Ami sat back against her chair, staring up at the ceiling. The group of men had taken her away from the banquet hall, loading her into a black van. That was the last thing she saw, as they threw a black sack over her head, and tied her arms behind her back. She figured that they didn't want her to know where it was they were taking her, in case she did manage to escape. She had no idea where they'd taken her, as they only removed the sack over her head after they had her inside of whatever building it was that she was now in. They'd sat her down in a chair, wrapping her bound hands behind the chair, and tied her ankles down to the chair. The leader of the group had told her that they would be calling her father, and they needed her to speak to him when the time came. Then, they left her alone in the room, with guards watching the door from the other side.
Staring up at the ceiling, she thought of her poor father, and what they would ask of him. All because of her. She didn't regret for a minute standing up and giving herself up to them, to protect everyone else at the ball. She knew she wouldn't have changed that in the least, and would do it again if she had to. It was bad enough that they were holding her hostage to threaten her father, she wouldn't have been able to bear it if other people would have gotten hurt in the process. They hadn't told her exactly what it was that they wanted from her father, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they did. She figured it had something to do with his new foreign policies that he's trying to enact, and that was all she needed to know.
She did, however, regret leaving Kaiji alone. The way he'd looked at her when they'd taken her away had almost left a hole in her heart. He just looked purely terrified. And she knew it was not because he was her bodyguard, but it was because he was her friend. As her friend, he was worried about what was going to happen to her. A friend she now realized that she'd managed to fall in love with. She sighed to herself; she didn't know how it had happened. It just sort of did. She mentally kicked herself for it. He was her childhood friend, the closest friend she'd ever had. And now she just had to go and ruin all of that by falling in love with him. But it had just been so easy that Ami couldn't help but laugh to herself. Even when he was a child, he'd always been one of the best people she'd ever known. Kaiji had a heart of gold and a sense of humor that always had a smile on her face, and that part of him had never changed, even after all of these years apart.
She lowered her eyes from the ceiling and looked about the room. She still had no idea where she was, as the room was quite small and plain. The room was lit by a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Wherever it was, it seemed to be fairly old, as the concrete floors beneath her seemed to haven't been cleaned in years. A large ventilation system lined the ceiling on the other side of the room, one of those old metal ones that had stopped working years ago, and now just sat there rusting uselessly. A few chairs were stacked in the corner, as if the room had previously been used as some sort of conference room, but has long since been forgotten. It could have been an old office building, but Ami still didn't have the slightest clue exactly where. There were thousands of old office buildings that were no longer in use in the area. All that mattered to her now was getting the hell out of here.
Fiddling with her arms behind her back, she winced as the rope bit into her skin. She had to get out of here. That much was for sure. Whether someone was coming for her or not, she had to get out of there as soon as she could, before they did something to her father. She twisted her wrists about, squeezing them to see if she could loosen the ropes that bound them. Biting her lips, the ropes continued to rub painfully against her wrists as she twisted and turned them about. She felt the rope loosen just slightly, and she felt hope as she continued. Using her fingers, she pulled the top of the knot in the ropes down, pulling it to where she could try to undo the knot. Her face contorted to several funny positions that she knew would have made hilarious pictures had someone taken a picture of them, as she fiddled with the knot behind her back.
Hearing the doorknob jiggle, she quickly took the knot into the palm of her hand, and turned her hands back around, hiding her progress. The man from before stepped inside, accompanied by the two men who stood outside. He walked slowly over to her, his arms folded behind his back, and a twisted smile plastered to his face. Crouching down in front of her, he flashed his teeth at her in an even broader smile. Oh how much she wished she could slap the smile from his face if she had the chance.
"And how's our pretty little hostage doing?" He purred.
Ami rolled her eyes mentally. "I've been a hell of a lot better."
He chuckled. "Sorry for the accommodations. I'm afraid the Ritz was booked."
"Cut the bullshit. What is it that you want?"
He reached forward and grabbed her chin, squeezing it. "You're quite mouthy for someone who's at the wrong end of the gun."
"What is it that you want?" She repeated, thanking her lucky stars that her voice didn't quiver.
Raising an eyebrow at her, he released her chin. "I need you to call your father. Tell him that you've been taken hostage, and that the only way that we'll release you is if they meet our demands."
"And those would be…?"
"We want him to step down as prime minister. We want to put our own prime minister in his stead."
Ami shook her head. "I'm not going to say that."
He reached forward and grabbed her neck, a little more forcefully than he had grabbed her chin. "You will if you want to live."
"I'd rather die than let you take over my country." She said defiantly. She had no idea what had come over her, and she watched as his eyes widened in surprise at her statement. Initially fearing that he'd be furious at her statement, he instead grinned at her again. His smile frightened her more now than the hand he had wrapped around her throat. Something about it just sent a shiver down her spine, and made her stomach churn.
"You know, I don't think I will kill you. You've got an interesting spark to you. I like my women with a little spark in them. Now I have a little business that I have to attend to, so I'm going to let you sit here and rethink your answer. And when I get back, I'm sure that you will, in fact, change your mind. If you don't, well… I have other ways of persuading you than just killing you. But I assure you of this my pet," He purred into her ear as his hand left her throat, and cupped the back of her head, bringing it closer to his mouth so that he could whisper in her ear, "you'll be begging me to kill you when I get through with you."
He then abruptly released her and stood. Spinning on his heel, he snapped his fingers, and his two friends followed out the door after him. He closed the door, flashing another smile at her before he disappeared once again into the hallway. Ami realized that she'd been holding her breath, and let the air rush out of her lungs. His words terrified her, and Ami swallowed thickly to keep down the bile that threatened to rise up. Ami released the knot from her palm and immediately went back to work. She knew that she would never agree to calling her father and telling him that to save her, he had to basically give their country over to these terrorists. But she also knew from the gleam in that man's eyes, he too would fulfill his promise to her. And Ami didn't want to know what all he had in plan for her.
She smiled as she felt the knot slowly begin to loosen behind her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to concentrate harder. Her wrists throbbed painfully as she pulled the rope harder against them, fighting with the knot. Slowly and surely, the knot began to loosen, inch by inch until finally she felt the knot release. Letting the rope fall to the floor, she brought her arms around, rubbing her sore wrists tenderly. She then quickly bent forward and began untying the ropes binding her ankles. It took almost no time at all for her to undo those knots, and stand up. Now that she was free from the chair, how was she going to get out of this room? She hadn't thought that far ahead, focusing too much on the ropes. There were probably guards still outside the room, so she couldn't exit that way. And there weren't any windows in the room, so she couldn't leave that way.
Her heart dropped into her stomach as she realized there was no place for her to go. Knotting her hands into fists, she placed her fists on her temples and internally screamed. But she had to remain calm. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. The last thing she needed was to panic, and for them to hear her, and put her back in that dreadful chair. Opening her eyes, she looked over at the ventilation system. A light bulb went off in her head and she walked over towards it. She was still in her ball gown and heels, and stopped dead in her tracks when she heard her heels click against the concrete floor.
She froze and looked over her shoulder at the door and waited. Holding her breath, she waited for a few moments, but no one came in. Breathing a sigh of relief, she bent forward and pulled the shoes from her feet. Knowing the long dress could also prove to be problematic, she began ripping at her knees, hoping to shorten the dress. She hated destroying such a beautiful dress that Kaiji's sisters had let her borrow, and she made a mental note to buy another dress for them to replace it. Looking back at the door, she saw that no one had heard her again, and continued towards the vent. It was quite large, and Ami pulled one of the chairs over. Standing on her toes, she reached up and removed one of the little doors.
Placing both hands inside, she pulled herself up and into the vent. She bit her lip as she pulled and scooted her way inside. All of those days at the gym had finally paid off and she smiled in satisfaction. She was just small enough to fit inside comfortably. Sighing in relief, she then began crawling slowly through, hoping to eventually find her way to freedom.