Chapter 4

Petra nervously led the man to the small office in the back of the building. She stood before the wooden door and looked at her captor. The man narrowed his eyes and glared in impatience in return. The young woman lowered her gaze and hurriedly opened the door. It creaked as she pushed it open. Petra and her friends didn't like use the office often. With no window, it was usually hot and gloomy in there. The door was rarely locked as well.

Petra entered first and switched on the light, it flickered before finally turning on. It cast a weak glow as it needed to be replaced soon. The office was in a bit of disarray. The desk and table were messy, likely because Eld or Oluo had not bothered to clean up last time they were here. The filing cabinet had been left open and two cups of coffee were left on the table. She didn't even want to know how old those were. There was a small couch in the corner near tiny table that had someone's T-shirt thrown on top of it.

"Tch. Messy." The man muttered as he surveyed the room. Somehow the observation embarrassed Petra. She hadn't been in the office for a while, and if she survived this, she was going to make sure everyone cleaned up after themselves when they did use it.

The man roughly nudged Petra forward as she awkwardly stood a few steps in the room, wondering what she should do. She stumbled forward but didn't say anything through her irritation.

"Sit down over there. And don't move." He said, pointing to the wall away from everything else.

"Okay." Petra murmured as she sat down where he asked. Not listening to a man with a gun seemed like a bad idea, even if he had not raised it on her. Yet.

The ground was uncomfortable and cold even through her clothes. It also needed to be swept, Petra noticed as she sat down. Petra tried to make herself comfortable on the hard ground and saw the man begin to walk around the room. He dropped her purse on the table and began to search the room, keeping an eye on her as he did. He was likely making sure there was nothing here Petra could get her hands on that would help her. Petra already knew there was nothing here that could match a gun. She watched him search the room and rifle through the drawers. He did not take anything even though he knew Petra could do nothing about it.

Petra lowered her head and rubbed her face where it had hit the ground, it would likely leave a bruise tomorrow and it had started to ache. She made a small sound of pain as she pressed down on it to feel how bad it was.

"Fuck, are you crying?" The man's rough, questioning voice startled her.

"Uh... My jaw just hurts." Petra admitted, what was the point of lying? She felt uncomfortable as the intruder scrutinized her but could almost swear she heard him say something when he turned away. To Petra's surprise, it almost sounded like... Sorry?

After another minute, the man seemed satisfied that there was nothing Petra could use to help herself and went back to the door. He grabbed one of the chairs with him and sat upon it with a pained grunt. He clutched his side briefly and grimaced. Was he hurt? The man glared at her when he caught her staring. Petra turned away to look at a painting of sunflowers in a teal vase instead. They had tried to liven up the room a little but the one painting did little to achieve their goals. She then stared at the floor, covered in aging and cracked tiles, refusing to look near the man again. His gaze still frightened her.

Petra was at a loss. Just what could she do in this situation? The man hadn't done anything, so was he telling the truth and he would let her go? But what if this was some sort of sick game instead? All Petra could do right now was wait and see what this man would do next until she could figure something out.

Some time passed before Petra dared look at the intruder again. He had his eyes closed but she knew he was not sleeping. He looked too tense for that. Was he that confident Petra could do nothing that he was just ignoring her now? Petra was surprised the man hadn't hurt her or tried to steal anything yet. Maybe he wasn't lying when he said all he wanted to do was stay here a couple hours? That did not mean he was a good man though. For all she knew, he was hiding because the police were after him for committing some crime. As she sat there, Petra tried to think of ways to get free. He did say he wouldn't hurt her, so would she be able to get away with speaking without incurring his wrath?

Petra felt calmer now than she did before. She was still afraid but it wasn't as bad since the man hadn't tried to hurt her again. She finally spoke after psyching herself up in her head.

"When I don't come home soon, my family will call the police." Petra began. Her voice sounded loud, breaking the silence of the room. She looked at him to see his reaction. Nothing yet.

"For all I know they are on their way here already." Petra continued her lie. Petra actually lived alone in a two bedroom apartment, having moved out of her house last year. Her friends liked to come and stay over often so she had decided to get one they would all be more comfortable in. Her father knew the man who owned apartment complex so she did not pay as much rent as she should for a two room place.

"Will they?" The man questioned lowly but he did not move or open his eyes. He did not tell her to shut up so it was going well so far. Petra felt herself grow more confident and pushed down her feelings of apprehension.

"Yes, so you should let me go. They might be here any second." Petra reasoned. "You still have time to get away."

The man slowly opened his eyes then and turned towards her. His grey eyes looked into her own as he studied her. She looked back refusing to break eye contact. "The longer you wait, the less time you have to escape." Petra hoped with all her might that he would believe her.

"You're lying." Those two words, said so casually, crushed the brief flicker of hope blooming in Petra's chest.

"Before calling the police, any friends or family would be calling you on this." He held up her phone with no expression on his face. "No calls, no messages. I'll have a bit of warning before anything happens, I'd say." Well, there went her only plan. How had she not remembered he had her phone? Now what could she do? He was right in front of the door and she knew she couldn't beat him in a fight.

"Do yourself a favor Petra, and don't try that again." He added darkly, startling her with her name and his tone. She was shocked that he knew it but then remembered the boys had written her name in rhinestones on the back of her phone. Its not like she could deny it now.

"Fuck." Petra whispered and dropped her head onto her knees. The young woman could feel her eyes tearing up a little in frustration. What should she do now? She just wanted to go home!

Sorry for the wait and thank you so much for the reviews! I revised this chapter and the next many times and I am still not completely satisfied with them. They don't feel right but I don't know how to change them to make them better.

For now I'll try to just get this story done and think about revising the story in the future when I am more comfortable with writing.