Reyn's POV
"I miss you," she whispered in my ear.
I looked into her eyes, smiling. "I have a girlfriend now, and I love her more than anything else." Just thinking about her lifted my mood even though I was currently holding a demon in my hands.
She tilted herself backward, I lurched forward in panic and tightened my grip on her. I wanted to drop her on her head, but I didn't want a case on my hands. I sighed.
Judging from the music, the song was about to end. I glanced over to where my princess was sitting for the millionth time that night. Her spot was empty. Amethyst had been sitting beside her. The last I had seen, the two were whispering. My jaw tightened at the thought of the two girls flirting. Where had they gone? Maybe just to the restroom?
I wasn't even sure if Dani was into girls like that. I made a mental note to ask her. I couldn't imagine what a hard time I would have if she was into guys and girls. Following that train of thought, and the fact that she and Amethyst were missing only set me on edge.
I glided across the ballroom with all eyes on us but the wrong girl in my arms. The next time I glanced over she was still missing.
"Is everything okay?" Natasha asked as the song finally came to an end. I didn't bother answering her as I dropped my arms and immediately strided over to the table I was sitting at a few minutes ago. The table that my babygirl was sitting at a few minutes ago.
"Celui qui s'est enfui," my father lamented feigning tragedy with the back of his hand resting on his forehead. He gave me an excited smile, full of anticipation.
"Where did she go, father? What did you say?"
"I've always told you to learn some french, boy. The one that got away. That's what I said." He waved his hand around as if it were obvious.
"I'm not playing around, father. I will ask you one more time. Where did they go? What did you do?"
"But my boy, it was all you and Natasha. How do you think your dear girl felt watching your faces pressed so close that you couldn't even tell whether Natasha was kissing your cheek? Or maybe when you smiled down at her? Or what about the way you both were pressed together. Ah la trahison [the betrayal]."
My heart tore at what the whole scene must have looked like. Natasha sat in her chair admiring her fingernails. The wench. I then glared at my father for inviting her to this event. His face was the epitome of amusement, however.
"Would you quit the theatrics, father?"
He ignored my question, "That girl of yours is quite a smart one. Saw right through my love for passionate performance. You know what she said before leaving? 'I hope you enjoyed the show, Mr. Sadiq.' Oh, you should have seen the fierce anger in her eyes, and the fire in her words. If I wasn't so amused, I would have been scared."
I cut him off impatiently. "She left?!" If people weren't already watching, my reaction definitely attracted the attention of the few who tried to mind their own business.
"Right through the kitchen, right behind Amethyst." Amethyst would have come here with her father. I looked at the rest of the tables to see her father in conversation with someone else. The seat beside him was empty.
"Poor girl was in such a rush, she even left behind her cute little clutch."
I could've strangled my father at that moment. Though, he only looked more than happy to be pushing my buttons. I opened her clutch hoping not to find her phone in there. The gods must have been laughing at me at this moment because her phone was neatly nestled into the pouch. Fuck.
I took out my phone to call Sylv. Maybe Amethyst had called him to pick her up. I knew if they were avoiding me, there was no way Amethyst was going to pick up.
He picked up the phone in seconds. I ran through the kitchen and out the back door in seconds. I couldn't even bother to acknowledge the waiter I had scared the shit out of. He clutched his chest after readjusting the platter in his hands.
"What's wrong? Is Dania okay?" He asked immediately. I didn't even bother asking him how he knew.
"She and your sister are on the run is what's the problem." I hissed down the phone.
"Why are you acting like that's my fault?" He retorted, annoyed. "Give me a second." I heard him fiddling with something on the other side of the line. "Dad's gonna be pissed once he finds out she went off without any guards again." He muttered.
I could hear his finger clicking against something. He was typing.
"What the fuck are you doing Sylv?"
"Calm down, grandpa. Amethyst has a tracking device in that necklace she always wears. I don't think she even knows. But that's how we always found her when she would run away from her security when she was younger. She hadn't done this in a while, but they never took the device out in case of emergencies."
I thanked the universe for the miracle.
"Uhhh, okay well, the location of the device can't be triangulated. Which means they have something that throws off any signals. Let me try tracking their phones."
"Dani left hers here."
"I'll just track Amethyst's then." He paused for a minute or two. "No, same thing. Shit." He said frustrated. "My dad is at the banquet, right? You have to tell him right now. He's going to freak."
I ran back through the kitchen to the dining hall. All the guests were making their way out. I stood by my father who was at the entrance of the venue saying goodbye to everyone as they left.
"Where is Mr. Marciano?"
"How unfortunate. He just left a few minutes ago," he responded not even looking at me. "Don't worry I'm sure they're fine."
His lack of concern only meant one thing. He knew more than he was letting on. If that was the case, then things were most likely either really bad or really good. Selfish bastard.
"He's just left, Sylv. You're gonna have to tell him yourself."
I heard him sigh on the other end of the line, "I'll call you back," he replied curtly before cutting the phone. I would've smashed it into the ground if it weren't my only way to get the information I needed,
Security cameras.
I sprinted toward the office of the venue. The owner was luckily still there and coordinating the clean-up and closing of the building.
"Excuse me, my girlfriend may have gone missing. Could I take a look at your security footage of the parking lot?" I asked as soon as I barged into his office and braced my hands on his desk, leaning toward him in desperation. Right now he was the only hope I had of finding what happened to the girls.
He looked taken aback. "Sure, my guy. Let me just pull up the footage from the cameras in the parking lot. When did this happen?"
"It can't be more than ten minutes ago," I huffed out.
I walked around his desk and he turned the monitor towards me, starting to rewind the recording. For a few minutes, we watched as nothing happened. There were just one or two people who may have left the gala in their cars but nothing out of the ordinary.
Five minutes had passed when a black van zoomed across the screen.
"Stop!" I shouted.
The man jumped in his seat and paused the video. He rewinded slowly so I could see Dani and Amethyst running across the parking lot before they were pulled into a black van. My knees nearly gave out. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I felt like I was suffocating.
"Play that one more time." I managed to get out through my tight chest. My heart broke for how terrified my little girl must be. I was going to kill the bastards who thought they could even look at her with bad intentions let alone take her from me.
I recorded the part of the video showing the girls being taken and sent it to Sylv.
He called me seconds later.
"My father isn't picking up for once. He practically begs me to call and now that I finally do, he doesn't pick up. Make it make sense." He complained frustrated. "The video shows that they've been kidnapped. But they removed the plates so we can't identify them."
There was a few seconds of silence.
"What do we do, Sylv?"
"At this point, we wait, I guess," frustration was clear in his tone. "There are three possibilities now: my dad calls back and helps us, the kidnappers contact us, or most favorably, Amethyst manages to get them out of there. I'm betting on the last one."
Even after we found them, I was scared of the outcome. Was she upset that I was engaged? Was she upset that I danced with Natasha? Why didn't she say anything? Why didn't she just talk to me? Would she break up with me when I found her? I recalled what she had said just last night.
"I'm serious. I don't care about whoever you dated in the past. But, I'm warning you don't give me any reason to be jealous." Her voice dropped low.
"I would never. I'm crazy about you, Dani. I'm pretty sure you're it for me." I trailed my hands along her shoulders. My lips followed close behind.
"Don't say that unless you're sure. Don't make promises you can't keep." She whispered.
I had done exactly what I had promised her I wouldn't do.
She was right; I made a promise that I couldn't-- didn't-- keep.
No, I refused to think about that. I had to find her. No matter what, I had to keep her safe. Even if she didn't want me anymore.
Dania's POV
I shut my eyes tightly as the man stuffed the rag into my face. My chest tightened as I held my breath and pretended to struggle a bit. I feigned weakness and then let go of any resistance in my body. I pushed aside my fear and pictured a noodle in my mind. No tension, no thoughts. Hopefully, that would convince him.
A few seconds later, he removed the wet cloth from my lower face and moved away. It took everything in me not to gasp for air. Even though my chest burned, I forced myself to inhale slowly and deeply, as if I were asleep. I eased an eye open just enough to see Amethyst's hands being tied together and another man holding a cloth to her face. They looked like dark forms since I couldn't open my eye too much without giving myself away.
There were three men in the car including the driver.
The two men moved to the back of the van and sat by the door of the trunk. My head was turned away from them so I fully opened my eyes to look at Amethyst. I wondered if she was awake too. I studied her body for any tell-tale signs.
Show me you're awake. Show me you're awake, Show me you're awake. I pleaded with her mentally.
I tried to glance in the rearview mirror, but it was out of sight. I calmed down a little. If I couldn't see the driver in the mirror, it meant he couldn't see me. For now, I was safe. As long as the men stayed behind me things were okay.
I watched Amethyst, waiting for her to give away something. Her face was serene like she had no care in the world. Her breathing was slow and even. Her body seemed weightless like a sandbag slumped on the floor. Her legs were limp. Her big toe, peeping out from under her dress twitched. I looked back up at her to see her eyes open.
Oh, thank god.
She gave me a wink before looking past me and closing her eyes again. I followed her lead.
Rough fingers grazed my cheeks. My heart seized. I couldn't react. I wasn't supposed to be awake. I cleared my mind. I pretended the fingers were just Reyn's. I pretended, for that moment, that I wasn't in the back of a strange van. That I wasn't in the middle of another kidnapping. At least this time Amethyst was with me.
My neck was loose while he grabbed my chin and tilted it from side to side.
While the man was distracted examining my face I heard someone move. The man yelped and yelled out before there was more commotion.
I snapped my eyes open to see the masked man in front of me sprawled across the floor. Amethyst stood above him with a taser in one hand and a switchblade in the other. I watched as she hooked the tip of the knife on the man's balaclava and removed it like she was peeling a fruit. She aimed the taser at the man on the other side of the van, keeping him in place.
Once the mask was removed she looked down and paused. Her eyebrows furrowed before she looked back up and demanded the other man take his mask off. The man had his hands up in surrender but refused.
"Look at my face, does it remind you of anyone? Who the fuck do I look like?" Her tone was clipped and the man flinched as she spat each word.
The man's eyes-- the only part of his face that was visible-- widened in recognition.
"That's right." She sneered before tasing him unconscious, dropping the weapon, and kicking it towards me. She spun, bracing herself against the wall of the van as the driver swerved, trying to throw her off.
"Stay right there, Dania. I got this. If any of them start to wake up again, tase them."
She reached over the side of the driver's seat and pulled the driver's seat belt so that it was tight against his throat. She wrapped her arm around the headrest and held the sharp weapon to his throat.
"Pull over at the next exit, or I'll have to do it for you." She threatened, her voice low. "And that means getting rid of you, if you're catching my drift."
The man merged into another lane to take the next exit off the highway.
"Good boy," she cooed. The man grunted. She used her free hand to remove the man's mask.
"You really screwed up this time, didn't cha, buddy? So much for a two-for-one deal, am I right?"
The man went to say something but she held the blade firmer against his throat. A thin streak of crimson fluid flowed down his bulging veins.
"Pull over," she demanded.
One of the men in front of me groaned. I lifted my arm, aiming the taser at him and deploying it. I watched as his body convulsed before he fell unconscious for the second time. I really need to buy myself one of these.
The van jerked as the man panicked and swerved off the road coming to an abrupt stop.
"Get out," Amethyst demanded. The man hesitated. "Get. The fuck. Out." She ground out.
The van was stopped by an empty field. Cows were grazing every few feet. Some of them veered their head toward us, lazily chewing on the grass. I would've been excited to see them in any other situation.
I heard the sound of the door propping open and the man jumping out.
"Dania," Amethyst called, I looked over at where she was leaning over the driver's seat, closing the door. "Tase him."
I crawled over the limp bodies and yanked the door open and did exactly as she said. The man didn't even react before his body shuddered and dropped to the ground like a newborn bird learning to fly. Less cute, though. Actually, this man wasn't cute at all.
"Should we shove these two out, too?" I asked. Amethyst nodded and came around to help me roll them across the van floor. We peered over the side of the sliding door to see the first body fall straight to the ground with a thud. Amethyst let out a laugh, while I winced.
We got back inside and positioned ourselves to roll the second body outside. I winced again when he fell right on top of the other man.
Amethyst jumped over them, delivered a swift kick to each of them in their stomach, and happily got into the driver's seat.
"C'mon. You can sit shotgun now." She called me over. I slid the door shut with all my strength and joined her in the front.
"Well, that was wild." She laughed before backing the van up and pulling onto the road again.
"How are you so calm?" I looked at her with disbelief.
"This isn't my first rodeo, Dani," she replied with a secretive smile.
I sat back in the seat with relief. I was so scared we wouldn't make it out alive. It was all thanks to Amethyst and her experience with 'rodeos'. Whatever that was referring to. I thought back to Sylv. What was their family involved in that they were so hesitant to share?
"So, you wanna go to Wendy's now?"
I laughed out loud. When I looked over at her the smile faded off of my face. Her brown eyes stared straight into mine, not a hint of amusement on her face.
"Y-you're not joking?" My lips were slightly parted in surprise.
"I mean that's what got us in this mess in the first place, isn't it? You gotta tell me right now, the Wendy's is right over there. I'm gonna miss the entrance. "
"Okay, okay let's go." I gathered my dress in my lap, desperate for warmth.
"Do you have your phone? We should probably call Reyn. He's probably buggin'," I looked in the back for her clutch.
"Yeah it's in my little pouch, it should be back there somewhere."
I got out of my seat and scanned the metal floor of the van, trying to find it. It was right next to one of her heels, behind the passenger seat. I grabbed it and hurried to find her phone nearly toppling over when Amethyst turned into the drive-thru.
"I found it," I exclaimed, returning back to the passenger's seat and pulling out of the phone.
She stopped by the speaker where we were greeted by the cashier.
"Can I have a frosty and some fries? I'll pay you back as soon as I have my phone and wallet again" I asked.
"Two frosties and two large fries, please," she ordered before turning to me. "Don't worry about it, it's fine."
I thanked her and looked down at the phone, clicking all the buttons before leaning down and pressing them to my forehead.
"It's dead," I sighed.
"It's always dead, especially when I need it most," she grumbled. I gave her her clutch so she could pay for our food.
"I know where we gotta go now anyway." She admitted.
"What do you mean?"
"Those guys back there, they work for my father."
***
A/N Happy Saturday everyone!! Hope your week went well and everyone is safe and healthy. Anything exciting happen?
Also, have any of you guys read the book Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza? I'm about halfway through and it's such a good book. It's so interesting to read about where some spiritual concepts intersect with science. I really recommend it! Even if you don't internalize the beliefs, it really gets you thinking.
Other than that, have you guys eaten today? Drank some water? If not, here's your reminder!
Sending lots of love and light your way,
Madhu