All I really want is something beautiful to say
Words are weapons of the terrified
All I really want is something beautiful to say
Keep me guessing, keep me terrified
-Seether, "Words as Weapons"
Elodie awoke to a kink in her neck and a pounding headache, but otherwise felt fine.
Except for wanting to punch Edward Nygma in the face.
But she was just fine. There was only the small matter of being tied to an office chair.
"What the hell?" She groaned, flopping her head back to meet the obscured gaze of her least favorite person, just then. "Oh, right."
The young woman was both parts wary and unimpressed with her current situation, considering that she was still feeling trace amounts of ire mixed with plenty of annoyance towards the rogue.
Said rogue appeared to be feeling just as cheery, she noted, which may have distressed her much more if her mood had been anything other than utterly sour just then. Elodie straightened in the chair and regarded the reflection of her captor on the surface of the blank computer screen in front of her, her bored expression causing the man to bristle.
"My, my, someone doesn't seem very excited to find out about the surprise I've orchestrated just for her." One noncommittal sound from the young woman later, a frustrated sigh slid through the man's lips as he leaned around her to switch the computer monitor on.
"No matter; I have still more wheels to set into motion. Perhaps your tune will change, by the time I return. Oh, just one simple question for you: What is your roommate's name? She's rather preoccupied, at the moment, or I would have asked her myself."
The bottom of her stomach dropped out. The blonde whipped her head to the side, eyes widened to their limit as she felt herself begin to tremble.
"Megan?" The word came as a gasp and instantly filled her mouth with poison as the reality of the situation smacked into her. She couldn't quite see the expression the villain wore, but would have been surprised if it had been anything other than a self-satisfied smirk.
"Ah, yes, the name seems to ring a bell. I knew that I sent for the right one. Now you just sit tight, darling. I'll come to retrieve you, once the preparations are complete." The slamming of a door promptly snapped Elodie out of her shock. She began to writhe in the chair, heart hammering in her chest as she shrieked after him.
"Don't you dare hurt her! Edward! Come back!" She had no such luck, as the man didn't seem even the slightest bit inclined to humor her, just then.
"Shit." Watery eyes gradually focused on the screen in front of them as the sound of shaky breathing filled the small room. Elodie's mind was reeling as her gaze locked onto the video feed playing from several windows placed side by side, each one in vivid color that made it impossible to mistake the terrified woman sprinting around corners in the labyrinthine warehouse she was surely trapped in.
Megan Blake, the roommate and confidant of the panicking young woman, was currently running for her life. Panels that led to who knew where slid open at different intervals just underneath her feet, making her attempt of survival look clumsy as she lurched forward and tripped over herself every so often. She looked just as terrified as Elodie felt as her short dark hair whipped around her head and her athletic frame carried her onwards.
The enormous room was lit more like a stage than an old warehouse, as well, so she was able to take in every small detail that she was able to see. The obviously armed guards on the catwalks surrounding the labyrinth, for instance, were not details she was about to overlook. She had a creeping suspicion that they were a precaution for someone far more intimidating than a couple of college aged girls.
Alright, stop and think. You didn't hear the door lock and your legs aren't restrained. The rope is tied around the back of the chair, and if there's a knot, maybe you could hook it to something and tug it loose. Then…
The determined woman set her feet firmly against the ground and pushed herself away from the desk. The chair moved easily enough, but after swiveling herself around to take in the close quarters, she could find nothing that she could use to tug herself free with. A broom and dustbin, a spool of silver electrical wire, a vent too far up for her to reach even while standing at her full height…it was hopeless.
But then there was the door handle, which, instead of a spherical shape, was curved into a hook.
If he was messy enough to not tie my legs, then maybe…She maneuvered her way across the small space of the closet, her core muscles working more then they had in a long while as she shifted the back of the chair against the door's handle.
Five minutes of persistent swiveling yielded no results until, finally, the hook caught on something against the back of the chair. With a calming breath, she wretched herself and the chair forward, feeling some small satisfaction as the rope tightened then loosened just enough to slip her arm out of its binding grip.
"Finally." A few particularly angled movements later and she was ripping the rope away from herself and standing on wobbly legs, the last memory of being drugged rising to the surface.
He pinched me! And probably laughed about it, too- No, shh, shut up about that and worry about Meg. Wasting little time, Elodie grabbed and unwound the electrical wire, before hiking up the hem of her shirt and loosely winding as much as the thin cord around her torso as neatly as she could.
Besides dance, rope and the like was something she knew, and there was always the possibility of her coming up with a way to use it in a pinch. She wrapped the shrug more snugly around herself and turned towards the door.
Only one way out, I guess. Here it goes.
The door creaked open just enough for one green eye to peer out into the hallway barren of life. Everything was metallic and cold, but she didn't let the unfamiliar environment discourage her for long. With quiet footsteps that made her happy to be wearing flats, she chose to hang a right and move down the hall. The door she had come through was the only one in sight and, while she didn't much mind the exercise, the dread for her friend that grew as she hurried along was doing nothing for her nerves.
She ran cross country in high school. She'll be…fine…eugh, gotta' hurry.
Her steps grew steadily wider and, after a few moments, she broke into a jog. The dull gray walls slid through her peripherals, unnervingly uniform to a point that she wondered if she would ever find a door.
After what could have been no longer than five minutes later, Elodie stopped running. With still bleary eyes, she turned to her right and pressed against the "metal" wall and frowned as the material gave way to her hand.
"Rubber?" She had noticed that the three by seven foot square of material was slightly- almost impossibly- darker than the actual wall, but she hadn't expected it to mean anything. Promptly after digging her fingers through the pliable surface and pulling it apart, however, she was proven wrong as a door greeted her.
"Now the question stands: Do I want to go in there?" A quick glance to both sides showed no alternative escape route. "I guess so." The wary young woman carefully opened the door, peering inside…
And gasped at the two very familiar faces that inhabited the room, one smiling smugly as the other gaped at her with a bloody lip.
"Elodie, darling, I was wondering how much longer you would take. Oh, and…surprise."
This is way too late, way to short, and I'm awful for leaving it as a cliffhanger. I sometimes tend to write faster, when I leave chapters like this, so let's see how that works. Any guesses as to what the "surprise" is?