Hostage

5: Alone

"I — what?" I ask.

Billie sighs and starts to cry. "You're supposed to be my hostage," she sobs. "I don't want to do this, but I'm being forced to! I feel so bad; I literally kidnapped you and took you away from your family and your home. I'm — I'm sorry."

"Billie, it's okay," I say. Even though I'm not okay with the idea that she kidnapped me, I feel sorry for her. "If you want to, you can fight them."

"I can't," she whispers. "They'll kill me if I do."

All of a sudden, a voice calls from downstairs.

"You almost done yet, Bil?" the voice — presumably Finneas — shouts. "We're running out of time, you know!"

"Yeah!" Billie calls out in a slightly shaky voice. "I'm almost done!"

She rushes to the closet and opens it. Inside, I can see a bunch of ropes, rolls of duct tape, whips, and shoes. Lots of shoes. She takes a knife, some of the rope, and a roll of duct tape out from the closet before walking to me. Billie quickly unties me and lets me rub my wrists and ankles before crying again.

"I have to do this. I promise I'll come later and free you from this mess. Okay?"

I nod. She takes some rope and cuts pieces off with the knife and ties my wrists to the bed frame. For some odd reason, she leaves my ankles be. Then she tears off another piece of tape and looks me in the eye.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. Then she puts the piece over my mouth and smooths it down. I look at her, and she looks at me back with sympathy in her eyes. "I'll be back soon."

Fin rushes up the stairs, looks at the bed, and sees me. Billie moves her eyes around indicating for me to start struggling, and so I do. I'm not the best actor, so I start pulling at the ropes. They both smirk, and Billie gives me a quick nod of the head to let me know I'm doing a good job.

Fin chuckles. "What's the matter? Little bit tied up there?"

I glare at him with evil eyes. Then I look up at Billie with sad eyes.

"Don't worry, dear," she says in her meanest voice. I can see she's trying not to smile. "We have to leave for a few hours. Don't try anything, or something terrible will happen to you. Okay?" She mouths the word nod to me. I nod. "Good."

And then they take off. I can hear the van's engine start and drive away. Soon, I can't hear it anymore.

I am alone.