Gingerly Shadowed

[emmz]

Lyla had already fallen asleep, holding onto Shay's hand.

The man nodded and scaled the wall. He started climbing.

[grey scale:]

Shannon moved from Lyla's side, going back to the window. suspiciously she scanned the street, dark with night. A cat cooed loudly. A trash can had fallen over at some point, rolling slightly with the breeze. She couldn't make out any people, not really. There did seem to be little moving, dancing shadows, though.

[emmz]

The man suddenly grabbed her arm. He started pulling.

[grey scale:]

Shannon let out a started cry, bending over the window with the force of the man's pull. "What the fu-" she started to say, her words being cut off by the loss of air in her surprised lungs. "Lyles!" She shouted, looked over her shoulder as she tried to pry the man's hand from her arm. "Get the bags -- Go!"

[emmz]

Lyla blinked, looking around, rubbing her eyes. "What?"

The man let go and slid down, disappearing into the night for further instructions.

Darius waved his hand in a circle. Good enough. He moved forward, as well as the others.

[grey scale:]

Shannon didn't waste any time. "Get up. Now. Take this," she said hurriedly, tossing one of their empty duffle bags at her, "and put some of our food and clothes in it. I'll get our other things. They've found us." Shannon looked her friend in the eye gestured to hurry. "They're here, we need to get going."

[emmz]

That seemed to jolt her awake. She stuffed their stuff into the bag and got up, swaying from sudden dizziness. She hurried off to the frontdoor

[grey scale:]

Shannon quickly got their things together and shoved them into their only other duffle bag. they were both nondescript, plain black gym bags with draw strings and black clasps. Shannon hurried Lyla out of the door, laying the key on the doormat and rushing Lyla to the back staircases. "They won't know about the back way, nobody does because it's mainly the maintenance crew that uses it. They'll be looking at the front way, because they'll think we're too stupid to go somewhere else. We'll go down and through the alleys behind the building. I thought about it before, ya know? I planned a route that would get us through the alleys and near the University, Lord willing and the creek don't rise," Shannon muttered sarcastically as she and Lyla raced down the stairs.

[emmz]

Lyla frowned, holdingconto her hand and followed. She looked around, noticing guys following. "Shay.. there's people following us."

[grey scale:]

Shannon didn't stop, but quickly glanced behind them. She sped up, before quickly putting Lyla on the railing. "Don't fall off, sweetheart. Keep a grip with your thighs," she advised as she gently pushed off her friend down the railing. She then proceeded to sprint down the stairs two at a time.

[emmz]

Lyla screamed, holding on for dear life. She landed face first when there was no more railimg.

The guys were infront of them.

[grey scale:]

"Sh---iza," Shannon breathed, backing up and pulling Lyla up with her. "Sorry about that darling. We really should have worked on your landing."

[emmz]

"If you don't stop, I will have to use force." Darius said behind her.

Lyla gripped her arm tighttly. "Shay.."

[grey scale:]

Shannon's mind was racing. "Come now, boys. Really? Force? Why can't we just, you know, handle this like mature individuals?" They were in front. They were in back. There were windows at sporadic intervals on each side of the stairwell. the nearest one was a floor away, just one floor down, ten steps away from freedom. They opened fairly easily, with an ugly sort of screech that made Shannon's teeth grind.

[emmz]

Lyla looked around. "Shay.. maybe we should just go.."

Darius watched her. "Just come with us peacefully."