How was any of this happening right now? How wasn't Michelle just waking up? She had to wake up. There was no way this was real. There was absolutely no way this was happening right now. She felt like she couldn't breathe, like her throat was closing up on her. She was so terrified and Negan's smile only made it all the worse.
What the hell was going on?!
Suddenly, Negan's smile was turning into a scowl as he eyed the bile on the floor before Michelle, sighing roughly as he sauntered closer, "I told Ramsay not to use so much of that shit on you. I'll have to get on his ass about that."
She was shaking when he grew closer, crouching down slowly as he stopped before her. Both his hands came together as his elbows rested on his knees, his squinting eyes watching her carefully.
"Sorry 'bout all this," he began in a low voice, sounding almost sincere. Apologizing as if it would make all of this better. As if it would make it even remotely okay. "This isn't how I wanted this to happen but things didn't exactly go down as smoothly as planned. I'm of the opinion of doing things much more- nicely."
Michelle was opening her mouth to say something, anything, anything at all; she had so many questions, all burning on her tongue but nothing would come out. It was as if she had gone mute and her vocal chords were frozen. What the fuck. What the fuck?!
Negan was nodding a few times, speaking once more before the piercing silence of the room dragged by for too long, "It's all a bit of a shocker, I know. I get it. Shit's confusing right now. And I can bet your pretty little mouth has got all those questions just waiting to get free. But you're gonna need to take it easy until all that shit's outta your system."
Michelle could feel a tear escape one of her eyes, dragging down her cheek in a slow and painful manner. She still couldn't give voice to everything she wanted. Why couldn't she?
Negan was reaching forward, Michelle flinching as the skin of his fingers met her cheek, brushing away the tear. His fingers lingered, thumb rubbing her face in a soothing manner. It made her blanch, the desire to throw up hitting her all over again in a nauseating wave.
"Now don't cry, darlin'. You're far, far too pretty to be crying."
At that, Negan's smile was growing and growing, a sickeningly sweet grin of white teeth and a playful chuckle. Before long, he was standing up straight once more, turning on his heel as he went on, "I'll give you some time to yourself, let you figure some of this shit out on your own. Ramsay'll be by to pick you up to speed and clean that crap up. Take it easy, Michelle."
He was whistling once more, that stupid tune that Michelle never wanted to hear again for as long as she lived. After he disappeared up some stairs, the sound of a heavy door was creaking open before slamming shut again, a fresh burst of cold air coming through before metal was scraping on metal. Whatever door she was behind in this room must've been a big and complicated one.
Michelle finally took a moment to get a good look at her surroundings. The room was white and grey, odd paddings on all of the walls except for a few portions here and there. There was a bed, a sink, and a toilet. Beyond that, it was completely bare. The floor was cold tile, patterned in black and white squares that held a certain lifelessness to it that made her shiver.
So many questions ravaged her mind. Where was she? Why was Negan here? How was Ramsay involved?
Her mind suddenly jumped back to her previous memories. The box in front of her apartment, the dark figure, the sharp prick at her neck- oh. She blacked out right after that, leading her to believe she'd been given some kind of- something. Some drug.
'I told Ramsay not to use so much of that shit on you.'
Oh. Had that been Ramsay? It was the only thing that she could make sense of right then. But there was no explanation for why. Why had Ramsay and Negan done this to her? Were there more people involved? Was this what had happened to Dawn?
Holy shit. It was, wasn't it? They were responsible for Dawn's disappearance. They had to be. Michelle felt sick to her stomach, the nausea overwhelming her and she could only wish she would throw up again. Her head began a vicious pounding as she choked on a sob, screwing her eyes shut.
Tenth would be so worried. Was it even possible that he would find her? Would it be possible for anyone to find her? If no one could find Dawn, then that meant… Oh God.
Suddenly her breathing was growing too erratic and she could feel herself going into full panic mode. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Her heart rate was going through the roof, her head pounding. She curled herself into a ball, trying to calm down. It was going to be okay, she told herself over and over. She had to be strong right now. Strong was all she had, so she had to try.
Deep breath in and then let it out. She repeated that over and over until she was no longer panicking, just breathing in the cold air over and over. Freaking out about this wouldn't help her right now. Despite calming herself down, the pounding in her head was insistent and didn't seem like it was going to let up anytime soon.
Looking up once more, Michelle looked over to the bed. It didn't look incredibly uncomfortable and she was exhausted. If the sound of that door was any kind of clue, it would probably be pretty close to impossible to just escape. It seemed as though this whole thing was planned anyway so trying to get away wouldn't be feasible, much as she wished the opposite.
Besides, maybe she could, at the very least, learn more about Dawn this way. She had to look at the silver lining here. Maybe she could get to see Dawn again. God, did she hope this whole situation would lead her back to Dawn.
Taking a slow breath, Michelle pushed herself up against the wall, trying her best to get to a standing position. Which proved to be quite the task with both her arms and legs bound the way they were. But with perseverance and dedication, she did it, standing against the wall and hopping carefully over to the bed. It was a lot more comfortable than it looked and it was a welcome sensation.
She laid herself down onto it, head hitting the feather pillow before she felt herself drifting off, uncertainty clouding her future.
Michelle was startled awake by that awful metal on metal scraping noise. It set her teeth on edge as her eyes flew open. Immediately, she was sitting up, her arms sore and her wrists sorer still. The door closed and coming into the room was Ramsay.
She immediately glared his way, knowing without a doubt he was the one to have put her here. Ramsay and Negan. They were both responsible for this. They were both responsible for Dawn.
"Ah, you found your way to the bed," he mused with a smile on his face. "It's been a rough night for you. Sorry about that, Michelle-"
"Where's Dawn," Michelle growled, getting right to the point.
Ramsay looked a bit surprised as he stopped before the mess of Michelle's puke on the floor. He huffed a small chuckle as he shook his head, "And what makes you think I know where she is, hm?"
"Don't play! Don't act like you don't know!" Michelle snapped, growing even more angry. "You took her like you took me, you- you-!"
Ramsay sighed as he began to clean up the mess, "Michelle, honestly, that anger is going to get you nowhere. I'm not the one to be asking questions like that. Save those for Negan."
Her eyebrows were turning down in frustration, her voice full of spite as she spat the words, "Oh, okay, I get it. So you're just Negan's bitch, huh?"
Ramsay paused, jaw clenching as his smile fell. It lasted for only a moment but Michelle saw he didn't like that. He really didn't like that. And something about that felt satisfying in its own way. He resumed his motions as he cleaned the floor with a rag.
"Think what you want," Ramsay chuckled, wiping the floor clean. "But I think that'll be your title soon enough."
Michelle knew, she always knew, there was something off about Ramsay. Something never quite right. All the practiced smiles and forced kindness. She knew it. Negan seemed like maybe he was just much better at faking it.
Finally, Ramsay was standing and making his way closer to Michelle. She instinctively wanted to move away, to run somehow. But she knew if she so much as flinched it would be a sign of weakness to him. And she was certain he was the type of man that preyed on that sort of reaction. She wouldn't give it to him.
He grew closer, leaning in more and more until mere inches separated their faces. She could feel his breath on her face, a smell of ice and terror. She glared at him, his own eyes intensely studying her.
"You might want to learn how to behave," he ground out through clenched teeth, expression unmoving as he stared her down. Ramsay was reaching forward, grasping her chin between his fingers. She didn't let it deter her from glaring the deadliest glare she could muster. "You'll make this harder for yourself if you don't. Consider this a warning and some very friendly advice."
Without thinking first, Michelle was spitting in his face, causing him to flinch back somewhat. She took several deep breaths before she was uttering quite clearly and with venomous spite, "Fuck. You."
Ramsay was allowing a smile to crawl onto his lips before he was leaning back and slamming his open palm into the side of her cheek quite roughly and swiftly. It stung like harsh pin needles, causing her to recoil from the blow. Fresh tears rose to her eyes from the strike but she refused to let them fall.
"Last warning," he said pleasantly, a tone that terrified Michelle and sent a shiver down her spine. "I was going to remove those ropes for you, but it seems like you want them on a bit longer. Such a shame."
He was turning, grabbing the small amount of cleaning supplies he'd brought with him, and he was making his way back up the steps. The grating metal greeted Michelle's ears before silence surrounded her once more.
The heat of the welt on her cheek grew and lessened in pulsating waves of pain as she contemplated what had just happened. What was even the point? All of this felt so incredibly pointless. She couldn't find a rhyme nor a reason to all of this. Even more so as to why Ramsay was holding out information on Dawn. All pretenses of innocence were lost and surely he knew it.
As much as she didn't want to admit it, maybe he was right. Maybe she needed to hold all those questions for Negan. She was getting the vibe that he was in charge of this whole thing. How typical.
It was impossible to tell just how much time had passed in here. The lights remained pale and white and buzzing, the cool air remained constant. The only indication that time had passed was the growing pain on her wrists as she continued to try and struggle free from her restraints. She had no doubt that her wrists looked incredibly unpleasant. Certainly they couldn't look any worse than they felt, at least.
Maybe that was the point of this room. Obviously it had been built just to hold people they'd abducted. Make the passage of time impossible to tell. It was enough to make Michelle go mad and she was certain she hadn't been in here for more than maybe a couple hours or so. Maybe it had been longer than that. But God, what if it had been shorter?
She didn't know.
All she knew was the sound of the door, a sound quickly growing familiar, unhinging and footsteps following. The whistling of a painfully familiar tune was following as well. It was Negan. She couldn't help but feel like he was doing that on purpose.
"Ho-ly god-damn," he was remarking as he came into view, looking over at Michelle. "He really did a number on your face there, didn't he? Shee-it, Ramsay's playin' hardball with you!"
"Why am I here?" Michelle found her voice, the question flat and directly to the point. She didn't want to play around anymore. She just wanted answers.
Negan's eyebrows shot up on his forehead as he was leaning back somewhat, almost as though he was surprised by how direct that was, "Well then, you waste no time at all, do you? No, of course you don't, you're a real go getter! You get shit done, you! Get answers; I should know, I hired you! You're the badass kinda strong and independent woman that don't take shit sittin' down."
Slowly, he was sauntering over to her, continuing on as though he just loved to hear the sound of his own voice filling the room, "Which is exactly why I like you so damn much, Michelle Morris. Y'know, you're the first one I actually took time to try and get to know before I got you down here. Thought a little bonding time before I took you in would make you a little more special."
That just confirmed it, didn't it? That the disappearances had to do with him. It had everything to do with him. Which meant all too clearly that he knew where Dawn was at this very moment in time.
Negan was soon settling onto the bed beside Michelle, causing her to scoot away from him, as far as the bed would possibly allow. He just watched her, smile still on his face as he chuckled and shook his head.
"What can I say, I'm a romantics sorta man," he shrugged, as though this entire situation wasn't somehow completely fucked up.
"Where. Is. Dawn." Michelle insisted angrily. "I know you know. I know it was you and Ramsay. So just tell me."
Silence pervaded as Michelle finished speaking before Negan was sighing, bringing his gloved hands up in slight defeat, "Look, you want answers, I get that. But there's gotta be some trust involved here for me to give you some answers. So let's do a quid pro quo. I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine sorta deal. I'll let you outta those ropes AND answer your questions if, and only if, you be the polite little pretty lady I know you can be."
Negan was pausing before he was leaning closer, his voice growing quieter, "Now that's a hell of a deal that I would take if I were you, Howie. Let's make this whole thing a lot smoother and easier for us both, eh?"
Teeth were biting at her lower lip as she considered this. It was in no way her intention to just go along with all of this. To just accept it for what it was and do what either Negan or Ramsay told her. But if it meant getting answers… She didn't have much of a choice in the matter, did she?
Michelle swallowed before taking a deep breath and nodding, "Okay. Fine."
At her approval, Negan was motioning for Michelle to come closer. She complied, turning her back to him so he could remove her bindings. He reached into his jacket, pulling out a knife. She closed her eyes tightly before he was slicing the rope then leaning down to her legs to cut the rope there.
"There we fuckin' go," he sighed playfully, closing the pocket knife back up and putting it back into his jacket. "Now that's better, isn't it? Never liked leaving my ladies in rope for too long. Hope your wrists don't hurt too much."
His supposed concern was so off putting to Michelle. It sounded almost genuine but there was no way it could be… Could it?
She pushed the thoughts away as she asked again, "Where's Dawn? Just- please tell me. I need to know."
Negan's strong eyebrows were knitting together in odd sort of solemn way, "Now that's a question I just cannot answer. Not now, anyway."
Michelle had to push whatever anger she was feeling about this development down, trying to remember she had to keep her cool, "Then when? When can you answer that?"
"Just not now. Next question."
She was gritting her teeth in tight anger before moving on, "Why am I here?"
He was chuckling as if it should've been obvious, fingers coming up to tilt her head up by her chin, "Because you're fucking gorgeous, that's why."
That was a disgusting answer. So disgusting, she wished she could've thrown up all over him. But she let it pass for now, moving on.
"Where am I? How long have I been here?"
Negan continued to smile, complacent and disturbingly genial, "You're at the best damn diner in the world and you've been here about, oh- six hours. Maybe seven. Give or take."
Her eyes were widening. She was at Lucille's Diner?! She didn't recognize this place. It didn't even look anything like Lucille's. But then it hit her. The freezer.
"This is what you were doing to the freezer?!" Michelle exclaimed, surprise clear in her tone although she tried to mask it as much as possible. He didn't deserve much of a genuine reaction from her. "That's where the cold air is coming from?"
Negan snorted, "I knew you were a smart cookie. You shouldn't've seen Ramsay giving Hailey the boot over the whole freezer incident either. Told him to be more discreet with that shit."
Michelle was shaking her head, "Don't you think it's a little stupid to be holding people you kidnap in the freezer of a restaurant?! Did it ever occur to you that-"
She was stopping suddenly, the realization hitting her more and more. Everything was beginning to make sense. That scream she'd heard that one night, it had to have come from down here. Shit.
Negan was watching her expectantly, waiting for her to continue but when she didn't, Negan went on, "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Now what you should be worryin' about is being on your best behavior. Because this is how it's gonna be going down and you should listen very.. very carefully."
Michelle could feel herself wanting to back away as the overbearing man was leaning towards her, but she refused to give into it. She refused to give him any reaction, so she just watched him, stoic and glaring.
"This is gonna be your temporary home for some time," his voice was low and husky and held an edge to it that cut Michelle deep. "You're really not gonna like it if you don't just cooperate. And I'm sure Dawn's not gonna like it if you don't cooperate either."
Hearing Dawn's name like that being thrown around like a threat made Michelle's blood boil. How dare he do something like that. How dare he hold her safety over Michelle's head like that. It was disgusting.
Negan took a slow breath as he pointed a gloved finger at her, "You and I are gonna be spending some quality time together. And I happen to be a perfect gentleman; I will never lay a hand on you, I will never so much as threaten to harm you. Ramsay, on the other hand… He's a little more of the physical type if you push him. So I suggest you do not push him."
"What is the point?" Michelle breathed in a low growl, the feeling of fresh tears springing to her eyes. "Why. Are you. Doing this?"
Not a word escaped Negan's lips before he was leaning back somewhat, a slow but assured grin pulling his lips up. He allowed the silence to linger a moment longer before he was responding, "Con-fuckin-grat-u-lations, my dear. You've been selected to be one of my absolutely beautiful and lucky wives."