An hour passed in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. The
erie quiet would sometimes be broken by the colorful language of the man
with the cornrows as his team missed another goal. I couldn't take this
tense quiet anymore. It was like a jack in the box about to spring. I
needed to speak, to have some words to hold on to in this sea of silence.
"What are your names?"
I had increased the silence instead of destroying it. They seemed taken aback by my innocent question. Cornrow dude turned in his chair, creaking in the still air. He had muted the tv. My ears buzzed.
"Why do you want to know?" Blue eyed angel asked.
"Well...I can't keep calling him Cornrow Dude," I said nodding to him.
"Ah hell's no! She did not just call me..!"
"And I can't keep calling him Mr. Hell's Angel."
Hell's Angel merely glared in response.
"And what is my name, Little One?" The blue eyed one asked chucking.
"My secret." I muttered.
"Pardon me, what was that?"
"My secret." I said louder, my blood rushing to my face. Hadn't I just called him a blue eyed angel? Like I was gonna tell my captor that! Get real!
He nodded, "Mikes," he said gesturing to the Hell's Angel, "Brad."
"Call me B." The man at the computer said.
"And.." I raised an eyebrow, "What is your name?"
"My secret."
Damn bastard.
"Fair enough." I replied.
His watch beeped
"Lights, camera, action." He whispered. "Mikes!" He called.
Mikes approached me, looking tall and intimidating. He took out a pocket knife, my eyes widened...he cut the bonds. "Thanks." I said, rubbing my wrists down. I had lost the circulation in them. I stood slowly and stretched, feeling as if I hadn't moved in ages.
"Take a seat, my dear. The show will start any moment now." The unnamed one said gesturing to the chair next to B. I sat down cautiously, not knowing what to expect. I certainly didn't expect this. The three computer screens were filled with smaller screens that showed all the rooms in my apartment.
"Oh my god." I breathed.
The blue eyed one, stood behind me and leaning down next to me he said, "Amazing, isn't it? You have to wonder what more do we know of you? How long have we watched you?"
"How long?" I asked dumbly still looking at the screen.
A quick glance at me, "Long enough, Little One. Long enough."
My father came on the screen in my parents room, he looked crushed. He had something in his hand. I gave a start as I realized what it was. It was my green stone bracelet. I looked down at my bare wrist. It must have come off in the struggle.
"Aha, here's the man of the hour!" The blue eyed man said smiling.
I watched as he told my mother brokenly that someone had cut the chain on the door and that I was gone. Mother started to cry, saying it wasn't true, that I was just in the hall or something getting a coke. Then as it hit here, when she saw the bracelet she told him to call the police through her tears.
"And we're on in 3..2..1!" B said counting down on his fingers.
I watched as my father picked up the phone. His voice was hoarse with pain, "I can't get a dialtone. There's something wrong with the phone."
"There is nothing wrong with the phone, Nathan." Came the chilling British reply. I turned to see the unnamed man talking on a cell, seeing me staring he winked.
"This is an emergency, goddamnit!" My father screamed.
"You see I know."
My father's face froze and a look filled his features. It's the look someone get's when they get a picture in focus only to see the image and be afraid of it. Without knowing it my hand had out stretched to the screen that showed my father. I pressed my hand to the screen. He was right there, right in front of my eyes and I could not reach him all the same. It hit me then that this might be the last time I ever saw him. I pulled my hand back sharply, feeling as if I had received a dangerous electrical shock.
"Who are you?" My father asked.
"We have your daughter." My captor smirked and walked over to the window and looked out, "What's your worst fear, Nathan?"
My father also stumbled to his own window, "Wha...What? My worst what?"
"I hear that the first shock can buckle the knees, is there any truth in that?"
My father looked completely lost, helpless. I had never seen him like this and it frightened me. The blue eyed one was playing with him, he was having fun watching the pain he caused.
"Stop it!" I hissed at him. He turned to me with an angry look in his eyes. They were saying clearly, "Let me have my sport!" I turned back to the screen, just as my captor turned back to the phone.
"I want something from you." He said.
My father's face became hard and sharp. He stood up straight. "No."
"What?!"
"Not until I speak to my daughter."
"Rule #1 Nathan, you do not make demands, you'll do what I tell you!" His voice began to sound impatient, and that was a dangerous emotion.
Dad's voice shook slightly, "You can call me back when I can speak to my daughter."
He then hung up the phone.
Dial tone....I began to smile.
I heard a cold voice next to me, "Your father just did a very unwise thing."
I turned to meet the cold blue depths, "Yes very unwise." I agreed, "Or very brave."
"Very brave indeed." He replied coldly. In the next second he had pulled me out of the chair and keeping a firm grip on my wrist he put he cell phone in it. He pressed a button and the phone began to ring. Speed dial. (Ok that was so unfair, I was a sixteen year old girl and I couldn't have speed dial, but this freak could?!) It had barely rung one time when my father answered it and said shakily, "Hello?"
"Way to go dad!" I told him smiling.
"Jessie, are you alright? Have they hurt you?" Dad choked out.
"No, not at all," Not yet, I thought bitterly. "I'm..." Scared to death, hungry, strangely excited, afraid, terrified? "..ok. I'm ok."
The one with the blue eyes, started to take the phone, I clutched at it. His grip on my wrist tightened.
"I love you. I'm fine. Really."
Then it was gone. I stood in shock for a moment or two. I felt that if I moved I would lose the last of my mental strength, break down and cry.
The blue eyed one was leaning against the window frame again, "That was very brave, Nathan."
I walked back to the computer screens to watch my father. He was pacing the room like a caged lion.
"I'll give you as much money as you want." He said desperately.
"I don't want your money, Nathan."
It was erie to see and hear my father, and see and hear my captor at the same time. It was almost as if I was stuck in between the ticks of the clock, trapped in some kind of nexus.
The blue eyed man continued, "You are currently treating a patient by the name of Elizabeth Burrows, a very disdurbed girl. She has a six digit number locked away in her troubled mind, she guards it with her life."
"What kind of number?" My father asked.
"That needn't concern you, right now. I need that number. You need your daughter back. That's why this is happening."
My mother collapsed on her side, crying to my father to let her speak to me. It unnerved me. Mother's leg was propped up, it was still in a cast from the skiing accident she had had earlier this year. The blue eyed man came over behind me watching the screens as well.
"Pick up your wife before she breaks the other leg." Came the British reply.
I saw my father rush to the bed and set my mother up right. I saw it hit him then, he knew he was being watched. He got up slowly and moved to the window, beginning to close the curtains.
"Don't close them. I like the view."
My father stopped.
"I can see you. Wherever you go, whatever you do you will be watched." He paused, "There is a cell phone on the drawers behind you."
My father turned seeing it, his eyes lit up.
"I know what you're thinking," The blue eyed man said softly, "Don't. Because before you pressed the 1 on 911, your daughter will be dead."
I tensed at this, but he continued not noticing.
"Rule #2 you do not try to call or contact anyone because if you do I will kill your daughter, not because I want to but because those...are...the ..rules. You're a professional Nathan, so am I! If we both work to the best of our abilities, by this time tomorrow it'll be like we never even knew eachother. So if you want to see your daughter alive, don't say a word. Now...tell me you understand."
"I understand." My father said dully.
"Good. Now go back to Bridge View. Take the Chevy. No detours. No police. Rule #3 you have until five this afternoon."
The conversation ended.
The blue eyed man walker over to the computers, pressing a button on his watch. It beeped twice.
"The clock starts now." He whispered.
"What are your names?"
I had increased the silence instead of destroying it. They seemed taken aback by my innocent question. Cornrow dude turned in his chair, creaking in the still air. He had muted the tv. My ears buzzed.
"Why do you want to know?" Blue eyed angel asked.
"Well...I can't keep calling him Cornrow Dude," I said nodding to him.
"Ah hell's no! She did not just call me..!"
"And I can't keep calling him Mr. Hell's Angel."
Hell's Angel merely glared in response.
"And what is my name, Little One?" The blue eyed one asked chucking.
"My secret." I muttered.
"Pardon me, what was that?"
"My secret." I said louder, my blood rushing to my face. Hadn't I just called him a blue eyed angel? Like I was gonna tell my captor that! Get real!
He nodded, "Mikes," he said gesturing to the Hell's Angel, "Brad."
"Call me B." The man at the computer said.
"And.." I raised an eyebrow, "What is your name?"
"My secret."
Damn bastard.
"Fair enough." I replied.
His watch beeped
"Lights, camera, action." He whispered. "Mikes!" He called.
Mikes approached me, looking tall and intimidating. He took out a pocket knife, my eyes widened...he cut the bonds. "Thanks." I said, rubbing my wrists down. I had lost the circulation in them. I stood slowly and stretched, feeling as if I hadn't moved in ages.
"Take a seat, my dear. The show will start any moment now." The unnamed one said gesturing to the chair next to B. I sat down cautiously, not knowing what to expect. I certainly didn't expect this. The three computer screens were filled with smaller screens that showed all the rooms in my apartment.
"Oh my god." I breathed.
The blue eyed one, stood behind me and leaning down next to me he said, "Amazing, isn't it? You have to wonder what more do we know of you? How long have we watched you?"
"How long?" I asked dumbly still looking at the screen.
A quick glance at me, "Long enough, Little One. Long enough."
My father came on the screen in my parents room, he looked crushed. He had something in his hand. I gave a start as I realized what it was. It was my green stone bracelet. I looked down at my bare wrist. It must have come off in the struggle.
"Aha, here's the man of the hour!" The blue eyed man said smiling.
I watched as he told my mother brokenly that someone had cut the chain on the door and that I was gone. Mother started to cry, saying it wasn't true, that I was just in the hall or something getting a coke. Then as it hit here, when she saw the bracelet she told him to call the police through her tears.
"And we're on in 3..2..1!" B said counting down on his fingers.
I watched as my father picked up the phone. His voice was hoarse with pain, "I can't get a dialtone. There's something wrong with the phone."
"There is nothing wrong with the phone, Nathan." Came the chilling British reply. I turned to see the unnamed man talking on a cell, seeing me staring he winked.
"This is an emergency, goddamnit!" My father screamed.
"You see I know."
My father's face froze and a look filled his features. It's the look someone get's when they get a picture in focus only to see the image and be afraid of it. Without knowing it my hand had out stretched to the screen that showed my father. I pressed my hand to the screen. He was right there, right in front of my eyes and I could not reach him all the same. It hit me then that this might be the last time I ever saw him. I pulled my hand back sharply, feeling as if I had received a dangerous electrical shock.
"Who are you?" My father asked.
"We have your daughter." My captor smirked and walked over to the window and looked out, "What's your worst fear, Nathan?"
My father also stumbled to his own window, "Wha...What? My worst what?"
"I hear that the first shock can buckle the knees, is there any truth in that?"
My father looked completely lost, helpless. I had never seen him like this and it frightened me. The blue eyed one was playing with him, he was having fun watching the pain he caused.
"Stop it!" I hissed at him. He turned to me with an angry look in his eyes. They were saying clearly, "Let me have my sport!" I turned back to the screen, just as my captor turned back to the phone.
"I want something from you." He said.
My father's face became hard and sharp. He stood up straight. "No."
"What?!"
"Not until I speak to my daughter."
"Rule #1 Nathan, you do not make demands, you'll do what I tell you!" His voice began to sound impatient, and that was a dangerous emotion.
Dad's voice shook slightly, "You can call me back when I can speak to my daughter."
He then hung up the phone.
Dial tone....I began to smile.
I heard a cold voice next to me, "Your father just did a very unwise thing."
I turned to meet the cold blue depths, "Yes very unwise." I agreed, "Or very brave."
"Very brave indeed." He replied coldly. In the next second he had pulled me out of the chair and keeping a firm grip on my wrist he put he cell phone in it. He pressed a button and the phone began to ring. Speed dial. (Ok that was so unfair, I was a sixteen year old girl and I couldn't have speed dial, but this freak could?!) It had barely rung one time when my father answered it and said shakily, "Hello?"
"Way to go dad!" I told him smiling.
"Jessie, are you alright? Have they hurt you?" Dad choked out.
"No, not at all," Not yet, I thought bitterly. "I'm..." Scared to death, hungry, strangely excited, afraid, terrified? "..ok. I'm ok."
The one with the blue eyes, started to take the phone, I clutched at it. His grip on my wrist tightened.
"I love you. I'm fine. Really."
Then it was gone. I stood in shock for a moment or two. I felt that if I moved I would lose the last of my mental strength, break down and cry.
The blue eyed one was leaning against the window frame again, "That was very brave, Nathan."
I walked back to the computer screens to watch my father. He was pacing the room like a caged lion.
"I'll give you as much money as you want." He said desperately.
"I don't want your money, Nathan."
It was erie to see and hear my father, and see and hear my captor at the same time. It was almost as if I was stuck in between the ticks of the clock, trapped in some kind of nexus.
The blue eyed man continued, "You are currently treating a patient by the name of Elizabeth Burrows, a very disdurbed girl. She has a six digit number locked away in her troubled mind, she guards it with her life."
"What kind of number?" My father asked.
"That needn't concern you, right now. I need that number. You need your daughter back. That's why this is happening."
My mother collapsed on her side, crying to my father to let her speak to me. It unnerved me. Mother's leg was propped up, it was still in a cast from the skiing accident she had had earlier this year. The blue eyed man came over behind me watching the screens as well.
"Pick up your wife before she breaks the other leg." Came the British reply.
I saw my father rush to the bed and set my mother up right. I saw it hit him then, he knew he was being watched. He got up slowly and moved to the window, beginning to close the curtains.
"Don't close them. I like the view."
My father stopped.
"I can see you. Wherever you go, whatever you do you will be watched." He paused, "There is a cell phone on the drawers behind you."
My father turned seeing it, his eyes lit up.
"I know what you're thinking," The blue eyed man said softly, "Don't. Because before you pressed the 1 on 911, your daughter will be dead."
I tensed at this, but he continued not noticing.
"Rule #2 you do not try to call or contact anyone because if you do I will kill your daughter, not because I want to but because those...are...the ..rules. You're a professional Nathan, so am I! If we both work to the best of our abilities, by this time tomorrow it'll be like we never even knew eachother. So if you want to see your daughter alive, don't say a word. Now...tell me you understand."
"I understand." My father said dully.
"Good. Now go back to Bridge View. Take the Chevy. No detours. No police. Rule #3 you have until five this afternoon."
The conversation ended.
The blue eyed man walker over to the computers, pressing a button on his watch. It beeped twice.
"The clock starts now." He whispered.