Chapter 2: Stolen From Him
Simon felt himself being shaken, but couldn't will himself to open his eyes. The drug's effect hadn't fully worn off yet, making his eyelids heavy. He also didn't want to face the reality that he and his girlfriend had been munknapped so close to home. An angelic voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Simon," the angel whispered. "Simon, I know you can hear me. Your left eyebrow twitches every time I speak." Simon came to realize that his angel was Jeanette. He willed his eyes to force off the sleepiness. A small, scared looking Jeanette was kneeling next to him, with her paws on his shoulder.
"Oh Jeanette," Simon murmured when he realized how frightened the chipette was. He turned on his knees and went to hug her, but when Simon reached for Jeanette, he realized that his hands were bound together. Jeanette looked sadly at him, holding up her bound hands as well. Simon smiled weakly and lifted his arms over her head and around her shoulders, then pulled her close to him. Jeanette buried her head into his chest, and Simon felt a tear drip onto his fur.
Simon took this moment to observe his surroundings. They were in a basement of some sort, and the only means of escape were a padlocked window and a door, but Simon had a feeling that the thugs who had stolen them weren't too far away from said door. The basement floor was dusty and dry, except for one spot in the corner where water was leaking from some pipes. At least we'll have some form of nourishment, Simon thought. There were some empty bookshelves in the second half of the room, with nothing but dust lining them. Jeanette had taken everything in the moment she had woken from her forced slumber, and allowed Simon to do the same. She was just grateful that she could be in his arms, despite the fact that their hands were bound with thick straw rope.
All of a sudden, the basement door was thrown open, and both chipmunks jumped. Simon tightened his grip on Jeanette, determined that they would be kept together. A tall, dark figure loomed over the stairwell. He still had his ski mask on from the initial kidnapping, and judging by the small amount of light streaming through the window, it was almost dawn. They had been knocked out for almost 10 hours, which scared Simon because he realized they could be very far away from home by now. The figure walked slowly down the stairs, and Jeanette found herself wondering if they should have feigned sleep, to possibly draw off this encounter for a few hours longer. Their tall captor came face to face with Jeanette.
"Awake? Good," he snarled, while grabbing hold of her wrists, trying to force her out of Simon's embrace. Jeanette yelped and Simon tightened his arms around her.
"No. We go together," Simon said defiantly. The man stood to his full height and backhanded Simon right into the concrete wall, taking Jeanette with him. While Simon's wits were scrambled, the man lifted Simon's arms and lifted Jeanette by the hair off of Simon. Jeanette's howl pierced Simon's heart, and he lunged for their captor. Not even slightly startling him, Simon landed on the ground. The man laid a swift kick to Simon's middle, and Simon choked in pain.
"No! Don't hurt him! Stop it!" Jeanette yelled out as their tall captor went in for another kick at Simon.
"Fine, then tell him to behave!" The man spat, shaking Jeanette by her hair again.
"Leave her alone," Simon growled fiercely, desperately trying to break free of his bonds.
"Not until we get the information we require," their captor replied icily, and walked away, pulling Jeanette along beside him. She mouthed, "It's okay," to him, trying to ignore the pain but with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Simon yelled out in exasperation and an angry tear slipped out of the corner of his eye as his sight of the figure and Jeanette disappeared. He came to the painstaking realization that he could no longer protect his chipette, now that they had stolen her away from him. His knees gave way, and the tears of anger and fear that he had been holding in to be strong for Jeanette came out, fogging his glasses and clouding his emotions as he wept for his Jeanette.