Crash

72: Damsel in distress

It sounded like a whole team bustled in behind me but I dared not look over my shoulder.

"Good, very nice. Now turn her around."

I stiffened as footsteps approached me. Two men came around my sides and spun my chair around quickly, making me dizzy enough to throw up.

My eyes widened as I saw what I was positioned in front of. A shotgun sat strapped on a tripod, a string tied to its trigger. The barrel was pointed right at my forehead. I was less than three feet away from it. My gaze followed the string and lo' and behold, Richard was on the other end of it.

He stood there in his fancy suit and shiny shoes, smirking at me. Alexandra fiddled with a piece of her hair behind him, trying not to interact too much. Richard twirled the end of the string around in his fingers and walked towards me. Instinctively, I tried to move, to get away. He only smiled at me.

I struggled more when he reached out towards my face, only to pull the gag away and let it rest around my neck. I closed my mouth and tried to push down the bile that rose in my throat.

"Hello little Lyra. You're different from the last time I saw you. How did you like your little...excursion?" He smiled wickedly at me.

"It was lovely. You should go get lost in the woods for a few months, the air could do something for you," I replied with a raspy voice, putting on a bravado to keep from looking as scared as I felt.

"Careful little girl, you wouldn't want my hand to slip, now would you?" His grip on the string tightened and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

A sneer pulled at my lips, "You wouldn't get your money if they found me dead, now would you?"

His smile dropped as he pressed his lips into a grim line, "That's big talk for someone strapped to a chair with a gun pointed at her head. You're a little small for such talk."

"Your a little overdressed for a hostage trade," I replied evenly.

I almost toppled over in my chair once his hand connected to my face. The slap stung a thousand times more than it should have, reopening a wound above my eyebrow. I hissed through my teeth to keep from whimpering.

I opened my eyes and glared at Richard, fury building up in my chest as I struggled at my bonds.

"I will not tolerate back talk here. You're under my control. Act like it," Richard snapped, "My sister may let you get away with it but I will not."

I stayed quiet, biting my tongue so I wouldn't recieve another slap or worse.

"Here's how this is going to work. You are going to cooperate with us and you'll be out of here in a jiffy. You do what I say when I say. Then after we drop you off, we'll be going on our little vacation, mm-kay?" He growled at me, leaning in low so our faces were level. Anger burned in my chest. 

"Oh I'll cooperate, but the only place you'll be going is hell," I spat and thrust my head forwards, bashing Richard straight in the nose.

He grunted and staggered backwards, pinching his nose. I smiled at his pain even though vision in one eye was obscured by blood dripping from my brow.