************Author's note**********
Here's chapter 10! I hope you enjoy. I was thinking about posting chapter 11 later on today, but i'm not sure, lol.
Don't forget to vote and comment so I know if you want me to continue writing this story or to stop!Thank you for all your continuous support and for over 19,000 reads on Slave to the Rhythm! <3 <3 <3
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The sudden knock on the door caused the girls to jump and Nikki ran to the window to inspect.
“Is that Michael?”
“What?” Jessica asked, jumping to her feet to join her at the window. “Oh, God…What the hell is he doing here?”
She ran to the door and sprang it open, barely having time to breathe before he pulled her into a deep kiss. When he pulled away, she belted out in panic.
“Michael, wha-You can’t…You can’t be here! Shane will be back any minute and he’ll go crazy! You have to-”
“Da-da?” called the tiny voice behind her. Michael’s eyes fixed on the ground as the little tyke came in between Jessica’s legs with curiosity.
“Elliot…” He gasped, reaching down and gathering his sweet son into his arms again after what seemed like forever apart.
“Oh, Elliot you’re growing up so fast! Daddy’s missed you! Look how big you are!”
“I know! Can you believe he’s almost three?” Nikki casually smiled, ignoring Jessica’s frantic eyes.
“I’m two!” Eli cheered, smiling brightly at his father as those Michael Jackson eyes gazed at him with a child’s love.
“I know! Oh, I love you so much!” he squealed, holding him tightly as Eli giggled with happiness.
“Da-da, too tight!” he laughed, squeaking with delight.
“Sorry…” he chuckled, holding his son out to look at him with a smile. “Geez, you’re so big! I bet you’re smart, too! He’s smart isn’t he, Jess? He seems really smart! God, I missed you so much, Elliot! You don’t know just how much daddy loves you! Jess, look at his hair! He has so much of it! He got that from both-”
“Michael!” she barked, cutting off his constant babbling.
Two pairs of silent brown eyes met her when the silence washed over.
“Did you not hear a word I said? You have to get out of here! Shane will be back any-”
The phone rang and Nikki sprinted to grab it. Everyone was quiet until she hung up the phone. “Shane’s just down the street.”
“Oh, no…Michael, you have to leave now!”
Hesitantly sitting Eli down on the floor, he kissed the top of his head and planted another kiss on Jessica’s lips before quickly turning to leave. “Okay, I love you both so much. I’ll see you soon.”
“Da-da! I go with you!” Eli called behind him. He turned around, the pain setting in from having to part yet again.
“I wish you could come with me, son. I really do.” He said sadly, giving him another loving kiss on the head. “Daddy loves you, Eli. Daddy loves you so much. I’ll see you soon, okay?” He tried to keep his eyes dry as he longed for his son to be with him, but knew what Shane would do to Jessica if Eli was taken to safety.
“Da-da, I go with you!”
“Daddy will see you really soon. I promise.”
As Bill moved in to guard Michael, he was quick to begin dragging him away, knowing the circumstances they were under.
“I love you!” Michael called, sadly heading away from his wide eyed son.
Jessica held Eli’s hand tight as she became blinded with tears. She felt her heart tear in half and somehow, Eli managed to wriggle out of her hold. His little legs sprang across the gravel as he followed his father, not accepting his leave.
“Elliot!” she screamed, running after him when she saw the bright headlights before them. Shane had pulled into the hotel parking lot and spotted her wandering child just as Michael slipped into the limo.
Eli ran until his body couldn’t take anymore and his tiny voice tore through the crisp air with a boldness the world had yet to hear.
“DADDY!”
Michael covered his mouth as the tears were heavy and blinding. The limo moved down the street and he watched in horror as Shane left his car, heading for Eli ages away in the distance. “Stop! Go back!”
“Michael, it’s dangerous. You don’t have the entire security team.”
“I don’t give a damn, Bill! Go back!” he yelled to the limo driver.
Jessica grabbed her son before Shane could even dare touch him.
“What the hell was that, Jessica? Why did that boy just say daddy? Why are you outside without permission?”
She was silent, holding Eli close as he sobbed on her chest.
“I asked you a question!”
“Leave her alone!” Nikki screamed.
“Take care of her.” Shane simply instructed to a dark-eyed man nearby.
She watched as the man grabbed Nikki and took her into the hotel, hearing the smacks of his hands hitting her face before the door shut.
“Nikki!” She cried, shielding her son’s face when Shane’s hand whipped towards them.
With the tears flowing down her cheeks, she thought of a plan that would only save her son as she knew she would have to stay behind for her best friend. Eli was the most important thing in her life and she had to do whatever she could to protect him even if it meant taking a huge risk. Knowing what Shane would do to her if her son went to safety sent shivers down her spine, but she didn’t care. She was willing to take anything if it meant saving her precious child.
She waited just a moment before jabbing her fingers into Shane’s eyes and sprinting around to the back of the hotel. Placing her son down as she saw Michael’s limo come into full view, she crouched to his level and tried to somehow give instruction to an overwhelmed two year old.
“Listen to me, baby. Daddy’s in that car right over there. I want you to run as fast as you can and get in the car with daddy, okay?”
“K.” he said, wiping his eyes as the exhaust began to wash over. He turned and ran, stopping after he noticed she wasn’t following.
“Mommy...” He mumbled, reaching his little hand out to her.
The crunch of gravel started faintly behind her and she whipped her head around, her heart beginning to pound even harder when she saw his angry face, heading for her.
“Mommy can’t go with you okay, baby? Go on. Go on to daddy.”
Michael leaped out the limo, heading for his small family before he stopped dead in his tracks when her pained voice met his ears.
“No, Michael! Stay there! Go on, Eli! Go on to daddy!”
“I knew it! He is here!” Shane yelled, coming closer and closer by the second.
Michael noticed Eli didn’t move, and took another step forward, in attempt to stop Shane from harming his family.
“NO!” she belted. “ELI, GO! GO TO DADDY, NOW! PLEASE, BABY! GO TO DADDY!”
He still didn’t budge until Shane wrapped his hand around Jessica’s mouth. The fear hit their little boy hard and he bolted towards his daddy, yelping when his foot slipped against a rock. He felt to the ground hard as the sharp gravel dug into his elbow and cried out in pain. Michael was quick to subtract the space between them, lifting his son as he had almost made it to the limo. He looked up as Jessica twisted her head enough to free her mouth from Shane’s hold.
“GO! GO, MICHAEL!” she shrieked as Shane fought to haul her away.
“JESS, I CAN’T LEAVE-”
“PLEASE! GO! GO!”
Suddenly, several men began to crowd around, running towards Michael as he had no choice but to get back inside the limo and speed down the street.
Eli pointed sadly to his burning scrape as it stung his elbow. “Here.”
“There you go. All better.” Michael cooed, pressing the Band-Aid gently onto his skin before pulling him into a tight hug.
He slipped him into bed and kissed his head softly before resting next to him. Eli tossed and turned for a bit, turning to snuggle next to his father. “Da-da, sing.”
“You want me to sing?”
Looking into his big brown eyes, Michael somehow managed to smile when his sweet son nodded his head, despite the agonizing worry filling his mind.
“Oh, boy…What should I sing?”
Chuckling when Eli shrugged his shoulders, he held him close to his chest and thought of a song he had been working on for the future. The song was far from finished, but he knew that someday it would be used on an album as it bloomed into something dear to his heart.
You are the sun
You make me shine
Or more like the stars
That twinkle at night
You are the moon
That glows in my heart
You're my daytime my nighttime
My world
You are my life
Jessica jolted upright before the pain suddenly stabbed at her temples, only she couldn’t move. The rope burned at her wrists and her ankles stabbed at each other, as they too, where bound with rope. She felt the chair hard and stiff against her body and jerked her limbs, trying desperately to break free. With no success, she looked around the dim room, wondering where the hell she was. The breeze from the air conditioner before her made her shiver and she looked down, noticing the wide tear in her shirt. With cold skin bare to the world, she heard his devilish voice and struggled again to free from the rope.
“Well, well, well…Look who’s awake.”
“Untie me, you asshole.”
“Now, now…” he lulled, leaning close to view her face. “No need to get all antsy…I just need you to answer a few questions…”
“I’m not answering shit! Now untie me!”
“Oh, I think you will answer my questions.”
“You don’t have my son anymore. He’s safe now. I could care less what you do to me, now, Shane.”
The knife pressed against her neck and she stiffened, her heart gaining speed with fear.
“Yes, but what’s a boy without his mother? You really want to abandon him…Huh?”
“You won’t get away with this…”
“I won’t have to get away with this…If you just answer my questions.”
She was silent.
“There’s only a few…”
She still didn’t respond as she leaned away from him when his lips became dangerously close to her ear.
“Question number one…Where’s Michael?”
“I don’t know.”
His hand went hard across her face.
“Let’s try that again. Next time, it won’t be just a slap…Where’s Michael?”
“I’d rather die than tell you where he is, Shane. You won’t hurt him or my son.”
“As you wish…” he grumbled, reaching into a chest to pull out a gun. With a knife in one hand and a gun in the other, he smiled at her slyly. “Pick your poison.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because, sweetheart, I can. Now, you still want me to take that offer?”
Tightening her jaw, she decided to lie, guessing at a random high-class, local hotel. “He’s at Seventh Street Hotel.”
“Now, that wouldn’t happen to be a lie, would it? Because you know with all these media reports daily and the crowds outside, I’d find out, and well…” he clicked the gun. “I’d have to take that offer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Good girl…Question number two…How long will he be here?”
“I have no idea.”
The knife sliced deeply into her forearm and she shrieked with pain until he stopped.
“Wrong answer.”
“Shane…” she grimaced as the blood dripped to the floor. “I promise. I-I swear. I don’t have a clue how long. Maybe a week or something. Please. Shane, please. I really don’t know.”
“Alright, very well…But, you better know the last question.”
She prayed to God that it was something that she could at least logically lie about.
“What room number is he in?”
Thank God.
“Number 229.”
“Good! Good…Now, you see how easy things are when you just cooperate?”
Hanging her head, she slightly nodded so he wouldn’t have any reason to cause further pain.
“Okay, darlin’. So, I’m gonna leave you down here for the rest of the night as punishment. Don’t thank me for going easy…But, I’ll see you in the morning.”
She shut her eyes tight when he pressed his lips to her temple and held her breath until he shut the door behind him. Mission escape would now be in progress and she wriggled her wrists until finally one slid free.