A Royal Ransom

I

"Who's that shadow holding me hostage? I've been here for days"

- Stockholm Syndrome, One Direction

♛

"You're doing it wrong."

The man glared up at me, "Shut up, you shouldn't be saying anything. You've just been abducted."

I glared right back, "No, you shut up, you don't even know how to tie a proper knot."

I was sat on a wooden chair in a muddy little room which had barely any light. It appeared to be a living room with a couple of chairs and one couch. My hands were being bound together by an idiotic man who had decided to abduct me while I was out getting some fresh air.

The man stood up, satisfied with his work, "Good luck getting out of those."

I feigned my defeat. The man smirked with satisfaction.

I scoffed at him before casually twisting my hands out of the rope and standing up, "You can take that wasted luck back."

"What the hell?" The man asked in surprise.

It was my turn to smirk.

"I told you, you were doing it wrong," I snapped, "You don't tie someone's hands in front of them and you don't bind them just at the wrists, you're supposed to include the palms and the fingers so they can't move, or like I just did, wriggle out. And not to mention perhaps tie them to the chair."

It probably wasn't the smartest idea to give the man who had just drugged me and brought me to his house, advice on how to properly tie me up. Not to mention the fact that he had a gun tucked visibly into the waistband of his pants.

At least I hadn't told him that I had gotten out of the rope because I had just tensed my hands whilst he was tying them together and relaxed them to loosen the knot. It really wasn't rocket science though.

I analyzed his appearance as best as I could in the darkened room. He looked middle-aged. Probably in his late thirties. He had jet-black hair and from what I could make out, bright eyes. He was fairly tall, and pretty buff, making tackling him and attempting an escape a potential bit of an issue.

The look he sent me told me he was out for revenge and had probably lost something dear to him.

"What's your name?" I asked, walking until I found myself leaning against a wall.

I was struggling to keep my head up and felt extremely drowsy. It was probably the effect of the chloroform soaked rag the man had used to attack me. I had tried not to inhale too much of it, but clearly wasn't very successful. Luckily though, the man hadn't placed the rag over my face for too long, so I hadn't fallen unconscious, I just felt light-headed.

The man chuckled without humour, "And why the hell would I tell you that?"

"I've got a feeling I'm going to be here for a while, so I would prefer to call you by your real name rather than something like 'Mr. Abductor', you know?" I explained, walking back to the chair.

The man rolled his eyes, taking a seat, "John."

"Wow, of course, it's John. All Johns are abductors, I should have known," I joked.

"Sit down," John commanded me.

Well, someone wasn't in the mood for good humour.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks for offering though," I smiled sarcastically, baring my teeth.