Everything seemed in to move in slow motion. Part of me couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My brain refused to digest what was happening, but my heart and body were so on-board. Instinct kicked in as my pulse went into overdrive.

The man raised the baseball bat. “Shit.”

Backpedaling, I opened my mouth to scream, because screaming would be real good at this moment, as my foot hit of the edge of the snow by the door opening. I went down, arms flailing as my foot slipped out from underneath me. My back and legs hit the hard cement, knocking the air out of me.

One of the guys laughed, and I wasn’t sure if I should be pissed or be more terrified by that.

The one with the baseball bat loomed over me, head cocked to the side. “Shit,” he said again, turning back to the other guy. “We need—”

I let loose an ear-splitting scream as I scrambled backward, through the snow. Twisting at the waist, I pushed up. I had to get to the snowmobile, head back to—

An arm circled my waist, snatching me clear off the ground. A hand smacked down on my mouth, stifling another scream. My heart jumped against my ribs. I started struggling, kicking my legs.

“Well, well, what do we have here?”

The voice sounded familiar, but I was too panicked to give it much thought, especially when the guy with the baseball bat appeared in front of us. That meant the knife wielding dude was the one holding me. Terror dug in with razor-sharp claws.

“Whoa, man, what are you doing?” Bat Guy demanded.

Knife Guy kept walking backward, alongside the SUV, completely undeterred by my struggling. “What? We’re just going to have a little fun. Nothing serious.”

My heart thumped against my ribs. This couldn’t be happening. Horror hit me and I twisted my head, trying to dislodge his hand. Every safety video the campus police had forced us to watch warned not to let someone get you in a car or out of sight. And we were already enough out of sight, considering where we were. This wasn’t good. Oh God, this wasn’t good at all.

“This wasn’t part of the plan,” Bat Guy said, and he dropped the bat. It clanged off the cement as he held his hands up. A different kind of panic punctuated his voice. “You said we were just going to screw with the tires. I’m not—”

“Shut up! Jesus.” Knife Guy wretched my head back against his chest and needles of pain shot down my neck. “Don’t be a pussy. We aren’t going to do anything serious.”

I pleaded with Bat Guy with my eyes. He didn’t seem like he wanted to be part of this, whatever this was. He was my only hope.