Hostage

Bonus Chapter III

Ruby's POV

6:56AM

(The day of Andre's funeral)

I hated funerals.

I hated the suffocating sadness that lingered around the church halls during the sermon.

And I hated the pretense.

The fake care and words of condolences from the people who barely knew the deceased.

I hated the fact that I had had to attend Andre Monroe's funeral looking like I was a model for a goth-themed runway fashion show, thanks to my mother. I felt like a complete clown.

But most of all, I realized that I hated seeing Jason Monroe genuinely sad. The one thing worse than Jason pretending to be happy was him being genuinely unhappy, was seeing him break down two weeks ago after he got the call from the hospital regarding Andre Monroe's death.

Mother and I had arrived at the church a few minutes ago and since the sermon was yet to start, I had managed to get mother off my back using a lie that I had to use the bathroom as an excuse.

Yet, here I was, standing a few paces away from the backdoor of the church, watching Jason who sat on a bench a few paces away from the church. His back was turned to me but I could see tell that he was lost in thoughts. From his sitting position, I could tell that he was tensed. I could see that his left hand was holding on tightly to the edge of his side of the bench. I drew in a deep breath and then exhaled, feeling a tight squeeze in my chest.

I wanted to say something to him.

But I didn't know what.

I knew better than anyone, that saying the words 'my condolences' to someone who had just lost a person they cared about didn't actually make a difference. It didn't ease the emptiness they were feeling inside.

I bit down on my lower lip and then counted to ten in my head before I ran my fingers over the hem of my short black dress and then walked quickly towards him. And I saw him flinch, a sign that he knew that someone was approaching but he didn't care enough to turn around to actually find out who. I felt my feet some to a halt when I was standing beside the bench and then cleared my throat to alert him of my presence.

"Hi." I said softly.

He turned to face me and I saw the corner of his lips tilt upwards slightly before he sighed and then looked away.

"If it isn't the princess of the 'Black Swan.'" He said, causing me to roll my eyes.

Even though Jason's painting of me had been solely for the purpose of the school project, it had gotten a LOT more attention than we had expected. Not particularly because it was a masterpiece, no. But because he was Jason Monroe, the young millionaire artist whose brother had confessed to being the person responsible for multiple deaths in New York City before he committed suicide. And because he had painted me, Ruby Kent, daughter or Eleanor Kent, A fallen ballerina.

Suddenly, the world remembered my existence. The past two weeks had been a blur. I couldn't believe how many offers I had gotten since the painting but the most significant one of them all was a feature in the 'Black Swan' magazine. Before now, I had never even dreamed that I would be on the front cover of any magazine, yet alone one as big as the 'Black Swan'

But I was now. Thanks to Jason.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked softly.

"Only by Andre." He said, his eyebrows narrowing and I mirrored his expression, my eyebrows creasing in confusion as I looked around.