"How much further is it Leanne? We've been walking for half an hour!" Hailey nagged.
"My phone says it's less than 2 minutes away, but I have barely any signal. Just stop complaining!" she said, holding her phone high in the air with one hand to try and get some signal.
As she said that, we turned the corner to be faced with a busy Italian street raving with locals, as well as tourists, drinking and mingling together.
The music was blasting out of the club so loudly that we could hear it all the way up the street, and there were colourful lights beaming from the doorway.
Tens of people were spilling out of the door with drinks and cigarettes in hand, making it easy for us to just sneak through the front entrance seeing as security wasn't strict in the slightest way.
When we finally shoved our way past all of the people, the inside of the club was just as busy, full of sweaty drunk people dancing until they weren't physically able anymore. It was pretty cool seeing as I'd never been to a club before.
"Come on guys, what do you want to drink?" Leanne asked as we reached the bar.
I can't lie, I was feeling incredibly out of place. I had the feeling that I was being watched constantly and it was extremely unsettling, although I knew it was just my paranoia.
"Bacardi and coke please." Hailey shouted over the pounding music.
"Sky? What would you like?" Leanne asked.
"Erm, just a water I guess?" I shrugged.
"Water? Are you kidding?" Hailey laughed. "We're here to have fun! Loosen up a little Sky."
"Okay, I don't really want a drink anyway. I think I just need to get some air outside." I said.
"Don't go too far Sky. We have to stick together in here." Leanne said.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll be back in a minute, just stay here."
I shuffled my way back outside, past all of the people in my way, until I finally reached somewhere that I had a bit of personal space.
I thought tonight could be fun but I knew we shouldn't have come out. It was a bad idea from the start and I'm just not the kind of person who can relax and have fun in a situation like this.
I didn't enjoy the fact that I could barely breath inside that bar. I felt too hot and claustrophobic and honestly all I wanted to do was just go home and sort things out with Carter.
Ever since I was little, I'd always snuck into Carter's room at night whenever I'm feeling lonely, scared or have something on my mind. He always gives me the best advice and makes me laugh until my stomach hurts and honestly, that's all I needed right now.
But he's barely even talking to me at the minute and I hated it more than I cared to admit.
My brother's always been my best friend really, and all I wanted to do right now was call him, ask him to pick me up and take me home.
I took a deep breath and took my phone out of my purse. It was 1.40AM.
I thought deeply about whether to call Carter, it'd mean we'd probably get busted but I really didn't want to stay here any longer.
I looked at my phone and then back at the door.
I can't.
The girls would never forgive me and I can't let them get in trouble because of me. I can't ruin their night. Plus, I don't even think Carter would want to pick me up with the way he's being at the minute. It was better not to risk it.
I sighed and put my phone back in my purse before zipping it back up.
But just as I was about to re-enter the club, I felt a large hand cup my mouth from behind.
It was obviously the hand of a man and it was cold and smelt of cigarette smoke. My eyes grew large as I tried to scream, but it was muted by his grip.
I felt my entire body go into shock as this mysterious figure pressed up against me and wrapped his other arm around my entire body. I felt him hold my hands behind my back as he took my purse.
I thought he was just robbing me and I tried to stay as still as I could, praying he would magically disappear.
He then attempted to drag me away with him but I forced myself into the right mindset and bit his disgusting hand with my teeth whilst kicking him back between the legs as hard as I could.
I'd done the odd bit of training for fun with Carter and Dad in the past, but nothing good enough to win a fight against a grown man.
When I kicked him, he curled over in pain with a groan as I attempted to escape his grip but he soon pulled me back.
Suddenly, a bag was shoved over my head and I had no idea what was happening.
I felt my body be lifted off the ground and I attempted to fight my way out of this man's harsh grip. Unfortunately, I had no luck. I felt him running and he refused to stop, no matter how much I kicked and screamed.
All of the training I'd done with my Dad in the gym had now gone out of the window and I felt useless.
He was too strong for me and I was utterly terrified. My mind was running wild and my heart rate had practically tripled.
A million questions raced through my mind as I tried to escape this man's grasp. I thought I was going to die. I was never going to see any of my family or friends again and I was going to be killed by this stranger who I hadn't even seen the face of.
Everyone says that when you're in danger that your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that didn't happen to me. Maybe because I haven't even lived yet...
All I could think about was my family. They'd all blame themselves if anything happened to me...especially Carter.
I couldn't let that happen. I felt terrible. I knew I should never have deceived my parents. It was always going to end badly...I just didn't expect this.
All of a sudden I was thrown with force, landing on my side and the bag was torn off my head.
I was faced with three men wearing balaclavas and dark clothing and I was on the floor in the back of a van. I could see behind them that we were at the end of a dark alleyway and there was no hope that anyone would be able to see this. No one would be able to save me.
I screamed for help as loudly as I could until one of them slapped me hard across the face, causing tears to well up in my eyes. He then ripped a piece of duct tape and placed it roughly over my mouth to mute my cries.
My arms were tied behind my back by the man who'd taken me and he spoke fluent Italian to the other two, who just nodded in response.
He then slammed the van doors harshly and the other two men remained in front of me.
I couldn't stop myself from sobbing as there was nothing I could do.
I heard the driver's door slam as the two large men kept their stares fixed on me. I heard the key turn in the ignition and knew that this would only get worse if we left the area.
If we left the area then the chance of anyone finding me or helping me would rapidly decrease.
However, I then noticed more noise coming from the front of the car.
I heard the door fling open and slam once more, filling me with fear that the man was coming back.
The next thing I heard, frightened me even more than before, which I didn't think possible. I heard a different Italian man shouting aggressively, followed by an ear shattering gun shot and my entire body froze once again.
I sunk down as far as I could into the corner of the van as the two men in front of me began speaking to one another in confusion. It sounded as though they didn't even understand what was happening. That made three of us.
Whilst they were distracted, I managed to loosen the rope around my wrists and slide it off, giving me a slightly better chance of surviving this horrific situation.
They then decided to go outside to see what was happening and I watched as the two of them opened the doors and jumped out of the van, leaving me alone.
They walked around to the front until all I could hear was more shouting followed by the sound of fighting. I could hear violent punches being thrown and groans from whoever was losing.
I'd never been this terrified in my entire life and I couldn't stop my silent cries. My lip was quivering and I didn't want to go outside, but I knew that I had too.
Whatever was happening outside sounded far too dangerous for me to face, but I knew that this could be my only chance to escape and make a run for it. I just prayed that whoever was outside, was too preoccupied and wouldn't notice me.
I quickly attempted to compose myself and stood up. I tiptoed to the doors in an attempt not to make a noise.
I carefully got out of the van in an attempt to get out of this eerie alleyway.
However, my feet suddenly became stuck to the floor as the sound of fighting led to a halt.
There was just silence, with the faint noise of music in the background from the street that now felt completely safe compared to this.
I was about to run. But I knew that whoever was on the other side of this van was going to see me and they were going to get me.
It felt like a lose-lose situation but the only possible hope I had was to at least try and run out of this alleyway. So I did.
I gathered all of my courage and strength and ran for my life.
I ran for a whole 10 seconds before feeling someone grab a hold of my wrists harshly, pulling me backwards. I tried to pull myself out of the hold, not daring to look at the man behind me but as soon as I tried to fight, he let go, causing me to fall to the ground with force.
As I lay on the ground, I turned my head and scanned the man in front of me, all the way from his feet until I could bring myself to look at his face.
And when I finally did...
"Dad?!" I cried as my tall, Italian father stood before me with a deathly expression on his face.
I immediately shot up from the ground and leaped into his arms in 0.2 seconds, sobbing my heart out into his shoulder. My arms wrapped around his neck tighter than they ever had before as he returned the gesture.
"Skylar what the hell were you thinking?" he whispered into my ear, still holding me tightly despite his harsh, angry tone.
"I-I'm so sorry Dad, I wasn't thinking, I don't know what happened. He came out of nowhere and I tried to f-fight him off, I promise I did, but.. What happened? How did you-" I cried as he placed me back down on the ground and I noticed the gun in his holster.
"No, you don't get to ask me anything right now. You're just lucky that I was here to save you... This is so unlike you Sky, I'm so angry and so disappointed in you right now." he said, crossing his arms.
"I know...I am too." I said as the tears made their way down my cheek and I looked to the ground to avoid my father's eye contact.
"The important thing is that you're safe now, okay? So let's go home because we need to get out of here."
"O-okay." I mumbled as he grabbed my hand and began leading the way.
He quickly led me out of the alleyway, dragging my by the hand to his car just 2 minutes away.
When we got there, his angry expression still hadn't faded and he was beginning to slightly worry me.
He then pulled out his phone suddenly and began speaking Italian to someone on the other end. He was speaking quickly and with obvious intention. I was frustrated that I didn't understand what he was saying or who he was speaking to, but the call was quick. I don't think the person on the other end even got a chance to speak.
He then unlocked the car doors as I jumped into the passenger seat, and he made another phone call outside the car.
I then realised that Leanne and Hailey were already in the backseat. They looked sick to their stomachs until they saw me and their faces suddenly flushed with relief.
"Skylar?!" They both said in sync.
"I'm so glad you're okay. Oh my god I was so worried." Hailey said, leaning forward to hug me awkwardly over the seat.
"Sky, I'm so sorry. We never should have let you go out alone...we never should have brought you here in the first place! I'm so sorry." Leanne rambled with a guilt-ridden expression all over her face.
"Guys it's okay...I'm okay." I said, trying to form a slight smile despite my pale face from still being shaken up by the situation.
"You almost weren't." My dad snapped from beside me, slamming his door as he got in.
I looked over to see him sat with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed. He was furious...and rightly so, I suppose.
"I know...I'm sorry." I said looking into my lap before turning back to the girls behind me. "It was all my fault guys, I should never have walked off. I'm sorry, please don't blame yourselves."
"Straight after you walked away from us, Uncle Reed found us at the bar and asked where you were. That's when we went outside and couldn't find you. He brought us to the car and...I'm just so relieved that you're okay Sky." Hailey explained.
"How did you know where we were?" I asked quietly to my father, confused.
"You're just lucky I did." he snapped.
"What happened to you Sky?" Leanne asked, not being able to hear us.
"I-"
"She was almost taken. She could've been killed because of this little act you all pulled tonight." My dad yelled at us all.
"Dad please-"
"No Skylar, you don't understand the seriousness of this situation. None of you do." he sighed, placing a hand on his temple in fury.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"That doesn't matter right now, your mother and I will explain everything later. I just want to know what on earth was going through your heads to do something so reckless, so...stupid!" My dad said having calmed down ever so slightly.
This whole situation confused me. I got a sense that my Dad knew far more than he led on, this suddenly didn't seem like a random attack anymore.
I had so many questions. Who were those men? Why did they try to take me? How did my dad know where to find me? And did he...kill them?
I couldn't bare the thought of that.
"It was my idea..." Leanne said, taking the blame as Hailey and I looked at her.
"No, we're all equally responsible." Hailey said "We just wanted some fun, we never expected this to happen Uncle Reed. We were only planning to be gone a couple of hours. Did you never do anything like this when you were our age?" she asked sadly.
My father's expression softened as he took her words in.
"Look girls, I understand what you were trying to do, but you shouldn't have done it. Now let's go home." he said blankly.
Now I wanted answers.
Something was telling me that that wasn't a random attack. That was planned...