AN: The song for this chapter is Locked In A Cage by Brick + Mortar. Ok, enjoy!
Tate
After Harry left I spent about an hour or two going around the room attempting to find some way to escape. There was nothing. I had tried to use the chair in the corner of the room to break the window, only to find out that it was plexiglass. After my many attempts at somehow making it out of here, I sat on the bed in defeat.
I couldn't go downstairs. If I went downstairs, not only would Harry force me to answer questions that I didn't have the answers to, but I would have to face the other people in the house as well. Harry was awful, but for all I knew, they could be much worse.
My mind kept flashing back to Harry's gun, his venomous reminders that he had the power to kill me at any moment making my stomach twist.
But in addition to the fear that I felt, honestly?
I was fucking pissed.
I was beyond enraged that I had been taken from my home. That my mother would have to come home and not know where her only child was. That not only were these people making me go through this but also my mother.
I was pissed that for the life of me, I couldn't think of one reason how I was related to this software Harry wouldn't shut up about.
I was scared, I was enraged, I was fucking cold, this house was freezing, and I was getting pretty damn hungry as well.
My emotions were in overdrive, and it was as though they had all come together for a group meeting, their main objective: to drive me insane.
I waddled pitifully over to the bed and flopped onto it. I think my body needed a break from crying, and so I just sat there.
My head shot up when I heard a knock on the door.
I balled my fists up and stood, bracing myself for the pest waiting for me behind the door.
"Go away, Harry!" I snapped. "I don't know anything! I don't have any answers to your questions, so you can just fuck off, and shove your questions right up your-"
"Um, it's not Harry," a small voice peeped from behind the door.
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
"C-Can I come in? Are you decent?" The voice called out.
"Uh, yeah, I am. You can come in," I answered hesitantly.
The door creaked open to reveal a guy who looked maybe a few years younger than me. He had glasses, brown hair, and in his hands, he held a tray. It had a grilled cheese and a bowl of tomato soup on it, and I was practically drooling at the sight of it.
He walked in cautiously, as though he was scared if he made any sudden moves, I would break, and honestly, at this point, I just might.
He slowly put the tray on the bed, and then adjusted his glasses.
"I'm sorry. I know it's not much, but I thought that you might be hungry. I'm Abel, by the way. Abel Hoffman."
I smiled gratefully, although I still didn't completely trust him.
"This is perfect. I'm starving," I answered, hopping back onto the bed and grabbing the grilled cheese, dipping it into the soup. I sighed contently as I took the first bite, the warmth of it traveling through my body.
He stood there awkwardly, fidding with his hands that were placed in front of him.
I finished chewing my bite before speaking. "Do you want to um, do you want to have a seat?" I asked, gesturing towards the bed.
"Oh, sure!" He replied, sitting on the edge of the bed, continuing to twiddle his thumbs.
It was quiet for a while before he spoke again.
"I'm sorry."
This took me aback. Earlier today, I had Harry in here yelling at me, warning me of himself and of the other dangerous men he worked with, and yet, here was Abel, sitting on the bed with me, bringing me food, and apologizing to me.
"I'd say it's okay, but it's not. Although I do appreciate your kindness towards me," I smiled.
"I didn't want to do this you know," he spoke softly. "I'm just the tech guy. I don't like to get involved in other areas of this field. I'm a behind the scenes type of person. I'm sorry you got dragged into this."
The look on his face was completely genuine, and I knew that he meant every word that he said.
"Then help me escape, please," I begged, reaching out to touch his arm.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with despair behind his thick glasses.
"I can't Tate. I could be killed for that. Why don't you just tell us the password? You could get out of here then."
"Abel, I don't know what any of you are talking about with this whole software thing!" I cried. "And besides, even if I did, I'm sure the second I told Harry, I'd be killed. I'm not naive, I know that the people you work for aren't the type to want to have any witnesses. So even if I did know what you were talking about, I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't," I sighed, staring down at my hands.
It was now his turn to reach out and touch my arm.
"Tate, I may not be able to help you escape right now, but I won't let them kill you. You don't deserve that, and quite frankly, after meeting you, I can tell you truly don't have any idea what we are talking about."
My eyes shot up to meet his.
"You can't tell them that Abel, they'll have no reason to keep me alive, and while I appreciate your kind words, I don't think you'd be able to save me from the inevitable."
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I won't tell them. But we need to think. There has to be some reason your last name was on the code," he groaned.
"It was?" I asked, completely shocked at his words.
"Yeah, we couldn't get into this software we have, and the only thing I could trace it back to was your last name. Do you have any experience with computers?" He asked me, looking hopeful.
"Hardly any," I sighed, taking the last bite of my grilled cheese and finishing off my soup. I stood to place the empty tray on the ground, before getting back on the bed. Abel and I leaned back on it in frustration, staring at the ceiling as if it held all of the answers.
He sat up abruptly, and I looked at him quizically.
"Hang on, let me go get my laptop. We are gonna figure this out, together, and then we are gonna get you out of this mess."
His voice was small but determined, and I couldn't help but smile at him.
"Thank you Abel."
***********
Harry
I turned my head when I heard someone coming down the stairs. Abel appeared, holding an empty food tray. I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"Abel, what are you doing?" I snapped.
"Nothing, Harry, don't worry about it," he replied calmly, walking in to join me and the other boys in the kitchen.
He placed the empty tray by the sink and turned to walk away, but Will suddenly stood up, coming over to block his path.
"Abel, what are you up to?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at him.
"Nothing! For fucks sake! I'm trying to help!" he cried out, sounding exasperated. Niall snickered from the kitchen table, where he was sat eating a bowl of cereal.
"Help with what?" I asked, leaning against the counter.
"With Tate. With finding out what she knows, maybe if you weren't being such a dick to her, she'd actually tell you something," he huffed, crossing his arms.
"Aw, does Abel have a crush on the captive?" Niall asked in a mocking tone, causing Will to chuckle a bit.
"Yeah Abel, if you really want to get with her, you can do whatever you want with her once we get what we need," Will laughed.
I could see Abel was about to snap, and for some reason, the comment was bothering me as well.
Abel spun around to face Will, and shoved him in the chest.
"Will, how about you fuck off for a moment? Seriously, you lot just kidnapped a poor girl, and you're cracking jokes about it? Have you lost every ounce of humanity?"He yelled, and I had never seen him quite like this before.
None of us said anything after that, and Abel pushed Will out of the way, and walked out of the kitchen.
"I've never seen the little guy so pissed before," Niall chuckled through a mouthful of cereal.
Will looked a little pissed too, I don't think he liked Abel shoving him around the way he did, but to be honest, he kinda deserved it.
"Well, if Abel's charming manners don't get answers out of her, maybe I can," Will suddenly spoke. I looked up at him and saw something dark in his eyes, and even though I wasn't really a fan of Tate, it kind of set me off.
He started to walk away too, but not before I grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him in close.
"Look, I don't really care for the girl, but do me a favor and keep your hands off of her," I spoke firmly, and Will avoided making eye contact with me, although I caught him rolling his eyes.
I yanked on his shirt, grabbing his attention.
"I'm serious, and if I find out that you didn't listen, then you'll have me to deal with."
Will shrugged me off of him.
"Alright, whatever man, geez, when did you turn into such a buzzkill."
I refrained from hurting him, maintaining my composer, and walked out of the kitchen.
I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I grabbed it and looked down to see Whit's name lighting up the screen.
"Hello?" I answered, my tone a little snappier than it needed to be. I think between Tate being stubborn, Abel being pissed off, and Will's snide little comments, I was starting to get a headache.
"You sound pissed," He commented.
"Yeah, a little bit," I admitted, rubbing the back of my head and leaning against the wall.
"Well, not as pissed as I am," he countered, causing me to freeze.
Shit. He found out I dropped the knife, he knows I followed Tate without telling him. Fuck.
But I was surprised as he continued.
"You know that tech guy Grayson had, not Charlie, the other one..." He trailed off, trying to remember his name.
"Nick?"
I heard him snap his fingers through the phone. "Yes! That's it. Thank fuck, for the life of me I couldn't remember it. Well, anyways, that son of a bitch was a rat."
"Whit," I began calmly, "what do you mean he was a rat?"
"It turns out that he was actually working for Quinton the whole time. He has been deep undercover at Grayson's operation for over half a year now. Quinton has been shitting himself since he found out about the software, but now, thanks to our little friend, he knows that we don't have access to it."
I felt my blood run cold as another thought struck me. "Wait, fuck. Does that mean he knows about our plan to have Grayson and our team eventually bug his system?"
"No, thankfully. Grayson heard him talking to Quinton on speakerphone. Clearly he wasn't the smartest bloke. After he revealed that we did not yet have access to the software, Grayson promptly put a bullet through his head."
I sighed in relief, but not for long.
"But he knows about the girl Harry."
I clenched my free hand tightly, annoyed at how much trouble this girl was already causing.
"So what does that mean, Whit?" I asked impatiently.
"It means, Styles, that you just need to keep your guard up. Get what you need, and until you do, keep an extra close eye on her. If Quinton finds her he will either use her to get the information that we need, or just kill her so that nobody gets it, and to make sure that no one uses the software against him."
I was quiet as I processed his words, and I let out a sigh of annoyance.
"Do I make myself clear, Harry?" Whit asked in a patronizing tone.
I rolled my eyes, letting out a big puff of air before answering.
"Crystal."
And with that, I hung up.
AN: HIIIIIIIII I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER! I SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE CHAPTER 13 UP TODAY! GUYS THIS STORY IS LITERALLY GOING TO HAVE SO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS! I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS TO READ IT AHHHHHHHHHH OKAY DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT AND KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER! A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS ARE GOING TO BE REVEALED SOON! ILY ALLLLLLLLLL xx!!!!!