Thank you so much for your feedback. I would love to answer some of your questions, but it will be a bit unnecessary because the story will explain everything like a puzzle. Like in this chapter you will find out where they take him, what they do with him, what Selina was doing in Bullock's apartment and what she took.
4. More Than Meets The Eye
Sean sits with his hands bounded behind his back on a seat and seems to sit inside an abandoned warehouse far from the city. So far nothing really bad happened to him, besides from being kidnapped from a woman who had kidnapped him, but these people didn't hurt him or anything. Well…not yet anyway.
Even though his eyes were blindfolded, Sean still could sense the presence of three other men in the room. He could feel two standing in the two corners in the back and the other one was standing by the door he was facing.
It was very quiet and Sean could hear almost every word spoken in the room the door lead to. Also there was some occasional laughter when the girl said something. The few words Sean could pick up was; "Sexy, musclier, smart, and tests."
It was not hard for him to tie the dots together and understand he found himself in big trouble.
Sean starts to wriggle his fingers to avoid them from becoming numb. Whoever tied his hands surely knew how to make proper knots. There was no way for him to loosen them without the two guards in the back noticing it.
Suddenly the door swings open. The guard who stood by the door was smart enough to stand on the right side of the door otherwise his nose would have made a terrible face-plant with the door. Or maybe the man knew whoever came from the room always swung doors open with force and therefore positioned himself in a safe spot.
Sean quickly shakes the thought away. Right now it was not relevant why the guards did what they did. Right now it was the time to let the person that came out know he's not some puny street kid and easy to be messed with.
The street boy listened carefully and he could pick up two different footsteps. The first one was very heavy, possibly male. The second one was barely audible. Obviously the person tried to walk quietly and stealthy. If his hearing wasn't as good as it is, Sean wouldn't have noticed it.
Sean sensed the first person halted parallel of him while the second one started to circle around him, quietly. A sudden scent of cats that lingered around the person entered Sean's nose and he realized it was the 'creepy' girl.
A memory of her chasing him around Fish Mooney's nightclub flashed through his mind. He even remembered the cheeky sparkle in her green eyes. He had seen the same look in the eyes of a cat when they spotted a bird, or a mouse, or their favorite piece of toy.
Sean could not help it and fear entered his mind. What if he was like a bird to her, or her favorite toy? She could do lots of things with him then, right?
"Stop it Sean! You have been caught by people before and you managed to escape because you stayed calm, cool, and collected. The three C's. They always work along with being smarter than them. You are not GONNA BE HER TOY."
Sean tilts his head slightly to follow the sound of the girl's stealthy footsteps as she circles around him, clockwise. He has no idea why she keeps doing it, though a few possibilities run through his head, and one of those possibilities is that she's probably waiting for the right moment to pounce him. He has saw cats doing the same thing when they spotted a bird. They kept low to the ground and waited…
"And that is why I don't like cats!" Sean thinks to himself while he proceeds following the sound of the girl's footsteps. His head turns far enough to the right when she disappears behind him then instantly his head turns far enough to the left for when she appears again.
The girl kept circling around Sean and every now and then she circled unexpectedly counter clockwise then back into clockwise or even a few steps counter clockwise then instantly clockwise again.
Sean wasn't easy to disorientate. His ears kept following her footsteps in sync. He was able to speak because they only blindfolded him, but at this moment he thought it was best to say nothing. He was not the type of boy that would ask his 'kidnappers' where they took him.
Sean had been caught before along with other streets kids and some of them yelled and asked their location. Sean always shook his head when they did that, because to him it was the most stupid question ever. No way a kidnapper would give their location to their victims.
A part of Sean wanted to yell at the girl to stop with whatever she was trying to do, but he could fight the urge. Mainly because he wanted to show them he could stay calm, cool, and collected. If he yelled or shouted threats they either think he was easy breakable or they would become violent. So far all they did was trying to disorientate him and he preferred that more than a punch in his face.
The girl stopped walking and stood still behind Sean on the left then suddenly asks; "What do you think?"
"I'm impressed!" the man replied, still standing parallel of Sean. "I have to admit I first thought you were just exaggerating."
Sean heard the girl blow through her nose agitated then she snapped; "Why you always think I exaggerate things, Knife?!"
Sean's eyes widen behind his blindfold upon hearing the name. Knife was a very well-known and notorious street tug. Not only street kids but also adult homeless people and or criminals feared the man. Mainly because he's very known of his addiction for cutting fingers. Sean really wishes that will not happen with him.
"Uh, maybe because you always exaggerate everything! You know, like that time you said you scratched a girl's eyes out for calling you crazy street trash."
The girl huffs again; "I did, though I might have exaggerated a tiny bit. But in my defence, her eyes were bleeding like crazy so my nails did great job after all. AND, every time she sees me cross the street or something she takes a detour. Even though some people might say that's a plus, I say it's not. I really wanted to use her and name her Haleigh the human scratch pole."
Sean frowns. Haleigh? The same Haleigh as the Haleigh who always hangs around him like a human necklace?
"Don't be silly. There are more street girls with the name Haleigh. Although, I do remember she came inside the warehouse once with a scratched face. And she did claim to be attacked by a giant cat-like street girl. I have to admit, it looked horrible, and if this girl really wounded…crap! I'm in more trouble than I first expected."
"I can tell why you are fond of him, Cat."
The girl giggles then suddenly Sean feels her arms wrap around him from behind then squeezes the back of his head into a hug. Sean's eyes widen in utter fear when he feels something soft in the back of his neck.
"Yeah, doesn't he look cute and adorable?"
The girl proceeds nuzzling the back of Sean's neck then inhales the scent of his hair.
"He smells so nice. I wouldn't have guessed he was a street kid if I didn't see it for myself."
Knife grunts; "Why not? I mean, you are a street girl and don't smell like one. I'm homeless and don't smell like a homeless. Even my men don't smell dirty."
"Except for Steve," the girl said and Sean could hear a soft chuckle when she said that.
Knife sighs in defeat; "Yes, except for Steve! I'm sorry Steve, I did not want to hurt your feelings."
The man in the left side corner sighed slightly irritated. Obviously his name is Steve.
"Hey, maybe you can ask Sean here where he stole that nice smelling shampoo."
Steve grunted angrily.
"Cat, be careful. Steve still has sharp objects."
"So? I have mine in my pocket as well, though, my nails will do the job as well."
Knife nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, you say this kid is really Sean Ornelas? As in the Sean Ornelas from the wealthy billionaire family that was attacked by an unknown gang many years ago? My sources told me no one survived. They even said they saw that tiny little boy fall overboard after being shot."
"That's maybe because your sources are idiots, Knife," the girl said. "Trust me, this kid is Sean Ornelas. I broke into detective Bullock's flat and found a huge folder under a fake floor board with his name written all over it. It's full of pictures of him after the attack including Bullock's speculations of people who could be behind it."
Knife sighs; "Cat, trust me. A tiny seven year old and wounded boy would never be capable to swim all the way back to Gotham. The water is freezing cold, so if the bullet didn't kill him after pierced into his body, the cold water would."
"But even the papers suspect this is Sean Ornelas."
"Newspapers love to speculate all kind of things. Besides, from what I read they also speculate he might be maybe a far relative looking for vengeance or some nameless kid who stole the name in order to get his hands on all that money Mark Ornelas left behind."
Sean gasps softly hearing his dad's name.
"I'm telling you, this is Sean Ornelas!" the girl said and stomped her foot down. "Why else would Bullock have an entire file with information about him if he died that the night of the attack?"
"Hmm," the man said thoughtfully.
The girl wraps her arms back around Sean then nuzzles his right ear; "Besides, he looks like the boy who visited me on my eight birthday party, and he said his name was Sean Ornelas."
"Ugh, not that story again!"
"If you don't believe me then shut up!"
"Cat, if that kid on your birthday party was around like eleven/twelve years old, this kid can't be that kid! Look at him! I bet he's not older than twelve."
The girl stomps her foot down again and says; "It's him, alright?!"
Suddenly Sean gets blinded by the bright sun that came inside through the windows and he realized the blindfold was pulled off. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the daylight then he saw a tall man with dirty grey hair, a goatee beard and a Glasgow smile standing in front of him.
"The Knife," Sean thought. "So that's what he looks like."
Even though he started to feel slightly panicked with seeing the notorious criminal in the flesh, Sean swallowed bravely and decided it was time to show them, or better yet, make them think he's not scared at all.
"Let me go right now or I will make you regret all-
Sean suddenly felt a sharp pain through his right cheek then the spot started to burn a little and Sean knew the slap in his face had left a mark. Instead of whimpering like the scared little boy they expected him to be, Sean penetrated his eyes murderously into Knife's.
"You talk when I tell you to talk," Knife said and wanted to tap Sean on the tip of his nose, but Sean pulled his head back then forward again and clenched his teeth around Knife's finger, unexpectedly.
The man howled in pain and the three guards readied their fire arms to protect their boss, but the girl put her hand up as 'halt' signal.
Sean bit Knife's finger harder and harder then suddenly he felt something soft in the back of his neck that vacuumed to his skin. He couldn't help himself and let out a weird sounding gasp and Knife got his finger back.
"That kid bit me and all your doing is giving him a hicky?!"
The girl shrugs; "It worked, didn't it? Besides, what good would it do us if we shoot all his brains across the room?"
"He bit me!"
The girl rolls her eyes; "Oh boo-hoo. I told you, no killing this time! I'm in charge here so you and your minions do what I say, got it?"
"Fine!" Knife replied, hanging his head in defeat and looked at his sore finger and said; "But still, it hurts you know?"
"Ugh, my cats bite harder. Now, man up and start with your interrogation before we move on to test number 2."
Sean frowns; "Test number 2? Did that mean her circling around me and see my reaction was test number 1? Also why are they testing me? What do they want from me?"
"What is your name, kid?"
Sean pierces his eyes furiously into Knife's and barks; "That's none of your business!"
Knife looks at the girl who's still standing behind Sean and asks; "Can I slap him every time he refuses to reply a question properly?"
"No!" the girl snaps. "It's more than obvious your first slap, which looked very painful, didn't hurt him at all meaning, he can endure pain longer than any kid. I think we need to find something else to make him talk."
The girl starts circling around Sean again and Sean follows her with his eyes as far his head allows him to. Sean can tell she's pondering really hard to come up with an idea to make him talk.
Before Sean realized what happened, the girl plants her butt onto his lap dangling both her feet down one side and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"This makes you feel discomforting, doesn't it?"
Sean gulps slightly then pierces his eyes stubbornly into the girl's eyes and replies; "No, it actually doesn't."
The girl smirks; "So that means you're actually enjoying this."
"No! It makes me feel nothing; "Sean lied as he tried to keep his voice steady. Of course it made feel him uncomfortable, but if he told her that she would use it as a way to make him talk.
Instead of buying his bluff, the girl draws a pouty face then leans into his ear and whispers; "Don't you like it when a girl sits on your lap? Don't you think I'm pretty?"
"Actually…yes…I don't find you pretty. You're creepy! And you smell like cats! I hate cats!"
The girl swats Sean's nose then cries gleefully; "I would have totally believed you if I didn't see you feeding that stray cat your leftovers."
"What?" Sean gasped. "She saw me and I didn't felt her presence? How?"
The girl nods rapidly then says with a cocky smirk; "Yup, I saw you walking into the restaurant pretending to work there then stole a meal and ate it on the fire escape blocks away from the restaurant. I have to say that I'm quite impressed with how resourceful you are."
Then she adds with a snort; "And I thought I was the only one who used that tactic."
"You're lying! You couldn't have seen me because I would have felt your presence!"
The girl smiles then nuzzles his nose eskimo-like then looks at Knife and says; "See, I told you he had that skill. Okay, everyone has, but he mastered it."
Then she nuzzles Sean's face some more and cries gleefully; "You mastered it, didn't you?"
Sean simply stared in her eyes with a bemused look.
"Look how cute he is when he pretends to be bemused with me. I told you Knife, there is more beneath this cute looking boy. He's definitely hiding a lot of unknown skills and secrets in that sexy body."
Sean froze and stared shell shocked upon hearing the words "Cute" and "sexy body."
Knife grunts and slaps his forehead; "Now look what you have done, Cat! Now he will be totally useless for a couple of hours and I have another 'cut someone's fingers off' appointment."
The girl rolls her eyes then snaps; "Fine! You do your other appointment while he stays in the back room. I mean, it has no windows for him to climb through so I bet he will stay."
Knife sighs tiredly then flicks his fingers and the two men in the back walk forward and hoist Sean up before following the skipping girl to the room they came out earlier.
"Mmph," Sean said when he hit the dirty, thin mattress with a painful thud, causing him to wake up from his shell shocked state. The bed started to creak under his weight as he struggled, kicking his legs outwards in an attempt to hit one of the two men but they dodged his feet easily. His bounded legs and arms made the struggle even harder as he flailed about on the bed. "Let me go!"
The two men ignored his demands and forced him to lie down onto his stomach. Sean let out a strained growl when one of them pushed onto his upper back in order to keep him pinned to the bed while the girl grabbed his kicking legs and tied to keep them still while the second man cut the ropes that bounded Sean's wrists together.
The second he felt the rope being sliced, Sean yanked one arm free and started to sway it violently to the man who kept him pinned to the mattress. His fist made contact with a part of the man's face and he howled in pain then loosened his grip on Sean.
Even though the second guy tried to take it over from his friend and wanted to pin the boy back down, and the girl kept a tight grip on his legs, Sean managed to turn around far enough and used his other free hand to grab the lapel of the second man's jacket. Then he pulled his own head back then moved forward and smashed his forehead against the man's nose.
The man howled in pain when his nose cracked then backed away from the boy and cupped his hand around his nose to check the damage. It was broken and bled horribly.
The first guy had fixed his bearings then grabbed his gun and pointed it at Sean who was busy fighting the girl off of him. Sean saw the gun and froze.
The girl used it as an opportunity to drag Sean into an upright sitting position then while the goon kept his gun pointed at Sean, the girl pushed Sean's back against the barred metal headboard of the double bed and grabs his right arm, pressing the wrist against one of the iron bars and tied it securely with a rope. Then she did the same with his left arm and Sean felt the panic increase.
The girl looks pleased at her handiwork and was totally confident his arms are far enough apart and wouldn't be able to get his head close enough to either wrist and untie the knots with his teeth.
The second man had left the room to find himself a cloth to stop the bleeding and Knife walked in with steeled cuffs and snapped one of them around Sean's ankle and the other around one of the bars of the bed's footboard. Then his Glasgow smile turned into a big grin.
"That will definitely restrict your ability to kick or escape."
As reply, Sean starts to tug at the ties around his wrists, but it did nothing more than dig painfully into his skin as he pulled and pulled. He even moved his entire body as much as he could and feared gripped at him as he realized there was no way out of the situation.
"Just let me go!" Sean shouted angrily while he kept tugging his restrains and ignored the sharpness of the rope that dug into his skin more and more.
Knife still stands behind the footboard and says; "I have some information you might like to know. We are somewhere far outside the city and there is no one, ABSOLUTELY no one who can hear you scream…except US!"
"I don't need anyone to save me, I can save myself!" Sean yelled in rage. "I don't care where we are! I have been held captured in places further away from civilisation you can ever imagine, and I always managed to escape and reach civilisation again!"
The girl suddenly looks very sympathetically and sits down onto the bed beside Sean, stroking the side of his face then grabs his chin gently and forces him to look at her.
"I can tell by just looking in your eyes how much pain they caused you. You even might deny it, but their words damaged you and caused you to look at yourself and think about yourself in the way you do constantly. I really wish that you can someday look in the mirror and be proud of yourself and about what you see."
Sean wants to pull his head away from the girl's grip, but he's surprised by the sincere look in her eyes. It's almost like she kinda cares for him, but why?
"No, she's just messing with your head. Other villainesses has done it before making me believe they cared for me then turned me into a weak obedient boy so they could destroy me. They knew how to use their beauty for their benefits, and this girl certainly tries to use the same tactics."
Sean pulls his head away with a jerk then stares at the wall on his left side.
"Anyway, right now Knife needs my assistance with catching a guy for another client. After that we talk and I will make you see we are not like those people who wanna hurt you. Eventually you will realize you can trust us."
"GGGGRRMPH!" Sean grumbled as reply then felt the girl standing up from the bed. He kept his eyes pin pointed on the wall then listened how the men and the girl leave the room.
The girl halts in the doorway then smiles; "You don't mind if my cats keep you company, right? Smelly and Gino seem to like you."
Without waiting for Sean's reply, the girl closes and locks the door behind the two cats that roamed inside. Sean looked at the creatures and he recognized both of them as the red and white tabby cat that was inside the crumbling building he used to hide from the child snatchers. The other one was the scrawny cat he fed onto the fire escape.
The little cat recognized him as well and leaped up onto the bed with a soft meow then nuzzled his entire length down Sean's legs as it made way toward his upper body.
"Shoo cat, I don't like you," Sean scowled when the cat stepped his front paws onto Sean's chest and started to knead the thick fabric of his jacket, gently.
Ignoring Sean's harsh words, the cat proceeded purring then stepped on Sean's chest and starts circling a few times before flopping down, looking at Sean with one eye open.
"Yeah, you heard me! Get off of me!" Sean scowled then he flailed his body from left to right in an attempt to shake the cat off. The cat just looks at him while digging his claws into the jacket's fabric. "YOU'RE AN IDIOT, JUST LIKE YOUR OWNER!"
The cat simply meowed then closed both eyes and purred satisfied.
"Why the fuck are cats incredibly disobedient?! Why can't they understand I don't like them? Why do they have to leave their dirty cat hair all over me? GET OFF OF ME YOU PSYCHO CAT!"
Sean starts to tug his restraints and moves his body as violently as he can, but the cat simply purred and resumed sleeping. In a flash, Sean saw the other cat jump onto the bed as well then curiously stepped onto Sean's chest to sniff his face.
"AAAGH! Get away from my face! CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE GET THESE BASTARDS OUT OF HERE?!"
The red/white haired cat left Sean's face alone then lingered to the end of the bed then suddenly backs up against Sean's legs and his tail goes straight up.
Knowing what the sign indicates, Sean eyes widens in utter shock then he yells; "Don't you dare mark me as your property! CAN SOMEBODY TAKES THESE CATS OUT? THIS ONE TRIES TO SQUIRT URINE ALL OVER ME!"
Suddenly the door swings open and the poor kid wished it would be either Knife or one of the other men, but to his shock it was the crazy cat-like girl.
"Rascal, bad girl! What did mommy tell you?"
Sean looks astonished as he watches the girl take the cat off the bed then points at him and says; "MINE! Mommy told you, hunky-spunky boy is MINE!"
The cat simply meowed then it's tail starts to quiver and Sean instinctively moved his legs as far away as the steeled cuffs allowed him to and the yellow liquid fell on the mattress.
"Ugh, bad, bad Rascal! Mommy said MINE! You cannot just ignore me and claim my property as yours! You know what young lady, you will spend your time in the naughty corner for a while!"
And with that, Sean eyes nearly dropped from his sockets when the girl stomped with the cat back to the door. Before Sean had the chance to ask her about the other cat, the door slammed shut and gets locked securely.
"Cat, where are you? I told you we needed to hurry if we wanna catch that dude for my other client!"
"Yeah, I told you I needed to grab my jacket!"
"Then why are holding that freaking cat?!"
"First, it's not a freaking cat, and second, she tried to be territorial and claim Sean Ornelas. You stay there, young lady! Don't you dare scratch that door and meow your way in! And neither of you idiots dare to irk me and let her in that room!"
Sean looks at the sleeping cat on his stomach then yells; "CAN SOMEBODY GET THIS ONE AS WELL?!"
Instead of receiving a reply, Sean hears the front door shut and a few seconds later a van engine starts before driving off.
"THERE IS STILL A CAT IN HERE!"
The door starts to shake violently when one of the goons pounded at the door on the other side then yelled; "Quit your screaming! It's annoying!"
"Then you shouldn't kidnap me!"
"Shut up!"
"You shut up!" Sean barked back then looks at the cat who still slept on his stomach as if everything was fine. Sean slowly starts to realize that trying to get the cat off of him was useless, and now, just sitting there, he felt completely and utterly helpless.
"I don't understand why Tommy puts up with that girl and her orders," Sean heard one of the guards outside say to the other. "There are moments I just wanna shoot a bullet into her then claim it was by accident."
"Yeah, I don't get it either why we are here babysitting that ugly troll. Maybe we can kill him and claim he tried to escape."
Sean's eyes widens in fear then the first one says; "Nah, let's wait for test number 3."
"And what is test number 3 again?"
"Punching him to pulp while he tries to fight back, blindfolded."
"Oh yes, I remember," the second man replied then both of them burst into an uproarious laughter.
Sean rolls his eyes; "No way I sit here and wait for you two to use me as target practice."
The young boy starts to tug at his restraints again, but again all it did was digging deeper into his skin. Sean clenched his teeth in anger and tugged harder.
"No way her knots will keep me here!"
Sean pulled harder and harder while blocking out the pain. At a certain point he was able to get his head reach one of his wrists far enough to grab the rope with his teeth. The cat had woken up and looked at him, sympathetically.
"You would be more use to me if you actually helped me untying these ropes instead of eyeballing me."
The cat simply meowed and watched Sean tug at the rope with his teeth. Sean could finally feel them loosen and after what seemed hours, he finally freed one arm. Then he used his free hand to untie the knots of his other hand.
"No! Please… I didn't do anything!"
Sean's eyes widen in fear when he hears an adult man whimper frantically while getting dragged into the warehouse. It will only take seconds before that crazy girl would come in again, like she said she would.
And he was right. The girl's footsteps approach the door then Sean hears a soft click indicating the lock gets unlocked. Then the door handle moves down and panic takes over Sean's body when his eyes snap at his unbounded hand. She would definitely notice it and then…
"Cat, I know you wanna go check on your toy, but I need your assistance here."
Sean looks at the door, fearfully. The door handle had stopped moving but he could still see her standing outside the door. The small seam of light that came through underneath the door was partly gone, meaning, someone's feet was blocking it.
"Can it wait?!"
Sean hears Knife mumble something un-audible before grunting; "Of course it can't wait, Cat! I need you to get me that thing."
"What thing?"
"You know, that thing!"
Obviously the girl is frowning puzzled because Sean hears The Knife grunt; "Well done, Cat! Now he knows there is no such thing as that thing! Oh well, just give me that blindfold and you do your thing."
"And I do what thing?"
"Really Cat? Are you really that dent or just pretending so I'll let you check up on your spunky boy?"
Sean hears the prisoner gasp; "You have another prisoner captured inside that room? Then you all must be really insane!"
"Yes, but unlike you, the hunky boy in there won't lose any fingers but you will if you don't talk," Sean heard the girl reply, still she didn't walk away from the door. The door handle started to move slowly and Sean's heartbeat increased in fear.
The door opened a creak then suddenly…"Rascal, what did I tell you?!" the girl yelled angrily and Sean could see the territorial cat tried to wriggle herself through the tiny creak when the girl wanted to open the door.
Sean holds his breath in fear then grabbed one of the bars of the headboard pretending to be still tied to it. The cat managed to squeeze herself inside then the girl followed to grab the cat.
"Rascal, get back right now. That boy is MINE!"
The cat jumped onto the bed then backed up against Sean's legs and pulled his tail up. The girl approached fast then a short fight between the girl and the cat ensued as they growl and hiss at one another.
The girl captured the cat then winked at Sean; "Hiya, sexy hunk."
"CAT!"
"YES! UGH, I WILL DO THAT THING IF IT MAKES YOU STOP WHINING! Don't go anywhere," the girl said with another wink then dashed out the room, cat and all.
Sean listened then heard how Knife started to interrogate the new prisoner and it didn't sound pleasant. He knew it was best to escape as fast as possible.
The street boy starts to untie the knots of his other bounded hand and blocks out the screams and whimpers from the other room. Freeing his second arm took a few minutes less than freeing his first arm.
The cat relocated from Sean's stomach to the mattress then watched how Sean moved to the foot-board and examined the steeled cuff around his ankle. It was too thick and trying to make the bar of the bed break might alarm the bad guys.
Sean dragged in a desperate sigh. His hands are finally freed but he's still shackled to the bed.
"Why did she had to frisk me so thoroughly and take my lock-pick," Sean thought when the memory of him being frisked by the girl right after being pushed in the back of the van. He fought hard, but she still managed to take it, mainly because she started to feel his chest abs and when he objected to that, she used the opportunity to snatch the pick-lock from his pocket. "Stupid girl."
"NO, AAGH, NOT MY FINGERS! LEAVE MY FINGERS ALONE!"
Sean's eyes widen in fear upon hearing the man scream and plead his abductors to not cut his fingers off. Sean can hear Knife grunt and yell at the man to spill everything he knows.
"But I don't know anything!"
"Alright-y then! Cat, could you please leave the room? I would hate to see this horrible scene of bleeding hands printed in your memory."
Sean starts to look around himself, frantically. He needs something, even the smallest object would work to pick the steeled cuff's lock open, and it would be more amazing if he could find it before the girl would walk in, because his 'cell' would be the most obvious place she would 'hide' for the so called horrible scenery.
The street boy can hear her wince sadly then exclaiming; "Knife, I'm pretty sure I can handle this!"
"Cat! I'm warning you, this is going to look ugly."
"Fine!" she yelled then Sean heard her footsteps approach, but before she had the chance to unlock the door, the abducted man starts to spill every secret he has to tell about his boss.
Sean sighs in relief when the girl's footsteps stop then walk back. It means he's safe for now, but still needs to find a way out, fast. Suddenly he gets the brightest idea ever.
Sean looks at the edge of the thin, dirty mattress he's sitting on then grabs the cord on the edge and rips it off with force. Luckily for him the mattress is worn off and old which makes the job a lot easier.
Then he carefully removes a part of the side until he reaches the part where he can pull back the mattress fabric and sees the soft stuff underneath it. And then he spots the tiny things he was looking for, the staples.
There weren't many and usually he would have needed something to get them out, but there are a few sticking out far enough and his nails could do the job perfectly.
Once Sean finally got one out he bended it straight then wriggled with it into the lock of the cuff around his ankle. The cat was eyeballing his every move and it made Sean slightly nervous.
The lock finally snapped open and Sean's ankle is free. He instantly jumped off the bed then looked around to see if he could find anything to escape through. All the time he spend sitting on the bed he came to realisation there are no windows, so right now he needs to find something alternative.
Sean looks at the ceiling for a vent, but there was nothing. There was one right above the floor in the back of the room, but it was too small for him to crawl through.
"Crap. All that trouble for nothing," Sean thought to himself when he started to feel helplessly again. "No way! No way they will force me to stay here!"
"Come on, we all know you know more!" Knife said to the crying and whimpering man. The man just blubbered like a little kid.
Sean walks at the walls then checks them for secret panels. Nothing. Then he drops to the floor and starts checking the boards then suddenly discovering a fake one underneath the bed.
The street boy stands back up then softly pushes against the bed to move it out of the way, but the old thing starts to creak violently and the legs scrape across the floor loudly.
Sean holds his breath and listens. The man had stopped whimpering, and Knife had stopped talking.
"Crap, they heard you! Don't panic, stay calm, cool, and collected. They are obviously just listening to check my next move. If I stay calm and quiet they might think it was nothing."
"Cat, don't you dare check up on him!"
"But Tom, I heard something."
"Duh, he's probably still trying to tug his bounds and flailing his body around in order to loosen them."
"Now that is something I wanna see. I love observing and maybe I can catch a glimpse of his sexy-
"Don't you dare to touch that door handle, Cat!"
Sean hears the girl stomp her foot down before exclaiming; "Tom, you promised me I would be in charge of this! You have fun with him, and I want fun with my prisoner!"
"Cat, I will round this up quickly, okay?"
The girl grunts impatiently; "Yeah, you do that and I keep my prisoner company until you are ready, okay? Maybe I can have a little therapy session with him."
Sean's eyes widen in fear when he hears her say that.
"Therapy session? What therapy session. Fuck this, I'm not gonna wait to find out."
Sean instantly drops back to the floor and creeps underneath the bed until he can reach the fake floor board. He grabs it with both hands and pulls suddenly realizing it's an hatch in the floor.
Sean gasps in astonishment when he sees water. Then it hits him, the warehouse is partly build above the water and his only way out is by jumping through the hatch into the cold water and swim.
The street boy had been too occupied with opening the hatch and didn't hear the door open. Though, his attention gets drawn back when he hears the girl yell.
"Tom! He's escaping!"
Sean darts his eyes from the hatch to the door then sees a pair of feet rushing inside. He doesn't hesitate for a second and slides, head first, into the cold water. It was a daring thing to do but he had no other choice.
The street boy propels himself with his feet through the cold water swimming to the edge of the warehouse. Then suddenly two men jump off the docks into the water and Sean has to change course.
The two men, wearing diving gear, submerge then look around and spot the boy swimming away from them. They pursued.
Sean starts to swim faster and faster, but the two men close in on him rapidly then one of them grabs his ankle and pulls him back. Then the other one assists him by grabbing Sean's swaying arms then swim back and surface the water.
Once surfacing the water, Sean starts to squirm his body from left to right then finally one of his arms gets free and sways it at his attackers angrily. One of them feels threatened and backs away while the other one holds the boy around his waist, tightly.
Two other men jump into the water and grab Sean's kicking legs and swaying arms then the other man swims back and grabs Sean underneath his armpits, pulling him up then hoists him over his shoulder.
"NO! LET ME GO!"
They ignore his screams and swim to the docks where two men hoist him up back on land. The girl rushes toward them with a towel and wants to wrap it around Sean, but Sean kicked one man into the stomach then snatched the towel from the girl's hands and dipped it into the water before wrapping the dry part around his hand and wrist and use the wet part to smack the person who dares to come closer.
"Sean, please drop that towel," the girl said and from the corner of his eye he saw three men aiming a gun at him. "I said no guns!"
And with that, the girl kicked one of them against the knee caps who howled in pain and dropped to the ground. The other two quickly put their guns away.
"I won't allow any of you to shoot a bullet in that sexy body, you hear me?!"
They all nodded and Sean was slightly off guard when the girl called his body sexy. But he snapped back from it when he saw her closing in on him.
Sean swayed the wet towel round and round as a threat, but the girl dodged it then stepped back. Then she stomps her foot down and draws a pouty face.
"Come on, Sean! I'm trying to be friends with you, remember?"
"Stay back, because I will hurt you!"
Instead of feeling threatened, the girl winked at Sean flirtatiously.
Sean's mouth drops agape; "What is wrong with her? can't she see I'm not bluffing?"
The girl takes a step forward then Sean smacks the wet towel toward her face. His mouth drops even more agape when he witnesses her cat-like reflexes and she grabbed the towel before it could touch her face.
The girl sends a cocky smirk then pulls onto the towel forcefully and Sean nearly lost his footings. He instantly fixed his bearings then pulled as well in an attempt to make the girl loose her footings. A tug war ensues.
The both of them pulled harder and harder then unexpectedly, the girl lets Sean win by pretending she lost her footings then collapsed into him, knocking them both to the ground.
"Get off of me!" Sean yelled angrily when the girl's face was inches away from his. To his surprise he saw her eyes sparkle cheeky and a smirk curled onto her face as she slowly moves her face even closer.
"Wait, is she going to kiss me? No, she's pretending so her men can use the opportunity to grab me."
Sean grabbed her arms with force then rolled her off of him then scrambled to his feet and readied his fists. The girl jumped to her feet as well and did the same thing.
Sean rounds on one leg to kick the girl with the other one, but she dodges it surprisingly fast. Sean had never seen a person act so fast. Suddenly the name Cat makes a lot more sense to him.
The girl rounds on her foot then kicks the other toward Sean's stomach, but Sean saw it happen and instinctively he grabbed it then pulled, knocking her to the ground. A soft yelp escaped her throat when she hit the ground.
Then, unexpectedly, she grabbed his knee and pulled. Sean jumped up and down on one leg, kicking with the other so she would let go, but she just grinned and kept pulling.
"Let me go, you psycho girl!"
"Awe, but I want you to stay," the girl replied and Sean was slightly off guard when it sounded like she purred those words.
"How many cat-like things can she do? It's like she was raised by cats instead of humans."
The girl kept hugging his leg tightly while nuzzling her face against it, purring happily.
"LET ME GO!"
Sean tried to pull his leg free, but then another idea enters his head and he drops himself to the ground, unexpectedly. Then he uses his free leg to lock it around the girl's neck and she screamed slightly.
"Let my leg go or I'll squeeze your neck," Sean threatened.
The girl shook her head rapidly and gasps; "But all I want is-
"I don't care what you want! Let go or I'll-
Sean couldn't finish his sentence because he received a blow to his head then everything turns black.
Sean snaps his eyes open with a frightened gasp and finds himself tied to the chair again only this time he's not alone. The man they captured after him sits in the chair beside him, sobbing and whimpering.
The street boy's eyes land on the smirking girl standing parallel of him.
"Sorry, but Knife really had to take you out like that. But don't worry, I'm a really great nurse. You can barely see the stitches."
Knife grunts loudly; "Oh come on, I didn't even hit that hard!"
"Lucky for you, otherwise I would have showed you how much pain I can inflict on your body before you pass out!"
Knife stomps toward the man he kidnapped then grabs the back rest and rounds it before scowling; "You know what, I can't look at you right now. I'll take this cry baby to the back and leave you alone with him!"
And with that, Knife drags the seat with the man still tied on it to the back while muttering; "Sometimes I wish I had left her on the streets. But no, I stupidly looked into her kitten like eyes and turned into weak jelly."
The man cried and screamed in fear, but Knife ignored him and dragged him into Sean's previous cell then closed the door. Then the door opened again and Knife pushed the orange/white cate outside then shut the door again.
"Oh very mature, Tom!" the girl yelled then rubbed the sides of her head and looks at Sean; "And that is why I need friends of my own age, because the ADULTS IN MY LIFE ACT LIKE BABIES!"
A smirk curls up her face as she listens and waits for Knife to retort something back, but nothing happens.
"What, no clever or witty RETORT?"
"I'LL JUST TRYING TO BE THE ADULT HERE AND IGNORE YOU?!"
"Ugh, idiot," the girl scowled then strikes her chin and eyes Sean up and down interestedly. "How big are the guns that you are packing underneath that jacket?"
Sean frowns; "What? Guns? I don't have any guns on me."
The girl simply wiggles her eyebrows flirtatiously; "I'm talking about your abs, silly."
Sean blushes madly then clears his throat and says with firm voice; "I knew that, but I don't have those either."
"Hey, I frisked your body to take your weapons and other tiny gadgets and I definitely felt something around this area," the girl grinned and pointed at all of Sean's upper body.
Sean starts to feel very uncomfortable, but refuses to show it to the girl and snaps; "It's called bones, not abs. That's what happens with boys on the streets who have no opportunity to eat three meals a day. They get skinny and-
"Hey, I know what it's like on the streets, alright?! I already wandered around when your bike still had training wheels!"
Sean blows through his nose angrily and looks away.
"But kid, those are abs and not bones, alright?" the girl said with much gentler voice. "Look, I found some files about you in detective Bullock's apartment."
Sean snorts; "Found. Stolen more likely."
"Hey, I broke in then found the files. I had to take them with me because I heard something, but I still found them because I didn't know it would be there, now did I?"
"Then why did you break in?"
The girl shrugs; "I was bored and hungry."
"Yeah right."
"And since I like reading material while eating I searched for a magazine but stepped onto a fake floor board, and since I'm extremely curious by nature….
"Let me guess, you had to poke your nose in someone else's secret hiding spot?"
The girl nods rapidly.
"Anyway, Knife wants to do another test with you before he finally believes you are the Ornelas of the wealthy Ornelas family."
Sean rolls his eyes annoyed; "Yeah, test number 3, right?"
The girl frowns; "How do you know that?"
"What I like to know is why it's called test number 3. Why not 1 or 2?"
The girl starts to circle around Sean again while stroking her finger through his neck then replies; "Test 1 was to check your awareness of presence. I'm pretty sure I walked stealthy enough and still you knew when I walked clockwise or counter clockwise."
"Or maybe I just followed the scent of cats that lingers around you."
The girl sends a half-smile then says; "Still impressive. Not many people rely on their other senses or even know how to use them in their own advantage."
"And test 2?"
The girl stands still in front of Sean then points at the room; "I knew you would be smart enough to escape, but Knife had his doubts."
"How does that even proof I am the Sean Ornelas?"
The girl looks thoughtfully then replies; "Actually, it doesn't. But now we know you are a very smart and resourceful boy."
Sean rolls his eyes.
"Okay, my turn. How do you know about test 3?"
Sean looks away and replies; "Why would I tell you. It's not like you would believe me."
"We are not your enemy, Sean."
Sean snorts doubtfully; "Yeah right? I'm tied to a freaking chair and all she keeps repeating is the; we are not your enemy thing. Why would I trust her? I'll just escape during test 3 and I will leave Gotham instantly."
Sean suddenly feels eyes staring at him then looks from the corner of his eye and sees the girl eyeballing him interestedly.
"Did you know you have a cute little wrinkle on your forehead when you think really hard? It makes me wanna know what is going on in that pretty head."
Sean clenches his bounded fists behind his back and yells; "Stop saying those things! I am not sexy, hunky, pretty, or cute. I'm ugly, so just say it instead of pretending something otherwise!"
Sean can see his harsh words did something to her. Her jaws dropped agape and her eyes widened in astonishment, or maybe she just pretended to be astonished. He didn't care and looked away.
Without saying anything, the girl stood up and walked at the door that leads outside, closing the door behind her.
"Whoa, you are actually the first one who managed to make her leave a room speechless," one of the guards in the back snorted.
Sean recognized the voice from one of the two men who guarded him while Knife and the girl was away, then scowls; "If you think you can beat me in test 3, you are terribly wrong!"
The man snorts cocky then the door to the other room opened and Knife walked out with a long, exasperated sigh.
"Alright, he passed out," Knife said while cleaning the knife on a dirty cloth that looked extremely red.
Sean's eyes widen in fear realizing it could only mean one thing. The man he just saw had a few fingers less.
"Alright, where is Cat? I like to proceed with test 3 before my client picks up the sobbing whimp in the back."
One of the two men in the back replies; "The kid upset her and she stomped out."
Knife guffaws; "That's impossible! Cat never gets upset!"
An awkward silence follows.
"Alright-y then. My client will be here in one hour, so Cat better get back fast or else we will start without her," Knife said then took a seat and sits down and looks at his watch for quite some time.
Ten minutes pass and Cat still didn't return.
Knife drags in an impatient sigh then looks at Sean who pierced his eyes coldly into the criminal's.
"You know, I know Cat for quite some years and so far I haven't seen her like this. Sure, there were a few boys interested in her, but she never gave them as much as an angry glare or chased them away with her knife."
Sean draws his eyes the wall, ignoring Knife.
Knife sits back on the seat then chuckles; "She was just a wee lass when I met her. Barely four years old. She lingered down the streets holding a wounded cat and asked pedestrians for some money so she could take it to the vet. They all ignored her."
Another silence followed that went on for another ten minutes.
"Okay, maybe we just should move on with test 3 without her. As long we keep us to the rules she won't mind."
"Excellent. Just cut me loose and I beat the shit out of you lot and escape this freaking city."
"Steve, give me that blindfold."
Steve does what's told and gives his boss the blindfold who in his turn wraps it around Sean's head and over his eyes.
"The rules are, you'll only get to use your hands and legs. If you'll remove the blindfold we will eliminate you immediately."
Sean scowls angrily; "And those I'm fighting against, what will they use?"
"Don't worry, it's a hand to claw combat, or whatever they call it."
Knife walks around Sean then slices the ropes apart and grabs Sean underneath one arm then pulls him up to his feet. Sean objects then pushes Knife away and stands up.
"I can do it myself, you know?!"
Knife chuckles; "Fine with me. You'll be fighting against six of my best men. They are fast, skilled, and they can punch hard."
"So can I!"
"Maybe, but their advantage is that they can actually see you."
Sean snorts; "We will see."
Then the street boy readies his fists and hears three men approach him from behind. Sean rounds on one foot then uses the other to kick his attackers, but he kicks air instead. Mainly because they dodged his kick.
One man swings his fist toward Sean's head. Sean instinctively ducks away then makes a round house kick straight into the man's stomach. The blow was quite painful because the man howled in pain.
Two men charges toward Sean and they both grabbed either one of his arms, but Sean used their strength to lift himself up and makes a backwards somersault, knocking them to the ground with ease. Then he punched the both of them in their faces.
The next goon approaches Sean and Sean approaches him then knocking into him with force. They rolled around on the floor for a while then Sean grabbed a fist full of hair and yanked the man's head still then broke his nose with a quick punch.
Number five ran toward Sean and wanted to kick him in the stomach, but Sean rolled out of the way and he kicked his friend instead. Knife watched the entire scenery in astonishment.
Number six wanted to hit Sean to the head with force, but Sean instinctively readied his arms and grabbed the guy's arm then flipped him over his back.
Suddenly the front door of the warehouse opened and the girl entered, smiling; "I think you might love this hamburger I- AAAH!"
The girl saw how Sean charged toward her, blindfolded, and dropped the bag with hamburgers on the floor before shutting the door and blocking Sean's way. Sean ran into her with force then the both of them fell to the floor.
They rolled down the floor like tumbleweed and after what seemed minutes, the girl finally won and landed on top.
Sean feels her body on top of his and gasps in shock and surprise. A memory of him and her in the nightclub flashes through his mind and he starts to fear she might use the opportunity and kiss him.
It was like she could read his mind, because her face curls into a smile and she leans closer. Then, when their lips almost touch, two goons grab both either one of Sean's arms and drags him away from under the girl.
That moment Sean realized it was a close call, because when they dragged him away, his nose brushed against hers. The girl let's out a displeased grunt and the two men look at her, weirdly.
Even though the two men just saved him, Sean didn't hesitate and punched one of them into the stomach then kicked the other one against the knee. Then he removed the blindfold and ran toward the front door.
"NO!" the girl yelled when Sean pulled the door open and ran outside. Then he starts to run without looking back.
Sean kept running and running with only one direction in mind, the borders of Gotham. Maybe if he's lucky he can steal or jump onto a boat that takes him off the island. While running he also realizes that Knife had lied, and that they were quite close to the city after all.
The street boy spots a row of buildings then takes a long and fast run up and grabs one of the building's fire escape then climbs up to the rooftop and runs across it to the next one, leaping over the gap between the two buildings and landed perfectly onto the next.
Then suddenly, Sean senses he's not alone, and that's when he sees something move in the corner of his eye. Sean stops running and looks at the buildings across the street and that's when he spots the girl.
"What, she followed me all the way here? But how?"
Sean didn't hesitate for a moment a resumed running across the building, leaping to the next, and the next, and the next. Then when he looks at the buildings across the street he sees the girl is basically running in sync with him.
Sean stops running, and the girl does the same thing. The girl grins widely at him then Sean starts to run back into the direction he came from. The girl does the same thing, copying all his moves.
The street boy gets frustrated and screams loudly enough for her to hear; "Just go away! I'm leaving this freaking city!"
The girl folds her arms then smirks mischievously and yells back; "No you're not!"
"And who's going to stop me?!"
The girl proceeds smirking then points at herself and replies; "Me, duh!"
Sean can't help it and laughs mockingly. The girl's face turns into a look of rage. Sean takes no notice of it and laughs tauntingly; "Good luck with that!"
And with that, Sean sprints to the edge of the building and leaps to the next one. The girl doesn't hesitate and starts running and jumping as well.
While running in a straight bee-line to the next building, Sean sees, much to his surprise, he and the girl are running at the same pace. Sean was quite impressed and astonished because so far he had never met anyone who could run as fast as him.
"Obviously she's strongly determined to keep me here, but why? Why can't she just let me leave this city?"
Sean increases his speed, and the girl does the same thing. Then he sees how she grins at him before pointing ahead. That's when Sean realizes the buildings he's running on, and the buildings she's running on are about to intersect with one and another.
"No! She will grab me for sure!" Sean thinks when panic starts to increase. "Then her horrible tests will get proceeded and she will maybe force me to do things I don't wanna do."
Sean is too caught up with the fearful thoughts in his mind, he doesn't calculate the jump to the next building properly and feels himself fall down to the streets bellow. He finally lands into full street dumpster.
Sean grunts warily and his eyesight starts to become blurry. He tries to fight against it, but when he tries to hoist himself out of the dumpster, he sees a blur of black leather and brown curls jump off the fire escapes across the street before making way toward him.
The street boy falls outside the dumpster with a painful thud then fights against the dizziness in his head as he tries to scramble to his feet, but the girl had reached him and pushed him back to the ground, smiling from ear to ear.
"Sst, it's okay," she said soothingly while stroking a hair away from his forehead. "No one is going to hurt you."
Sean opened his mouth to respond, but he felt himself drifting off to unconsciousness.
What did you think? Please let me know by review. I would love to hear/read your thoughts so far xD