We felt the truck pull to a stop and for a moment, we thought maybe the truck had stopped by a traffic light or was held up in traffic like it had a couple of times before. But this time, the engine died down and there was silence. The five of us Toxins looked at each other wondering what was going on.

"Guys," said Mike as he first broke the silence. "I'm scared."

"I feel like I'm in a horror movie," said Zoey.

"I wonder where we are," said Daniel.

"Sam might be right. They just brought us out here to be slaughtered," said Christine.

"It was only a joke, Christine," I said.

"Well, if we think so, Christine, at least I'll have cake to eat before I die." Daniel approached the cake and I quickly held his shoulder and drew him back.

"Sam!" he complained as he looked at me.

"Are we forgetting something?" I asked. "We're supposed to be acting scared. Now that the truck has stopped, the driver will probably be wondering why we are so quiet."

"Oh, right," said Zoey. "Besides, this isn't fun anymore and I really want to get out of here, so..." She turned around and started to bang on the walls of the container, "...HEY, LET US OUT OF HERE!"

We continued to bang on the walls and calling out for help but there was no response from the outside.

"Do you have your phone with you, Mike?" Christine asked. "We really need to call for help."

"Sorry, I left mine with my laptop at the party," said Mike. "Or else I would have called earlier."

"And Lee said there will be no need for us to have phones while we party so she took all of ours," said Daniel.

"I guess Lee was in on this surprise and took our phones away," I said. "Really clever of her."

"Well, this is bad," said Mike. "It feels like there is no one out there."

"The way I see it, they're keeping us in here longer to make us feel more scared."

"They are doing a pretty good job if you ask me," said Christine.

"Well, we have been screaming our lungs out even on the road and now that we are wherever we are, they still don't want to let us out," said Mike.

"This is why I'm telling you, it's best to eat the cake because this might be our last day on earth," said Daniel.

"Well, people love the fact that they might be dying today," I said as I looked at Daniel.

"I'm just hungry."

I smiled. "I know."

"Now what are we going to do?" Zoey asked as she looked at me. "It's starting to get hot in here. We might just run out of air if they keep us in here any longer."

"We wait. Even if we might just end up losing enough oxygen."

"How are you so calm? What if these people really kidnapped us or something?" Christine asked.

"If they did, they would have immediately gotten us out of the truck by now."

"Well, I'm still not counting on it," said Zoey. "I just want to get out of here."

"We will soon," I said as I stared at the ceiling of the container wondering what was going on out there.

"Should we sing our way out of here like they do in the movies?" Daniel suggested.

We all turned to look at him wondering where he got that idea from.

"Huh?" Mike had his eyebrow raised staring at his young brother. "No, that's ridiculous."

"Don't say it, I know, I'm crazy," said Daniel.

"Or just plain hungry because you don't have enough sugar in that brain of yours," said Christine.

Daniel scratched his head. "I guess so."

"We know you want to eat cake, Daniel," I said.

"Dang it!" Daniel muttered to himself as he stomped his foot on the metal floor.

"I feel like we've been in here FOREVER!" Zoey emphasised as she turned around to hit her forehead on the cold metal wall of the container.

"We should be out right about now," I said.

"How do you know?" Mike asked. "Let's face it, Sam, this isn't a surprise at all."

"Ssssh," I warned him telling him to be quiet.

Then we heard a sound of something hitting the wall of the container. For a moment, we all thought it was Zoey hitting her head again.

"Can you stop doing that?" Mike asked as he looked at her. "You're going to crack that head of yours open and nobody wants to see your brains."

"What's your problem?" Zoey asked as she turned to look at Mike. "I didn't do anything."

"You didn't bang your head against the wall again?" Daniel asked.

The noise came again before Zoey could answer, and this time, we all fell silent as we looked at each other.

None of us had hit the wall this time.

The noise came again.

"Is someone outside?" Zoey asked.

"Obviously," said Mike as he rolled his eyes at her. "We're inside this container so there's probably someone out there."

Someone continued to hit the wall of the container and this time, it became constant. The noise was coming from Zoey and Mike's side of the wall.

"Hey, can you help us out!" Zoey called out as she hit the wall.

Expecting a response back from the outside, no sound came. The banging stopped.

"What's going on? Is the person gone?" Daniel asked.

Then the noise came on the other side where Christine, Daniel and I were. The noise soon continued constantly and this time on both sides.

"What are they trying to do?" Mike asked. "Trying to hit the container until it caves in?"

"Well, whatever they are hitting the truck with, isn't leaving a dent on the walls," I said. "They are just trying to scare us."

"They are going to beat us to a pulp," said Christine.

"No, they aren't," I said.

The banging on both sides of the container became louder. I could tell from the other's faces that they were scared. I should also be in their shoes. But I wasn't going to let my guard down.

We soon heard metal clanking against metal and we all turned to look at the door of the container. I came to stand in the middle facing the door and the other four Toxins huddled themselves close to me, looking scared. Someone was now opening the door and the others outside kept on banging on the walls.

"I should have taken karate lessons," said Mike.

"Ya, mum really emphasised on that," I said.

"I should have too," said Christine.

"Guys, no matter what happens, dying with you will be an honour," said Zoey.

"Really?" I looked at Zoey who was close to me with an eyebrow raised. "You sound like those people from the movies."

"She's not the only one who is afraid," said Christine. "I wonder why you're so calm."

"I don't know about you, but I think your instincts went a little haywire this time, Sam," said Mike.

"I don't blame you," I said as I shrugged my shoulders and stared at the door.

"But I trust you, Sam," said Daniel.

"What do you think they are going to do to us?" Zoey asked.

"Surprise us," I answered.

The next thing we knew, the door of the container rolled up and a bright light blinded us. We had been kept in the dark for so long, it feel like we hadn't seen the light in days. The banging on the walls still went on.

We held up our hands to our eyes to shield off the light. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the light, I slowly put down my hand. Someone had climbed into the truck but I couldn't tell who it was because the light only hit the person's back and not the face. It felt like I was looking at a shadow.

"Excuse me," I started to speak as I dropped my hand completely. "Where are we?"

The person just stood there without saying a word. I could tell the person was a man by his posture and physique. I couldn't help but feel that I knew the person who was standing there.

"Do you think he's going to kill us?" Zoey whispered in my ear. I almost jumped in fright. For a moment, I forgot that she was even there.

"No," I whispered back. All this was just to scare us and we knew it. Though it seemed like the other Toxins apart from Daniel and I were thinking otherwise.

The man in front of us just stood there and he raised his hand. The banging on the walls stopped and the five of us wondered what he was going to do next.

The man snapped his fingers and soon, people appeared from outside the truck and entered the container. There were probably five or six of them and they approached us. It was then that we noticed that the people that had come in were wearing black clothes and black masks over their faces.

One of them got to me first and held my hand. I tried to pull away but another man quickly came and put something over my head. I realised that I couldn't see a thing. I had a black cotton sack over my head.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Things happened so fast when I was blinded. The person holding my hand, quickly put both of my hands behind my back and I felt him tie them with what felt like plastic cuffs. He dragged me forward with his hand holding my arm, obviously leading me out of the truck's container.

I heard noises of struggle behind me. That meant the others were also being blinded and tied up like I was.

The man leading me out of the container, stopped and I heard him drop down from the truck onto the ground. I was soon lifted out of the truck and my feet soon touched the ground. The man soon took me by the arm and we walked a few feet away from the truck until we stopped.

I could hear the other's voices behind me and some seemed to be struggling with their captors. I could hear Zoey's voice and she sounded frustrated and angry.

I was focused on the other's voices behind me when I felt my captor's hands on my shoulders and felt him push me downwards. I was seated on what felt like a chair. Soon, I felt the person tie me to the chair with rope.

By the sound of voices and quick feet, I knew the others were approaching.

"Where are we?" I asked the man who was tying my feet to the chair. "Are you going to hurt us?"

"It's best you keep quiet and talk when you're told to," said the man as he was done tying me up and I heard him walk away.

I couldn't help but feel that the man who had tied me sounded familiar. His voice was rough and gruff but somehow I could tell that he only sounded like that just to hide his voice. I smiled a little when I realised that I might know who the person was.

The Toxins came to join me and sitting on chairs and tied up like I was. Zoey sat on my left and Christine on my right.

"Oh my goodness, it's so dark," said Zoey. "I hate the dark."

"But you manage to sleep in the dark," I said.

Zoey gasped and I felt her move on her chair beside me. "Sam, you're alive!"

"Quiet down!" came a huge voice, probably from one of our captors.

Zoey winced. "Sorry," she said quietly. "Sam, you're alive, I thought of the worst when they took you first."

"I'm fine as you can hear," I said.

I heard Daniel behind me like he was about to laugh.

"What are you laughing at now?" Christine asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Sam just said something funny."

"At least someone is getting a load off after being captured," said Mike.

"This isn't half bad if you ask me."

"Quiet, all of you!" came the voice again.

"Eish, is it wrong not to talk?" Zoey asked.

"You will talk when the boss gets here," came another voice. I recognised that voice as well.

"Where is this boss of yours, then?" Zoey asked. "Some of us would really want to know what's going on here."

"Zoey's right," I said. "Why are we here?"

"You will know soon enough," the same man spoke again. This was almost too easy. If the other Toxins couldn't figure this out, then I don't know what they were thinking. I wanted to burst out laughing but I held it all in.

We soon heard the sound of footsteps. I turned my head in the direction of the sound. There seemed to be more than two people coming towards us. I wondered who they were.

The people walking towards us stopped. From where I was seated, I could tell they were right behind me. For a moment, the whole place was quiet as if everyone had held their breaths in for a moment.

"I'm glad I finally get to meet The Toxins," said a man's voice. Sounded like he was the one in charge. "I've to confess, I'm a fan of your music."

"I don't know if saying thanks will be appropriate at this point," I said, trying to figure out who was speaking.

"No need," said the boss. "Let's get to know each other, shall we?" I heard him snap his fingers. "Remove the sacks."

Immediately the order was made, I heard footsteps and I felt my sack being pulled upwards away from my face. A strong ray of light hit me in the eyes and I had them shut for a moment because the intensity was just too much and my eyes started to water.

"Goodness," I heard Christine beside me mutter to herself. Looked like she was also blinded by the light.

I gave my eyes some time to adjust to the light and once they did, I realised what looked like a stage camera light had been placed in front of us.

"Hello, Toxins," said the boss as he walked around us and came to stand in front of me. Just like his comrades, he also had a black mask on. "It's nice we could finally meet in person."

"Well, it would have been nice if we could see your face," said Zoey.

"Well, you're the ones who are tied up so, you don't get to decide on things," said the boss as he looked at Zoey.

I heard Zoey gulp. "Point taken," she said.

"Good," said the boss, I noticed him smile by the look in his eyes. "That wasn't too hard to understand, was it?"

Zoey quickly shook her head. Mike almost burst out laughing behind me but his laugh came out as a snicker.

"What is it? What are you laughing at?" the boss asked as he looked over at Mike.

"Nothing," said Mike, as he controlled himself. "It's just that, Zoey finds it hard to understand things sometimes."

Zoey growled. And if she wasn't tied up, she would have hit Mike with her hand. "You're so ungrateful," she said to him. "You know pretty well that I'm not dumb."

"Of course, you aren't. For now, at least."

"Oh, if I wasn't tied up, I would have really dealt with you."

"Enough threatening," said the boss. "I'm the one who's supposed to be doing that around here."

"Will you tell us now what's going on?" I said. I looked at the man carefully, wondering who was behind that mask.

"Gladly," said the boss as a chair was offered to him by one of his masked men and