Setting
She looked down to her left and saw Declan, her amazing boyfriend, lying in the dirt, unconscious. Moving slowly, fighting past the bombs going off inside her head, she shook his shoulder. "Declan? Dec, babe, wake up. Please, wake up." She shook his shoulder again, and fought back frightened tears.
She was so terrified. She remembered screaming really loud and trying to hide behind Dec and Aaron, with Violette her best friend, but then someone had grabbed her, and the next she remembered she woke up here. Where was here? She tried to stand, giving up on Declan, but the minute she put any weight on her legs they just collapsed from under her.
"Somebody please wake up soon..." She said softly, curling into a ball and waiting for the pain in her head to subside, and for somebody to please wake up.
He hurt, yes, but he needed to get to her. He needed to know if she was alright. And then he needed to get her out of here. Declan started to move towards her, crawling in the dark, damp space until he was behind her. "Ash...?" His voice was little more than a questioning whisper as he slipped his arms around her body and drew her close to his chest in a protective embrace. With a slow, shuddering breath he glanced up again, checking on the others as he became more aware of himself. And then he looked down on his girlfriend, and bent his head to hers to kiss her forehead and murmur softly to her.
"Ash...It's Declan, Dec, come on sweetie. Talk to me. What happened? Where does it hurt?" He spoke to her gently, a shaking hand brushing the hair back from her face, glancing occasionally up at his other friends.
"Whaa-where..."
She cut off her sentence as the scene had started to come back to her. Violette replayed the vision in her mind a few times before realizing what had happened. She lifted her head up, ignoring how painful it was. She winced, gently placing her hand against the rock wall, trying to lift herself up. Violette moaned quietly, and let herself fall back on her progress of standing.
"It could be worse..."
She whispered.
The basement hadn't come with his run of the mill home. Instead, he'd toiled to make the extra room while hiding it from the authorities who would surely frown upon such projects. The room where the teenagers lay was crudely made and unlit, save for a small bulb on the ceiling that had a tendency to flicker. Adolphe hadn't bothered to put flooring down and left nothing more than stone walls and the lightbulb in there to indicate they were in a man-made structure.
The other half of the room, where the staircase was held, was much nicer looking. While not perfect, it did have hurriedly black painted walls and linoleum flooring. It was here that he could carry out observation without having to arouse suspicion. Adolphe had settled himself at a table with his feet propped up on the surface as he leaned back in an office chair. The table held an assortment of video and recording equipment that he'd purchased between kidnappings with his ransom money. The TVs live broadcasted from the inside of the room, but he also had a wonderful view through a piece of one-way glass.
It was a wonderful room and it worked perfectly for his occupation. As the teenagers woke, he found it hard to contain his excitement.
"Arden!" he yelled, his voice gruff and commanding like usual. He had not a clue where the woman had gotten to, but he hoped she'd heard him. At least the entire basement wasn't sound proofed like the room the teenagers were in was. "They're waking up, you're missing it!" He picked up the microphone and held it between his calloused hands, wondering what to say first. Something to scare them, to frighten them even more than they already were. He gave it a light tap so that the speakers inside of the sound proofed room boomed softly, hoping to get their attention. "Glad to see all, or most, of you are waking up," he said, making his voice sound sickeningly sweet. The volume had been cranked high so that the entire room would fill with his voice. "Some of you had to take quite the beating so I could get you to obey...it scared me for a bit". From the tone he spoke with, it was easy to tell he wasn't scared at all. In fact, there was only one person in the room he needed alive. That was all. For all he cared, the others could all die eventually.
"Hey, Vi, how are you doing? Has Aaron woken up yet?" She asked, even though she was sure he hadn't awoken. She knew he would wake up soon, and then they would all be in this hellhole together. Suddenly, a loud, booming voice echoed all around them and Ashlynn let out a small shriek and curled back into Declan. "Glad to see all, or most, of you are waking up, some of you had to take quite the beating so I could get you to obey...it scared me for a bit." Ashlynn scoffed. It was obvious that whoever this was didn't mean what he was saying. Looking around Declan's arm, she got up the courage to look at one of the walls, considering she didn't know where the voice was coming from, and speak in a forceful voice. "What do you want with us?! Why are we here?!" She asked, but soon after she lost her courage and settled back into Declan's arms. She turned to look at her boyfriend, examining every inch of him.
"What about you? Are you injured at all?" She asked, although she didn't think she saw anything visible, but there could always be something internal that was ailing him.
He knew that he had gotten the biggest blow in order too fall asleep and not wake up. Not wanting too say anything he closes his eye's once again and sits there waiting for something to happen.
Arden gazed at herself in the mirror as her room reverberated with a low, hedonistic tune that resounded from her speakers. Reflected before her was her own flawless image. Long, toned, tanned limbs with a cascade of golden hair tumbling in waves over her shoulders. Her body was bare, save for her band new set of lingerie; a red lace thong and matching bra. After the successful capture while she was certain the children would still be out cold, on a high, she went out and treated herself to a new lingerie set. It wasn't cheap. But she had been promised by Adolphe that they would make sure a lot of money from this kidnapping that she hasn't even thought about the price. She admired herself under the subtle, dusky lighting. Suddenly, she threw her head back dramatically, her hysterical laughter breaking through the music. She was so very beautiful. No one could rival her. She was perfect, and Adolphe would simply love her purchase.
As Arden's laughter subdued, she allowed her mind to linger on the thought of her lover. His deep, commanding voice. His intelligent, sly, manipulating ways. His hands on her skin when he touched her. She closed her eyes slowly and lifted her hands to her hair, pulling her fingers through it roughly, just the way she liked. His fingers were in her hair, tugging insistently. His hands swept down her cheek, caressing it, and teasingly down her neck. Then his hands dropped, tracing the outline of the lacy bra and dipping down into her cleavage. His fingers ran across her smooth skin and across her slim rib cage, caressing her taught stomach muscles. His hand travelled downwards, reaching her hip bone. His hand pushed her hips forward forcefully, pulling her close to him. His hand then closed around her toned bottom, squeezing the flesh, nearly pinching it. She moaned in pain, enjoying every moment of it. Then his hands came forwards, teasing the lace of her panties. He scratched a line with his nail along the line of her panties. At last, his hands dropped enticingly, finally reaching her-
"Arden!" Adolphe's gruff voice cut through the air from below her feet. Arden's blue eyes snapped open to see her own hands with their perfectly red nails splayed across her flesh. She took a deep, shuddering breath and instantly left the room, leaving the music thudding behind her. When Adolphe called for her, she didn't hesitate.
When she arrived in the basement she instantly spotted Adolphe in his office chair, surrounded by video equipment and televisions. Like a king, gazing over his kingdom from his throne. And what a perfect king Adolphe made. King Adolphe. The cruelest, most beautiful king this land had ever seen. Her eyes then fell to the children. They clung together like frightened puppies, cowering as Adolphe's gorgeous voice boomed around them. If she were to be surrounded by only his voice she would not flinch. She would scream unabatedly with pleasure.
Arden swanned elegantly into the room, coming to stand by Adolphe. She was still only clothed in her underwear and she leant close to him, allowing her bare flesh to touch him. She leant down to kiss him on the cheek before returning to her full height. Then she giggled.
"Are they afraid?" she asked with wild excitement, her tone jumpy and eyes shining with delirium. "Tell me they're afraid!" she begged.
The sound of Ashlynn's voice made Violette's head spiral in her direction.
"Could be worse,"
She answered. Violette had ignored the second question, which she was not very fond of answering. Suddenly, a loud voice filled the room.
"Glad to see all, or most, of you are waking up, some of you had to take quite the beating so I could get you to obey...it scared me for a bit."
Violette didn't respond to the voice, like Ashlynn had, but took a small minute to come to her senses, still being a bit confused in some ways. Once she was sure she was all together, she mustered up all of the courage she had and spoke with her boldest voice,
"I'm not scared."
Inside, Violette was truly terrified, but she felt she had to deny it. It was exactly what they wanted, and she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.
He saw Violette stirring, and was about to call to her to check that she was okay when the electronic voice of a man echoed in their small chamber.
"Glad to see all, or most, of you are waking up, some of you had to take quite the beating so I could get you to obey...it scared me for a bit."
The voice was cool, and cold, and dripped with malice, and Declan knew then and there that this was the man that had taken them. And as Ashlynn screamed, he just wrapped his arms around her tighter and got up on one knee so that he was almost covering her body with his, ignoring the twinge of pain in his shoulder as the voice faded. He found himself repeating "I wont let them touch you"
Declan scowled, and settled back down beside Ashlynn, holding her close to his chest, taking comfort in her wellbeing from the sweet scent of her hair, and the soft touch of her hand. "What about you? Are you injured at all?" Her quiet tone made him smile and he simply shrugged a little "I'm fine. My shoulder's playing up, but I'm fine...Violette, are you hurt at all...And Aaron? Are you both okay?"
Declan then looked up, realizing that if there were speakers around somewhere, there were likely to be cameras as well. He lifted his voice in a challenge to whoever might be listening. "Cowards. Knock us out and put aside then. Show yourselves! Or are you scared that a few teens will show you where you went wrong?"
"What do you want with us?! Why are we here?!" the dark haired girl, who had let out the shriek, curled against the fair-haired boy. Obviously, he was her boyfriend. She spoke to him like he was a boyfriend anyway. Before he could say something, though, the others were responding.
"I'm not scared." That was the fair-haired girl this time. She was so calm. Too calm. Adolphe scoffed and crossed his arms. He'd have to change that, wouldn't he? It was no fun watching hostages that weren't afraid. By then, Arden had reached him and leaned against his body, which was clad in a pair of jeans and a hoodie. Even though he wasn't looking, he could just about sense she was leaning down and so wasn't surprised in the slightest when her bare skin touched him. In fact, he wouldn't have been surprised even if she wore nothing.
Her lips brushed along his cheek and he briefly returned the peck on the cheek without looking up. He wasn't very romantic at all with her. Adolphe had never been. Yet, he certainly wasn't going to completely ignore the attention she gave him or the very physical relationship they shared. Only after she giggled did he decide to look up at her. "Are they afraid? Tell me they're afraid!" He smirked and then chuckled, moving the chair away from the table slightly so she'd be able to see into the room.
"They could certainly be more afraid..." he said, arms still crossed. The way Adolphe said it sounded almost like a mixture of a child's pouting and the anger of a grown man. An odd combination, but it usually meant he was on edge. A confident abuctee was never good. They made poor ransom videos, they spoke too much, and they simply drove him insane. "I've seen middle aged men who were more afraid than these kids.
Feet still balanced on the top of the table, he continued to watch the teenagers. They were all sort of huddled up, especially the girl with the brown hair and the boy with the blonde hair. It seemed weird addressing them like that, since he always knew the names of his captives. In this case, he only knew the name of one.
He'd tuned out the kids in the room for now but, as the only really conscious boy started to raise his voice. "Cowards. Knock us out and put aside then. Show yourselves! Or are you scared that a few teens will show you where you went wrong?" Adolphe's eyes widened at first, shocked that he'd been stood up to by a teenager, nonetheless. In what seemed like a heartbeat, though, his eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw. The man had already been on edge as it was, but he couldn't bear to hear one of the captives talking to him like this. If Arden had been there before the microphone or anywhere between him and the microphone, he would have pushed her aside as he stood up quickly.
The office chair fell backwards with a clatter as he pulled the microphone up to his mouth. "You listen now and you listen well!" he yelled. If his voice had filled the room before, now it consumed the room, surrounding them in his deafening yell. "You are all at my mercy. There's only one of you that I actually need. In fact, the rest of you should have been killed off. I won't hesitate to do away with any of you that get in my way. You're all apparently too damn disrespectful to respect the man who is the difference between life and death for you little tykes."
He dropped the microphone with a thump. It wailed loudly in response and Adolphe gripped the edge of his table, knuckles turning white. Adolphe's body trembled with the rage that coursed through his body. Straightening up, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and his thumb sharply. Damn, he was already getting a migraine. "If you all know what is good for you, you'll think twice before you call me a coward. Did I not capture four able-bodied teenagers? Hell, you four didn't even put up much of a fight."
He smirked and, after setting the chair back up on its legs, sat back down with the microphone in hand. "Have a nice day." His voice had returned to its sickeningly sweet sound by then as he spoke his last sentence. Adolphe placed the microphone down finally and leaned back in the chair with a sigh as he rubbed his face with his hands. "Teenagers can be so God damn annoying," he snarled, looking up at Arden. "Well...that's a nice outfit. When did you get it?" He arched an eyebrow curiously, not recognizing the lingerie she wore.
Aaron shuddered.
"Maybe you shouldn't anger him so much..." He murmured, acknowledging the rage in his voice. Aaron had finally come to his senses, as he looked over at them with a face of anxiety. He snapped his head up, hearing a last sentence from the voice.
"Have a nice day."
Aaron scoffed. He surely didn't mean that...
"And I'm alright." He mumbled.
Setting
0.00 INK
But she looked at him sharply when he said his shoulder hurt. "Oh, no! I should look at it, to see if there's any major damage." Just as she was about to pull down his sleeve so she could look, the thundering voice of their kidnapper sounded around the room, hurting her ears and making her put her hands over them. "You are all at my mercy. There's only one of you that I actually need. In fact, the rest of you should have been killed off. I won't hesitate to do away with any of you that get in my way. You're all apparently too damn disrespectful to respect the man who is the difference between life and death for you little tykes."
Ash froze. The rest of his sentence was drowned out by her overwhelming sense of fear. She only came back to real world when the mic slammed down and it caused feedback to radiate throughout the cellar.
Looking to others with terrified eyes, she said, "Which one of us does he need alive? And how long do the others have left?"
He looked up then, looking at Violette and Aaron, his anger sparked again by the suggestion that he should calm down. But he knew that he should. Declan took another breath, and exhaled as he replied "It doesn't matter...We'll get out, I promise" He kissed Ashlynn's cheek and then stood, looking at the room they were trapped in for the first time.
He walked around the four walls, letting his fingers trail along the stone that constructed the walls of their confinement. He looked for a door, but a few feet around the second wall, he felt a sudden sharp sting in the hand that was in contact with the stone. He swore softly, and withdrew his hand, curling his palm in to his chest. There was blood. It was little more than a shallow cut across the palm of his hand, but that told him there was something sharp. Returning to the wall, he gave the others a reassuring smile before pulling a particularly sharp rock from the wall. Declan gingerly returned to Ashlynn and sat beside her.
He wiped his bloody hand on his shirt, and showed her the rock that he'd pulled free.It was more of less flat, perhaps a piece of broken slate, but it had a sharp edge. Declan offered it to Ashlynn "It's not much...but it's sharp..." He felt sickened that he was even offering it to her as a sort of makeshift weapon, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he saw her get hurt. He shivered, and suddenly dispirited, pulled her close again.
Arden watched Adolphe, his arms folded across his chest like a petulant child. But he smirked and chuckled, moving the chair back so she could view their prizes.
"They could certainly be more afraid... I've seen middle aged men who were more afraid than these kids." His voice was angry, but in a childlike way. She loved his voice when it was like that. She adored his voice all the time, but it was this particular tone that made her shudder with excitement.
But, indeed, Adolphe was right. They were even shouting at him. She glared at the children, though didn't especially take notice of who they were or their relationships to each other. Arden cared very little for other people and their feelings, she only cared for herself and Adolphe. In this situation, the children were not people but bargaining chips to be used as they pleased.
"You listen now and you listen well!" Now Adolphe was shouting, his tone vicious and violent. That was the voice of his that she adored the most. When he was commanding and angry, she wanted nothing more than him to throw her to the ground and put his hands on her. She closed her eyes as he continued to yell at the children. The words weren't relevant and they vanished so she didn't hear them. It was just the sound of his voice she was listening to.
His voice stopped suddenly and he dropped the microphone, making Arden jump and knocking her from her bliss.
Finally, he turned to Arden. "Teenagers can be so God damn annoying."
"They're just money," Arden purred. "And revenge..." Her voice took on a dramatic edge as she added the final part.
Adolphe raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. The feeling of his dark eyes on her in such a scrutinising fashion didn't make her squirm as one would expect. Instead, Arden relished the attention. She stretched out, pushing her breasts forward and drawing his attention in, basking in it. "Well...that's a nice outfit. When did you get it?"
"It was just a little place... You wouldn't know it," Arden told him, not wanting to admit the name of the notoriously expensive store. Despite Adolphe's profession appearing financially driven, he thought little of the upper classes. "Although..." she paused, her eyes filling with false, theatrical tears and her bottom lip trembling, "If you don't like it I could always take it off..."
It was a game. Of course it was. She wanted him to tell her she should take it off. No, she wanted him to take it off her himself. Adolphe was the most perfect man she'd ever met. Of course, Arden had been in love before. She'd believed the person was the love of her life, but never with the passion she felt for Adolphe. What she had with him was unique. It was a love she truly believe no one else had ever felt before. She was the only one who knew how it felt to be so completely consumed by a man. He was everything she wanted. Everything about him was her wildest dreams personified. And if anyone ever tried to take him from her, she wouldn't stop until their body lay cold and still.
Declan smiled sheepishly "So what now?"
Violette took a deep breath, as she listened to the voice boom. Looking around, she saw several actions done, and thought it better not to interfere. Violette's head drifted down, as she then started to swirl her hand in the dirt.
"So now what?"
Her eyes drifted towards Declan. She shrugged as her response, and went back to swirling her hand.
She turned her head up to the wall, frustrated with the lack of information. "At least tell us who you need! Unless it's a power trip for you. In fact, I'm sure it is! This is all one big stunt to prove your worth." Knowing she had done exactly what she told Declan not to do, she smiled in apology. "Sorry, Dec, I just wanted to get a response."
"Perhaps you're right," Adolphe muttered, pinching the upper portion of his nose's bridge. His calloused fingers worked the flesh, massaging it roughly in a futile attempt to relieve himself of his migraine. Realizing it really had no benefit, he sighed and slowly swiveled the chair so that he was facing Arden. "'They're just money'...they're damn annoying money, though." He couldn't help but smirk subtly at her as she stretched before him, flaunting her body.
He'd be absolutely lying if he said he wasn't attracted to the woman. She must have been one of the most attractive women he'd ever met, too. Hell, she didn't even have to do much to get him to look at her lustfully. Even now, as he studied her figure, he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"It was just a little place... You wouldn't know it," she replied. In return, the man raised an eyebrow slowly and then nodded. Adolphe was a bit surprised by how she didn't tell him a place, seeing as really was quite familiar with the city and the places in it. Regardless, there really wasn't any reason to worry, as far as he knew. Besides, her next statement caused him to smirk broadly and forget her first words. "Mm...well, I do like the lingerie," he replied, crossing his arms loosely as he started to stand up slowly.
Adolphe took a few steps toward her, getting close enough to her that their bodies just barely brushed together. Leaning down slightly, his lips brushed against her ear. "Although I'd always much rather see what's beneath..." He knew her game. Hell, he'd practiced that game and was even confident enough to say he perfected that game. One of his hands slowly snaking behind her to grip the back of her bra which he gripped in his hand. Teasingly, he undid one of the hook-and-eyes before removing his hand again.
Even as he moved back to his chair, Adolphe still wore the same smirk he had on before. Teasingly, he arched an eyebrow and looked to her as if to say "your move." Perhaps things would have gone according to the plan he was inventing in his mind if the dark-haired girl hadn't spoken.
"At least tell us who you need! Unless it's a power trip for you. In fact, I'm sure it is! This is all one big stunt to prove your worth." Adolphe's jaw clenched instinctively as he heard the voice coming from the speaker behind him. Suddenly, he turned the chair around and turned the microphone on, only to slam it against the table. A loud boom filled the room, along with the wailing of the mic as he stood up suddenly. Glaring through the glass, it wasn't hard to pick out that the dark-haired boy was probably the least aware right now. He'd be the easiest one to get rid of.
The kidnapper's hand flew instinctively to his pistol and tightened around it. Thankfully the safety was on, seeing as his finger pressed down on the trigger even though it wouldn't go down all of the way. Adolphe didn't even give Arden a warning that he was leaving before he'd walked toward the basically hidden door leading into the holding room. His free hand pulled the hood of his jacket up to, more or less, attempt at concealing his face. It did a good job, actually, and just made from his mouth and below fully visible. Concealed and ready, he unlocked the door and entered with the gun held in front of himself, slowly moving it back and forth before the teens as he clicked safety off.
"'Just a power trip', eh?" he taunted, moving toward the dark haired boy. Before the boy could even react, the man had gripped him sharply by the hair and yanked him toward the door which wasn't too far away. They were far too weak anyway to make a run for it. Besides, he had a gun and he wasn't afraid to shoot anyone that got in his way. Met without opposition, he continued to drag Aaron out of the room and through the door before sharply closing it and bolting it behind him. He'd been in and out before they could really react at all.
"I'm fine,"
She assured her.
"Just in a bit of thought.."
She trailed off, pushing the blonde hair out of her face.
"At least tell us who you need! Unless it's a power trip for you. In fact, I'm sure it is! This is all one big stunt to prove your worth."
Violette starred at Ash, as another boom echoed against the walls. She was clueless as if to what this guy was going to do next. He already seemed hotheaded enough. She knew things were just going to get worse from here on out. Suddenly the door opened.
Oh, my god he has a gun...
Violette thought. She was now blocking out all the noises around her, and starring at him. Before anyone could react, the man had grabbed Aaron by his hair, and dragged him out of the room...
Violette was completely silent. Her eyes were locked on the door, no matter how much she could tell herself he was alright, she knew he was a goner. Then Violette did the unexpected, and started to laugh.
- 21 posts here • Page 1 of 1