Author's notes - Hey guys! This was supposed to just be a one shot, but then I got to thinking on it, and, well, its going to be more than that. With that being said, here goes my newest fanfic! Enjoy, leave reviews, tell me what you thought about it, make suggestions, I don't care. Let me know if you think there's anything I can do to make this better. Thank you guys!
Katara sighed with relief when the bathroom door opened. "Alright, Sweetness, it's all yours." Her friend Toph emerged from the now open door, her hair pulled partially back with her trademark headband.
"Finally." She groaned, jogging into the bathroom, taking a look in the mirror and making quick work of her hair, using a barrette to pin some of it back. The brown waves were long, easily reaching down almost to her waist.
She quickly applied toothpaste to her toothbrush and began brushing, her eyes scanning the clock on the wall. Seven fifty two. They had thirty minutes to be at school before the tardy bell rang.
"Katara, we're gonna be late!" Her brother whined. "Today's mine and Suki's anniversary, and she's going to be pissed if I'm late today!"
Katara rolled her eyes and poked her head out of the bathroom door, looking at Sokka, who was standing in the hallway, hands on his hips and tapping one of his feet. "Take the car, Sokka. I can take dad's jeep." She walked back in the bathroom, spitting and continuing to brush her teeth.
"Do you know how much trouble you'd be in for taking his baby?" Sokka appeared in the doorframe.
Katara rolled her eyes again and spit, placing her toothbrush back in the cupboard. She brushed by Sokka as she headed to her room, completely ignoring her older brother.
"Katara I'm serious!" Sokka shoved his foot in the door to keep his sister from shutting him out. "Dad would kill you!"
She groaned, grabbing for her set of keys. "He wouldn't kill me for driving it if I happen to have the spare key he gave to me, now would I?"
Sokka's jaw dropped and Katara dropped the key ring back on her dresser. "He gave you the spare? Why didn't he give it to me?"
"Because he trusts me with the jeep and not you. Now please, Sokka take the car and go. I have to finish getting ready and I need to swing by the bank."
"Fine." He grumbled after a moment, withdrawing his foot and stomping down the hall.
Katara hurriedly threw on a light blue sweater and a pair of jeans, glancing about the room trying to locate her converse. Finding them half kicked under the bed, she shoved her feet in them and snatched her backpack out of her floor. She flipped off the lights and grabbed her keys, heading outside.
She loved driving her dad's jeep, but she only drove it every once in a while. Even though her father trusted her enough to let her drive it, she never drove it more than twice a month, if that.
Katara threw her bag in the passenger seat and hoisted herself into the jeep, shoving the keys in the ignition and slowly backing out of the driveway.
•••••••••
Katara whipped the jeep into an empty spot and killed the ignition, pocketing the keys and climbing out of the jeep, jogging to the door. She threw open the door, walking just inside to the ATM.
Just as she was getting ready to swipe her emergency card, an arm snaked around her throat and she was pulled back against something warm and strong, something cold pressed to her temple.
Like the barrel of a gun.
Katara gulped, her body tensing up as fear consumed her.
"Don't move." The voice whispered in her ear. Instinctively, her hands came up to hold onto the arm wrapped around her neck. She could tell the voice was masculine.
"Back up!" The voice yelled in her ear, the people around her quickly stepped back, putting distance between them and the duo nearing the door.
"Just stay calm, everything's going to be alright." If it weren't for the barrel pressed against her temple, Katara would say that the voice was soothing.
She could feel the man stepping backwards, gently leading her to take steps back with him. A cool breeze blew her hair in front of her, partially obstructing her line of sight.
"What are you going to do with me?" Katara asked, berating herself for her shaky voice. She was terrified at the moment, being taken away by gunpoint. She didn't know who this man was, or what he was capable of.
Never in her life did she wish she would have taken those self defense classes Sokka wanted her to take. If she had, she could get out of here.
"I'm not going to hurt you." The man said, still guiding her along with him. "I just need you to do as I say for the time."
As soon as they were around the corner from the bank, he pulled the gun away from her temple and Katara heard something lock and felt the cool metal against her skin. She glanced down, finding herself handcuffed to her captor. If she was scared before, now she was terrified.
Katara chanced a look at him and gasped. The man wore all black and a mask, but the mask was familiar. It was depicted from an old folklore she grandmother hold told her before, but they were never good things.
Now she was terrified and she wanted to cry. What would he do to her?
"Run." The voice said, tugging on the handcuffs connecting them.
She did as she was told and ran in sync the man, though she wanted to run in the opposite direction he had told her to. He led them through numerous turns and alleyways, stopping behind an older looking building. Her captor pressed his back against the dumpster and she did the same. Instantly the man began pushing the dumpster and Katara did as well.
The man touched her arm and she stopped pushing, turning to look at him. He gestured to the wall. "This is us."
Katara looked at the brick wall, confused at his statement. Her eyes travelled down the walls, letting her see the hole knocked in the wall. The man dropped to his knees, gently tugging Katara down with him. Awkwardly and together, the duo crawled through the space in the wall.
Katara was relieved to find herself being able to stand again. The room was dark and cold, giving Katara a little more things to fear. Was this the room the man was going to torture her in? Kill her? Leave her here without food and water until her body gives out?
A shiver ran down her spine. "It's just up here." The man said, the back of his hand brushing her own as he tugged on the handcuffs. She walked forwards, feeling the heat radiating from the man's close proximity. After a few moments of walking, they stopped and Katara heard a click before light momentarily blinded her.
Once her eyes focused, she was pulled into the room. It was a small room with an inflatable mattress and not much else. There was a blanket hanging on the wall near the mattress, a small cardboard box with some Chinese takeout cartons atop it, and random clothing articles strewn about the room.
The man turned and withdrew a key from his pocket, locking the padlock on the door, effectively locking them in. So much for Katara's plan of bolting the moment he unlocked the cuffs.
He put the key back in his pocket, ten withdrew another key, putting it in the keyhole in the handcuffs, removing it from her wrist before his own, pocketing both items.
"What do you want with me?" Katara whispered.
"I am not going to hurt you. I need you to trust me, okay?" His voice was low, and to Katara, it was still soothing.
Aside from the fact he had just taken her hostage.
"Trust you?" She demanded, her voice rising. "Me trust you? You just kidnapped me!"
He took a couple steps closer, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Can you please keep your voice down?" He hissed, pushing his masked face closer to hers. "You're going to wake up-"
"Nephew?" A raspy voice said. "Nephew, is that you?"
The blanket rustled and a figure emerged, catching Katara's attention. It was a short chubby man with a long white beard wearing red silk robes. The man was all smiles as he entered the room, visibly happy to see his nephew.
Or at least until he saw Katara.
"Oh, my nephew, what have you done?"
"Nothing bad, uncle I assure you."
"Oh?" Katara challenged, crossing her arms across her chest and cocking her hip to the side. "So kidnapping me from the bank is nothing bad?"
"You kidnapped her?" The old man's face visibly drooped. "I thought you were better than that, in fact I know you-"
The man was cut off by his loud coughing, grasping at his throat as if he was unable to breathe.
"Uncle!" The young man ran forward, grasping his uncle's shoulders, squatting down so he could look up into his face.
"What's wrong with him?" Katara took tentative steps forward.
"He's sick." The man replied with a curt tone.
"Well if he's sick why don't you take him to the hospital? They could help him there."
"I don't have the money to take him." He replied. "Or at least, I didn't until a little while ago."
Katara gasped. "So that's what you were doing at the bank."
The man nodded. "And you took me so nobody would try to stop you."
"But that doesn't justify my actions." The older man finally stopped coughing and his nephew removed his hands and turned to face Katara. His hands began to twitch at his sides, maybe it was a nervous tick he had.
"Uncle, how do I get out of this? I screwed things up, badly."
"Ah, my nephew, I cannot help you with this. You must decide what to do."
"But Uncle, I don't know what-"
"I'm sorry, nephew. But there's some things you have to figure out on your own."
Katara's captor groaned loudly and disappeared behind the blanket.
The old man looked at Katara. "I am so sorry for my nephew's actions. He has a good heart and he means well. He just doesn't think about whether what he is doing is right or wrong at times."
Suddenly the blanket was ripped from the wall and Katara looked in the direction of the noise, finding a narrow opening in the wall that had been hidden behind the blanket. The man was walking through it with a black backpack hanging from his left shoulder.
"Come on, Uncle, we're going to the hospital."
"Now, nephew." The old man began.
"No questions. You need help, Uncle, and now we have the money to go, so we're going."
"What about our friend? Are you just going to leave her locked up in here like a caged bird?"
The man fidgeted under his uncle's stare. "Well, we can't take her with us, because then I'll be recognized from the bank."
The old man gave Katara a toothy grin. "What might your name be, miss?"
"Katara."
"Ah, such a pretty name. It's fitting, might I add." He placed his hand on her shoulder, but pulled it back when she flinched. "I wish to not leave you here, Katara."
"I don't wish to stay here." She replied rather harshly, something out of character for her.
"I understand. I would not wish to stay here either given the circumstances. Nephew, we cannot leave her-" Another coughing fit dropped the man to his knees. Katara instantly fell with him, easing him onto the ground.
"Uncle!" The man was beside him in an instant.
Katara pressed the back of her hand against the man's forehead, pulling it back instantly. "He's burning up." She replied, giving the old man a quick once over. "I think I've seen this before." She muttered, though not entirely to herself.
"You know what's wrong with him?"
Katara looked into the blue mask and flinched, looking away. "I wish you would take that off."
A hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, eliciting a gasp from her. "Please help him."
Katara heard the want and need in his voice. While this man had not only robbed a bank, but had taken her hostage and now kept her locked in a room, he truly wanted his uncle to be healthier.
"I can't remember what this is called, but I know I've seen the symptoms before." She glanced around the room. "Do you have paper and a pen?"
The man shot up and ran into the opening in the wall, coming back moments later with a notepad and a blue pen. She took them from him and quickly scribbled down something. "Take him here."
The man snatched the paper and looked back at Katara. "What is this place?"
"A clinic. Take him there and ask for Kanna, she'll know what to do. Tell her Katara sent you."
"Thank you." He quickly began positioning himself beside his uncle to help him get to his feet. Katara scrambled to her feet and grabbed the old man's wrists, pulling until he stood upright, his arm thrown around his nephew's shoulders. "We'll be back later."
Katara's heart dropped at his statement. So he was going to keep her here. She sat down on the air mattress and counted in her head. Once she hit two hundred, she got to her feet and ran out of the door, letting the light into the dark room. It appeared to be an old factory or something of that nature, rusty tables and wood chips scattered about the room. Katara scanned the room; the only exit was the hole he had brought her in through.
And the dumpster was blocking it.
Katara ran back into the room, throwing herself down on the air mattress, not even bothering to fight the tears as they cascaded down her cheeks.
What was going to happen to her?
