Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 5 (Captivity)

In the basement of a small-town mansion, behind a metal door with an iron-barred window was a woman with long brown hair and a face stained with tears and bruises. She stared in silence at the dimly lit chair in front of her, and was humming a soft lullaby.

Her lips were split and chapped, and her eyes bore a dull glow. To her right was a toilet and a sink, one of the only comforts her captors had given to this cell. She was seated on a makeshift bed with dirty covers, and the only light her cell had was a small overhead bulb that cast only a small glow over everything.

Outside the door were voices that filled her with rage and loss. The two men were shouting at each other, one of them proclaiming that he had no choice in the something he'd done.

Her eyes slid to the door, and the shouting quieted down. The sound of the bolt lock sliding out of place echoed through the basement, and when the door began to open, her muscles tensed.

The familiar sweet feminine voice poisoned her ears. "Trina?" She was ready for this. For years her fight had been down, but they crossed a line. The redhead entered, pushing a cart of food inside. "I made you some chicken."

This one was nice to her. She didn't know why, but hell, she didn't understand why the men and this girl were working for her kidnappers. At least they weren't trapped in any cells that she knew of.

Trina's nostrils caught the scent of roasted chicken and minestrone soup. "You need to eat sometime." Her kidnappers kept her alive just to torture her further, and they tortured her daughter as well. Despite her every attempt to fight them, her every attempt to keep them from hurting Victoria, they still attacked the innocent child.

"Leave me alone, Cat." Cat leaned upright and held her breath as Trina hugged herself. On the plate was a small portion of chicken with a spoonful of mashed potatoes. "Why won't you let me starve. Do they want you three keeping me alive?"

"I know you hate us." One of the men not yet in the room spoke up. When Trina's gaze snapped to the door, the dark skinned, strong man of the group entered. She pressed her lips together and flared her nostrils at him. "None of us are here at our own will, you know that. They'll kill us, our families, if we don't do what they say."

The third entered, his dark hair fell before his thick glasses and large nose. The man's face was red with anger, which was reflected in his voice. "They wouldn't kill you, Andre. You're too fucking valuable to them." Andre crossed his arms and bowed his head.

"Yes Robbie, I am aware." For Trina, it was Andre that did what he could, as little as it was. She didn't feel entirely hopeless because of him, and because of the 'deal' that he struck with her captors. "Trina, please. Besides, today's the day I have to take you out to the city. Cat's got the makeup ready, and the outfit, but you need your strength."

"Strength?" Trina saw the glint of the silver knife on the food cart, and her mind instantly flashed to her daughter. "She's gone. My strength is gone." Trina reached for the knife and peered out the corner of her eyes. Andre's eyes widened as her fingers wrapped around the handle. "And it's all your fault!"

She lunged for Robbie, aiming for his throat and forgetting her place. All she knew was blind fury and hate, the one good thing left in her life was taken from her. Very likely, Victoria was dead.

Robbie fell back against the wall, screaming out as her knife came close to his neck. Before making contact, she felt Andre yank her back, throwing his arms underneath her armpits and holding her in place.

Trina screamed in anguish and squirmed, demanding him to let her go. "Trina, stop!" Andre demanded. "Do you want to die?" Trina's eyes grew and a defeated sob fell from her throat.

"What kind of question is that?" What do I care?" Her heart pounded in her chest and each breath that fell from her lips did so with a heavy and violent pace. "My daughter's dead because of him." The knife fell from her hands and Andre released her, letting her fall to her knees. "She's gone! Let them kill me, Andre."

Cat fell beside her, fresh tears appeared in the girl's eyes, and her lips trembled. "Robbie only wanted Victoria to be safe, that's all. He didn't mean anything to happen, none of us did." Trina's hands moved up to her face, and her sobs turned to violent wails. "We planned to take her somewhere safe, they found out and thought it was Robbie's plan. They made Andre kill his sister, Trina."

"Trina." Robbie set his hand to his throat and looked down at her. "I know how you feel. I lost my sister and my niece because of this."

Her heart stopped and she slid her hands away from her face. "You know how I feel?" Cat shook her head and Andre smacked his forehead, muttering about Robbie's stupidity. "You think you know how the fuck I feel?" Trina grabbed the knife again and slammed it down next to Robbie's foot, causing him to scream and jump away. "Nine years. You don't know anything about how I feel, you goddamn bastard! They don't hurt you. They don't hit you, they don't cut you or w-whip you. They do nothing to you except threaten you!"

"Enough." Andre grabbed the knife from her hand, his shout echoed off the walls and silenced her. "Damn it, Trina!" She dropped her head and trembled as a sharp pain swept through her. "Victoria could be alive. We can't tell you anything because we don't want them to get suspicious. Cat and I left Victoria by a creek near the scene, there's been no other body detected nearby. Victoria's probably not dead…"

"But I don't know where she is. I don't know where my baby is." She hugged her abdomen and curled up on the floor, whimpering as her stomach roared with hunger. "I want my baby. I want my baby." She clenched her eyes and let fresh tears run down the side of her face and mix with her hair.

Cat reached for the plate of food held it in front of her. "Please eat, Trina. This is the nicest they've let me cook. I've seasoned it, and I've put everything I could think of in the minestrone."

"She'll eat when she wants to, Cat." Andre set the bowl of soup down before Trina and crossed his arms. She stared at the bowl and closed her fist in front of her face. Her body was weak from the hunger and the abuse, and she'd used much of her energy just lunging at Robbie. "All they really want is to leave her with the food."

"Why?" Trina whined at the three, her chest ached and her body's trembling seemed only to grow worse. "Why are the three of you even here? Tori-Tori would hate you, Daddy would…Daddy would kill you if he knew. How could you betray them?"

"We've told you, it wasn't our damn will. We had no choice. We found out what they were doing to you, and they forced us to help them…or they'd kill our families." He looked away and scoffed. "That woman upstairs, though. She's crazy, she can change her mood at the drop of a hat, we're all scared of her."

"You stand up to her all the time," Robbie remarked, "I hardly think you're afraid of her."

"You know what she's capable of, and so do I. I also know that I'm the muscle." He pointed to his firm chest and flexed his right bicep. His lips stretched into a thin line. "In case something goes wrong, they need me to fight for them."

"You could leave, you could escape and get help."

"I have my reasons for staying." Andre pointed down towards the two women, then crossed his arms. "I'm the only reason Trina's been allowed to see daylight once a month for the last few years. I'm the only reason those two maniacs don't go fucking overboard." Trina looked up at him and parted her lips, breathing in slowly. "And yes, Trina, all three of us are well aware that Tori and Mr. Vega would probably kill us if they knew we were involved. Sinjin too, I think."

"Um I wouldn't bring him up," Cat responded abruptly. Trina gasped aloud and clutched the girl's wrist with violent pressure. She had to know what was meant by this remark, though in her heart she already had an idea.

Cat pulled away with a startled whine and rubbed her wrist. "What happened to Sinjin?" She cried out. "What happened to Victoria's father?" Andre's shoulders dropped and Robbie let out a heavy sigh.

"Nothing happened to him." Cat looked into her eyes and started to inch the plate of food closer to Trina, as if she couldn't see the movement. "It's just. I think he may be moving on with his life."

Her heart stopped for the moment and her aching muscles grew tense. She didn't want him to dwell on her, but she didn't want him to give up. She knew better than to kid herself into believing she'd ever make it out alive, but it would be nice to know or believe that people were looking for her.

"He's gotten married to someone, hasn't he?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"He's dating someone new. She's…a bitch. Kind of like that woman upstairs." Trina's thin fingers slipped over her mouth and she let out a startled cry. "She definitely seems like the type of woman that would keep him from you or Victoria, you know."

The basement door opened and a woman's harsh voice pierced the air and stabbed her ears. "What's going on down there? Feed the little whore and get your asses up here. Trina, you'd better fucking eat. You only get two hours out of the month, the longer you take, the more time you lose from your little outside time. Do not make me come down there and force that food down your throat, because I let Cat use my seasoning and ingredients for that. I do not like wasting money!"

Andre bared his teeth and Trina moved a shaky hand for the bowl of soup.

Her privilege wasn't much of one, but for the past couple of years she learned to value every minute she spent outside. One of the two kidnappers, typically the man would often supervise from afar while Andre sat nearby in the bright café.

She was too scared to try and run, and she had a wire attached to her to prevent her from revealing to anybody that she was in captivity. Because it was Andre that convinced the abductors to give her this small bit of freedom, which was a tiny comfort, she didn't want to piss them off by screwing things up.

She would be caught, she would be struck, and Andre could very well lose his life while she lost her 'privilege'. They would never kill her, no matter how much she would beg and plead for death, they wouldn't do it. They used to use Victoria against her, and that was the one thing that kept her from wanting to die so she could protect the girl, but without her daughter she didn't know what to do.

Seated at a café table in the back of the room, Trina stared out the window with easy breaths. She wore shades, a purple turtleneck and jeans. During these times out, she was allowed to take a shower and clean up, Cat would have to use conceal the bruise on her face, and tended to clean up her hair.

"Hey." Trina flinched and looked up as a familiar man walked to the table. Her lips curved into a weak smile as he man sat down. He had dark hair that curled around his ears and flowed in waves past his chin. His brown eyes were warm and inviting, and his smile was the one thing that seemed to be as bright as the sun outside.

"Hi Jesse." Her eyes moved over his shoulder to Andre, seated several tables away with magazine in his hands. He knew of Jesse, and so did the male captor who supervised, but they did nothing about it. If the woman knew, then there might be a problem.

"Here again this month. I always wonder if there's something special about this place to you."

"Oh you know, it's just the one place I really feel…comfortable." She had to be careful what she said, because she knew he worked for the police. Narcotics, to be exact. She ran into him two years ago when Andre brought her to the café, and for a few months, he always seemed to notice her seated. One day he decided to talk to her, and now he was the only thing she had to look forward to in what bleak life she had.

His eyebrows meshed together and his lips curled into a frown. "Is everything okay at home?"

"Nothing to do."

"Where's your daughter? She's usually with you, or is she with her father?"

"Her father's out of our lives now…" She held her breath and closed her eyes. She didn't know what to say without giving away what Andre and Cat had done. That said, she couldn't give away her situation to this man. Just the fact that he was in with law enforcement was enough to make the male captor sweat. The only reason the guy allowed this monthly interactions was out of his own guilt, and the fact that this was the one thing that he could control.

"I should have brought Victoria along, she's always talking about you." Jesse laughed once and smiled back at her.

"Well, the little tyke is a joy to see as well." He looked to her empty coffee mug and motioned to it. "Would you like a refill? Caramel Macchiato?"

"Yes please." Her heart skipped and she watched him with longing as he took the mug and walked towards the counter. "If only I could tell this man, maybe he could save me." Jesse didn't recognize her from any missing person's report, but she was under disguise. She was allowed to use her name, Katrina, but it would be rare for anyone to put two and two together after so long, especially in such a small town.

When he returned, she perked up and smiled as the scent of fresh coffee warmed her nostrils. "You know what, Katrina? One of my coworker's friends recently took in a young girl. Not much was said though."

"Interesting." She lifted the mug up to her trembling lips and let the coffee delight her taste buds while the steam cleared away her sinus. "What coworker was this?"

"Samantha. Don't know if you've heard of her though. Sam Puckett." Her heart pulsed and her fingers tensed around the handle of the mug. She saw Andre lift his head and raise an eyebrow.

"I um, I can't say I know the name." She fought back a sob and looked away, concealing the tears in her eyes. If this man knew Sam, then there was a good chance Sam might know Jade-who would clearly still associate with Tori.

What were the chances of him reaching out to them? More than ever she wanted to tell this man to save her, to take her away, but even Andre would stop them if that happened.

Forced or not, Andre, like Cat and Robbie, was still a patsy. She looked down to the coffee and heaved forth a depressive sigh. There was enough time to finish the coffee, and that was it. Jesse usually understood when she had to leave, though he often seemed like he wanted to talk more. She wanted to as well, she hated having to go back to that house of horrors.

Still there was nothing she could do, and if she wanted to keep her 'privilege', she had to do as expected of her. Now that she knew this man might have a connection to Tori, to her father, she had to think of a way to make him know she was in danger. A way that wasn't obvious, like writing a note was obvious, as was erratic behavior.

As small as it was, she had a new fire, a new desire to escape. She'd tried to escape many times in the past, but she stopped when they started to attack Victoria as a result. If she only knew whether or not her daughter was truly safe, then she'd determine if survival or escape were truly worth fighting for.

No matter how much light these occasions out of the basement were, or the interaction with Jesse, it was her daughter that had been her primary light. If Victoria were dead, then she may as well give up whatever hope there could be, because there would be no more light and no more point to survival.

So, a lot has happened in this chapter. Tell me what stood out to you, what are your thoughts? Indeed those other three are forced to be there, and watched like a hawk by the two primary captors. Andre is the only one that could likely fight them at this point, but there's far too much risk involved. Maybe not all hope is truly lost, however.