty. And a tad bit creepy.

I walked around it, searching for a door, when I came across one.

It was big and had two doors, but a large chain and lock secured it closed.

Ha, this was no problem. I had broken into thousands of places that had the best locks and chains.

Taking out my wallet, I took out the lock picks that I always kept in there in case I needed to trespass somewhere. And in this instant, I realized that this was the most important thing I could've ever learned.

The rumbling engine of car made me duck to the ground. I heard it nearing me so I hid behind some large crates.

I watched a black car zoom past and disappear into the city. It seemed to be heading towards the parks near the factories. That must be the Russian man.

I slowly opened the door with as little noise as possible. The air in the warehouse smelled of dust and wood. Like the outside, there were wooden crates everywhere, but much more than outside.

"Ruby?" I whispered, barely audible to my own ears. "Ruby?"

I walked further into the warehouse but accidentally stepped on a small lead pipe that was thrown onto the ground. I froze in my tracks and listened carefully.

"Who's there?" I heard a deep voice rumbling. "Come out now." He said again.

I ducked beneath a clothed table and held my breath as the footsteps got closer. The heavy clacking of hard shoes made my heart beat faster.

The steps stopped and my breathing hitched. The faint outline of a shadow from the man's leg cast in from the other side of the beige cloth.

Then suddenly, the cloth was whipped up with intense force that sent me flying towards the man's legs. For some odd reason, I didn't run. I fought.

The man yelped and I tackled him to the ground. He hit my face with his fist repeatedly but I held his throat with my forearm. He kept struggling but I saw the consciousness begin to fade away as he passed out.

I got up and turned to see yet another man turning the corner and yelling a name. "Jaxon?" he called, looking around, his eyes finally landing on me and the unconscious Jaxon behind.

He ran towards me with rage and pulled out a hand gun. I panicked and ducked behind a crate while bullets went flying past my head, barely grazing me.

I quickly ran behind another crate that was closest to Jaxon's body. I saw a gun handle peeking out of his belt and I looked to see the other guy firing at me.

This was now or never.

So I ran, I ran quickly to Jaxon and pulled out his gun with so much speed that I thought I would fall over.

The burning feeling of a bullet grazed my hip. I rolled behind another crate and the fire of bullets zoomed around me. Ignoring the pain in my hip, I held out the gun and pointed it from out of the corner. I fired crazily, trying to hit the man who was firing back.

I felt yet another graze to my shoulder but clenched my teeth. Finally, the other man fell to the ground in a thump.

I just killed a man. The realization hit me quickly.

I just killed a man.

I kept repeating the thought over and over in my head. It was self-defense, I kept telling myself. There was no other way I could've defended myself.

But the task at hand right now was to find and save Ruby.

I ran towards an open room with the gun held in my hand, pointing it at every curve or turn I made.

I stepped in a large, musky smelling room. There were scissors and medical tools on carts and crates hovering towards the ceiling. Tables upon table were lined up with papers and weapons. Knives and bullets.

But there was something else bothering me. A distinct smell. The smell of blood.

Ruby.

I turned a corner and my heart fell. Ruby was tied helplessly to a chair and her head was slumped to the side. Her face looked bloody and bruised with blood and the side of her shirt had a blood patch on it, then there was more of her blood on the chair and floor beside her.

I dropped the gun and ran over to where she was sitting, unconsciously, helplessly. I quickly grabbed a knife from a table and sawed through the knots and ties at her wrists and ankles. I felt a tear run down my face and sniffed quietly.

Ruby.

I prayed to God that she was okay, that she wasn't dead and that she would still be healthy and alive and funny and sweet and amazing and caring after this. I prayed that I would have my Ruby back.

Once I finished untying her, I lifted her up in my arms and started to walk out of the warehouse; applying pressure to her wound where she'd been stabbed.

Looking down at her, I stroked a piece of fallen hair out of her face and noticed how worn out and beat up she looked. I almost broke out into tears right there.

I was halfway to the hospital when I looked back at her tender yet strong face.

Please don't take my Ruby. She's all that I have.