It's a sunny day in Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and of course, I'm just dying to stretch my wings and fly away from the worry that comes from being in big crowds, I feel so enclosed. Fang Leans over to whisper something in my ear and I immediately wince. Habit from the school. He tells me something he has been saying all day. Relax. As if.
So here we are; waiting in line for Chang and Gazzy has to pee. We are at the very front of this very long line, getting ready to be strapped in and Gazzy has to pee really badly. I sigh and grab hold of his hand, tap twice on Iggy's hand, and look at Fang. Our eyes connect and he nods once. My heart skips a couple beats but I nod back.
"C'mon, Gazzy." I say and we walk to the nearest bathroom. I wait on the outside as he relieves his bladder and something catches my eye. I get tensed for a fight only to get squeezed tightly by arms that are firm, but not as much as Fang's are. And I recognize immediately.
Sam.
"I haven't seen you in so long! What are you doing in Kentucky?" he asks, smiling widely. I search for an excuse to be here in the Blue Grass State.
You're visiting family. So says the infamous Voice. Yeah, it's still there, in my head, and making me feel more and more insane every day. I put my head in my hands and shake it, trying to shake away the newly formed headache away.
"I…I'm visiting…uh, family?" I say nervously. I hope it's a normal excuse. I hope he buys it.
"It's a small world." He smiles lamely and scratches at the back of his head. I smile back at him and hope it doesn't look as goofy and girly as it seems. "I haven't seen you since our last date. Was it that bad?" he says and smiles regretfully. I shake my head quickly.
"Absolutely not! I had a, uhm, great time. I swear." I say just as Gazzy walks behind me and slips his small hand into mine. "Oh, Sam this is…" I say stumbling around in my head for his latest code name.
"My name is Xavier Alexander Cairo Hollis Zen. The fourth." He says extending his hand to Sam. Sam shakes Gazzy's hand, looking puzzled.
"It's Sam, the, um, only." Sam says and he shakes his head at the Gasman.
"Okay, well it was great seeing you Max; I hope we can go out again soon. Cool?" He asks. I think about Fang and how we are finally together. I think about our last kiss and then think about how I really want to do it again when I realize that I haven't responded to Sam yet but I don't want to hurt his feelings. Even though I know I will probably never see him again.
"That would be great." I say, forcing each word to sound sincere. I do have the best lying abilities. Sam walks away and winks at me as he leaves. Gazzy looks up at me innocently but I know better.
"What do you want sweetie?" I ask, ruffling his dirty blonde hair.
"Can we ride Chang now?" he asks. I take in a deep breath and look over at Chang, the line is full all the way to the gate.
"No, we need to keep moving. We have got to get out of here as soon as possible." I say looking around for the rest of my flock. I hear Angel's angelic voice in my head.
Fang says to tell you to meet him at the entrance. He keeps thinking about you and…making out in the desert? Ha ha!
I would glare at Angel if she was anywhere near me but she isn't so I start to lead Gazzy to the exit when all of a sudden, there is a cloth pressed to my mouth and I am inhaling something sickly sweet. I fall to my knees and hear Gazzy screaming my name.
"Gazzy, up and away." I manage to slur out and everything goes blurry and then disappears.
I wake up on my knees, my arms are and legs are chained to a wall behind me in, surprisingly, a beautiful finished full basement. Whoever kidnapped me has great taste and is obviously very rich. That's great, another rich and fancy bastard out to get me and the rest of my flock. That's just what I need right now. I search the room for possible escape routes and find nothing. There are no doors, no windows, no air vents. There are no possible ways to get out and I still can't move.
I'm. So. Screwed.
And that's when everything gets better. Or worse, it depends on your outlook of things. The glass is either half empty or half full. I like to think that right about now, my glass is half empty.
"Hello Max. You like my new house? It's funny how quick someone moves out when presented with a large sum of money." Sam walks out from the shadows and I tug at my chains only for them to tighten around my wrists. Knowing not show pain in front of my enemy I smile at him. "So which family member are you looking to see in Kentucky? Is it the cardinal maybe?"
"No, I saw them last week. I'm here for the chicken. You know, since Kentucky is so famous for it? Good old Colonel Sanders." He laughs at me. It sounds sweet but I now know better.
"I love that about you Max. You have a good appetite and a good sense of humor. Do you want to know why I kidnapped you?"
"Because you're madly in love with me and completely obsessed?" I sneer at him.
"Well, that too. But the real reason is that I want your wings." I stare at him in disbelief.
"So what, are you going to cut off my wings and glue them on your back? You know, it doesn't work that way. You have to have small bones and muscles and I hate to break it to you, but you're about as muscular as a sea sponge." He growls at me, seriously?
"No, my highly mentally developed scientists are going to take you apart, piece by piece. And they are going to repeat the process on me." He laughed. "I can't wait to fly." He says as he rubs his hands together.
"So why am I chained to your basement wall instead of in a lab." I ask putting as much acid in my voice as humanly or birdly possible.
"That's where the obsession comes in." He strides over to me, confidence oozing from his very being. He presses his lips to my mouth. I try to pull away but he puts his hands on either side of my face and squeezes painfully, more strong than a human. I open my eyes and look into his…wolf-like eyes?
"That's right, Max my love," his voice has morphed beyond belief but only his eyes and voice have morphed so far. I want to scream but I have been well trained not to let my opponent have that advantage. Okay, I really didn't see that coming but I really can't let him see my surprise.
He took my hesitation as an opportunity to kiss me again. I bite down on his bottom lip, hard. He backs off and wipes the blood from his lips. I broke skin, a lot of skin. I smile inwardly and he backhands me. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming.
He leans in and grabs my chin so that I am looking straight at him.
"That's okay my love. We will be having dinner together very soon. You can think of it as our second date." I spit in his face and he backhands me again wiping the saliva from his cheek. "And you will not insult me. My parents will at the dinner because they think they are meeting my new girlfriend. I will have someone come dress you in about an hour. Be ready. And if you behave, I might unchain your legs."
"Do you really think your parents will think that I am here at my own will if I'm chained to the basement wall?" I ask.
"Of course, because you aren't really chained to the wall are you Max?" I shake my head in confusion and look at my wrists.
"Yeah totally because these," I jangle my chains around making a lot of noise. "Aren't really chains." Sarcasm drips heavily off my every word.
"No they sure aren't. I'm glad you understand." He leans in and kisses my forehead. "I'll be back for you. And remember, best behavior, kay?" I would kick him hard if my legs weren't chained behind me making it impossible. I sigh and let my head droop a little. He leaves the room and I listen for his footsteps to disappear and then grunt in frustration. I rack my brain and, get this, I can't think of anything. The only way to escape would be to wait for whoever is supposed to dress me to come in and see how they enter the room. They will have to unchain me so I can get dressed for the dinner. That's when I make my escape. I have never been so frustrated and felt so helpless in my entire life.
And I really wish Fang was here.
Recap, what's happened in the last two hours? I did what I should have never done. I slept. The entire two hours, I slept. And you want to know something amazing? My plan has gone to heck in a hamster ball. The 'maid' came in when I was asleep and dressed me and you want to know something even funnier? I slept through that too. That bastard knocked me out! Somehow. I look at my outfit and my jaw drops.
I am wearing a pink expensive looking halter top that exposed a large amount of cleavage…PINK! It is underneath a fitted black silk jacket so my wings are hidden. The halter top has diamonds running across upper part of the shirt, real diamonds. I am also wearing a ruffled, layered black skirt that comes above my knees by four inches. A pair of peep toe silver high heels that adds three and a half inches to my already 5'8 height. Also a pair of silver diamond earrings, a diamond stud at the top with a metal loop, diamonds running across the loop.
And a matching heart shaped silver necklace.
I want to rip off all of these clothes and put my old, ratty t-shirt and jean shorts back on. One of the very top things of my 'I hate' list is dressy clothes.
Sam comes in at the right time because I am full of rage. His jaw drops too.
"You look absolutely stunning." That catches me off guard. In all of my fourteen years (or I think fourteen years, I'm still not sure) has anyone ever called me stunning or beautiful, or pretty. I stumble slightly for a comeback.
"Well that's too bad, 'cause you look like crap." I say looking him up and down and narrowing my eyes. Actually, he looks amazingly…for lack of a better word, perfect. He is wearing a tux jacket over a blue striped button down shirt. He is wearing dress pants (black) and dress shoes. His button down is slightly untucked and his hair is fashionably messed up and teased around. He looks…gorgeous. Yeah, I may think he is good looking but I'm sure as heck not going to let it show.
"Yeah, I look like crap. And that's why you're staring so much?" Sam says smiling. He strides over and pecks me on the lips. I make yet another mistake. I let him. And he takes advantage. He presses his lips harder to mine and I kiss back. My excuse? I'm still a little buzzed from whatever he gave me that knocked me out. Oh yeah, I'm smooth. While his lips are hovering in front of mine he unlocks my chains. He places his hands on my waist and slides them sexily down my legs to my ankles and undoes the other set of chains.
Freedom. I try to round house kick into his chest but he grabs my leg and pops my ankle out of place. I hear the crack. I scream in agony. He swiftly pops it back into place which hurts even worse. Tears spring from my eyes. I choke them down and he lets go of my leg I put it back on the ground. I can still walk on it but it hurts like no one would ever believe and I have a high tolerance for pain.
He walks closer to me and grabs my chin. Tears are still falling. He wipes them away with his thumb and I jerk my face away. I let my enemy see weakness. I know that I have lost.
"After dinner you are going to the lab. They want to see you for some blood tests before they start to analyze everything right down to your blood cells." He whispers in my ear. I shudder out of fear but he must think I enjoy him talking to me this way. That he was turning me on. He bit my earlobe and walked away. That's when I saw how he got into this room and out.
Sam presses the palm of his hand against the wall I was facing.
"I am treating you. I am showing you the way out." He turns back the wall. The wall opens down the middle to show an elevator. Sam looks back and winks at me. "Fifteen minutes, sweet heart." And he is gone.
And I'm unchained.