A/N: Hey guys! I am so, so sorry for the long wait, honestly I've just been lacking inspiration to write, and to even finish this chapter was a struggle for me (It took me at least four days to write it - sorry for the crappy ending). Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter ;) Please review on your way out - every review inspires me to write more! ;) Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Rock, nor Camp Rock 2, nor... whatever else you might possibly think I own. ;)
"I have to go out, just for a little while." Shane's words sunk deep into my skin as I flinched, immediately shaking my head, my heart racing faster at the thought of being left alone in this strange house. I heard Shane sigh, and then Nate whisper something under his breath that I couldn't quite catch, and then Shane returned his attention to me. "Nate will stay with you, I'll be back really soon. Trust me, I wish I didn't have to go, but I have no choice in the matter."
"It's fine." I lied, although I probably didn't manage to fool him, with the way I'd panicked when he'd first mentioned leaving. Truth be told, I still didn't trust Nate completely, mostly just because I didn't know him as well, and there was still that little voice in the back of my head, convinced that Shane would leave me eventually, forever.
Shane sighed, obviously knowing I was lying, but deciding to ignore that fact that the moment.
"I will be back as soon as I can be." He promised, and I could hear his footsteps retreating into the distance, and then the sound of the door slamming shut. There was a moment of awkward silence before Nate coughed, and I smiled in the direction the noise had come from.
"So, what should we do?" I asked, still somewhat unsure and nervous at the fact I was alone in the house with someone I barely knew, especially after the phone call I'd gotten.
"Twenty questions?" I could hear the joking note in his voice, and, still somewhat reluctant to let my guard down, I offered him a teasing smile.
"Fine. I'll go first. Middle name?" I laughed, for a moment forgetting my previous concern and simply allowing myself to get caught up in the silly, pointless game.
"Jerry." Nate replied easily, as if there was nothing completely random about our conversation. "What's yours?"
"Devonne." I answered, for a second wondering how I'd managed to remember that detail, considering even my last name had sounded foreign to me earlier. I decided not to question this sudden memory, though, and continue on with the game. "Favorite sport?" I asked, as the random question popped into my head.
"Golf." I resisted the urge to point out the fact that I'd meant athletic sport, and instead just stick out my tongue (why, I didn't know). Nate chuckled, although I still wasn't sure what was so hilarious about this game, except it's extreme, random details. "What's your favorite movie?"
"Eagle Eye." I didn't hesitate to respond, and there was a moment of surprised silence before Nate scoffed.
"Yeah right. You're kidding?" He didn't try to hide the fact that he thought I was only joking, however, I was fully serious - that movie was epic. Shaking my head at him, I reinforced my answer.
"Not at all. Eagle Eye is just... awesome." I rolled my eyes in the direction of his voice, as if I couldn't believe that he'd thought I was just joking, and continued. "I hate chick flicks, sorry to disappoint you." There was another hesitation before Nate replied.
"You didn't... I just didn't expect that, honestly." He sounded as if he was apologizing, although I wasn't quite sure why, but I simply shrugged it off and instead continued on with the game.
"So... what's you're favorite movie?" I was curious, and slowly, I noticed that despite my immediate worry about being left alone with Nate, I was beginning to enjoy myself, unintentionally. Nate laughed before he replied.
"Juno." I laughed - I couldn't help it. After the fact that I had just revealed that my favorite movie was Eagle Eye, he'd said Juno... no offence, of course, but it was hilarious how different our style of movies was. "Hey!" Nate protested, and I simply rolled my eyes at him, not bothering to apologize, since we were both laughing already.
"Favorite drink?" Nate interrupted.
"Coke, of course. What's yours?"
"Pepsi." I couldn't help the fact that my mouth had dropped open - I was astonished with how different we were, in so many aspects, and yet how comfortable it was to be around him. You would think that with our differences, even in the little things, we would have a hard time getting along, and yet I felt strangely relaxed, despite everything that had happened earlier.
"How can you like Pepsi over Coke? Seriously... Pepsi's gross." I stuck out my tongue - of course, I was only teasing him, because I'd had Pepsi quite a few times, and it wasn't terrible, but it had just lacked the same glorious taste that Coke had.
"Not at all!" Nate protested, probably rolling his eyes at me, although I didn't mind. "Favorite food?" He continued, and I smiled, because I knew immediately what I would say.
"Chocolate!" I cried right away, and I heard Nate laugh.
Before Nate had the chance to make fun of my answer, the sound of the doorbell ringing silenced us both. I flinched, subconsciously, my father's words still embedded into my skin.
"Nate?" I frowned at the sudden silence that had fallen over us, and the fact that he hadn't responded. My initial panic returning, I rose from the chair, my hand firmly gripping the back of it as I once again called out to Nate. And, once again, there was no response. The phone call from my father flashed all too quickly into my head, and I flinched at the memory, my heart racing in my chest. Why was I suddenly so afraid again?
I jumped at the sound of scuffling feet, my hands still holding the chair's back in a death grip, as I half-turned in the direction of the noise, wishing - not for the first time - I could see.
"Mitchie!" I jumped, spinning around at the sound of Nate's panicked voice, before I felt someone grab hold of my arms, pulling me backwards. Panicked, kicking and screaming, I tried desperately to pull myself away, only knowing that it surely wasn't Nate holding me, since his voice had come from the opposite direction. Before I could jerk out of the stranger's grasp, something hard hit me over the head, and I collapsed, giving into the darkness immediately.
xXxXx
My head was spinning, the headache stronger than ever. My body ached, and when I tried to move my hand up to touch my burning forehead, I discovered that I couldn't - my hands had been strapped down to something. Groaning, trembling, I sucked in a shaky breath, my heart pounding in my chest as I struggled against the ropes that held me down.
"Don't struggle now, darling." I flinched at the stranger's voice, which was suddenly right beside my ear, hardly daring to breathe. "You won't escape from those, and you'll only hurt yourself trying to do so." I opened my mouth to lash out, to ask why I was here, to ask what they'd done with Nate, but my throat was simply too dry, and all that came out was a hardly understandable croak. Swallowing, flinching at the stranger's breath on my cheek, I turned my head away from the stranger and tried to calm my racing heart.
"Who are you?" I managed to ask, although my voice broke as I tried to speak, and I wasn't even sure that the stranger had managed to understand me, since he didn't respond right away.
"I'm a friend, darling, and soon enough, you'll realize that." The stranger replied, and although I highly doubted every word he'd said, I didn't bother to call him a liar, since my throat was in too much pain to waste my words.
"What have you done with Nate?" I asked, swallowing again, and slowly, my head began to clear. "And Shane... if you've hurt them..." I coughed, the words feeling like sandpaper in my throat as countless possibilities flooded my head. A loud, clear laugh came from the stranger, and I felt anger bubble up at his harsh response.
"We haven't hurt them at all, darling, in fact... they aren't even here. Just you." He responded, his breath hot against my ear. I shook my head, turning away from him again, biting my lip as I tried not to panic. "And soon, all your worries will be over, and... don't worry, darling, because Shane will certainly be coming here, if that's what your wondering." At that, my head snapped around, as I jerked at the ropes, attempting to launch myself towards the stranger. I wanted to attack - I wanted to scream at him not to bring either Shane, or Nate, to... wherever I currently was. There was another laugh, and I felt the stranger move away.
"She's awake, sir." He yelled, obviously to someone else, and another pair of footsteps soon approached, rapidly, although the new stranger didn't speak immediately. When he did, it sent chills down my back, and I froze, because the voice sounded all too familiar.
"Thank you, Rick." The voice was calm, collected, and all too mellow for the situation - just like it had sounded over the phone. I hardly dared to move, my heart beating much too rapidly in my chest as it all came crashing down on me. The voice, the man who'd called me his 'daughter', was the one who was most likely responsible for my kidnapping. The man's footsteps came closer, and I tensed unconsciously, my palms curling into fists as I waited, on the verge of panic, for him to speak again.
"Well, daughter, it's certainly been long enough." He spoke slow, as if he knew how much pain just the sound of his voice put me in, and was enjoying it. "Do you know who I am?" The question was stupid, because we both knew that who he was was obvious.
"An evil, wicked man?" I spat, and I felt him straighten at my harsh tone, although I wasn't sure how he'd expected me to respond, anyways. Had he expected me to feel angry, or had he expected for me to ask why - or, if the rumors were true. I had never heard of a father that could do something this terrible to his daughter, but at the moment, it was hard for me to doubt that he had. Most normal fathers didn't kidnap their daughters and then tie them up, or at the very least make threatening phone calls, and they certainly never had caused them to become blind.
Oh, how I wished for sight at this moment - but of course, they must've known that, because their laid-back attitude said they weren't worried about me escaping in the least bit.
My father - oh, how I hated referring to this man as that - gasped, and although he sounded quite real, I didn't dare to believe that he was innocent, in any way. Too much had happened lately for me to trust anyone fully.
"Darling... I'm not the enemy." His tone sounded warm, truthful, and I bit my lip as I tried to block out the sticky sweet words that he was filling my head with.
"Yes... yes, you are." I spat back, my head tilted in the direction of his voice. He was the enemy, there was no doubt in my mind. "You're terrible, sick, twisted..." I trailed off, as a sharp pain flashed through my head, right before someone slapped me across the face.
"How dare you?" This wasn't my father's voice, but the man that had first been in the room when I woke up. I cried out, turning my head away from the slap, before I felt the stranger being pulled away, his feet sliding across the floor as he was dragged away from where I was currently lying.
"Rick! Don't hurt her - don't you see how they've managed to poison her mind? It's not her fault. I'd react the same in such a situation. It's only typical." I hesitated - all these words, confusing and uncertain, made my head spin as I tried to decipher truth from lies. Of course, I couldn't deny the fact that Shane was the person I trusted most at the moment, and I knew he wouldn't lie to me. But had he simply be misinformed by Dr. Collins? Or was everything as it had seemed? I couldn't make sense of up nor down right now, and all I wanted to do was be back in Shane's apartment, with Shane's arms wrapped around me, telling me that everything would be okay.
"I'm sorry, darling." I flinched at his touch on my cheek - I wanted to scream at him not to touch me, to stay away, to take me back to Shane's apartment, where I had felt safe.
"What did you do to Nate?" I snapped, trying my best to ignore the lingering feel of his palm on my face, and instead focus on the important thing, such as what they'd done to Nate after they'd broken into the apartment. My father paused before he answered.
"We tied him up and left him in the closet, darling. We couldn't have him calling the police now, could we? Don't worry - I'm sure that one of his brothers is bound to find him... at some point." There was a slight chuckle as he finished his sentence, and I tensed, wishing they'd left my hands free, so I could take a good swing at him.
Instead, I felt tears filling my eyes, and running down my cheeks. I didn't want to cry in front of them - I didn't want to appear any weaker then I already was - but I couldn't seem to get the idea across to my brain. Ducking my head, taking a deep breath, I could feel myself trembling.
"Do you think it's possible?" I barely caught Rick's whisper, but immediately, I stiffened, not raising my head to show that I'd heard. My father hesitated before responding.
"That she's lost her memory? Yes, very... it was risky. That was always a possible side effect." He sounded thoughtful, and I flinched, wondering how he could remain so calm after everything he'd done.
"I hate you." I hissed, raising my head and staring in the direction of his voice, my tone dripping with venom. Did he even care? I couldn't see his expression, for obvious reasons, and his tone gave nothing away. In fact, he didn't speak at all. Instead, he simply turned and walked away, his footsteps (and Rick's, a moment later) clattering loudly on the floor, before the sound of a door shutting could be heard, and then... silence.
I jerked at the ropes that bound my arms, wishing that they would miraculously break, and hence I might have at least some chance of getting out of here, but of course, all that I got for my efforts was the ropes digging into my skin painfully, and I stopped soon, falling back against the wall and trying to choke back my tears. My mind wandered to Shane, and if he'd gotten back from his errand yet, and then to Nate, who I hoped desperately was alright.
I forced myself to stop crying - to withhold my tears - if only for the fact that I hated giving them the satisfaction of seeing how weak and helpless I really was. Of course, I had no doubt that he, understandably, already knew just exactly how small I was, and I was terrified because of it. He knew my weaknesses better than I did, myself.
It was that thought that kept me up that night, staring sightlessly towards the ceiling. In the end, I couldn't even trust myself, because... I didn't know myself.