I'm sitting on the floor with my arms wrapped around my legs. I feel myself flinch when a loud crash reverberates the entire house. My home was being demolished. That's what I get when my dad was the leader of a gang. Our home gets pillaged as if we were still living in the 16th Century.
I can't move because I'm so terrified that I'll be discovered. I couldn't bear the thought of being taken hostage and then tortured to death. I don't have the stomach nor the pain capacity to deal with that. Maybe I'll just wait and hide on the closet floor for a while. I have some rope beside me just in case I get too cowardly and want to take the easy way out.
My claustrophobia is taking its toll right about now and I feel like I'm suffocating. I cover my mouth with the sleeve of my blue night shirt, hoping to muffle the gasps that I know are audible. Crap. I'm hyperventilating. This is the worst attack I've had to date. I feel close to passing out, but I know I can't. My life depends and is hanging in the balance. I feel like I'm dying.
Slam.
They're on the stairs now. I heard the creak on the fifth stair. The one that I could always hear from my bedroom. I count the seconds. Three. Five. Eight. Ten.
Bam.
That was my parents bedroom door. It's a good thing that they were on 'vacation' for a couple of months. They always left me alone like this in the house. No one was aware that they even had a child let alone a nineteen year old boy.
I hear muffled talking. The door to my bedroom is pushed open now.
"Shit. They have a kid? Why the hell didn't we know this?"
I hear more cussing and then they walk in further, looking around the place. A pair of footsteps stop in front of my hiding place. The shadow looks ominous under the crack of the door. I feel tears gathering in my eyes and spill over on my cheeks. The door is slowly pulled open and I could see there was a man there. He was wearing black and looked down at me. For some reason I feel pathetic when looking into his gray eyes. The door is pulled open further by a second man. He cusses profusely.
"No one told us they had a kid, man."
"Look at him. He's scared out of his mind. He's not going to do anything, are you kid?"
I looked back at the first man, my eyes wide as saucers and I shake my head no. I feel myself shrink back further in the closet.
"See? It's obvious why they didn't tell anyone they had a son. He isn't built for this kind of life. We're better off just leaving him here."
"What? No! He'll be great leverage. Bring him."
"Boss-"
"I said bring him. Or do you want the same end as Jeremiah had?"
I could only imagine how that Jeremiah died. I whimper and look back and forth between them. The man with the gray eyes was glaring at the man with the brown ones. You could tell that there was a power struggle going on right then and there.
"Fine but he stays with me the entire time, alright? He's not going to be tortured like the rest."
Brown eyes nodded his head in agreement and turned to me.
"Come on then. We're leaving and you're coming with us."
If at all possible, I feel myself shrinking back even further into the closet. Brown eyes huffs and leans forward and I feel myself start to scream.
"Shit. You deal with it. I've got to go find the safe. You know how that ass-hat is incompetent."
Grey-eyes nods his head and just watches me as Brown-eyes leaves my room. He kneels down in front of me and I saw his eyes soften.
"What's your name kid?"
I hesitate before saying anything.
"Adam."
"My name is Nicholas. If you come with me, I can guarantee that no one else is going to hurt you."
"How?"
His eyes crinkle with mischief.
"I'm the baddest mofo around."
I take a deep breath and decide that if I had to go with them, Nicholas would be my best bet at not getting beaten to a bloody pulp. I crawl out slowly and stand up. Nicholas was about four inches taller than me and was buff. I'm just a skinny twig. I close my eyes and feel more tears fall down my face.
"Look Adam. I can't guarantee that it's going to be peaches and pie from here on out, but I'm going to try my damn hardest to keep you safe."
I look up at him.
"Why?"
His eyes saddened a little.
"Cuz I said so. Now let's go. We don't want to make them any angrier than they already are."
We walk out of my room and down the stairs. We hit the fifth one and it creaks. I relish in the sound because I knew it would be the last time I heard it. We walk through the hallway to the door. I look around me and see my home trashed. The furniture is ripped to shreds and the t.v. is on the ground face first. My kitchen looks like wolves were ravaging it and the dining room chandelier was hanging by a thread. I see someone walk down the stairs quickly.
They head towards me and stop, putting their face down to my level, glaring at me. It was a man with green eyes.
"Where is it you little shit?"
I stumble back and run into Nicholas.
"Where is the safe?"
"I-I-I don't k-know."
"How the hell do you not know? You fucking live here!"
I snapped. That's the only way I can describe it.
"I was fucking locked in my room twenty-four seven asshole! This is basically the first time I've seen the rest of the fucking house in the past ten years."
Everyone was stunned. They weren't expecting that answer. I felt Nicholas put his hand on my shoulder. Once again tears build up and fall over my face. I bury my face in my sleeve. Feeling arms engulf me before I finally pass out from exhaustion.
*****
A/N: First two part one-shot. Happy Reading!
