The very last thing that Merritt could remember before blacking out was laying on Lennonās bed on her stomach. Her younger brother Danza sat on the floor lend against the foot of the bed as Merritt played with his hair. She was insanely close to Lennon and Danza. Costello and Bowie mostly did there on thing these days. Costello was busy planning his billion-dollar wedding, while Bowie was busy studying abroad in England. Merritt could remember her mother yelling up at the three of them, for Merritt not to forget to take her medication and for her brothers to remind her.
Their parents were headed to a Gala, while the three of them had planned on a horror movie marathon. Avery was on her way over and the four of them were going to stay up all night watching their favorite terrifying cult classics. After Avery got to the house the rest of the night was a bit of a haze like sheād been drugged. She remembered very blurred parts of it. Like she was watching herself from outside her body.
Now she was awake inside her head. It was that feeling where you could hear everything going on around you, but your body was still far too heavy with sleep. There was a terrible pounding at the base of her skull, that was growing more and more painful. She heard whispering, but her brain had yet to register the words. As she become more aware of her surrounding she could feel the throbbing rawness of her wrists. They were bound. The throbbing rawness of her ankles, tightly bound by stretchy rope. She felt a scream clawing at her throat but she fought it back she couldnāt freak out this had to be dream. She thought to herself, there was no other explanation.
She steadies her frantic breaths, if she got too worked up her heart would start to beat too fast and if it started to beat too fast and she didnāt have her medication, sheād likely go into cardiac arrest. Merritt had learned that with her heath conditions she had to think everything through every single breath, every single body movement. Like dancing she couldnāt just over react, could just take thoughtless breaths. Sheād been kidnapped. She realized that now as hazy flashbacks played like reels of a movie behind her eyelids. Men in black ski mask shoving her incoherent body into the back of a car. Fuck. she thought. She strained to remember anything else but that was all she could remember.
She let her eyes flutter open, as three people slowly came into focus. A man tall, covered in tattoos. His back facing Merritt. A girl stood next to him dressed like a doll, her dress brightly colored her hair half blonde half black split right down the middle. She hung on the tall tattooed man like a little girl, clinging to her favorite doll. In front of them stood another tall man only his face was covered in a ski mask, locks of blonde hair stuck out in odd angles at the nape of his neck. However, that was all she could make out of the other man, however his voice sounded familiar and she hated that her brain was far to foggy to make out whoās voice that was.
She felt a tinge of pain biting at the muscles around her heart causing her to let out a groan, before she could stop herself. Letting her captors know she was waking up and she cursed under her breath, wanting to have stayed seeming asleep for longer, so that she might have gotten some kind of information from them to help her. She squeezed her eyes shut them back open this time things seeming to come more into focus. Now the man wearing the ski mask was gone and the couple was turned facing her now.
āAww, Jay, look whoās awake.ā The girls voice seemed shrill in Merrittās ears. āSleeping beauty.ā Her voice was as if someone had let her suck in a balloon full of helium and as the helium had started to wear off her voice had gotten stuck that way. Merritt groaned again and the girls scoffed.
āPleaseā¦let me go.ā Merrittās voice was weak, tired sounding and it didnāt come out as strong as she hoped it would. āIf money is what you want I can get you as muchā¦ā she trailed off her face twisting with pain, she bit her lips to deal with the dull throb of pain in deep in her chest the was starting to envelope her entire body slowly.
Peirce had been waiting several months to be with Avery. She gave him this sense of belonging. This dark twisted need to be beside her. It ate away at him like the blackest of cancers. Then as if heād willed it, as if it had all fallen so neatly into his lap heād come into contact with her brother. It had started as a very unpractical scheme. Quickly though it had turned into something much bigger a group effort. These girl were worth billions of dollars.
He could remember the very moment it had all come together. He was in his dorm room with Jason, Lily perched on his lap. Damien and Branden watch stupid YouTube videos, Crystal pretending to be interested in her nail beds. Desmond rolling his third joint. āWe should justā¦kidnap them.ā The words had slipped out before Peirce had even really realized what heād said. The entire room was simultaneously in agreeance and that was that, theyād started planning. Branden wanted nothing to do with it, but theyād blackmailed him. Brandenās whole family was involved in law enforcement, if anyone knew how to get away with kidnapping it would be him.
The night as expected had gone on without any problems. The plan was simple. Averyās parents and Merrittās parents had a Gala event to attend. Merrittās brother Lennon would drug them only after Danza fell asleep. Once the drugs kicked in, theyād put the girls in the back of the car and drive them to Damienās cabin. Lennon would go back to his house, tell his parents that Merritt and Avery had gone for a walk last night and never come home. After a week theyād send the ransom letters. It was easier than taking candy from a baby. While it was Winter break, all of their families simply assumed they were at Damienās families cabin for the Winter. There were absolutely no connections it was the perfect crime.
At the current moment, Peirce sat in a comfortable chair in the corner of the room. The key to the room that locked from the outside tucked deep within the pocket of his jeans. He was alone with Avery and God damn was she the most beautiful thing heād ever seen. He watched the way her chest slowly moved up and back down, she was in a peace state of sleep, having yet woken from the sleeping pills. He had a feeling sheād panic once she woke up and realized she was bound by wrists and ankles. He had to let her know that he was doing this for them so they could be together.
He knew it was crazy, but he couldnāt help it. She made him feel sane when she was around and he felt completely unstable when she wasnāt around. A slow, melodic rock song played softly through the room. He placed a cigarette between his lips lighting it and taking a long drag from the cigarette, letting the smoke feel his lungs, before he blew out a string of perfectly shaped silver gray Os. He lipped the words to the song as he continued to smoke waiting for Avery to wake up. Wonder how sheād react, wondering if sheād hate him and he wasnāt completely sure what heād do if she rejected him. Heād probably lose his shit.