My blood runs cold. I can’t move. I’m petrified.
“I said do ye understand me?” Dad booms and it jolts me. I nod vigorously and from the corner of my eye, I see Terah do the same. Dad focuses on something passed Terah and I, in the distance and whispers, “Run!”
My legs move of their own accord.
I drag Terah down the hall, running in my socks and slipping every few steps. We bolt up the stairs, and when we reach our rooms, I pull her into a hard hug. She whispers, “It’s probably nothing, Lily. Do what Dad says, okay?” I nod into her shoulder.
We separate. I hear her go into her room and shut the door. I open the door to my room, with my hand still on the knob. I freeze, solid as an iceberg.
Oh, fuck my life!
Chapter Two
Kidnapped
Lily
Pressure builds in my ears, my palms sweat, and I lock my knees to stop them from shaking.
Staring into the masked face of the tall, muscled, olive-skinned intruder, I try hard to think about what I should do, but all my brain is giving out is white noise.
He stands by my bed, motionless, wearing a tight black tee, black cargo pants, and black army boots. The mask he wears is black and looks to be leather too. It’s a peculiar looking mask. It’s been sewn together and covers his whole head. The eye holes are round but covered with some sort of mesh so you can’t see directly into the person’s eye, same with the nose holes and mouth. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I almost want to ask him where he got it from . It looks very steam-punk, and if I’d seen him on the street and not in my room being all creepy and shit, I would ask him where he got it.
What the eff? Focus!
My brain currently wears a sign that says “Gone Fishin’”.
Movement at the door to my closet tears my focus away from the intruder. When another identically dressed, masked man appears, only bigger and taller, I figure I’m screwed.
Well, that’s that. Goodbye cruel world. Be sure to fuck thyself on the way out, you mean-assed son of a whore.
I should’ve snuck out with Terah tonight. God, she’s gonna be so pissed at me!
A muffled scream from Terah’s room makes me break out into a cold sweat. I panic a moment before courage blooms from the center of my gut. I breathe deeply and steady myself.
I am not going down without a fight!
My hand stiffens on the door knob. I take a small step back, and the man at my bed shakes his head slowly. And shit! It freaks me out.
I take another small step back. My sister screams again, louder this time, and it slices right through me like a hot knife through butter. The man at my closet steps closer to me. I hold his masked gaze and take another step back. Before I can think about what I’m doing, I turn and run as fast as I can to my sister’s room. I thank God she didn’t have time to lock the door. I open the door to see two more masked men restraining Terah. My hands shake as I take in her tearful face. I rush over to her desk, pick up the crystal vase that sits on the corner of it, and creep over to masked man number four. Unable to see me with his back to me, I smash the vase down onto his head as hard as I can without a moment’s thought. It shatters to pieces and the man falls to his knees yelling, “Fuck!”
Strong arms wrap around my waist and lift me. I kick out and shriek, “No! Let my sister go!”
Balling my hands into fists, I swing back over my shoulders and connect with another masked man’s face. He growls, “Stop!”
Stop? Are you shitting me? How about…no!
“Limp dick motherfucker! Let me go!” I yell out through heaving breaths.
My knuckles throb but I try to hit him over and over again. He’s moved his head behind mine so I can’t reach his face. Pulling my arm forward, I wrench it back hard and elbow him in the ribs. He drops me and I hit the floor with a thud. Scrambling to my feet, I run forward two steps before bigger, taller masked man number two hauls me over his shoulder and runs with me down the stairs. It hurts my stomach so badly, I feel like I’m going to puke. I don’t even realize I’ve started crying until I can barely take in a full breath. The man takes me down the hall and toward the front door.
The nerve of these guys! Kidnapping us through the front door?
Now that’s just cocky.
I screech, “DAD! MOM! HELP!”
A muffled argument I can’t quite make out reaches my ears and I hear my dad yell out, “Delilah!” just as the masked man takes me out the front door.
Anguish slices through me. My stiff body slumps in defeat and I sob into the man’s back. I cry out, “Please let me go! Oh God, please!”
But the man’s pace never slows.
As we pass the property line, he holds me tightly and carries me into the back of a large black van. The van takes off as soon as my butt hits the seat. I have no fight left in me. The courage I felt earlier is completely demolished by the one thought circling around in my head…
It’s official.
I’ve been kidnapped.
***
The back of the van is pitch black. I can’t see a damn thing. I have no idea where I’m being taken. All I know is that Humungo won’t let go of my arm.
The van stops after what feels like about twenty hours of driving when in reality, it’s been around twenty minutes. The side door slides open and light floods the back. I look around me and fear clogs my throat.
There are another three people in the back with us. They’re all so quiet that I hadn’t even noticed them. They’re masked, too. If the devil had minions, this is what they’d look like; I’m sure of it.
Freaking. The. Eff. Out.
Humungo tugs on my arm and steps out of the van, pulling me out behind him. I look around. We’re in an underground parking lot that’s completely empty. I squeak when he lifts me over his shoulder again and carries me like I’m a sack of potatoes. I don’t mind not walking right now because I don’t think I could even if I wanted to, but damn, his shoulder in my belly hurts like hell. My face is pained as I strain through gritted teeth, “Please put me down. You’re hurting me.”
To my absolute shock, he does.
The man places me on my feet in front of him, grips my upper arm with one hand and removes his leather mask with the other. I’m suddenly staring into a pair of blue eyes that are so cold, if you looked up arctic in the encyclopedia these eyes would be pictured underneath.
“Don’t even think about trying to run.” As he says this in his rough and husky voice, I realize I’m trying to back away from him.
Fear washes over me. I take a moment to look around.
Dark. Desolate. Deserted.
Two options flicker through my mind; attempt to escape, or go with the husky voiced, gruff man. Mentally, I weigh my options. Escaping means running. Running on Jell-O like legs likely won’t get me far, which would leave me captured once more by an extremely pissed-off abductor.
I scan my surroundings again , desperately looking for a means of escape. My face falls when I can’t find one. I look up into the face of my kidnapper and nod in resolve.
The dickhead smirks and I want to knee him in the jingle bells.
My face must convey what I feel because his smirk flares into a wide, gleaming, crooked smile.
The man is actually not bad looking. Not traditionally good looking, but gruffly attractive in a manly way. His nose is crooked and looks like it’s been broken a few times, but he has high cheek bones and a strong chin. His full lips surround his teeth which are white and a little crooked on the bottom. This man doesn’t look like he was ever meant to be a pretty boy. His dark hair is buzzed. His tall, muscular frame is extremely intimidating; his arms alone look like they could squish a person’s head to mush with no effort.
His gruffness, his appearance, it works for him in a mean, scary way. Damn shame he’s an asshole criminal who I want to gut with a jagged, rusty blade.
When the others come out from the van, I’m shocked to see a woman amongst the men. Wh
at kind of woman would take part in this sort of thing? She must be a heartless bitch. When she removes her mask, she offers me a sad smile that I want to slap right off her pretty face. She is taller than me, fit and lean with long, dark-brown hair and hazel eyes. An olive-skinned man, who I’m sure was the one standing at my bed, removes his mask and smiles at me. His dark hair is short but not buzzed. His brown eyes are warm and soft. He jerks his chin at me and says, “Wassup?” and I glare at him.
These guys are clearly bananas. Mentally unstable fruit loops, every single one of them.
The third man doesn’t remove his mask. He gets into the passenger front seat of the van and it drives away, leaving me with this strange and potentially dangerous group of people. The lady approaches me and asks kindly, “Would you like some water?”
I don’t want anything from these people. Avoiding her gaze, I shake my head.
The man and woman casually flank me while Humungo hottie holds me in a tight grip. He jerks his chin to the left and the olive-skinned man and the woman jump to follow some unspoken order.
Oh shit. He’s the boss-man. Just wonderful.
I risk looking up at him to find his narrowed eyes searching me. He searches a while before his gaze fixes on my hair. I’m sure I look like death warmed up and I don’t give a damn. He’s the reason I look like shit and I wear the look with pride. I straighten, stand taller, and glare right back at him.
Take that, asshole.
Okay, so I’m mentally shaking in my boots, but I can’t let him see that. Right now, I have to go with the flow of things, wait for the right moment and try to escape.
Be cooperative. Be polite. Make them think you’re going along with this whole scheme .
Okay, okay. Time to change tactics. I drop my glare and clear my throat. “Excuse me, uh- um- man. Can you please tell me what I’m doing here?”
He looks into my eyes but doesn’t answer. I try to hold his gaze, but his blue eyes pierce mine. It’s getting a little awkward so I lower my eyes to his chest and try again. “If there’s something you want, I can help you get it. If you could just tell m-”
He cuts me off with a curt, “No.” Then turns away from me, gripping my arm tighter. He turns me to face away from him and I’m suddenly blind.
“Hey.” The asshole blindfolded me! “Hey!” I yell again and try to remove it. My arms flail as I fight a very one-sided fight with him. He takes hold of my hands in one of his large ones and clasps them firmly.
“If you struggle, you lose what little freedom you have right now.” His voice speaks low and directly into my ear. I break out into goosebumps and still.
I don’t want to lose that little freedom, but I can’t stop my mouth from spewing out, “You know you’re an asshole, right?”
A smaller, colder hand grips my arm and I hear an amused feminine voice say, “He knows, alright.”
We walk and walk and freakin’ walk some more before I hear the squeal and creak of a door opening . The woman whispers , “Be prepared. We’re gonna be here a while.”
Sigh. Just great.
***
Hours of sitting in this awful chair is starting to numb my ass. I move from side to side, wriggling until one of my captors sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair.
It’s the hot one. Of course.
I look him in his icy-blue eyes and beg softly, "Please. I don't know what you want from me, but I’ll do anything. I’ll give anything for you to just let me the fuck go. I never saw you. I'll never speak a word of this to anyone." I duck my chin, my voice trembles as I whisper, "Please." My head remains lowered and I watch in slow motion as a tear drop falls into my lap.
I hear my captor’s chuckle and devastation breaks my resolve. I burst into sobs and my captors laugh louder.
I lose it.
"You fucking assholes! Getting off on a petrified girl? What kind of men are you? I'll tell you what kind of men! The kind that no one likes, so they have to stick together or they'll be left at the bottom of the food chain to fend for themselves like rabid fucking dogs!" My chest heaves with rage. Both men have stopped laughing and wear matching scowls. I look the hot one in his hard, cold eyes and screech, "You are lower than scum and I fucking hate you!"
I realize I’m hysterical and burst into laughter. Laughing hard, I yell, "I'm locked away in a shithole!" I laugh so hard I’m wheezing. "No one knows where I am!" I snort through my chuckles. "I'm going to die alone!" Laughter forces its way out of me for a good minute, slowly fading out until I finally stop.
I'm hollow. Empty. And numb.
The olive-skinned man asks, "Feeling better now?"
I don't look at him. I keep my eyes averted and shake my head once. I whisper, "No. Not at all." I finally look up at him. "How would you feel if you'd been kidnapped?"
His lips twitch and he looks over at hottie Humungo. Hottie Humungo’s eyes meet mine. "You tied to a chair?" I look down at my bare wrists and shake my head.
He fires another question. "You been slapped around?"
I look him in the eye and shake my head. He nods in agreement. I blurt out a meek, "I just wanna go home."
He raises his brows. "You're so fucking annoying that there is nothing more I want to do than to let you go right now...but I can’t." I fight the urge to call him a motherfucking douche canoe and glare down at his shoes, my lip curling. He leans back in his chair and states, "You haven't been kidnapped, Delilah."
Eyes wide, I lift my face to look into his and ask, "Who are you?"
Hottie‘s lip twitches. "The person who just saved your life, baby."
What the mother fuck?
I look around the damp, concrete room. All three of my captors wear matching expressions of amusement. Leaning back in the ass-numbing chair, I try to speak but my mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. The olive-skinned man laughs, “Shit, Nox. You broke her.”
The woman rolls her eyes at him. “Leave her alone, Rock. She’s been through enough today without your ass-ery.”
“Oh, c’mon. I’m adorable. Everyone loves me.” He winks then blows her a little kiss and she glares so hard I think she might lose her cool and punch him.
And here I sit, all confused and shit, while they banter.
Finally finding my voice, I ask quietly, “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
The woman opens her mouth, but the man called Nox cuts her off with a firm stare. “Later.”
She nods once in agreement then shoots me an apologetic smile. She comes over to me and holds out her hand. “My name is Constance. But if you call me Constance, I can’t be held responsible for my actions. People call me Boo and I’d like if you did, too.”
Well, she’s knocked the wind right out of my sails and I’m finding it hard to be indifferent toward her. She seems genuinely nice…but it could be an act. It probably is an act. Yes, I’m sure it’s an act. Reaching out, I take her hand. “Delilah. But if you call me Delilah, I can’t be held responsible for my actions. People call me Lily.”
She smiles then tilts her head. “Lily.” She says my name thoughtfully than shakes her head. “You don’t look like a fragile little Lily to me. Maybe I’ll call you Deedee?”
Deedee is one of the three-hundred-and-fifty-seven nicknames my sister has for me. My lips twitch and I nod. She smiles at me and whispers, “I think we’re going to be good friends.”
The olive-skinned man stands abruptly and walks over to me. Pushing Boo out of the way none too carefully, he holds out his hand. “Rock. But you can call me…” He lifts his head in thought. “…ThunderPants.”
I bite my lip to stop my laughter. Lord knows I don’t want another pissed-off captor. Boo doesn’t stop herself though, she bursts out laughing. “What the fuck? ThunderPants? Why? Are you the king of flatulence?”
Rock holds out his hands in argument. “No! Because of my massive dick!” Boo laughs harder. So hard she doubles over. Rock glares at her and turns to Nox. “C’mon, boss. It’s a cool
nickname, right?”
Nox’s lip twitches but he shakes his head at Rock. Rock’s face falls dejectedly and he turns to me. “Okay, no ThunderPants. Rock will do just fine.”
Who the hell are these guys?
I’m sure this is how Alice felt falling down the rabbit hole. I stand and all three of them look at me cautiously as if I might run. I’m in an underground room, an underground, soundproof, concrete room with a heavy, metal door locked with a rusted latch.
I mean, I’m badass and all, but I am no MacGyver. MacGyver is the king of badass. Seriously, who else could escape Bulgarian extremists by making a bomb from dental floss, lemon juice, and bleach? That shit’s impressive.
Nox’s watch beeps and he stands. “Time to go.”
My stomach knots. I don’t want to leave. I feel safe here.
When all three of them walk to the back of the room and move a storage cabinet out of the way, I’m shocked to see there’s a secret door hidden there, a door almost identical to the one we came in through. Boo tries to open it but it doesn’t budge. Rock tries next and it creaks but doesn’t open. Nox tries last and his arms bulge as he strains.
Nothing. Nadda. Zip. It’s safe to say the door is stuck.
“How are we getting out of here?” I haven’t realized I’m so close to Nox until he turns around and we’re almost nose to chest.
He looks down at me coolly. “Wanna see how explosives work?”
My eyes widen and I want to shout hell yeah! But I contain myself and say in a bored voice, “Sure. Whatever.”
His lip does that cute twitchy thing again. Rock and Boo go to work placing something that looks like grey play-doh onto the door hinges. Nox pulls me to stand behind him, shielding me with his large frame. Boo shouts, “Fire in the hole!”
Two small firecracker sounds go off with little poofs of smoke. And I gotta say…I’m a little disappointed. “Well, that was anticlimactic.” Rock and Boo chuckle while they work the door open. As soon as fresh air hits my face, I shrink into myself. Nox turns and I ask quietly, “Where are you taking me?”