Philophobia

Three

"She'll come round in a little while. It wasn't heavy stuff, just enough so that she didn't kick up a fight and try to run or remember her surroundings," Zayn offered Lauren a grin as he secured one of the ties around Camila's wrist. "Have fun. And if you get tired of her... I'd be happy to take her ba-"

"No. Not happening," Lauren cut in, shooting Zayn a glare. "She'll be fine here, even if she did get out of the house she'd have no idea how to get out of the gates before I found her."

"What are you going to do about your little girlfriend?" Zayn asked, "I doubt she'd approve of... her." The boy quirked an eyebrow as he fixed the other end of the rope to the drain pipe.

"Vives? We don't really hang here. And she's not my girlfriend, anyway, she's more of a booty call, I guess," Lauren snorted, her eyes flickering over to where Zayn had practically dropped Camila's sleeping form onto the floor, arms strung up at what seemed to be an awkward angle.

"I don't think she sees it that way," Zayn chuckled, "She thinks you two are pretty serious."

"Stop bullshitting. We fuck, that's it. She's a friend, at a stretch," Lauren rolled her eyes, running a hand through her hair as she pressed her back to the wall. "You can go, now, Malik. I'll give you a call if I need help getting rid of her. Make sure you lock the door on your way out."

About an hour later, Lauren was preparing herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, when she heard the almost inaudible sound of shouts coming from the basement where she had decided was a good placement for Camila - almost soundproof. A smile formed on her face and she set down the pot of coffee, making her way to the basement door. She typed in the code, waiting patiently for a few moments before it clicked open. The shouts instantly amplified and she cringe slightly, wondering if she should've gagged Camila instead.

"Hush now," Lauren chuckled, taking the steps two at a time and making her way over to Camila. "I'm sorry that Malik tied you up so uncomfortably."

Lauren crouched down in front of Camila just as she had done earlier that day, chuckling at the scared look in the girl's eye. It was quite funny really, she had the ultimate power to do anything that she pleased to the teenager, and there out be nothing that she could do to prevent it. Realistically, there was no plausible way for her to beat Lauren in a fight. "You're scared, kitten? That's good. You should be scared of me." Lauren's hand settled upon Camila's thigh and she offered a chilling smile.

"Why?" Camila asked, quietly, her voice a meek whisper that Lauren was barely able to hear.

"Because, Camila, I could do anything to you," Lauren chuckled, pausing for a moment, "I could hurt you," she murmured, pinching Camila's arm to demonstrate, and the girl flinched away, eyes immediately drawn to the forming red mark. "I could touch you, I could do anything."

Camila inhaled sharply, and when she looked up again, her eyes were sparkling with tears and her lower lip was quivering. The sight caused Lauren to roll her eyes a little, reaching out and wiping away a tear that cascaded down the girl's beautiful face. "I d-don't want you to hurt me! I want to g-go... G-go home," Camila whimpered, eyes widening a little. "I- My mom and my sister will be w-worried..."

Lauren ran a hand through her hair, sitting back on her heels as she looked at the now crying girl cowering before her. She hated when they cried, it just made her work a whole lot messier. Granted that this one she probably wasn't going to kill for quite some time yet. "Stop crying! This is your home now, okay? I'm not going to kill you so can you stop fucking crying, please."

The girl didn't stop crying, however, and Lauren sighed, pushing herself into a standing position and turning to survey the rest of the room. It was surprisingly tidy, she must've remembered to clear up after her last captive - for once. The room consisted of a simple bed, a bookshelf and a TV. It didn't get cable but it could play movies. Lauren decided that maybe she would acquire some movies for the girl to watch.

"Is this my room, then?"

Lauren turned to face Camila, nodding her head, "Yes. It is. It's belonged to lots of other people before you. Mostly bad people who deserved the bad things that were bestowed upon them."

"You make it sound like you did them a favour," Camila tilted her head, shifting into a sitting position because her back was starting to ache from being twisted up like a pretzel.

"No. But I did the world a favour, Camila. I've ridden society from murderers, rapists, abusers, kidnappers," Lauren chuckled slightly, leaning up against the wall. "Which is ironic, I suppose, because I'm all of those things, Camila, and worse."

A shiver coursed down the teenager's spine and she allowed her eyes to drift up to her kidnapper. "Lauren - that's your name, right? I heard, um, that guy calling you that."

Lauren gave a short nod, she never liked it when her captives asked her questions. "Right," she lowered herself back into a crouching position and began to untie Camila's wrists. "First thing's first, there's no point in you trying to escape, because you won't get out. You're welcome to try, by all means, if you're willing to face the consequences. Second of all, you won't get into my phone. People have tried before, Camila, and it didn't work. It just made me very angry. But once again, you're welcome to try. And third and finally, you listen to me. If you step out of line, don't think that I'll hesitate to make sure you wish that you hadn't." There was a pause, and Lauren decided that Camila looked even more terrified, which was weird because she hadn't even said anything that threatening.

She nodded eventually, forcing a tight smile as she pulled the final piece of rope away from Camila's wrist. "Okay. I'm glad we've come to an agreement. I'll be upstairs."