For what it felt like for me, it must have been hours since these guys left me alone in this stinky basement.
I used to think I was one of the most weird creatures to walk on this Earth but these people proved me severely wrong. They ruined my movie night and I think my tub of ice cream is still left sitting on the table. Man, it must have melted to become a soup by now. Oh shit! I think even the light switches were on..
But wait.. Am I kidnapped... Like really really kidnapped..?
What in the God's green earth?! I am kidnapped! I need to get out of here!
If only this Zack hadn't tied me to this chair so tightly. This seemes as if he just wanted to cut off my hands with how tight he's wrapped the ropes around my wrists.
I tried to move my hands to loosen up the death grip of the ropes, only to wince and stop my attempts when I felt the material cutting through my skin.
I looked around the room to find a way of escape but my observation was cut short when the door swung open, revealing Max who held a tray of food in his hands.
"Hey, Jen!" He smiled at me, approaching nearer.
"Hey, Max... What's that?" I nodded at the tray of food.
"Food for you." He said as if it should have been obvious.
Well it was.
"Yeah.. I don't want it.." I moved my gaze away from him.
His cheerful expression suddenly changed as his lips curved downwards to form a frown.
"What? Why? Aren't you hungry?"
"You care?" I ignored his question to ask another of mine. My tone was flat and expression indifferent.
He seemed hurt by that. Max has been nothing but kind to me since they kidnapped me. It left a bad taste in my mouth to be rude to him but I was held here against my wish and I have absolutely no clue of what awaits me in the future.
"Please eat something, Jen." He pleaded.
"Free me first! You weird people have kidnapped me! This is not a joke!" The reality of the situation dumped down on me as I started to panic.
"You finally realised tha-"
"Realised what?"
"That this isn't a jo-"
"From which angle did you think kidnapping me was a joke?! Are you stupid?"
"But you were the one asking if this was a jo-"
"And now I am saying that this isn't!"
"STOP INTERRUPTING ME!"
I went silent when he screamed at me.
I wasn't expecting to be screamed at and his sudden outburst made my eyes to tear up.
Max took a deep breath to calm himself down. He bent down to be level with me and kept the tray he was carrying on the floor beside him.
"Jennifer, I didn't mean to shout at you... Please don't cry... I promise you that once we get the money we'll let you go. Trust me." He said in a soft voice and moved the stray stands of my hair away from my face to get a better look at me.
"Trust you? You have kidnapped me! How can I trust you! Why me? There are so many other weird girls out there... Go catch someone else and let me go!" I cried.
"My ice cream-" I sniffled.
"Ice cream?"
"Must have melted by now!" I wailed. My mind was jumbled all over the place and by the look on his face, I could see that Max wasn't able to make sense out of my words.
"Wha-"
We were interrupted by someone kicking the door open. Liam walked in, looking apprehensive.
"Zack's calling her upstairs." He said. Moving his eyes away from Max, his hazel eyes reflected sympathy for me when our eyes met.
"Why?" Max asked.
"I don't know... Her parents are not picking up and he's getting mad now." Liam replied.
"How is it her fault? Is he stupid?" Max got up from his position.
"It's better if you guys come..." Liam looked between us, setting his eyes on Max.
"I won't go in front of that guy... He must be hot and stuff but he's certainly got some mental issues." I stated.
"I agree on that." Max nodded.
"Max, if Zack hears you... It won't be good for you. Remember last time-"
"Yeah, Okay, fine let's go!" Max interrupted.
"What happened last time?" I asked.
"I said let's go!" Max's cheeks flushed, making me more curious to know what Liam was talking about.
"Don't worry Jennifer.. I'll tell you later." Liam winked at me, smirking at Max when he gave him a look of warning.
They untied me, giving my poor wrists room to finally breathe. I stood up from my seat on the chair and as soon as I did, both of them held either of my hand as we made way upstairs. Their reason to hold my hands? That they didn't want me to run away.. Something I would've definitely done.
We looked like kindergarten kids, holding hands while going up the staircase, even though it was more awkward with how stiff we all were.
Entering their living room, I was met with the sight of Zack's face...
My soul nearly dissipated when his angered eyes met mine. I felt like I was doomed. No scratch that, I was definitely doomed.. So this is the way I go huh? Oh well... I hope my spirit haunts this criminally handsome guy's grumpy ass.
"So there you are."
If Max and Liam weren't holding my hands, I would have definitely banshee screamed and ran away from him as far as possible.
Knowing me, I would have tripped a couple of times but that's a thought for later.
Zack's steps navigated their way towards me, an impatient look on his face as he approached. Before he could do anything to me, Max moved to stand in front of me in a protective manner.
"GET THE FUCK ASIDE." Zack scowled at him.
"You need to relax first."
"I SAID GET ASIDE MAX! RIGHT NOW! YOU TOO LIAM, MOVE!"
Liam let go of my hand, not wanting to deal with Zack's unreasonable wrath. Max temporised for a moment, but reluctantly stepped aside.
I so wish that he hadn't moved because the next thing that I registered was Zack's bone cracking slap on my left cheek again.
The impact was so big that I tripped over my feet and stumbled, falling on the floor. Tears made my vision blurry as I gripped my cheek, feeling the burning sensation on my skin.
"JENNIFER!"
Max rushed to help me. He sent a glare at Zack's way before he reached for my arms to pull me up.
"Zack, are you insane? Can you please not-"
Zack paid him no heed and yanked me up in one go. His deathly grip on my arm made me wince in pain.
He pushed Max aside who squealed at the surprised yeet. But Liam didn't needed that, he went as far away from us as possible before Zack could even lift his finger at him.
The angry fellow teen harshly pushed me against the wall, thrusting my back to the wall. If he had added a little more power, he could have caused a crack in my spine.
Not really-
He pressed his body on mine, making me hold my breath as our chests almost touched. Both of my arms were pinned on the wall, each on the either side of my head as he leaned closer to my face.
Shivers ran down my body because of the proximity of his face to mine. He stared dead into my soul, his light brown eyes reflecting pure fury.
"I am so going to end you tonight." He growled in my ear.
"But you guys just kidnapped me... It's not even been a full night." I nervously said, trying to look at anywhere but his eyes.
"Why aren't your parents picking up? Patience is something I lack, Jennifer Smith."
He lips were just inches away from mine, his minty breath filled up my nostrils and I was really starting to get intimidated by him now.
"How would I know why they aren't picking up your call." I gulped.
"Good question."
He suddenly let go of my left arm and his free hand found its way inside my shirt. My eyes widened in fear as he smirked at me. His thumb slowly rubbed the skin on my stomach and I tried to control the stupid rush of heat that made its way on my cheeks.
He tilted his head and leaned in closer to my face. Just as his lips were about to touch mine, someone pulled him away from me.
I was finally able to breath again. Looking up, I saw that it was Damien who pulled him off of me.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Zack?"
He looked pissed. That was the first time I had heard his voice. His smooth voice sounded so mesmerising to my ears. His eyes, which were a beautiful shade of emerald green were throwing daggers in Zack's direction. That was the first time I had seen any emotion on his cold face.
"Let me go, Damien. I know what I am doing-"
"You clearly don't."
"Fine then. Do you know what to do?"
Damien went silent and let go of Zack's shirt. He looked at me and damn was I lost in those beautiful eyes. His eyes were reflecting such a pretty shade of green due to the lighting in the room that I could stare into them forever.
We were staring at each other for more time than required. It was like the world around us had disappeared. His dark brown hair were messily lying on top of his head, a few strands were fallen upon his eyes.
He looked so ethereal...
Wait.. No. Snap out of it, you dumbo.
I shouldn't be attracted to my kidnappers.
What if I got Stockholm syndrome?! That would be bad! So I looked away from him first, clearing my throat to fill in the awkward silence.
Just then the ringing of my phone saved us from this embarrassing staring moment.
"Well finally! It's her mom."
Zack smirked before picking up the phone and when he did my mother-
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU JENNIFER? DON'T YOU KNOW I AM BUSY?! WHY WERE YOU CALLING ME AS IF THE SKY WAS FALLING ON YOUR DUMB HEAD? I WAS IN A MEETING! HAVE YOU LOST ALL YOUR MANNERS? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO DUMB AMD USELESS? WHY AREN'T YOU SPEAKIKG UP NOW?"
The room went dead silent... Zack looked impressively stunned. He was staring at my phone with wide eyes which looked like they were about to pop out of his sockets any minute.
"SPEAK UP! WILL YOU?"
Max was the one to reply to her since all four of us were still dealing with the shock.
"Uhm Mrs. Smith. Hello, I am Max-"
"WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU ANSWERING MY DAUGHTER'S PHONE? HAS THE DUMB GIRL LOST IT OR SOMETHING BECAUSE SHE SURELY CANNOT HAVE A BOYFRIEND!"
Once again... Dead silence.
....
....
Finally Zack came out of his trance like state and cleared his throat and said -
"Listen Mrs. Smith-"
"OH MY GOD ANOTHER BOY! WHERE IS JENNIFER? AND WHO ARE YOU?"
"Ma'am.. First of all, please stop screaming.. My ears are gonna bleed as your voice is definitely not very melodic.. It's no where near that.. But anyways, we've got business to discuss here. You see, we have kidnapped your daughter-"
Mom started laughing.... Hysterically.
Well, he didn't tell a joke.. Why was she going crazy?
"This is a joke right? Jennifer and kidnapped? Who would want to kidnap that dumb girl. She can't even walk ten steps without falling or bumping into someone." She said.
That was a lie! I mean, not completely... I have improved from that....
"Is it true?" Max whispered to me. "No!" I whispered back. He raised an eyebrow and I elbowed him.
"We aren't joking Mrs. Smith. We have kidnapped Jennifer and you need to pay us 5 million dollars in two days or you'll never see her again." Zack said.
......
Silence..... Did she die-
"5 Million what?"
"Dollars."
"5 Million dollars?"
"Uh.. Yeah.. That's the currency of this country, right?"
"5 million dollars to free Jennifer?"
"Yes ma'am. In two days."
"5 million dollars to free Jennifer in two days?"
Zack sighed and said a very frustrated yes. I could see that he was controlling himself from cursing the hell out of her.
My mother started laughing again. Was this a comedy show or what? Her hideous laughter was making me feel embarrassed..
"Nice Joke, Jennifer. Tell your friends to stop. Well how did you even manage to make these friends? Well, I guess sometimes people like you also get lucky so it's fine. Listen, this was funny and all but if this is the reason you have been callin-"
Zack hung up. Seriously, I would have too.
Now again, four pair of eyes were staring at me as if I was a three eyed alien.
I just looked down. What comes now?
"Call her dad maybe? I am sure he must be more serious." Liam suggested.
"I tried calling him before but let's see.. Maybe he'll answer now." Zack replied.
I looked up to see Max to see him looking sad for me. He patted me on my back which made me feel a tiny bit better.
I looked down again. I know dad wasn't any better than mo-
"WHAT JENNIFER? WOULD YOU LET ME BREATHE? WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME?"
Again.. Silence in the room.
....
....
"SPEAK UP?"
"Listen sir.. Please don't shout-" Zack started.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"I, along with my group have kidnapped your daughter and if you want her back in one piece, pay us 5 million dollars in two days or-"
"NO."
"What?"
"I don't have time for this stupid joke."
He hung up. Didn't even laugh.
I looked up to see Zack staring at my phone. He looked shocked as ever. I am sure none of their previous victims, if any, gave them such experience.
Hehe.
"What are these people?" Zack said after a minute of silence.
"Seriously..." Liam mumbled.
" Jennifer.. Are you sure that these are your parents? " Max asked me.
"What does that mean?"
"The way they weren't picking up earlier.. What if it was an emergency? And when now- they were just screaming at you? They think this is a joke going on.. "
I didn't reply. What should I say to that?
"I told you... They don't care for me. I am useless for you.. Just like for everyone else."
"Jennifer...."
"This is a new case. This has never happened before, I mean, this doesn't happen in the movies. I need time to process this."
Zack said and went towards what I assume is his room.
Damien stared at me again, as if he wanted to say something but decided against it and followed after Zack instead.
It was just the three of us now.
"I don't even know what to say.." Liam said.
"Cats are so much better than some humans."
That made me smile. I looked up at Max and he was grinning at me.
"So.. Want some ice cream, Jen?" He asked.
"Uh.. Sure." I shrugged.
"Ice cream?" Liam looked confused.
"Another thing we love in common. What flavor do you prefer, Jen?"
"Umm.. My favourite - coconut."
"No way! That's my favourite too!" Max chuckled in delight.
"Seriously? Coconut? You too, Jennifer? Ugh.. You guys have it. I am going to sleep." Liam said and walked away.
"He doesn't like coconut-"
"Everyone in this house hates coconut ice-cream. Except me."
"Why?"
"I don't know. They just do."
"Weirdos."
"I know, right?"
Max went towards the kitchen to get our ice creams and he came back.... Empty handed.
"Well, I forgot that I ate it all up today morning. Sorry..." He smiled sheepishly.
"It's fine.. I just need to sleep and plan about my escape-"
"Don't try that... Zack will seriously kill you."
"But I know you will save me..." I smiled at him.
He didn't say anything, just smiled back. He took me back to my room- the basement.
There was a mattress and a thin blanket lying on it.. Why hadn't I noticed it before?
"You aren't going to tie me up?"
"No.. That would be uncomfortable to sleep with. I am just going to lock this room. I don't wanna die so young because if you run away, Zack will definitely end me."
"I will run away, Max. You just saw... My parents won't save me."
He looked sad but just wished me goodnight before leaving shortly after. I laid down on the mattress and after a few struggling minutes, drifted off to sleep.