Disclaimer: As my favourite bunny once put: "Them damn republicans and their copyright laws". Yeah, nope. Don't own South of Nowhere. I do own North of Somewhere. Wait, that doesn't exist. Just read the story.
A/N: This was supposed to be published earlier, but I forgot that I hadn't actually published it... Frank appears to be tampering with my memory
Yeah, my father definitely didn't say anything about this guy. I've never even seen this guy before. I'm pretty sure if Kyla was really here, she wouldn't have an idea who this guy was either. Spencer looked like she was about to correct him, say that she wasn't really Kyla, but it seemed like it was easier that she stayed silent until we were able to get the guy to leave. I shot her a look and she nodded, understanding that it was crucial that she played her role. If films told me anything the past few years, people who are after revenge are usually dangerous.
I glared at him, trying to look like he didn't bother me, and I crossed my arms. "Okay, Jeff. Your, old. Like, 30 years old. My dad would have had to of been..."
He interrupted me, finishing my sentence. "19 years old. Yeah young. Sit down." He growled, stepping forward. He was a tall man, wide shoulders, and built. If anything he was pretty intimidating. I heard Spencer squeak next to me, and I touched her arm. We stayed still in our spot until he moved forward, and I felt myself backing up until my knees gave out against the couch.
He had a shadow of a beard, and it made his unusually thin face look ragged, and his pale blue eyes shined in an unspoken fury. His dark wavy hair, about chin length, was messy, giving him a slightly wild look to his face. As I stared at him, I started to see bits of my father, in his eyes, the shape of his face. But I wasn't seeing my father. There was no kindness in his eyes. No laughter, or worry in his facial lines. Just anger. And he was growing angrier by the second.
"My mother was only 16 when your father, our father, impregnated her. She was only 16. Her life was over the second she realised that she was pregnant with me. She told my father, and the coward took off. Said that he was going to tell his mother, that he was happy for them, when really he was afraid of the officials finding out about their illegal relation. He skipped out of town, leaving my mother to raise me on my own." His face flickered with sadness, and he froze, trying to pull himself together.
It was clear that Jeff loved his mother, that he believed the story his mother told him about our father. It was also clear that Jeff had been brooding over this for a while, slowly growing to resent his father and everything related to him. After a second, Jeff turned back to us, sadness gone, replaced with irritation. He had calmed down slightly, and I felt Spencer scootch slightly away from me.
"Your father owes it to me and my Mum to have included us in his will. It was only last year that I even found out that he had died. That I found out that I had two other siblings, siblings I had gone 18 years without even knowing I had. That I had family." he stressed the family part, and part of me wondered if maybe Jeff had actually felt jipped of having a family. That maybe he was here hoping for family connection. It eased me slightly, and I started to feel sorry for Jeff.
His next words chilled me, and any pity I felt for the man disappeared. "I did some research, found a copy of the will, found my name. I don't get any of the money unless you two were to somehow become incapable of collecting the money. Say, like, if both of you were to go missing." He smiled eerily, and took a couple of steps toward us.
Next to me, Spencer started to speak, but I grabbed her hand to stop her. If Jeff were to do something, I'd rather the real Kyla not be here so that Jeff's plan was foiled. And If he was planning something, Spencer was the one person I'd rather endure it with.
She looked at me and I gave her a pleading look, squeezing her hand tightly. She opened her mouth to speak but I cut her off. "Kyla. Now is not the time." I stressed Kyla's name, hoping that Spencer would just get the hint and stay silent. It worked and she smiled at me slightly. She let go of my hand and sat back.
She looked at Jeff, giving him a tired sigh. "What do you want, Jeff? Are you going to kill us? Bury our bodies in the backyard of someone you despise, putting the blame on him?"
Jeff chuckled. "Oh no, they would eventually trace it back onto me. No, once condition of your money is that you stay home, go to school. But if you were to, say run away, never come back to claim the money in a month, you two would fail to meet the requirements of inheriting your trust fund." He stood in front of us, leaning down so that he could meet our eyes. "The only other option is to give the money to me." I swear to god, the man started to laugh like a maniac.
Spencer cleared her throat, interrupting his laugh. He glared at her, obviously pissed at her for interrupting his moment. She rolled her eyes, making him stiffen. "Me and Ashley are obviously not going to run away. So, your plan isn't going to work," she said, pointing out the obvious flaw in his plan.
Jeff shrugged, as if that major fact wasn't even relevant. "You'll run away. If you don't, I will be burying you in Adam's yard, chopped up and nearly unrecognisable. I'd rather you stay alive, and flee the country in case you come back and tell on me." He giggled gleeful, and somehow I didn't think he'd have an issue of tossing us in a meat grinder and spreading our remains like fertiliser in someone's yard.
"And how are you going to make us run away?" I asked nervously.
"Do you have passports?" he asked, straightening up.
Spencer shook her head. "No, why would we? It;s not like we could afford to travel since Mum squandered our money." I smiled at Spencer, proud of her quick thinking.
Jeff cracked his knuckles. "Not a problem I can't fix. Lets go." He turned around and started towards the door.
Spencer gave him a funny look and stood up cautiously. "Now? No packing, no cash? Wouldn't that look funny to fly without baggage?"
Jeff looked thoughtful for a second and nodded. "I suppose you can bring a bag of stuff, but I'm searching it after your done, and doing a body check, so no funny business." he said, giving us each a death stare. Spencer nodded quickly and grabbed my hand, leading me upstairs.
Once we got to my room, she shut the door, and turned to face me. I've had numerous fantasies of bringing her to my room, but none of them involved a kidnapping.
"Ashley, what the hell are we going to do?" She asked, eyes wide with panic. "I'm not Kyla, and I have a life, a family that will notice if I'm gone. We can't just leave." she said, walking towards the door and setting an ear to the door.
I rubbed my eyes, trying to think. "Well, If we don't do this, he'll kill us, and if we bring cash, we have a better chance of surviving and telling someone. And if the real Kyla is here and alive, it reducing his chance of getting the money." I walked over to my closet and pulled out my travel trunk.
"What if he kills Kyla?" she asked, walking over.
I stared to pull clothes off the hangers. Me and Spencer were about the same size, so we could just share clothes. "Hopefully he wont. Once they realise that we're missing, and chances are it'll be Jeff who sounds the alarm, they'll figure out that it was you he took, and not Kyla, and they'll watch her closely so that he can't get to her. And maybe arrest him if he hadn't fled yet."
She played with a shirt that was hanging out of the trunk and frowned. "What if we can't get back? Like, if we go too far out and we can't get home?" She threw the shirt back in and sat on my bed.
"Then at least we have each other." I smiled at her and shut the trunk setting it on the bed next to her. She looked up at me hopefully, and I realized my mistake. "Not like that, though. Like, we know each other and have each other for company..." I babbled, trying to cover up my slip.
She snorted. "So now nothing happened? You can't admit it, can you? That you like me, and you want to be with me?" She scrutinised me, and I fidgeted with my fingers. Her eyes widened with realisation. "Your afraid, aren't you? You've been hurt before, I can see it in your eyes. Is that what is is about?" she asked, standing up to walk over.
I opened my mouth to deny it, but a loud bang on the door jerked my attention away. "Hurry up! I already made arrangements, and we need to make a few stops along the way. Bring the bag so I can search it." His footsteps faded down the hall and I grabbed the wad of cash out from under the mattress.
"We'll finish this later. Or never, cause it'll never happen." I said, grabbing the trunk and opening the door.
Spencer walked quickly behind me. "What do you mean, will never happen? Why will it never happen?"
I put my hand over her mouth and put a finger over mine. "Now is not the best time to be discussing this, now is it? We're in the middle of a kidnapping, and you wanna talk about us? Later!" I hissed, spinning back around and trotting down the stairs.
Spencer grumbled behind me and pouted by the door. Jeff came out of the kitchen, phone in one hand at his ear, large paper sack in the other hand at his side. He looked at the two of us and ended the call with a shut of his phone. "Strip to undergarments and spread 'em." he said, setting the bag down and putting the phone in his pocket.
Spencer and I looked at him, dumbfounded and he snorted in annoyance. "Now girls. We don't have much time. Unless you rather I did it myself?"
I quickly pulled my top off and started to work on my belt. I felt Spencer's eyes on me, examining my body as I quickly unveiled it. Again, not how I pictured undressing with Spencer. I cleared my throat and Spencer tore her eyes away and started to work on her own clothing,
Shivering in my bra and panties, I looked at Jeff. He made a twirling action with his finger and I turned around. Spencer followed, and tried to talk with her eyes, but it only confused me more. I listened as Jeff checked our clothing, searching the pockets. Eventually he finished and walked over.
"Sorry if my hands are cold," He said, setting his hands on my shoulders. I jumped, and started to panic. Why was he touching me?
He gripped my shoulders tightly and I froze. "Good girl. Just need to check your not hiding anything from me." His hands wandered so that they cupped my breasts. He moved them around, examining each crevice, not intimately, but almost professionally, like it was his job. His hands travelled south and clenched my eyes shut, holding my breath as he continued his search of the nether regions.
Finished his search of me he moved over to Spencer. "Your turn, Kyla. Again, sorry if my hands are cold." He set his hands on her shoulders.
She snorted and rolled her head. "Might as well have just had us stripped naked for this." she snapped, sarcastically.
He shook his head. "Nonsense. Your my sister. Incest isn't my thing. This search is bad enough." He sounded uncomfortable, and I began to feel a twinge of pity again. At least he still had some kind of family value. I guess that's why he's letting us live instead of just killing us.
I heard Spencer squeak softly as his hands travel down. I felt bad; Jeff might be my half-brother, but Spencer isn't related to him at all. As violated as I felt, she must be on the verge of freaking out.
He stepped away from her and handed us our clothing. "You followed my orders, and you're not hiding anything. So farm things are running smoothly. Keep it up and all should keep running as such. Soon, you'll be far away, and I'll be a rich man." He smirked and watched us get dressed. Brother or not, it was still creepy.
Once we were dressed, he picked up the trunk and opened the front door. "Ladies, after you." he said. We stepped out into the front yard and saw his tan Civic in the driveway. With a push of a button on the key ring, the doors unlocked and the boot opened. He stuck the trunk in the boot and shut it, and opened the back door for us. We stared at him, and his eyes flashed with irritation. "Get in the car. Now." he growled, and I felt myself enter the small car. Spencer followed, and Jeff shut the door. He moved to the drivers side of the car and got in.
"Hope you guys like fish and chips, since where you're going, you'll be eating a lot of it." He turned the key in the ignition, and the car choked to life. Spencer grabbed my hand tightly, and Jeff pulled out of the driveway.
A/N: I was talking to a turtle the other day. He said he saw a tan Civic pass his tree stump home just last week, makes me wonder what Frank has been doing driving my car again. That turtle is no longer living. He knew far too much, such as where my car was going. YOU CAN'T KNOW THAT YET! That's not until next chapter. I know, I know. Ashley/Kyla don't owe anything to Jeff, ladida, but Jeff is a psychopathic maniac much like myself with way too many connections. Now Spashley is going bye-byes, and the real story lifts off. Are you excited yet? Are you just shaking and quivering with anticipation? Are you willing to stalk me and pressure me into writing the next chapter? Cuz I'm not writing another word until people start givin feedback. And I really need to know if I'm going outta your comfort zone. If I am, FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC. That's what I want.