Chapter Thirty-Three: Emma

Kidnap My Heart

Chapter 33: Emma

My spine stiffened at the sound of his voice, but I refused to show any fear or weakness. I forced myself to smoothly turn around and remove my hood. I crossed my arms over my chest and studied the mastermind behind all of this closely. He was one person I wouldn’t hesitate to rat out to the police. “Charles Knight.”

My previous guess had turned out to be right. Charles was a carbon copy of both Will and Eric. He was tall and broad-shouldered, just like his sons, and he had dark hair like Will’s and light brown eyes like Eric’s. His face was just more weathered and aged; he looked like an older version of the two of them squished together.

Charles narrowed his eyes at me. “Where’s the bag?”

My reply was somehow calm and smooth. “Where’s Taylor?”

“Not here. Safe, but not here. Where’s the bag?” he repeated. His tone was impatient, much more impatient than it had been just a few seconds ago.

“Not here,” I said, only slightly mockingly. What was I doing? This was not the time for a surge of attitude!

“Did you read the note I sent you? You seem to have missed the point of the ransom note.” His tone was angry, but at the same time, it was also calm like mine, and that was worse than the anger. Again, it was like the calm before the storm.

“It was either me or the money. Did you honestly think I was going to be allowed to bring you the money?” I asked. “They wouldn’t even consider it.”

“I was very—” Charles took a shallow breath, and I could feel my confidence waning. I suddenly had no idea what the hell I was doing here. “I was very clear about what I wanted from you. And you show up empty-handed.”

His hand inched towards the inner pocket of his jacket, and my face lost every bit of color it had. I didn’t know if he actually had a gun or some sort of weapon in there, but I didn’t want to find out.

After that, I had to search through the very depths of my being for the confidence to reply, and in the end, I found it. I couldn’t show how terrified and worried I was; I had to fake my way out of this. “Don’t act like this is such a loss,” I said, struggling to keep the bitchy attitude from my voice. That wasn’t going to help, but I couldn’t help it. “You have what you really wanted. You have me back in your grubby little hands. This will make my parents and Taylor’s parents that much more desperate to get us back. They’ll pay anything. You’ll get more money than you would’ve gotten today. Do you think two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars is all I’m worth? All Taylor is worth?”

“I told you to bring the money,” he snapped. I thought he was going to start shaking, but he remained eerily still.

“You’ll get your money,” I said, forcing composure on myself. I had to get through this. I had to. “You won’t even remember this little bump in the road when you do. Taylor’s dad has money—a lot of it. My dad also has money—a lot more of it. You’ll be swimming in cash once this is over. Isn’t that what this is all about? The money? You don’t strike me as the masochistic murderous type.”

“I’m not,” he said, but the way he barked it out kind of contradicted his words. His anger didn’t exactly subside at first, but once my words really sunk in, he visibly relaxed and nodded. “Get in the car. No tricks.”

“Because I’m the kind of girl who would step into the lion’s den just to see if I could claw my way out,” I said sarcastically. Now that I was a little surer that he wasn’t going to murder me for this, I didn’t feel as terrified. Maybe that was a mistake, but it was how I felt. “I’m not interested in tricks. I’m interested in ensuring the safety of my best friend. Let’s go.”

Choking back the small traces of fear that remained, I walked over to the lone car. It was a black, average looking car—nothing special, but it was nicer than the piece of crap Will and Eric drove around in. I had almost reached the car when his words stopped me. “Not so fast. Empty out the pockets.”

I suppressed a groan and slowly turned around, pulling out my jacket pockets. Nothing. His eyes narrowed at this. “There’s nothing in my pockets.” And there wasn’t. There was something in my bra, though.

“Your pants pockets,” Charles said, awkwardly nodding downwards.

I pulled at the fabric at the side of my leggings and looked at him. “They’re leggings. There are no pockets.”

His distrustful look didn’t fade. Despite his mistrust, I thought I was in the clear, but that wasn’t the case. Instead of letting me get in the car, he started patting me down. It took everything I had not to break his hands. That would get me nowhere. Blood red is not your color. Blood red is not your color. Blood red is not your color!

Ugh. Why couldn’t Will be here? I knew it wasn’t going to be him when I got the ransom and the text message, but I would’ve rather had him pat me down instead of his horrible father, and at least it would have seemed more like a joke if Will had done it. I just wanted Will to be here.

When Charles got to my boobs, he obviously found the phone. I forced composure as he looked me in the eyes and said, “Hand it over.”

I sighed and fished my cell phone out of my bra. I held it by the edge of the phone and all but shoved it in his face. “Happy freaking birthday.”

He grabbed the phone with a gloved hand, threw it on the ground, and crushed it with his boot. “It’s not my birthday. Now you can get in.”

“That was a new phone,” I huffed. That was two broken phones in less than two months. I should’ve changed my number. It would have made it harder for Charles to get ahold of me. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? I was so stupid.

“I’m sure daddy dearest will buy you a new one,” he said bitterly. Grabbing me by the shoulder, he pushed me inside the car and slammed the door behind me. He climbed in the driver’s seat and looked back at me through the rearview mirror. “I’m assuming I don’t need to restrain you yet.”

I rolled my eyes, pushing myself up. Manners clearly didn’t run in the family. Although Will had gotten a lot nicer since I’d known him, and he did feel the need to open doors for me all the time. “Look at you, using all of your brain cells.”

His face hardened. “Watch it. I’m not my sons. I won’t hesitate to use force.”

“Noted.” No sense in pushing my luck with this monster.

Knowing I was in for a longish car ride, I settled down to finally get some sleep. Despite my uncomfortable circumstances, I was out cold before I knew it. I hadn’t slept all night, and it was probably around two or three in the morning. There wasn’t much that could have kept me from crashing.

I was woken up by Charles when we arrived; it felt like I’d only slept for ten minutes. I groggily sat up and looked outside my window. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion when my eyes took in the house before me. It was a two-story building, but it was a light-blue color and it had a veranda that went around the entire house. The paint wasn’t quite as chipped, and the grass was actually cut. This house looked more lived in than the other one. “Where are we?” This was a different house; why the hell were we at a different house?

“Your new home until your dear father pays your ransom,” Charles said.

“Two houses? I thought you guys were broke. Granted, they’re not Beverly Hills mansions, by any means, but last I heard, poor people don’t own two houses.”

“We weren’t always broke,” he said. He wasn’t looking at me; he was staring a hole into the steering wheel. “The house you were staying at before is our old house. We moved out when—never mind. This house has a special addition in the cellar.”

I frowned. I guess every family had their own demons. I shouldn’t have expected anything different from the Knight family, even if they were kidnappers. “Can’t wait to see it,” I finally said in a sarcastic tone.

Charles didn’t say anything. He just opened his door and stepped out, slamming the door shut behind him. He opened my door for me, but chivalry was not his thing. Instead of letting me step out, he grabbed me by the arm and roughly pulled me out. This felt like deja-vu: being pulled out of a car, awaiting my impending doom. Same situation, different kidnapper. Again, I would’ve preferred Will.

“I can walk, you know,” I snapped, wincing at the grip he had on my arm. Not this again. I honestly felt like he was going to cut off my circulation and make my arm turn purple or blue. “I’m not going to run. Taylor’s not even here, is she?”

“Not yet,” he said. “She’ll be under this roof when I’m sure you’re behind bars.”

Wait. Had he just said what I thought he’d just said? “What?”

He didn’t reply. He just continued dragging me. He dragged me all the way inside the house, down the stairs into the cellar/basement/whatever the hell it was, and into a prison cell. A prison cell. He had a freaking prison cell in his house. I had walked into an extremely sketchy situation of my own volition. I needed therapy.

Once he’d shoved me inside the musty cell, he slammed the door shut and locked the cell with a long, silver key. I had to steady myself; he’d basically thrown me inside.

“What, you’re just going to leave me in here?” I asked incredulously, taking a step towards the bars. He just smugly smirked, so I went on, chuckling bitterly. “Wow. Isn’t this ironic? The criminal locking up the victim.”

“Your father consistently steals money from consumers through his overpriced products, making a fortune for himself,” Charles said, his eyes darkening. “And you have no problem spending this fortune on yourself. Am I the only criminal here?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make excuses for yourself. You’re a kidnapper, an extortionist, a thief, and a terrible father. I’m a teenager who uses her daddy’s credit cards and spends the money he earns, the money you’re planning on stealing from him. We both know who belongs behind bars, and it’s not me.”

“The same way we both know who is actually behind bars.”

“For now.”

I knew I needed to shut up, but I really couldn’t help it. The utter dislike I felt for this man was all-consuming. I hated him. I hated him for what he was doing, I hated him for threatening me and my best friend, and I hated him for how he treated Will.

He just let out a dark laugh and took a few steps back before turning around and confidently walking out of the room. Good riddance. I would’ve rather been alone than have his annoying ass as company.

Once he was gone, I finally let out the shaky, heaving breath I’d been holding in and ran a hand through the hair that had escaped my ponytail holder. Okay, this was bad. This was worse than I’d thought it would be. Will wasn’t even here; Will wouldn’t be with me the entire time. Not this time. I was going to be left to rot in this stupid cell, away from everyone I cared about. Everyone.

I settled down on the bench in the corner. It was the only real resting spot in the cell, which was sad because it sucked. This was going to be a long stay. I never thought I would miss what I had before, but I did. I missed Will’s mostly comfortable bed, his room, his house, and even him. No, especially him.

Curling up into a ball on the bench, I let out the tears I’d been holding in, and I had to remind myself why I was here in the first place and why it was all worth it. Sure, this sucked, but at least Taylor was safe. Charles had me and Taylor back in his grasp. He would get his money—unless we managed to escape before that happened. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening were looking bleak.

My eyes started to droop as I lay there, feeling miserable and downright pathetic. The bench felt like a rock or maybe concrete, but I was so tired, it didn’t even matter. I still fell asleep. This entire day was just exhausting, both emotionally and physically. I wasn’t sure how long I was out, but eventually I was pulled out of my nap and shoved back into reality, although I didn’t realize it at first.

“Rage,” a voice said. It was familiar—very familiar. It was Will’s voice. Was I seriously so delirious that I was starting to dream about his voice?

“Will,” I mumbled. My voice sounded groggy even to my own ears. Looking back, I probably sounded like I was drugged, which I wasn’t.

“I can’t believe him,” he said, although it didn’t seem like he was talking to me. That was when it dawned on me. This wasn’t a dream; this was real. My eyes fluttered open, and I squinted in the light. There weren’t any windows near enough to use as an escape, but there were several windows at the very top of the room that provided a little too much lighting. I was being blinded by the sunlight.

I could feel my spirits rise as soon as my eyes cleared and focused on him. “Will.” I quickly sat up and rubbed at my eyes. When I saw the look on his face, my spirits fell. My initial reaction was stupid. I’d left him. I hadn’t even left a note explaining why or apologizing. Why would he be anything but mad at me? No, I didn’t have anyone here. Not anymore. I’d ruined whatever it was that we had; I could see it in his eyes.

Unable to keep looking at him, I slowly cast my gaze downwards and suppressed a sigh. This wasn’t the time for dramatics or longing sighs. Silence filled the room, and I leaned forward, placing my elbows on top of my leg and all but throwing my face in my hands. The silence started to get to me after a while, though, and I couldn’t help but sneak a peek through my fingers. He was already looking at me. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.

Removing my hands from my face, I sat up. There were so many things I could have said, so many questions I could have asked, but no words seemed to be courageous enough to brave the storm and make their way to the tip of my tongue. It was so frustrating. This entire situation was just so frustrating. Why couldn’t I make things clear for myself? Why did I have to complicate everything? And why the hell did I care what he was thinking and feeling at that moment?

I should’ve been worried about how I was going to get out of this place, but I was more preoccupied with what I wanted to say at that moment. I was behaving like such a teenage girl; it made me want to throw up. Things had been so much easier when I’d thought I was never going to see him again. That made it simple. No contact—a smooth break. His father had ruined everything.

Well, not everything. I’d ruined plenty of things all by myself. I was good at that.

I looked up, and I noticed Will’s face had softened, which surprised me. It took me a few seconds to realize his face had softened because I looked like I was about to burst into tears—which I basically was. Godammit. I hated crying in front of people.

I willed the tears and the words that would accompany those tears to stay away, but it was no use. They had a mind of their own. “God, I’m so stupid,” I cried, running a hand through my hair. Most of it had come out of the ponytail holder. I probably looked like a hot mess, but Will had already seen me at my worst.

“No, you’re not,” he said. He took a few steps closer, stopping when he was right in front of the cell. He seemed to tower over me, even though there was a big space in between us; it was probably because I was sitting down.

“No, I am,” I said, shaking my head. I pulled the ponytail holder out of my hair so it would stop bothering me. I threw it aside and shook my head again. That seemed to be all I was capable of doing. “I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have left Taylor or you. I just made everything so much worse. I should’ve left things as they were.”

He didn’t reply immediately. When he did, he did it with a pained expression that stung more than it should have. “You weren’t happy. You did what you thought was best. You wanted to go home to your family. I get it. You wanted out.”

“But that’s the thing,” I said. I shouldn’t have attempted to clarify anything, but a part of me wanted him to know the truth. “I was so scared of being happy here with you that I ran. Don’t you see? I fear the unknown. I run away from people. And now look at me. If I’d stayed, I wouldn’t be sitting in a freaking jail cell. Things would be so much better right now.” Maybe we would be together right now.

“It shouldn’t be like this. It shouldn’t be forced. That’s not what I want, Rage. I don’t want you to be held here against your will. This shouldn’t be a consequence for not wanting this. It shouldn’t be a consequence at all.”

I didn’t say anything. What was I supposed to say? What he was saying was true.

“God.” He looked down and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know I was mad at you before, but I swear this wasn’t my doing. I told him to leave you alone. I tried to stop him, but he doesn’t listen to me. I never wanted this to happen.”

“I know, Squilliam.” I missed having a reason to use that nickname. “I know.”

His lips twitched upwards at the nickname, and the mood was lightened a little. “Still the same old Rage, I see.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “I know you guys don’t really keep track of the time over here, but it’s been a little over a week, not a little over a year.”

He rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

A silence filled the room. I was at a loss for words again. What was I supposed to say? I was still feeling the same awkward vibes I’d felt when we talked after that kiss, and we hadn’t even directly talked about the kiss itself.

Oh, damn it. That kiss… I’d been doing such a good job of forgetting it. By “a good job,” I meant I hadn’t thought about it that day at all. Well, that was out the window. Suddenly, all I could see were flashbacks: his lips moving against mine so perfectly, his hands expertly running over my body, the look in his eyes when he told me I was beautiful. My cheeks started heating up just at the memory.

Will was the one who finally broke the silence. “I feel awful,” he admitted. “I feel like this is my fault. You shouldn’t be here.”

“It’s not your fault,” I assured him. I ran a hand through my hair to get it out of my face. It really was a mess. “It’s your asshat of a dad’s fault.”

“I followed his lead, though,” he insisted. “I didn’t have to. He didn’t hold a gun to my head. I didn’t have to do any of this. I shouldn’t have... and yet…”

“What?”

Will hesitated and let out a quiet sigh. He put a hand on one of the bars and leaned against the cell. “I try to tell myself I was wrong to ever get involved in this because I know it’s wrong, and I know it’ll only end badly for me. I’m the bad guy here. But I don’t regret a thing. If I hadn’t done any of this, I wouldn’t have met you.”

My jaw nearly dropped. Oh, my God. He thought I was worth it. He thought I was worth all of the consequences that came with what he’d done.

And that was when the idea was born. It was an ingenious idea. A horribly ingenious idea. I knew how I was going to get out of this cell. The only thing left was plucking up the courage to do it.

“I—” The words got caught in my throat. This was going to be a little bit harder than I thought. I couldn’t even get two words out.

“What?” he asked.

I quickly shook my head. “Nothing.” What was I thinking? I couldn’t do this.

“No, seriously, what?”

“It’s nothing.” I couldn’t do this to myself or to Will. This plan was just crazy. Ridiculous. Insanity at its finest.

“It’s something. Come on. You can tell me.”

I wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but considering how insistent he was being, I had a feeling it was something big. His expectations were actually based on reality for once. What I was tempted to say was big.

“It’s just—” Do it. No, don’t do it. Don’t do this. “I can’t. It’s embarrassing.”

Will raised his eyebrows at me. “Are we really gonna go there? Do you really need me to list all of the embarrassing moments I’ve witnessed since I’ve known you?”

Yeah, we didn’t need to go down memory lane… “No, I guess not. You’re right.”

He winked at me. “Of course I’m right.”

I could feel it coming up. Not vomit—words. The words I half-wanted to say for my own good and half-wanted to choke down—also for my own good. If I did this, there was no going back. I would have to go with it. I didn’t think there was any way I would be able to go through with it, but that just went to show how much had changed. Maybe my words burst out because there was some truth behind them. “I don’t want to pick the Versace dress,” I blurted out.

Will blinked. “What?”

Shut up, shut up, shut u— “I don’t want the Versace dress or the stupid diamond necklace. I want you. I—” I hesitated. I had to say it. For freedom, I assured myself. Only for freedom. This was the only way to get out of this cell. Will wasn’t my key to happiness; he was my key to freedom. “I’m falling for you, and I’m terrified.”

The look on his face was one of pure shock. “You—you’re what?”

I couldn’t believe I was doing this to him. I was sitting there, lying to his face about something you just didn’t lie about. As long as he didn’t say anything back, though, things were okay. At least then what I was doing wouldn’t be that bad. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Will, I’m crazy about you.” Repeating what he’d said to me in a moment of lust was the only thing I could think to do. “I don’t want to be with someone who’s boring and uncomfortable. I want to be with you.” The things I was saying sounded like they could be true—a little too true.

“You’re choosing the cat onesie?” he asked in disbelief.

I couldn’t help but laugh. He was still using the cat onesie metaphor. I wished I was truly picking the cat onesie, for reasons other than the ones I had. Without ulterior motives. “I’m choosing the cat onesie,” I said with a laugh.

“Holy shit…”

See? I was okay. He didn’t actually have feelings for me or anything; I wasn’t doing too much harm. If he did, he would’ve said something. He had an open invitation right there, but he didn’t use it. I had no reason to feel guilt for my plan.

After that, I didn’t waste any time. I jumped up and tightly gripped the bars. “Will, get me out of here. I feel like a caged animal. I can’t take another minute of this. This place is making me smell like road kill, and I probably look like road kill, too. Please.”

“You could never look like road kill,” he said. There was a twinkle in his eye. Maybe it was just the sun. “The smell, on the other hand…”

“Shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes. My traitorous lips smiled, anyway.

He grinned. “I’m kidding.”

“Can you get the key or not?”

“Yeah, I can,” he said, pulling a long, silver key out. It looked exactly like the one Charles had used to lock me up.

My jaw dropped. “You had it with you this entire time?”

“I’m not supposed to use it, but I can’t leave you in here.”

He stuck the key in the hole and twisted it. There was a click as it unlocked, and he swung the door open. As soon as the door opened, I leapt forward and threw my arms around him. He seemed surprised at first, and he didn’t respond immediately, but when he did, he held me so tight, I felt like I was on cloud nine. I felt surprisingly safe in his arms, like nothing could hurt me anymore. Not when he was there.

“Thank you,” I whispered, resting my head against his chest.

He kissed the top of my head, and I closed my eyes. Tricking him like this wasn’t going to be easy. Not when it felt like I wasn’t tricking him at all. “You don’t have to thank me,” he said.

No, I did. I felt like I had to apologize, too, but I couldn’t do that. Not yet. I’d apologize when all of this was over. The thing was, though, at that moment, I didn’t want it to be over. Not when he was holding me like that. Like I was more than just another conquest. Like he was more than just my key to freedom.

Why did I feel like I’d just jumped off the cliff?

***

A/N: I was floored when I saw how many of you guys thought it was Jack haha. Poor guy. No trust there lmfao. He really did just need to rid his stomach of that burrito when Emma was kidnapped.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who's been voting and commenting like crazy! #25 in humor? Amazing. Thanks guys! :)