Chapter Five: Emma

Kidnap My Heart

Chapter Five: Emma

“Emma, what did you—what did you do?” Taylor shrieked as she craned her neck to see what was behind me, or, I guess, who was behind me, although he didn’t really look like a person; he looked more like a lifeless lump.

I leaned forward and kneeled on the car seat I’d been sitting on before, using a bobby pin to begin working on Taylor’s handcuffs. Freeing her would have been a lot easier if she’d just kept still, but her hands kept moving as she tried to look behind me.

I moved to the left to obstruct her view. I’d meant to act discreetly, but my actions were rarely subtle. “Nothing,” I finally answered, remembering I’d kind of left her hanging. “Taylor, quit moving! We don’t have much time. They could wake up any minute and kill us both.” They seemed a bit too amateur to be serial killers, but you never knew.

“But… did you really just—just knock them out?” she spluttered in disbelief, still trying to look past me. I figured my ending statement would scare her into submission, but I guess not.

“Yes. Now, seriously, quit moving,” I snapped, tugging at her arms. “I’m trying to get these handcuffs off of you before they wake up.”

“Sorry!” Taylor cried, trying her best to remain still. “But…”

“No buts. Stop moving!”

She just grumbled in reply, finally remaining completely still as I finished picking the lock on her handcuffs and set her free. She sprang to action the second she was free, pushing me aside and jumping out the car. She walked over to where our dear kidnapper lay with a horrified look on her face. Well, one of them, anyway. The other was probably still drooling all over himself in the passenger seat of that hideous car.

“Oh, my God,” she cried out.

I sighed and got out of the car. “Yes, I know. He’s unconscious. Whatever. We need to figure out a plan and fast. Our minutes are counted here.”

“How did you… how?” Taylor spluttered, staring at the guy in shock. What did she not get about we need to leave? Jesus Christ.

“What?” I asked.

“Just look at him,” she said, pointing to the still body that lay on the street.

I looked down and saw nothing out of the ordinary. All I saw was our dense kidnapper who mistakenly thought he could outwit me. Rookie mistake. “I’m looking. What about him?”

“What about him?” she repeated incredulously. “He’s huge!” Her voice turned into a loud whisper, and her eyes went wide. “Emma, you just knocked out both of these guys, and you know… they’re not exactly weaklings. They’re tall. And muscly. And scary!”

I looked down at the guy again and started to reevaluate what I was seeing. I guess Taylor was right. This guy was pretty big. His partner was pretty big, too, actually, now that I thought about it. I mean, my self-defense skills were pretty good, but that didn’t change the fact that they were both much bigger than me. I must’ve been doing something right to knock them out. My self-defense teacher needed a raise; that was for sure. That woman was a genius.

Instead of openly agreeing with Taylor, I just shrugged. My mind whirred, quickly going over possible escape plans. I decided I wanted to see their faces before I escaped; I’d need to be able to describe them when I pressed charges. Sure, I’d outwitted them and was going to make a sly retreat very soon, but I still didn’t want those two whack jobs roaming the streets, prowling on other girls.

Plus, with my phone conveniently stuffed in my bra—thank God for boobs—I could easily take a picture of them, which was ten times better than describing their appearance to some shitty, overpaid artist.

Kneeling down carefully—my dress was ruined, but that didn’t mean I was okay with completely annihilating it, either—I ripped the mask off of the guy’s face. The first thing I noticed was the purple welt that was forming under his right eye, and I laughed knowing I was the cause of the welt. Man, this was too good.

I laughed even harder when I realized that welt was the only thing marring his pretty face, because I had to admit he had one. He looked like one of those annoying pretty-boys from Gossip Girl, or maybe a Calvin Clein underwear model. Prominent cheekbones, a strong jaw, full lips, an olive complexion, and just a nice face in general. Definitely looked like an underwear model.

“Oh, my God. He’s… he’s hot,” Taylor said, staring at him in awe, or maybe just disbelief. “Oh, my God. Emma, you ruined his face! He looks so perfect… except for that bump on his face.”

“Oh, just wait until it starts swelling,” I replied cheerfully, smirking at the prospect. I kind of wished I could stick around to see it, but alas, I was not about to go anywhere with this clown. “Won’t be such a pretty boy then, will he?”

“Emma,” she said, grabbing onto my shoulders and shaking me. “You. Just. Ruined. His. Gorgeous. Face.”

“Who cares?” I asked, turning around to face her. “You seem to have forgotten that this prick was just about to kidnap us. Well, he did kidnap us, technically. He doesn’t deserve any consideration from us.”

This was getting ridiculous. We needed to get moving; we were stalling way too much. Either of them could wake up at any moment, and I didn’t want to be there when that happened. I wasn’t sure I’d hit them hard enough all of a sudden. I should have swung again…

No matter. If either of them stirred, I’d swing.

“But… but he’s so hot,” Taylor said, looking down at him. I thought I was going to have to wipe the drool from her face by the look she was giving this guy.

I smacked her leg since it was the only thing I could reach. I was still kneeling down on the ground. “Get your hormones in check and work with me here.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, kneeling beside me. “What do you need me to do?”

“Open his eyes. Or just one of this eyes if that’s easier for you.”

“What?”

“Open his eyes, or open at least one eye,” I repeated slowly, just in case she hadn’t fully comprehended my words the first time around.

“Why?!”

“I need to take a picture of him. It’ll make the police’s job that much easier if they know exactly what he looks like, eye color included.” I shook my head and couldn’t help but add, “Knowing their system, they need all the help they can get.”

Taylor winced as she reached forward and pushed the guy’s eyes open. “Oh, this is just weird! This is so gross. What if I’m hurting him?”

“That’s okay. He won’t notice. He’s already unconscious from when I hurt him,” I replied, fighting a grin.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, just hurry up and take the picture!”

I laughed at her discomfort but took a picture using my phone, anyways. I examined the picture for a few seconds to make sure it was clear, and it was, although I was guessing this guy didn’t look as attractive as he probably did on a normal day.

Good.

Taylor dropped her hold on his eyelids when she saw that I was done. “Oh, thank Jesus.”

I stood up and wiped my knees off as best as I could. Why had I kneeled on the street? I should’ve just squatted. Damn. “Come on. I need to get a picture of his partner before we leave.”

She reluctantly followed me as I made my way over to the car, saying, “Please tell me I don’t have to hold his eyes open…”

“You don’t have to hold his eyes open,” I said.

“You’re lying.”

“I know.” I opened the door to the passenger seat. “Now, off goes his mask…” I pulled off the other guy’s mask and immediately wished I hadn’t. Taylor’s squeals were going to be the death of me.

“He’s adorable!” she squeaked. “Except for the bruise on his eye. Oh, my God, Emma, do you have to ruin every cute guy’s face?”

“I do if every cute guy tries to kidnap me,” I said.

She shook her head at me and slowly moved her hand to his face, reluctantly holding his eyes open. I quickly snapped the picture, wanting to avoid an emotional breakdown on her part. Taylor quickly let go and shuffled away, although the distance she’d just put between them didn’t stop her from staring at him longingly.

“Get a grip, Taylor,” I exclaimed, looking at her as if she’d lost it, which she kind of had. What was wrong with her? These were not the first attractive guys we’d come across, and it wasn’t like we were desperate losers. She needed to get a hold of her hormones and calm down already.

“But they’re so cute,” she insisted.

“There are plenty of cute guys out there, and with better taste in cars, for that matter. Now, get his wallet while you’re at it.”

“What? No! I’m not going to steal his wallet!” She seemed appalled by my suggestion, for some reason.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to where the big guy lay on the street. I bent down, making sure to squat this time, and searched his pockets until I found his wallet. “See?” I said, standing back up. “It’s that easy.”

“You can’t just do that, Emma,” Taylor said.

“Why not? They just kidnapped us. They deserve to be left stranded on a highway without a penny to their name,” I said. They’d had no consideration for us and how we felt about being taken, so why should we behave any differently?

She still didn’t look like she fully agreed with me, but she didn’t protest my actions, either, so I shrugged and started looking through the guy’s wallet. “Let’s see what we have here. William B. Knight. Born on April 13, 1992. Takes really bad pictures. Oh, boy. He’s got two twenties and a five. Not exactly a rich man. Although, considering he just tried to kidnap us, I wouldn’t expect anything different. Hmm, what else do we have here? A condom. Don’t want to know how long that’s been in here. A credit card that probably has nothing on it. A couple of receipts. Boring.”

Taylor tried to look at me disapprovingly, but she still couldn’t help but smile at my amusing commentary.

I reached into his pocket again and pulled out a set of keys. “Bingo.” These would definitely come in handy. These two nincompoops were going to lend us their car and help us escape. Unwillingly, of course, but they were going to do it.

At that moment, as I thought back on what I’d said about these guys being left stranded on a highway, I got an idea. I grinned wickedly, liking the idea more and more by the second. I once again knelt by the guy I was originally going to just leave on the street and took his jacket off.

“What are you doing?” Taylor asked warily. “Are you cold or something?”

I just shook my head and continued what I was doing. I took his shirt off next, not bothering to shield his head from smashing back down on the ground. Oops. Oh, well. If I were lucky, that blow would keep him knocked out for a while longer. Maybe it’d even give him a concussion.

“Emma, what the hell?” She walked over to me, her mouth wide open. “Why are you taking off his—” She stopped talking abruptly and stood frozen in her place. “Oh, my God.”

“What?” I glanced down, fully expecting to see some sort of contagious disease pervading across his chest or something. Did he have some sort of flesh eating disease or what?

“He doesn’t just have the face,” she said. “He has the body, too!”

I sighed in relief but didn’t answer her, and I didn’t bother admiring his physique, either. I was just glad he wasn’t contagious or anything. That I knew of, at least.

I undid his belt and unbuttoned his pants, sliding his pants down and throwing them aside. I took his shoes and socks off afterwards, crinkling my nose in absolute disgust. Oh, my God, the smell was starting to make my eyes water. I could almost see the light… I found myself having to remind myself that this would be worth it in the end. Walking towards civilization barefoot was literally going to be a pain for this loser.

“Emma. Emma! Oh, my God…”

“Stop looking!” I finally shouted, horrified by my best friend’s behavior. What was with her today? She needed to get out more.

“Why—are you doing this?” she choked out with a doe-eyed expression.

“Because I want to leave them naked and stranded on the highway.”

She just made a small, unidentifiable sound.

“I’ll leave the boxers. I don’t want to see that. Although these Christmas boxers aren’t the nicest thing to look at, either.” I looked back at Taylor, and I couldn’t tell whether she agreed with me or not. She looked like she would have been okay with me taking it all off, disturbingly enough. I almost gagged at the prospect but still managed to say, “Do the same to the other guy.”

“No way. You do it,” she said as I grabbed What’s-His-Face’s clothes and threw them into the back of the car.

“Fine,” I huffed, standing up and wiping my knees off instinctively. I walked over to the car and stood by the passenger seat, trying to decide how to go about this. I finally decided to just pull the guy out of the car and shove him onto the grass on the side of the road, making sure his head hit every possible surface on the way down.

What? I didn’t want him to wake up while I was taking his clothes off.

I took his black leather jacket off, muttering, “God, who do these guys think they are, with their grimy leather jackets?”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Taylor said as I took the guy’s shirt off. “But man, oh, man, are these guys cute…”

“I’m honestly considering beating them with these handcuffs just to get you to shut up.”

“Oh, please don’t,” she said, grabbing onto my shoulder. “They’re too cute for that! It’d be such a waste.”

I didn’t think it’d be much of a waste, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue with Taylor so I just chose to ignore her comments from that moment on. After I had taken off the guy’s pants and shoes and left him in his boxers, I stood up and shoved his clothes into the back. “I’m surprised they haven’t woken up yet, but I’m not pushing this any farther. We need to leave now.”

“They haven’t woken up because you keep slamming their heads on the ground and hitting them with those handcuffs when you think I’m not looking,” Taylor said.

Damn. I didn’t think she’d seen me.

I just shrugged, and I was already walking to the other side of the car, ready to hit the road when Taylor ran after me, squeaking incoherently. Just as I was climbing into the driver’s seat, she said, “You can’t leave him in the middle of the street! He could get run over!”

I sighed impatiently. “You’re such a saint, Taylor.” I was irritated, but I still had the decency to leave the car and roll What’s-His-Face over to the grassy area. I made sure he hit a few bumps and rocks along the way, just for good measure. He’d definitely be feeling that when he woke up.

“Okay, if we’re escaping, we should really do it soon, before they wake up,” Taylor said all of a sudden.

I actually had to physically stop myself from reaching over and wringing her neck. She’d just realized this?

Instead of yelling at her, however, I walked over to each of the guys and kicked them in the face before leaving, just in case. I climbed into the car with Taylor following my lead and stuck the keys into the ignition. The piece of crap roared to life and just before I drove away, I glanced in the rearview mirror, saw the vulnerable position I’d left them in, and smirked. “Suckers.”

***

I love this chapter. It was really fun to write!

And I actually kept my word today! WHOO!

Not that I'm untrustworthy.

Which, let's face it, I am.

No wonder I've never had a job.

LOL, who am I kidding? I wouldn't get a job!

Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! :D