I stood next to Austin in the airport security line, nervous as ever, the feeling of being watched sending chills down my spine. Shuffling closer to Austin, I tightened the grip on my duffle bag.

To be honest, I was scared. I had never been out of the country before and I've never traveled by a plane. So I was basically being shoved into uncharted waters with the only help being a man who couldn't stand me.

I didn't like it.

I hated change and I hated not knowing things. And flying to a country I knew nothing about with a man I barely knew anything about was like all my nightmares rolled into one, horrible day.

But I was doing it nevertheless. Why? I don't know. I know I can't leave, not with gun-wielding men trying to kill me at every corner I turn. I can't go back home and put my family's life in danger. Staying with Austin was my safest bet.

Austin squeezed my hand slightly, bringing me out of my daze. I looked up at his sunglasses-clad face. If anyone looked at us right now, we would look like a couple ready to go on an adventure in Spain. But that, obviously, was far from the truth.

"What?" I whispered when he didn't say anything. He looked down at me and shook his head.

"Nothing. Let's go," he said as he tugged my hand, then let it go to walk through the metal detector. I knew he had a gun with him, so how it didn't get detected is beyond my understanding.

Once both our security checks were done, he held my hand again, making my blush show, again. He then handed our tickets to the air hostess at the entrance and took the boarding passes from her.

"Okay, so, we go to Spain, and then what?" I asked him as we walked to the entrance of the plane. Not that I know anything about this, I just don't want to get killed.

"I have a plan," he said, not looking down at me. I stayed silent for a few moments, and then looked up at him.

"Is it a good one?" I asked. He didn't say anything, and I think he was glaring.

"I have a plan," he repeated. I blinked a few times and nodded.

"Right. That's... Reassuring," I mumbled and bit my lip, a nervous habit of mine.

We didn't say any more till we were seated in the plane. I felt a yawn coming, which made me realize that I didn't sleep last night. Well, I was knocked out for a few hours, but I don't think that counts. The air hostess was giving the safety instructions as I slowly dozed off to sleep.

Not five seconds later, I was being rudely awoken by... an earthquake. I groaned sleepily and swatted away the hand that was shaking me. It stopped almost immediately and I smiled in victory, snuggling deeper into the pillow. I don't know why people complain about airplanes, their pillows are really comfortable, and they have a nice musky smell to them.

I heard a deep sigh and some grumbling right before the shaking started again. I groaned sleepily and opened one eye, only to see Austin's annoyed face really, really close to mine.

It was only then did I realize that my head wasn't on a pillow, it was on Austin's shoulder, and I had his arm in a death grip. Blushing furiously, I hastily let go of his hand and tried standing up. But, I forgot that we were in a plane and that I had a seat belt on.

As I tried getting up, the belt pulled me back, making me sit back with a thump, only adding to my embarrassment. I felt my blush get impossibly darker as I fumbled with the seat belt. I glanced at Austin from the corner of my eye to find him deeply focused on his tablet.

Thank Odin.

Finally, I was free of the seat belt jail; I almost did a happy dance. Instead I settled for a sigh of relief as I reached up to my duffel bag and looked for my cell phone in it. Once I found it, I walked to the washroom at the back. In my haste to get there quicker, I bumped into someone, but my bladder was bursting, so I simply apologized to them and rushed in.

I locked the door and took a deep breath. Shaking my head I turned on the tap and splashed my face with some water. When I looked up, I was horrified to see all my "waterproof" makeup running down my face. My face scrunched up in disgust as I took a couple of tissues and wiped the makeup off. Waterproof my ass.

I threw the tissues in the trash and flipped open the phone. It didn't have any contacts in it, obviously, but, I have all my family's numbers memorized, thanks to my old phone hailing from the Mesozoic era. I dialed in Candice's number, I held the phone between my shoulder and ear, and pulled out another tissue to clean the remaining of the makeup off my face.

Candice picked up after a few rings.

"What?" she snapped, sounding irritated, as she usually did when an unknown number called her, especially when she was in the middle of doing something that required concentration.

"Candice?" I said in a small voice, trying to test the waters.

"El? Eleanor, is that you? Oh my god, Vince, its Ellie. Oh my God, Ellie, where have you been, you just disappeared after last night. Are you okay? Did that guy do anything to you? Because if he did I'm going to-"

"Woah, woah, Candy, calm down. I'm fine," I said, trying to get her to stop freaking out, while simultaneously trying to think of an excuse to give for my sudden absence. "I had to leave suddenly for some work related stuff, it was urgent so I couldn't tell anyone and my battery was dead so I couldn't call you."

"Okay, okay, but you're fine, right?" she asked, clearly worried. A small smile graced my face at the thought of her worry. God, I'm so lucky to have her in my life.

"Yes, Candice, I'm fine, I promise. Now listen, I have to go to Spain for work and I don't know when I'll return, I may not be able to contact you from there, so tell Janice and Dad not to worry. I'm going to be fine, so you and Vince shouldn't worry either." I said and bit my lip, contemplating whether to say the next words.

Screw it. "And the guy you were trying to set me up with is here as well and I'll explain everything to you when I get back okay bye love you." I said very quickly in one breath and hung up before the squealing from the other side could burst my eardrum.

I sighed heavily, put the phone in my pocket and opened the door. Suddenly I was pulled out, making me squeak in surprise. I looked up to see Austin's pissed of face as we ran down the aisle towards the cockpit.

What now.

"What the-" I couldn't finish my sentence as Austin shoved a bag in my face and strapped one on his back.

"We have to go," he said as he took his gun and shot a guy down the aisle, making people scream. He then pulled out two pairs of goggles; the kind used during freefall, and put one on his eyes, and, surprise, surprise, shot another guy.

"Go?! Go wher-" my voice died down in my throat as he opened the door of the plane. "Oh no. No no no no no." Austin rolled his eyes, put the other pair of goggles on my eyes and pulled me closer, holding me flush against him.

"Oh yes," he said and jumped out of the plane, making me scream and hold on to him tightly. As we fell, I swear I took God's name more in those few seconds than I did in my 24 years of existence. I was too busy freaking out to realize that Austin had deployed the parachute, making us slow down. I looked down, and the fact that we were getting closer to water, probably an ocean, did nothing to calm down my nerves.

Soon after we hit the water, I felt myself thrashing, struggling to stay above the surface. I could hear my heartbeat get louder every second, and I couldn't feel Austin, or anything I could grab on to within reach, which only worsened my panic, making my chest hurt.

I could hear someone calling my name but, honestly, at this point, all I wanted to do was sleep. I could feel the fight leave my body as I sunk deeper, and no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't find any will to move a muscle. The last thing I saw before blacking out completely was a hand reaching out for me.