Waking up with dread filling my system, I tried to take my mind away from the fact that I may have to say goodbye to my mother, brother and best friend for the last time, that I may never see the person I love more than anything else again and that any plan I try and create May not work, and May land me in even more shit than I was in before.
I take a long shower, using the water as a way of relaxing my muscles as I go over it in my head again and again. If I am quiet and discreet enough, it may work. I only have a small chance though, just a small chance. Nathan might be proud of me, after he shouts at me for putting myself in danger, if I make it that far.
No! I think to myself as I get out of the shower, drying myself off. I cannot think like that, I have to be optimistic since hope is all I have left. My shaky hands fumble with the buttons on my shirt, causing the mundane task to become a challenge.
When dressed, with my make-up on my face appropriately and my hair tied up in a messy pony tail, I find myself looking at all of the family photos. The first one me and Ollie had together, when I was months old and he was a young toddler, holding his little sister, smiling widely at the camera.
The next, when I was only a baby, maybe one, and Ollie was holding my hand as we were on the beach. My mom told me that on that holiday, whenever we went close to the sea, he would hold my hand because he was scared I might get washed away. I laugh a little at that before moving to the next photo.
It's me and Ollie, playing around in the paddling pool my mom set up outside. I'm around eight and he is only ten, so I remember this well. I remember he splashed me a lot, and threw me into the pool over his shoulder. So I started splashing him and then I chased him out into the mud, so when we got back into the pool, it got dirty with grass and mud. Mom screwed at us, but we couldn't help but laugh.
The next one I look at is at my moms birthday party that we did as a surprise for her. I'm about fourteen and it's a photo of my mom, her arms around my shoulders and her hands holding mine in front of me. This is my favourite photo of us because I remember just before it was taken, my mom thanked me for the party and told me how she was so proud of me for growing up into a beautiful young lady. I remember being about to cry when they took the photo.
The next is at my sixteenth, when we had a meal at the house, just the three of us. It's all three of us, Ollie in the back with his arms around me and my mom, my mom and me holding hands. I smile, looking at it and thinking of how much it sums us up. We were together, always close, the three musketeers.
The next is at the beach, when Ollie gave me a huge bear hug, and I was laughing, not noticing my mom take the photo. I remember laughi so much I cried.
"Lily? Are you up? You have work today!" My mom shouts from downstairs, disturbing me front my trip down memory lane. I shake the sad thoughts away before walking downstairs, to meet my mom.
I'm dreading having to say goodbye to her again,but this time it might be for good.
"Hey sweetie, you ready to go?" She asks, and I nod, joining her in the kitchen.
"I love you mom, you've done so much for us, I don't think I could ever have thought of a better mother, thank you so much," I say, needing to say it out loud. She looks taken aback, asking me where all of this has come from.
"I was just looking at the family photos, at all the pictures of us when we were younger and I was thinking of how hard it must have been for you as a single mother, but I think you've done such an amazing job. I was just reminiscing and I never told you I loved you as much as I should have, I never thanked you enough, and I'm sorry but now I am," I whisper, hugging her tightly. She hugs me back, crying a little.
"I love you too sweetie, you and Ollie were the best things that happened to me, I'm so proud of my little girl," she says and I hug her again, before releasing her to go upstairs, where I needed to speak to Ollie. My mom had said that Steph could sleep one the spare room and no matter how much Ollie protested, she slept in the spare room.
I knocked on his door and saw that when he opened it, he was in his pyjamas, playing his Xbox. Such a child sometimes.
"Hey Rosie what's up?"
"Thank you," I blurt out and he smiles, looking confused.
"What'd I do?"
"Everything, when dad left," I say and watch as his features harden," you became my father, brother and best friend. You worked harder than anyone else to provide for this family, when you shouldn't have had to. You are the best big brother I think I could ever want and I love you so much Ollie, I don't say it enough," I say and a single tear falls from my eye. Shit.
"Hey, it's okay, I loved doing that for you, I love you too Rosie, you're my beautiful, smart lil sis that I'm so proud of," he says, wrapping his huge arms around me. I know I shouldn't do this, I should be acting normal, like there is nothing wrong, but I have to say my goodbyes, I can't just leave it.
"Bye," I say as I leave shutting his door and wiping my tears. Then, almost perfectly timed, my phone rings and it's Nathan. I breathe a little before I answer.
"Good morning baby," he says, his voice deep and husky with tiredness.
"Good morning," I reply and hear the smirk on his face.
"Why don't I pick you up after work? We can get something to eat, I just really want to see you, I miss you so much," he laughs but even though I would love to say yes, I have to meet my stalkers then, so I find an excuse.
"I would love to, I miss you so much too, but Ollie is picking me up right after work, I can't, but I'll see you soon," I try and hear him sigh.
"You have no idea how much I miss you though, I hate sleeping here without you, it's cold," he complains, making me laugh a little.
"I'll be there to warm you up soon, I promise, I have to go," I say and wait for his reply.
"When will I next hear from you?"
"I'll ring you after work, when I'm in the car, don't forget okay?" I ask, praying it works.
"Okay, I'll be thinking about it all day, goodbye beautiful," he says and I say good bye as well, hoping what he said is true. Hoping he will answer.
I leave the house, saying to my mom and brother one last time, leaving Steph to continue her sleep. Then, I make my way to work.
After handing in the two reports I was assigned and starting my third, I spoke to Sophie, Brian and Tim, who were all worried about me due to my absence. I told them I was ill, like I had been telling anyone who asked and they all told me they were glad to have me back. I guess I was a little glad to be back, only because at work, it's normal. Nothing changes. At home, I never know what I will be faced with.
Six hours.
Five hours.
Four hours.
Three hours.
Two hours.
One hour.
I pack the sheets of paper filled with my writing in my bag, slinging it over my shoulder as I say my goodbyes to people I may never see again. Of course, I have a plan to get Nathan to find me, I'm just unsure on whether it will be enough.
I walk out of the building and look up into the corner of the car park, where of course the black car is parked. I've decided I won't give them the satisfaction of seeing me scared, they don't deserve to see me that way. So instead, I stroll up to the car, my head held high. At first, I try to see who is driving, but the windows are tinted, really inconspicuous. (Note the Sacrasm)
I open the door and slowly sit in the back seat, where I am faced with a sight so disgusting and vile I feel as though I may vomit.
In the front seat, on the passenger side, is James. He sits there, his nose still not healed with bruising all over him, looking smug like he has just seen gold. He was lying to the boys. Pretending to lead them when he was really working for the enemy.
I glare at him before looking to my left, where I see a man, who I think I have seen before. He has a familiar face, no a familiar smile.
"We didn't think you would show," James laughs, making me want to punch his face so many times.
"Well I did, so, I have held up my end of the bargain you hold up yours, explain," I reply, crossing my arms over ny chest, acting bored.
"If I were you darling I wouldn't be making enemies of us," the man says and I have a feeling his name starts with L or M.
"You're already my enemy so start talking," I reply and even though this attitude will just get me into more trouble, I stick with it, wanting to die with some dignity at least.
"Listen to me you stuck up little bitch," James starts but is shut up by the other man and given a warning glance.
"What were you going to say James?" I taunt and see the other man,whose name I cannot think of, start to chuckle.
"I like her, she is a lot more feisty than the last time we met," he comments and so I share a confused glance with him. He then grins."Do you not remember me princess?"
Then it hits me.
Luke.
The guy who picked up my phone.
He called me princess.
I ran away and had a panic attack.
My mouth drops open with shock, so I instantly shut it. I knew he was familiar.
"Yes, I remember you, such a gentlemen," I mock as he starts the car, driving away. Inside, I start to panic.
"You were promised an explanation and that shall give you, but why don't we do this over a cup of tea? I know an excellent place," he says, like he is taking me out for lunch. Words cannot express how much I completely and utterly hate these men.
"A public place? With witnesses? Original," I continue to mock as he chuckles in the front seat, not realising how serious my hatred for him is.
I struggle to actually stay calm through this, since the lives of all the people I love are in the hands of the two people in front of me. Only the wrong word from me could get them all killed. Fuck!
After ten minutes of silence, of me scaring myself with possibilities, we arrive at the cafe, where I am ordered to get out of the car casually. I follow behind the men as they take me into the cafe, sitting in the seat by the window. As people look at me when we enter, my palms being to sweat. I can't take all of this pressure.
"Now, Lily, we shall tell you everything you need to know," Luke says, smiling patronisingly. What he doesn't realise though, is that I still have my phone in my possession, and so I sneakily take it out, making sure he is occupied with ordering drinks. I carefully press the contacts button and then Nathan's name, before just holding the phone, praying that he answers.
"I know you are already well acquainted with James, since he has been with your dearest friend Kelly, and you have had your fair share of...disagreements," he begins causing me to scoff, laughing humourlessly.
"Do you mean when he beat the shit out of me? Or when Nathan beat the shit out of him?" James glares at me, but Luke stays smiling, never letting down his act. If he only knew. I casually glance down and see that he has answered and he has not hung up, he must have caught on.
"Both times, but what you didn't know was that while your boyfriend and his friends thought James was leading them in their search for a notorious group of..criminals," he emphasises, winking to make sure I knew what he meant," he was actually giving us information on their searches and how close they were getting. Now, when we met, I took your number from your phone, and inserted a tracker to it to track down your whereabouts. This allowed me to send one of my men to attack you in the alley," he explains, confusing me.
"Why was I attacked?" I ask and check the phone, glad to see he is still listening.
"The plan was only to threaten your boyfriends group with your death, but you see we did not anticipate your rescue and so we lost one of our men," he explains and it makes sense.
"Then, Nathan told me about what happened and I knew that something had to be done about you. I must admit, I underestimated you. I thought my warning would have been enough, but I was wrong. Then, when I suspected you two were an item, I fought to sabotage, to use my position as leader to force Nathan to cheat on you, to ruin your relationship completely. You see, you two being together made him too eager to find that cure, the opposite of what we want. But he refused. He refused to kiss her lips, so I knew." I feel sick going over it, sick knowing that it wasn't Nathan's fault and that it was the monster in front of me's. I just want to punch him in the face.
"Then there was the incident involving you, James and Kelly and so our suspicions of you were confirmed. This however meant that you had caused suspicions on James, and so we were forced to act a little faster than planned, but here we are," he ends, gesturing to the cafe around him. So this was all a huge plan?
"What's the plan now, are you going to kill me?" I ask in a hushed tone, so only they can hear me. Well them and Nathan on the phone.
"Oh no, we are just going to torture you, record it and then send it to your boyfriend, in hopes his team will come to rescue you and that is where we will destroy them," he laughs, taking this as a huge joke when I feel as if I could cry at any moment.
"The beauty of it is, they will be so mad in panic that Nathan's poor girlfriend is stuck, helpless in our hands, and so they will act fast, not thinking through their plans rationally and eventually, they will just come and find you, no plans in hand, and that will be their mistake," Luke says and I almost smile at the fact that Nathan has heard all of that, that he should know what he has to do.
"Now, Lily darling, we must go, time is ticking and we do not have all day," he says, sending James to pay for his drinks.
"Now as a precaution, we must make sure you have nothing on you, so when we reach the car you will be searched, but for now, please give me your phone," he says and I panic. Then, before he gets to me, I end the call, acting like I am taking it out of my pocket. He takes it quietly and the leads me to the car, where I will be searched and driven somewhere I may never leave.
This hasn't been edited, sorry if there are any mistakes!
Hoping to be posting a chapter every week, but I can't make any promises, so look out! Thank you for reading, it means a lot to me, and thank you anyone for voting!xx