Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, except the plot and the OC's. Thanksgoout toTanni for beta-ing and running commentary!
Tuesday night
Jessica ran for her life. She had escaped her attacker by kneeing him in the groin and now she dashed down the deserted street, clenching her fists in front of her to keep her torn shirt from exposing her.
She had been walking home from a night out with friends when this thing had attacked her from out of nowhere. It had claws and teeth and it was... hideous. It had shredded her shirt and cut her across her chest. Glancing down Jessica noticed she was bleeding. The monster had started to drag her towards a dark alley, and all she could do to avoid whatever it was the thing had planned for her was scream. That, and after a few seconds of getting it together, kick him in the crotch. It had worked, the creature had doubled over in pain and now she was running.
While turning a corner, she looked over her shoulder to try and see if the monster was keeping up. Before she could make out a shape or form, she ran into a wall, or so it seemed. Strong arms encircled her and a worried voice addressed her.
"Are you okay?" Jessica glanced up to see a very tall man in a suit.
Marcus Hamilton had been wandering down the street in front of Wolfram & Hart in search for something to keep him amused. Angel & Co. weren't really doing a good job of keeping him on his toes so he had to make his own fun. He had chuckled at the thought. A scream had jolted him out of his reverie. Ah. The fun is about to start.
A young, brown-haired woman sped around the corner and collided with his chest. She looked torn up and was bleeding from various cuts across her chest, neck and face. He made sure to sound worried as he asked her if she was okay. She muttered something about having to run and tried to struggle free from his grasp, right when the demon that had tried to capture her rounded the corner. Marcus glared menacingly at the creature, causing it to back away quickly, recognizing a much stronger evil in the seemingly normal man.
"It's okay, they're gone," he tried to soothe the hysterical girl in his arms. After a few seconds, the struggling subsided and she relaxed a little, gathering enough courage to look behind her.
"There was... I mean... it was so... I was so scared," the girl broke down in sobs. Marcus couldn't suppress a smile. This is so convenient.
"Shhhh. It's okay. Come with me, we'll get you patched up," Marcus offered. She eyed him suspiciously. The tears and the blood had mingled on her face and had painted a pretty picture. He admired the sight for a moment, then added, "You're bleeding. You need bandages."
The girl hesitated. Marcus could tell that the prospect of going god knows where with a large muscular complete stranger did not appeal to her. Smart girl. He had to be more convincing.
"My office is just down the street. The security guards have a first aid kit." The girl looked relieved, probably because he had just implied there were people in his office that could protect her from him, in case he turned out to be something less than a knight in shining armor. Well, technically he wasn't lying. There were security guards at Wolfram & Hart and they had first aid kits. Too bad there wasn't one of them that would even think of thwarting him.
He offered the shivering girl his jacket and led her towards Wolfram & Hart's office building. Once inside, they entered the elevator. Marcus pushed a series of buttons until a large black button appeared near the elevator ceiling. He could reach it with his arm stretched out, but a regular-sized man would have to stand on his toes or make a jump for it. He briefly imagined Angel jumping up and down frantically trying to push the button and not succeeding. A faint evil smile tugged at the corner of his lips. The girl kept her eyes trained on the floor.
"We're going down," the girl observed tentatively. "Are the guards in the basement?"
"Yeah, little girl." He turned to face her. "All office buildings have security offices in their basements." He stressed the last word slightly to make her face him. Sure enough, the ironical intonation of his last sentence was not lost on her. She whipped her head up to meet his eyes. He looked down on her coldly and watched her eyes widen in understanding and then in horror. She was kind of pretty, he noticed. Nothing too extraordinary, but given the right grooming, she could be pretty.
She stood still until the elevator doors opened, and then she made a run for it. Marcus grinned. The elevator led to his private quarters, and only a short corridor connected it to the entrance door to his apartment. She couldn't run. As soon as that realization kicked in, the girl turned around and assaulted him, fists raining down on his chest. Her knee shot up to connect with his groin. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed her arms and pressed them against her sides. Lifting her up with ease, he held her a foot above ground.
"You might want to try and behave," Marcus warned her. "Not that you were hurting me in any way, but it was kind of annoying."
The girl started crying. "What do you want from me?" she managed to whisper.
"Let's get you inside and patch you up first." Marcus was not about to put her down on her feet before she was safely inside his apartment, so he slung her across his shoulder and opened his front door. Closing it carefully, he gently dropped the girl to her feet in his living room. "Sit down on the sofa, I'll be right back." He ambled over to the kitchen and rummaged through a drawer. Where are those bandages? Although he didn't need any, he kept them around for emergencies just like these. It had been years since the last one though; sometimes he liked to think he grew as a person. In the living room, the sobs had subsided. That's quick, he thought with a certain level of admiration. Usually, the girls kept crying until he was done with them. Or until he'd had enough and gagged them. A new plan started forming in his mind. She would be fun to break. It was something that he'd never done before but it was sure to keep him entertained for a long time. Ah. There they are.
Marcus took out his cell phone and started making calls. The supplies he needed for his plan to work were going to be delivered in a few hours. He filled a bowl with lukewarm water and retrieved a towel from the bathroom. He carried his makeshift first aid kit into the living room. The girl glared at him defiantly. She won't go down without a fight, bless her. Marcus sat himself down next to her and started dabbing her injuries with the wet towel. She flinched a little but let him clean her wounds.
"What's your name?" Marcus asked softly while dressing a particularly nasty wound on her neck. Next step would be getting her out of her torn up shirt. He wondered how she would react when he brought it up.
She contemplated not answering, but decided against it. "Jessica."
"Jessica, would you mind removing your shirt and leaning back? There are some more scratches I need to look at." He kept his voice pleasant. Jessica obliged silently, allowing him to bend over her to examine the wounds.
Jessica's heart was racing. This was her chance. She held on to her shirt with both hands while the raging psycho dressed her wounds. Now. She slung her shirt around his neck and pulled with all the strength she had left in her. Without any effort, he swatted her off like he would a tiny little insect. When he spoke, his cold voice made shivers run down her spine.
"Let's be clear about this. I'll play nice as long as you behave yourself. I fully understand that you're not comfortable with this situation, but you'll just have to adapt. I'm not letting you go just yet."
Not for the first time in her life, Jessica cursed her tiny figure. This guy was easily six foot four, whereas she stood a mere five foot six. He was built like a brick wall too. Pure physical strength would get her nowhere; she would have to rely on her brains to get her out of this. Sighing, she resigned to her fate for now. She would keep on looking for an opening, but right now the night was taking its toll on her and the pain from her wounds was starting to get worse.
"Good girl," the man approved when he noticed her acquiescence. "You'll have to wear one of my shirts tonight until we get you something decent to wear."
Jessica was confused. The guy was seriously disturbed. When he was not busy threatening or manhandling her, he was actually being nice. She couldn't make sense of his words though. He acted like she would be there for a long time, and that just didn't fit the profile for your run of the mill psychopath. It made him even scarier, it felt like his other side was just below the surface and you never knew what set it off.
He left the room to fetch her a shirt. Jessica's mind was in a spin, trying to find a way to escape. She didn't know what he had planned for her, but it wouldn't be pretty, that she knew. You only had to look in his eyes to see there was nothing there, no compassion, no kindness, only empty pools of... evil. She closed her eyes. Concentrate. He's probably not killing you tonight, and he mentioned something about letting you go. You'll get through this. Try to appease him. Be nice. Don't piss him off. Resolve settled on her features. She was going to survive this. She took in her surroundings, supposedly the living room. It was luxurious, to say the least. The sheer size of it was impressive; her own apartment measured only half of this room's size. She was sat on a black leather sofa that seemed to be especially manufactured for its owner, seeing as it was twice as large as you would expect a regular sofa to be. There were three doors leading to the living room. She suspected one to be the kitchen and one of them was the front entrance. The other would probably be some sort of hallway leading to the other rooms in the apartment. Everything about the furnishing screamed money and taste. Too bad the owner is an evil nutcase. An evil nutcase wearing Armani. She chuckled nervously.
Marcus took out a neatly folded white T-shirt from his closet and examined it. Good enough. On his way back to the living room, his cell phone rang. He grimaced at the inconvenience and answered it.
"What?" Marcus barked into the receiver. The man on the other end stammered something about the sweep team being ready whenever he was finished.
"That won't be necessary. I'll handle this myself." He turned the cell phone off, not wanting to be disturbed any further. Entering the living room he took in the scene before him. She was still not wearing a shirt, and she provided quite a sight. As she turned to face him, Marcus tossed her the shirt and leaned against the doorframe watching her as she donned it.
"So... what's your name?" Jessica asked in a small voice. "I mean... if you want to tell me..."
He cut her off with a brusque gesture of his hand. "Marcus Hamilton. You can call me Marcus."
She seemed to contemplate whether she should pry some more. Marcus decided to make that decision for her. He didn't feel like unfolding his plans for her right this moment. Tomorrow was a workday and he needed his beauty sleep. "You can sleep in my bedroom, I'll take the sofa." From the look on her face he could tell this confused her even further. Plan's set in motion.
After pointing Jessica to his bedroom and giving directions to the bathroom, Marcus went to install himself on the sofa. A short rap on the front door told him his supplies had arrived. They can wait. The sounds coming from the bathroom indicated that she was ready for bed. There was just one more thing he had to do before they could go to sleep.
He ambled over to the bedroom and opened the door right when she came out of his bathroom, startling her. Great timing. "Don't I get a goodnight kiss?"
Jessica's eyes went wide as saucers. Oh god no. Does he mean... She cursed herself for not expecting this. How dumb can you get? How many reasons are there for a guy to kidnap a girl? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Marcus thoroughly enjoyed himself while observing the conflicting emotions on her face. Putting an end to her misery -- at least for now -- he walked up to her and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, leaving her utterly confused. Turning to leave, he called over his shoulder, "I'm a light sleeper. If I catch you snooping around or trying to escape, I'll be in a very bad mood."
He gently closed the door behind him, and strode through the living room towards the front door. Opening it, he gestured for the waiting man to unload his cart in the living room, and quickly ushered the man out again. Marcus mentally glossed over the requirements that would be needed for his plan to work without a glitch. Satisfied with the course of affairs so far, he shed his clothes and folded them up neatly, placing the garments on the glass table. Dressed in only his boxers he draped his long body on the sofa and pulled a blanket up to cover him.
Well, that went well. Phase two starts tomorrow.
Jessica was wide-awake. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She was so very scared, and she wanted nothing more than to get through this alive. The unpredictability of her captor made it difficult to plan ahead. She believed Marcus when he said he was going to be in a bad mood if she woke him up and she was not planning on facing his wrath any time soon. She had absolutely no idea what he was capable of and she didn't want to find out. Her main goal was to stay alive as long as possible. Whatever it takes. With that thought, she finally fell asleep.
