My eyes blinked open to an unfamiliar place. I frowned, the pounding of my head disabling me from thinking. I groaned and sat upright, my vision blinking in and out of focus. The pounding was too much as I fell back against the floor, stifling a cry. My eyes shut and darkness spread over me again.
The next time I woke up, I was able to pay more attention through my headache. Memories floated back to me like gusts of wind. That maid had hit me...but why? I was too confused and thinking made my headache worse so instead, I started observing my surroundings. I was in a cell of sorts with grey walls and a barely lit flame providing light. There was no window and my smartwatch and phone had been stripped clean of me, so there was no telling what time it was.
I lay back, suddenly feeling cold as I curled in on myself. Minutes or hours must have passed as I lay there shivering, my stomach grumbling. My body felt weak and my throat was parched so a lot of time must have passed since I was kidnapped; if that's what this was about. A few agonizing hours passed by while I waited for my kidnappers to make an appearance.
My ears perked up as I finally discerned voices from the other side of the door. Footsteps echoed as they approached my cell or whatever it was. The door was pushed open and I blinked up in the sudden light to see two men smirking down at me.
My only escape was that door.
Just as that thought passed through my head, they cut off my only escape by shutting the door. The cell was small so the men were closer to me than I had expected. They looked like looming giants below the low ceiling.
"Look, look, look. Sleeping beauty is finally awake," said the first man in an amused voice.
"What do you want?" I snapped, not in a mood for games.
"And she's feisty," the other man laughed as I scowled.
"So, little girl, do you think Daddy will come running to save you?"
"Not before he rips your heads off," I snarled.
They laughed, "And she even gives out threats," the second man chortled. "You think we ought to quieten her up, Ed?"
"Yeah," replied the other guy. "I think little miss princess here, needs to learn a lesson."
They closed in on me and I bared my teeth at them, which just made them laugh all the more.
"What's happening here?" a sharp voice called and both of them flinched.
"We'll have our fun with you," Ed snarled in a low voice before they both backed down. "Oh, we were just checking whether she was awake yet," he shrugged at the other man.
"Is she?" the newcomer asked.
"Oh yes," they both replied.
"Then go and call the boss! What are you waiting for?" he barked.
They scurried out of the cell and ran off after bolting the door shut as I cursed.
I really needed water.
Their boss didn't come and I grew tired of waiting. Since I had nothing else to do, I curled up again and fell into an uneasy slumber.
*********
Someone must have come while I was asleep, I thought, huddling in on myself and staring at the tray of food and water like it contained poison.
Might have, for all you know.
Eventually, my thirst and hunger got the best of me and I scarfed the food down.
And then I waited.
While waiting for someone or anyone to appear, I tried to acquire a weapon, anything that could help me escape. The cell served its purpose well. Maybe a little too well, because there was literally nothing I could use. My hands found themselves fiddling with my necklace again when I remembered about my security alarm.
Wow, I really was stupid.
My fingers then moved to my ear to find...
Wait what? They found the tracker?
All my other weapons had obviously been taken.
I didn't have to wait for long this time.
The door rattled as it was unlocked and pushed open. The man from earlier, the one who had called off my previous two kidnappers, walked in.
"Why am I being kept in here?" I asked, figuring that I might as well get some answers.
No answer. He just stood there, staring at me in a really creepy way.
"Fine," I dragged out. "How long have I been here anyway?"
"Just about three days," he finally answered, seemingly having felt sorry for me.
"Three days?" I asked, totally astonished.
"Yes."
"And I only got some food now? How did I survive?" I gasped.
I could feel my subconscious shaking her head at me.
"Essentially, quite contrary to what you might believe, you can live without food. You just can't live without water."
"Okay, Mr. Know-it-all, why am I still here?" I asked.
"Our boss seems to be a little busy, but the news of you seemed to grab his attention real quick so we are just waiting for him."
"Why would-" I was cut off when an extremely familiar voice resounded down the hall.
"Your job is done, Mr. Walts. I'll take it over from here. You-" he broke off as he caught sight of me and then continued, "You can leave now."
Mr. Walts looked between the two of us for one suspicious moment, with him just standing there in his usual cold grace while I stared at him, gaping at him like a fish out of water.
"Yes sir," he finally answered and backed away, closing the door after him.
"You!" I gasped. "You kidnapped me?"
He rolled his eyes, "Oh, calm down. I didn't know."
My eyes narrowed at him as I stood up and stumbled right into his arms due to the weakness my body was experiencing.
"You don't get to tell me to calm down!" I spluttered.
"Oh yes, I think I very well do," he whispered and grabbed my hair, angling my head to the side as his lips came crashing down on mine. His lips were hard and punishing against mine. He was angry about something alright. He slammed me against the wall and I gasped. My arms automatically came up to wind around his neck but he growled and pushed them down, pinning them behind my back.
I whined but it got stuck in my throat because he was unwilling to release my lips.
"What are you angry with me for?" I asked in a small voice as he finally allowed me to take in some much needed air.
"What am I angry with you for?" he growled, pulling my face up to his.
Apparently, he wasn't done.
I pouted up at him as he still had my hands pinned by my side. He rewarded me by biting and sucking on my bottom lip before he finally let go.
"If you ignore my calls ever again, I swear to god, I will punish you," he threatened, which just made my subconscious jump with thrill at the thought.
I smiled sheepishly and then frowned, "Oh wait, I had every right to." I crossed my arms across my chest. "You can't just go swimming with a girl who was going to be half naked and who's completely in love with you and expect me to be okay with it!"
"Stop being dramatic, she isn't in love with me."
"I'm being dramatic?" I asked, offended.
"Yes," he raised his eyebrows, warning me not to argue, but me being me, obviously had to defy his 'orders'.
He covered my mouth with his to prevent me from speaking.
"Now," he said, clearly out of breath. "How did you get caught?"
I explained what had happened that morning and he frowned, "Why weren't you at school?"
"Because I overslept," I told him sheepishly, choosing to ignore to mention my little escapade the other night.
He shook his head at me, "Come, we need to get some food into you."
Finally! my mind jumped at the thought of food.
He took my hand and pulled me out. From outside, it would have looked like he was dragging me, but he was, in fact, very gentle.
"Tell Father that I'm taking her in for personal interrogation," he told one of the guards who immediately hurried off.
"Personal interrogation, huh?" I giggled, once we were upstairs and away from any prying ears.
"You know I can do more than personal interrogation to you," he surprisingly teased back.
I gasped, "He jokes? Who are you and what have you done with my Xavier?"
He shook his head at me and sighed, "You can't go home though, or call your father."
"What? Why not?"
"Because I'm not even supposed to care for you! You're my rival gangleader's daughter--"
"Oh, enough with all that. I have had more than enough of being reminded of it."
"Do you think this is a joke?" he asked me in a dangerous tone.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" I snapped back, falling on the bed, feeling exhausted by that little trek upstairs, which just pissed me off more.
He sighed, letting it go for once and called the maid, telling her to prepare some food. After that, he surprisingly pulled me into his arms as he rested against the headboard of his bed.
"Are opposing gang members supposed to do this?" I teased, feeling my eyes droop again. Apparently, all the sleep I had hadn't been enough.
The food arrived surprisingly quick and it was pretty delicious.
Xavier pulled the duvet around me and turned on the TV, switching through channels as I got comfortable. Drowsiness pulled me under and I fell into a deep slumber again.
*********
When I awoke again, I realized that I was back in the cell. My confused thoughts couldn't make any sense of it, even as my brain tried to come up with an explanation. I stumbled upright and rapped on the door.
No answer.
I groaned, now what?
Just then, an earthshattering bang resounded from somewhere up.
It's started. Dad's here.
I banged on the door again, thinking fast. "Let me out!" I screamed, "I'm bleeding!"
The door opened and just as the guard peeked in, I twisted his head around and slammed the door on his head.
I winced, ouch.
Quickly looking around, I realized all the others had headed on up to see what was the commotion about. Remembering the route Xavier had taken me, I dashed up the hallway and after some twists and turns, I finally reached smack in the middle of all the commotion.
Our people had infiltrated the basement and just as they had plotted, once again, the Worthcomers were in a state of rush and panic. Greenwoodery shot down the Wothcomers without an ounce of remorse. I looked around and grabbed one of the fallen men and took his gear, just for my safety.
Strapping on the weapons, I shot upstairs, searching for both my father and Xavier. Bullets hurtled through the air as the Worthcomers were shaken out of their stupor and started fighting back. I ducked and twirled my way out, nobody noticing the daughter of their rival getting away right under their noses. Just as that thought passed through my head, I caught sight of a man moving towards me with a gun in hand. I grinned and hurtled out of the way, seconds before he shot the bullet. Taking my own aim, I let the bullet whiz through the air and impale its self on the man's leg, making him release a bloodcurdling scream, catching the attention of the others.
I waved at the others and ran as realization finally fell upon the men. Thankfully, there were a lot of people in between me and my just-came-back-to-earth captors so they acted as my shield. Soon, the men finally understood that firing bullets was just harming their own men and reducing their ammo, so they packed them up and started chasing me, gathering men as they came. I rolled my eyes and followed suit, bringing my dagger out. Being so focused on evading my captors, I hadn't realized where I was headed. Before I could change routes, a hand grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pulled me inside a room.
"Ow!" I complained at his not-so-gentle hands as he twisted me around.
"What have you done?" he hissed.
"What have I done?" I echoed incredulously. "What do you mean--oh!"
He glared.
"Don't glare at me like that, I couldn't have told you anyway."
"So you choose now to realize that we won't work out?" he snarled.
"I never said that," I shrugged, trying to get a little comfortable in his hold.
He pushed me up against the wall, "then what exactly are you saying?"
"Just that," I looked up into his dark, midnight blue eyes. "I'm not her. I can protect myself."
He gritted his teeth.
I smiled, "I love you," and after a short, chaste kiss, I was gone again.
My mission was set in my mind and I wouldn't let anyone get in the way of that.
I followed the mental map that I had pictured in my mind.
If the basement was the middle of action and his son was handling things down here, that would mean he would be somewhere higher up, barking orders, but safe from the actual action without any intervention. His people must have something on them that would lead me to him.
I grabbed another one of the fallen Worthcomers and dragged him into the first room that I saw. He had been knocked unconscious so that made things a lot easier for me. My hands patted him down and I pulled out all the weapons he had hiding in his overcoat. I looked for more but there was nothing else. I cursed and slipped out of the room, or at least tried to.
Just as my foot stepped out, a flash of silver came hurtling towards me. I twisted around just in time and banged the door shut again. Breathing hard, I realized that that was a close call.
I needed to be more careful.
My brain whirled as a second realization descended upon me. The man had known I was in here and it seemed like he had been waiting for exactly the right moment, which meant that he had been ordered to target me but not kill me, because the knife had been carefully aimed at my abdomen.
The door rattled on its frame as the man tried to break it down. He must have gotten reinforcements by now so I wouldn't really be able to fight my way out.
I smirked as I realized that the room I had chosen had been equipped just for an easy escape. As I dashed through another door leading off to a deserted hallway, another thought occurred to me.
If I let myself be caught, I would be led straight to him.
My mind raced through the possibilities of what could happen as I sought out a hiding spot.
If I could just find someone to make sure that I don't get myself killed...
A smile grew and I knew just the right person for it.
*********