Taken

Chapter 1- In the Dark

Jonathan Crow did not like surprises. Throughout his whole life, whether it was on birthdays or a pop quiz in school, he was not one for surprises. He never exactly determined the reason for this but he had narrowed it down to this: it made him feel insecure. He always wanted to know what it was and when no one would tell him, it made him feel uneasy.

He was someone who always wanted to be sure exactly what was going on. This was just the way he was. He learned to accept the fact that he was insecure about himself a long time ago. However, being this way had some drawbacks, especially when you wake up handcuffed to a bed in an empty room. Yes, this made way for problems in the future...

Jonathan had been dreaming when he woke from his sleep. The same image had been playing over and over and it haunted him. Five men standing in his doorway and a tranquilizer dart sending a wave of tiredness over his body. The effect spread like a wildfire over him and he succumbed to the effects of the dart. He tried so desperatly to get rid of the image and pretend it was actually a dream. But, when he woke handcuffed to a bed with both hands, he realized the nightmare he wished to not be real was anything but fake.

"Hello?" he called out in a raspy voice.

"Someone? Hello? God damn it, where the hell am I? Somebody? Hello?" He cocked his head to his right to look out the window. Light was shining in through the cracks of the blinds coated in dust. He heard people talking outside but it was only muffled noises. Jon began to look around the room.

It was very plain with only a yellow paint coat covering its walls. No pictures and no art hung on the wall. The wall was very lonely and seemed to cry out to Jonathan, hoping for something to give the wall a purpose. Straight ahead was a shiny, metal door that appeared to be locked from the outside providing no means of escape. Jonathan began to struggle with this new world, he was insecure. He did not know where he was or why he was taken from his peaceful family apartment. He began to call out even more.

"Somebody come in here now! Where the hell am I?" Jonathan looked nervously around the room. 

"Somebody take me out of these damn handcuffs!" Jonathan began thrashing around violently on the king sized bed, hurting his wrists, when he noticed a security camera in the upper right hand corner. There were people, and they were watching him.

"You bastards, let me out! I know you can see me!" Suddenly, Jonathan heard the jingling of keys on the other side of the metal door. The door handle slowly turned and the door swung open, making a moaning noise. In the doorway stood a short, stubby man in his late 30's holding a tray with eggs, hashbrowns, and three pancakes. He had dark spots under his eyes and was obviously under stress. His black hair has in a Mohawk that seemed to reach the sky. His ears were pierced and so was his nose. Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief. The man slowly approached him.

"I brought breakfast, " he proclaimed.

"Oh thank god you're here to rescue me. Here, take me out of these handcuffs please, " pleaded Jonathan.

The man shook his head and replied, "I can't do that. They are for your protection so you don't do anything stupid to the others of us. Now, I am gonna take these off so you can eat. If you try anything, I will have to hurt you and place them back on your wrists. Now, I am trusting you and I now you're hungry. Don't do anything that breaks this trust, ok?' Jonathan had no choice but to nod his head.

"Alrighty then," the man began,"let's fill you up." The man walked over to the left side of the bed and Jonathan stayed very still, thinking of the questions he wanted to ask. Now, he was even more insecure than ever.

The man fiddled through his keys, humming a low pitch melody when he found the right one. Within moments, Jonathan was sitting up in his bed, fork in hand, and the man sat on the wooden stool in the corner by the door.

"So, what is your name?" Jonathan quietly asked.

"Miles Norwood," the man replied. Jonathan began to ask more questions in between bites of his breakfast.

"Why am I  here?" Jonathan began.

"I can't tell you that yet." Jonathan shot him an annoyed look.

"ok then, why the hell was I taken? Who are you people? Is this some kind of a joke?" The more he asked, the more insecure he felt realizing how much he didn't know.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there kiddo. Look, all of your questions will be answered. You're just not ready for the answers yet," Miles answered.

"What do you mean I'm not ready for them yet? Who the hell do you think you people are, taking me from a perfect lifestyle and bringing me here!"

"Now Jonathan, I had nothing to do with your kidnapping. All I know is that you're here for a very special purpose, a purpose that you're not ready to hear about yet!"

"And why the hell not? You people are insane! Do you even know who my parents are? They will devote all their time and money into finding me because they love me!"

"Are you sure about that?" Miles grinned. Miles began to pull out a file from his jacket pocket and he began to read the information inside.

"Jonathan Michael Crow, born November 26th, 1997. Parents both successful lawyers, born the same year, 1973. Away from home a lot, left you in the care of a woman name Theresa Thorton. Drug addict, bank robber, several charges of murder in here. Your parents let this woman take care you even when they knew who she actually was. She beat you and abused you, she even dropped you on purpose. When the police grabbed her up and took her away, your parents took the fall and spent some time in jail from August 2000 to May 2009. Bail was paid for by your grandmother who was taking care of you. When you moved back with your parents, they blamed you for their jail time and treated you like dirt." Jonathan had began to quiver with anger and confusion. He continued to ask himself, how does this man know so much?

"Several police visits were made to your apartment on accounts of violence in the household. Neighbors heard screams and glass breaking. You were beaten and your parents hid that from the cops, so you weren't taken to live back with your grandmother. Now think about it Jonathan, do your parents really care about you?" By now, a wave of anger had flooded over Jonathan. It took every bit of happiness from his body and sucked it down the drain.. No one ever talked about his past, no one.

In anger, Jonathan threw the tray against the wall. He bent over and grabbed a sharp edge of the broken plate. Jon then lunged at Miles with the shard, aiming for his heart. Miles reacted quickly and grabbed his wrist and sent a kick to his gut. Jonathan keeled over in pain as Miles sent one last crushing blow to his back, flattening Jonathan against the floor. Security swarmed the room and began to escort Jonathan back to the bed. Jonathan trembled with fear and began shouting at Miles.

"Who the hell do you think you are? How did you get my file? You little shitface! What am I doing here? I want to go home!!!" Through his kicking and thrashing, it took five security men to hold him down and handcuff him. Tears were streaming down his face in fear and anger. He saw Miles leave the room in disgust followed by the security men announcing their exit by the slamming of the door and the jingling of keys to lock the door.

He was left all alone, and he didn't even get to finish his breakfast. All his life he had been alone, in the dark, and no one reached out to him. He had always wore a mask, covering up the bruises and scars of the violence at home and avoiding bullies who taunted him over his parent's scandal.

He laid down alone, tears streaming down his face in anguish over what had happened. He wanted to curl up in a ball, but the handcuffs restricted him from doing so. He could only lay there as his life flashed before his eyes and the light coming from the window seemed to fade to darkness.