Chapter 17
I sometimes hate Arsen Reed.
Actually, no, scratch that, I hate him all of the time.
The fricking idiot doesn't even give me his number! God, everyone except him gave me their numbers.
It's not like he's special or anything.
I honestly feel like punching something right now. I feel like punching him right now.
I knew Dorian would wake up any second. I mean, maybe I hit him a little too hard, but that's not the problem, the problem is, if he woke up again, I'd definitely not be able to escape.
At all.
I tiptoed out of his bedroom and made my way down the long hallway filled with doors, and finally found the staircase.
I was about to go down it when I heard voices and immediately hid behind a tall, thick pillar holding up the roof.
Cool.
"You think so?" Someone says in a hushed tone.
I freeze, the voice sounding a lot like Tall-cake.
"Yeah. Remember when we saw her? She was in front of some Xena Jacox girl's graveyard,"
I furrow my eyebrows, wondering what they're on about.
"So she lied?"
"Yeah, I'm guessing."
"Fuck, she probably fooled Dori, too. He's a bloody idiot. Come on!"
Then, I hear their footsteps running past me in the direction of Dorian's bedroom. I stand there for a second, completely frozen in place.
They are much more clever than I thought they were. They know who I am!
I fumble for my phone, then remember I don't have Arsen's number.
I put it away and scoff.
"I don't need him anyway, I can do this on my own," I mutter to myself, and quickly rush down the huge staircase.
Once I'm down, I desperately look to my right and then to my left.
Which room am I supposed to go in?!
Finally deciding, I slowly push open the first door on my right and pop my head in.
Empty.
It's a magnificent room, though.
The colours that have been set out are peach and off-white, giving off an old, vintage type impression. I walk in, and my clumped feet sink into the soft carpet.
Impressive for a bunch of dirty kidnappers. I've only seen, what, five people here? And still, it's empty as hell.
Why do just five people need this much space, anyway?
To answer my question, I hear the booming of men's laughter coming from a closed door inside of the frilly room, and I stiffen, immediately looking around for someplace to hide.
Oh, shit. Where do I hide?!
Unfortunately for me, my life hates everything that has anything to do with the person Xanthe Jacox. And almost as if karma wants to pay me back for all the sins I've committed, I hear voices from behind me, too.
"Excellent," I hiss under my breath, looking around frantically to find a hiding spot.
My eyes lock onto a long table with a huge tablecloth draped on top of it.
Bingo.
I run over to it, and just about manage to scramble under when I hear the room door opening.
"Where the fuck did the little bitch go?" Someone snarls, and I instantly recognize the voice as the same man from that room earlier.
Perfect. They know I'm here.
"She can't have gone far. She sure knows how the hell to escape, though," Tall-cake's voice speaks up. I hear a muffled giggle.
"What do you mean? She seemed a bit dumb to me," Short-cake murmurs. I roll my eyes.
Says her.
"If you can punch Dorian and get away with it, you're definitely not dumb," I hear Tall-cake reply to her.
A different growl comes from somewhere.
"I was just unprepared, whatever. The only thing she seemed to damage was my fucking hair."
Dorian. The traitor. I can't wait to see what Arsen's going to do to him. Dorian should be scared shitless right now.
"She was just afraid, Dori," Tall-cake states gently.
"Don't call me Dori," Dorian snarls, and I hear some things being moved around, and then something falling.
"She's not here, boss. Nick might know," The man who called me bitch multiple times before says.
I think Dorian nodded because, after a while, I hear a door opening from my left, and people shuffling through.
I let out a breath.
That was close.
I wait for a while, and when no one comes back, I decide to take my chances and hurriedly run out from under the table.
Bad move, because as soon as I do, the door they went through opens again, causing me to freeze in panic.
Damnit, Xanthe, move your ass.
I can't! I'm paralyzed!
"Where could she have--" Dorian halts when he sees me, and Tall-cake, who was coming in from behind him, bumps into him, letting out a string of curses.
"I'm wearing heels, Dori, it's hard to walk in them, let along crash into someone whilst--what are you even looking at? Some kind of...oh." She stops when she sees me, too.
Great.
"So, that's where you were hiding, huh? Under the fucking table! Why do we never look under the most obvious places?" Short-cake says, not even the tiniest bit fazed by the fact that I'm standing here.
Dorian stands there for a while, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
After a while, when it looks like he's finally snapped out of it, a murderous look clouds his eyes.
"You're going to be locked up in Vicky and Emma's room until I can think about what to do with you," He says calmly, in a very frightening way.
Tall-cake, Vicky, recoils.
"What? Why the hell in our room?!" She screeches. I roll my eyes and fold my arms.
Short-cake, Emma, snorts.
"So we can torture her. Duh?" She says in a bored tone. This makes Vicky a little angrier.
"What do you mean 'so we can torture her'? We're supposed to be using her, not torturing her!" Vicky hisses in Emma's ear.
Emma, however, doesn't care about her friend's outburst.
"Vick, stop making it so bait. She practically already knew we were gonna use her, so what's the point of even staying low? Besides, torturing her will be fun," Emma shrugs.
Vicky gives out a loud and long 'ugh' and stomps out of the room, her heels just as long as I thought.
Emma gives me a dirty look and gestures with her index finger to follow. And with one last glare at Dorian, I follow them out.
Not intentionally. I just didn't want to be in the same room as Dorian and the guy who loves to call me a bitch.
I quietly walk behind the bickering girls down the hall and in through a door, which leads into another door, which leads to a bedroom.
"Sit," Vicky commands, pointing to the bed on the right.
I try not to stick my tongue out at her and her bossiness.
I sit down on the bed, which is surprisingly springy.
"So, what's your name?" She asks, and this time, I don't try to stop myself from rolling my eyes.
I roll my eyes.
"I told you, it's Aria--"
"Don't you Ariadne me, I know exactly who you are and exactly who you were related to," Vicky snarls, coming up close and glaring in my face.
Literally, in my face.
She's lucky I didn't just slap her there, the weirdo.
"Ugh, she's so dumb. I don't think she knows English," Emma says. Vicky glares at her.
"Look, I am telling the truth! My name is Ariadne Sayers and I was just visiting my dead...mother's grave, what more could you want to know?" I sigh, pretending to look annoyed with them.
Vicky narrows her eyes, and Emma looks at her uneasily.
"Are you sure your dumb ass brain didn't kidnap the wrong girl?" Emma hisses, and Vicky, who seems to be older out of the two, rolls her eyes.
"Emma, don't tell me how to do my job. This has to be Xanthe Jacox, she was in front of Xena's grave, for God's sake!" Vicky growls frustratedly, and I try to control my urge to scream.
I just wanted a normal, peaceful day.
I came to Canada, to visit my sister's grave, and keep out of whatever shit Arsen's gotten himself into.
Is that literally too much to ask?! Because I certainly don't think so.
"Whatever," Emma mutters, folding her arms and inspecting the nails on one hand.
"What do you guys want to do with m--uh, this...Xanthe girl?" I ask, mustering all my stupid acting skills so I can get some information out of them.
Vicky rolls her eyes, reminding me of Shanaya.
"We want answers. There are rumours going around other gangs that Xanthe Jacox is following Arsen around like a lost puppy. I want to know who she is, and why Arsen won't just let her go as he did to the last girl. The girl whose grave you were in front of," She explains.
My blood boils as I realize she's talking about Xena.
Arsen didn't let her go. She was taken from him. He didn't let her go.
"So, um, what would this Xanthe girl even have answers to?" I ask, trying not to roll my eyes every time I say my name.
Vicky's about to answer when Emma stops her.
"Can you stop asking so many fucking questions? Jeez, you're worse than my math teacher, and I don't even have one!" Emma throws her arms in the air, making both me and Vicky roll our eyes.
I hate Emma. And looks like the feeling is mutual. Between all of us.
"Emma, I think I forgot my phone in the basement, care to get it for me?" Vicky asks lightly, raising an eyebrow. Emma snorts.
"What am I, your--" Vicky cuts her off.
"Yes, you are. Now go and get my phone!"
Emma mutters angrily to herself before walking out of the room and slamming the door shut loudly behind her.
I clear my throat. "So, uh, what would Xanthe have the answers to?" I ask once again.
Vicky looks at me before rolling her eyes.
"Exactly, Ariadne, that's what I wanna know. Besides, why do you care? You're clearly not Xanthe," She snorts, sighing and flopping down onto the floor.
I inspect her for a while.
So, no torturing? No using me or...anything?
Abruptly, the bedroom door is flung open and Emma comes panting in. Vicky looks at her, annoyed, and I almost pee my pants at the sudden noise.
"There's no phone in the fucking basement!" Emma breathes, glaring at Vicky, who merely shrugs in return.
"I know. You actually thought there was?" She replies calmly, causing Emma to swear repeatedly before stomping into a door in the far corner of the room.
Vicky rubs her temples and sighs, closing her eyes.
"Guess we're going to have to take you to Dorian, then," Vicky shrugs, and gestures for me to follow her out of the room.
I pause.
Dorian? Oh, no...
"I'm not going anywhere near that bast--"
"You don't have a choice, Ariadne, if you want to get out of here, you're going to have to go to Dorian. Whether you want to, or not," Vicky growls, before stalking out of the room.
I make a face at her before following her out.
We reach a random door at the far end of the hallway, and she raps her knuckles on the door lightly, before completely walking in. I hesitantly follow close behind.
"What are you doing, Vicky?" Dorian grumbles.
I look around to see that he's sitting on a table, with two men on one side of him, and two men on the other side, as if they were in a meeting.
One of them, I recognize as that rude guy who calls me bitch.
What an asshole.
Their heads all turn to us, making me more nervous.
They all look like they're from the MMA, so if I even try to run, I'll be down in less than zero-point-five seconds.
Perfect.
"Dori, I think we might have a slight problem," Vicky says, sounding just as nervous as I felt.
Dorian raises an eyebrow, and Vicky glances at me quickly before turning back to him.
"What is it?" He snaps impatiently.
"We might have caught the wrong girl, boss," She states, and I raise my eyebrows.
Boss? Last time I checked, it was Dori.
"What do you mean we caught the wrong girl, Vicky?" He asks, his voice calmly scary and scarily calm.
Suddenly, very suddenly, my head starts to pound profusely, and everything goes out of focus, making me feel faint.
I ignore the pain, obviously.
"I mean exactly that, Dori. We seem to have got the wrong girl," Vicky shrugs, failing to hide her own jittery nerves.
Everything turns hazy again.
Dorian abruptly gets up from his seat, and I jerk slightly.
"First you say might, and now you're saying seem to, which one are you implying, Vicky?" He asks, glaring at her harshly.
I actually feel a little sympathy for Vicky, even though she's rude and insulted both me and my sister.
Vicky opens her mouth to speak, glancing around the room, and then to me, before turning to Dorian again, but before a word can come out of her mouth, a loud bang is heard from the hallway outside, and everyone jumps.
Except for Dorian.
My heart starts to beat wildly with panic, and the pounding in my head increases, my eyes focusing and unfocusing every second.
All of a sudden, the men are running about, retrieving well-hidden weapons, screaming to one another, Dorian barking orders.
Vicky tugs on my arm, literally pulling me towards the noise.
I scream out a protest.
"What are you doing?" I shriek over the noise, coming from both inside the room and outside in the hall, from other men.
Vicky looks at me and puts a finger to her mouth, immediately shutting me up with the creepy glint in her eyes.
I reluctantly follow, using my other hand to stop the bleeding and the pain from the side of my face, now covered with red blood.
We rush into the hallway, and there's a bunch of men, wearing all black, fighting with men that look faintly as if they belong to Dorian's gang, yelling and shouting like a barrel of monkeys.
Weapons and guns - that's all I see.
I look away when a guy shoots at another, swallowing the urge to vomit.
Then, I see him.
Arsen Reed.
Oh.
So he did come, then.
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2317 words.
Sorry, if it got a little boring, I'm not used to writing serious scenes since I am NOT a serious person.
Ask my Religious Studies teacher, she'll give you a whole lecture on how I'm so 'disrespectful' and 'childish'. UGH!
Anyways, love you idiots, and remember...
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