Just as Ruby Gregory connected her call to Steve Burton and the dial tone buzzed halfway, her phone was violently snatched from behind. She gasped, twisting instinctively, but before she could make out the people behind her, she and Madeleine were dragged by several forceful hands into a pitch-black alley at lightning speed.
Although Ruby had drunk some alcohol, her mind was entirely lucid. The situation happened too abruptly for her to make sense of it. She raised her voice involuntarily and began to scream, "Help."
The people dragging her reacted much faster than her plea for help. Before the word "help" entirely escaped from her lips, a hand brutally covered her mouth and pressed on her nose, hindering her ability to breathe.
Madeleine, somewhat intoxicated, was entirely unaware of any danger when she was forcefully dragged into the alley, but instead mumbled dazedly, "Ruby, stop messing around!"
