I just want all of you AMAZING readers (who have given me the most AMAZING feedback! THANK YOU!) to know that I do not own anything, that the ages are a little jacked up because of the timeline I have started things at, and that I love you all for clicking the link that lead you to this crazy story. Thank all of you that reviewed and/or favorite-ed and/or followed my story.
Important-ish: On my profile I realized that it said that my age was fourteen... That is wrong! Way wrong, sure I put, 'Hi I'm fourteen. Blah blah blah.' On there last year, the day before my birthday, fell asleep, turned fifteen. Got back on Fanfiction the week after, totally forgot that was on there. But I am now Sixteen turning seventeen June 8, I am most defiantly not fourteen. And yes, a sixteen year old read this book, I skipped all the icky (translation: sex) scenes screaming, "I'm too young for this!". In hindsight, I probably should have stopped reading, but (a) I had a pretty damn good reason to read the entire Fifty Shades Series, mom had told me that if I read all of the books, she'd stop talking crap about my bio dad- who I love more than her and my step-dad combined. I don't think she actually believed that I would have done it, but I did. And (b) the story is really entertaining and not awkward when you skip all of the weird stuff that I have to Google to understand.
Chapter 16: Run Fast For Your Mother, Run Fast For Your Father
It was dark, no it was light and there was something over her head.
That's it. Ok, so there is nothing over her mouth or nose, so she was blind folded. Her hands were definitely tied behind her back and her feet were tied but out in front of her. Was she hurt? Nicolette couldn't tell, everything seemed to buzz, as if she had taken one too many Tylenol and was high off of them.
She could hear voices- wait no voice. Don't call out for help! Things always go wrong in the movies when you call out for help! Nicolette shouted at herself.
"I got her. I got my perfect little angel. I can stop looking now and keep her." No, no! Please don't keep me! I am not a possession! Nicolette thought. "Or I could do as usual. Hold the ransom, get paid, leave her somewhere after a little fun." Ok, that is a little better, but not by much.
"She should be up by now. Why hasn't she said anything? They always say something when they get up." the man worried. They obviously haven't watched as many horror movies as me. Nicolette thought dryly.
There were hands on her neck. Nicolette did her best to keep her breathing even.
"Her pulse is good. Maybe she was lighter than I assumed, and the chlorophorm will take a little longer than usual." The man 'reassured' himself. Nicolette finally couldn't stifle a cough that was lodged in her throat, alerting the man of her conscious self.
"Oh good, my love, you are awake." Nicolette could practically see the grimy grin of the man that had been at Grey House that day.
"I am not your love." Nicolette choked out. The man slapped her harshly across her face.
"You will learn." Without warning Nicolette was tossed over something- a shoulder maybe and brought out of whatever room she was in, before being tossed onto something. A bed? Whoa! Wait! BED! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Nicolette thought. Briefly her hands were untied and then retied, so briefly that she didn't know what was going on. Her hands were now up against something cool, like metal or wood.
That would be the headboard of the bed. Now if you wish to keep whatever innocence you have left, I would start kicking your feet. Her subconscious rolled her eyes, and Nicolette began kicking her feet.
"God dam-" the man chocked out as she landed a hard kick to... the ribs, maybe? Suddenly on leg was grabbed and tied tightly to a pole on the other end of the bed, and the same happened to the opposite leg.
"You obviously need to be taught a lesson. Let me begin with lesson number one." A swift and hard punch was delivered to her stomach and Nicolette let out a scream.
"You now live to pleasure me. I am your entire world." Each word was punctuated with a punch somewhere on her abdomen. Her green dress didn't cover much anymore as it rode up during the tying process. Nicolette could hear the sound of a knife flicking out, and then felt the coolness of the metal.
"If you make me knick you. I will punish you further." The man growled, just as he began cutting her underwear off, something buzzed. The pressure on the bed moved.
"Whatta ya want, I'm in the middle of something." The man hissed, he bit out a curse and then left... Nicolette, his phone, and his knife. Now what to do, what to do.
Those thoughts were short lived as the man returned picked up his left items and kissed the inside of Nicolette's right thigh and left again.
Max. Nicolette thought. She'd probably never see him again, never see his smile as he 'attempted' to push her. She'd never see him tell her his promises again, even though he had broken a few of them. Nicolette still knew he loved her, loved being the one she ran to with her problems. She'd never tell him that she forgives him and loves him- whoa whoa whoa. Loves and forgives, but he hurt me. Who's to say he won't do it again? Nicolette thought, as the thought crossed her mind, the image of him at the diner fused into her mind again. He looked deprived, he looked sad, he looked honest, he looked regretful. He missed her. He loves her. He won't do it again. He got a taste of what he had after he lost it. He won't ever hurt her again.
Why were guys so confusing?
Nicolette sucked in a breath as the man entered the room again, this time when Nicolette was untied- she was rebound with duct tape around her wrists. Something thick was slipped around her neck, it felt leathery and cold.
A collar? There was a snap. A leash?
What the hell?
Her feet were untied and something was slipped over her body, a large shirt. Probably one of his.
"Come whore." The words slipped out of the man's lips as she was tugged forward by her neck.
Yep, defiantly a collar and leash. Nicolette thought, rolling her eyes as she walked forward unwillingly.
The man opened something and she was tugged outside of it. Fresh air attacked her senses as the light around the blindfold got brighter.
She was thrown over something again-probably another shoulder, before she was thrown into a vehicle.
"Stay down whore." The man ordered, he peeled off her blindfold and light attacked Nicolette's eyes, forcing her to shut them again. The blindness allowed the man time to duct tape her legs together and slam the door shut- but not before Nicolette saw the street sign.
Starlight Avenue
Resting her head on the floor Nicolette spied a small silver devise. Whoever this man stole this car from, the original owner had left their phone in the car. Deciding that the man up front was too oblivious to notice her grab the phone, Nicolette reached for it and grasped it in her hands.
Finding the texting option Nicolette typed in the number she knew by heart. Max's. Quickly Nicolette turned the phone upside down, and began her message.
= 3nu3^ + ... 3yt L3pun s3s!woLd Lno 3p w 3m L3yt3qot tyq!u ts l LnO
Which roughly translated to:
Our last night together we made our promises under the... + Avenue =
But, should he see it. It would look like a bunch of gibberish, and hopefully leave it alone.
With Max...
Everyone knows she is missing, its all over the television. People reporting that they've found Nicolette, before quickly dismissing that they have. Numerous times they have shown pictures of Anastasia and Christian. The usually stoic looking CEO, is holding his wife mournfully while she sobs. Pictures of her Aunts and Uncle crying, a video of Carrick Grey telling the man that took Nicolette to be ready to show up in court.
That was a riot.
My phone buzzed, telling me that I got a text message. Unknown number. I swear if its that Oliver guy telling me that this is my fault. I'm going to hunt him down and kill him. I open the message, and instantly I know who its from.
= 3nu3^e + ... 3yt L3pun s3s!woLd Lno 3pew 3m L3yt3qot tyq!u tsel LnO
Nicolette. She's gotten ahold of a phone, she's messaging me! I grab my keys and tell the boys that I'm heading out. There is no way that I'm not going to let this slide. Five minutes later I find myself standing in the elevator to Nicolette's penthouse home explaining myself.
"Look, Mr. Grey I know that none of you up there have a reason to trust me right now. But Nicolette has texted me and that little television interview thing, told everyone to tell you if there is word. And Nicolette is communicating with me." I say, a little bravely if I might add.
Instantly the elevator begins to move and I am twenty stories high facing the love of my life's entire family.
Her Uncle and Father approach me first. The large guard from earlier is sandwiched between them, and the rest of the Grey family with some police officers. I hold up my phone.
"She texted me." I'm allowed into the almost empty looking penthouse, the police take my phone.
"You must be mistaken, sir, this is gibberish. If it even is her, she isn't in the right state of mind." The police officer named Kent says.
"Turn the phone upside down and think. It says, our last night together we promised under + Avenue =. That's what it says." I watched as the family flocks around the phone- well, except for the Uncle, Father and Grandfather. They stand and glare at me.
"How do you know this exactly?" Her Uncle asks pointedly, her Aunt, the one marrying the Uncle, and her mom step back and move to their Grey Brother, as if agreeing with them.
"Its a perspective thing. When you hold the phone correctly, it looks like gibberish, when you hold the phone upside down, it makes a sentence. That was our thing." I swallowed, knowing that I'd have to explain myself further. And the looks from her family members reminded me.
"When we wanted to meet up, to do something she was worried her father would figure out about, we would turn our phones upside down and text. Like our own secret language. She's dropping hints, where she is... or has been." I answer.
"What's the answer?" The officer labeled Clarke asked.
"Starlight. We made promises under the starlight." I swallowed again. The officers pulled out their phones and began calling people.
"Don't let him leave. We will need him, if any other information comes through that phone." Officer Kent orders. Everyone nods and I meet her Uncle Elliot, Aunts Kate and Mia, Grandmother Grace, Grandfather Carrick (again) and say hello to her mom and dad.
Fifteen minutes later we are all in the "Great Room" when the officers enter the room again and show her parents a picture of something, her mom starts crying again. And her father speaks.
"That was the dress she was wearing earlier today." The officers nod solemnly as my phone buzzes, a phone call.
"Hello, Mike." I answer, frowning as I realize that everyone thought that it was Nicolette texting again. I am ordered to put the phone on speaker, and I do it.
"Tell me it isn't true. My little girl isn't missing." Mike asks.
"She is missing sir, but she's been in contact with me. Sending clues about where she is." I answer, I hear the man let out a sob.
"I can keep that girl safe for nearly seventeen years, and that man has had her for nearly two months and she has had brain surgery and has nearly been kidnapped twice!" I look up and see Christian's face. He looks broken.
"With all due respect sir. We both know Nicolette felt trapped in Haven, I saw her earlier today, before all of this happened. She looked so... happy... like she was free of the small town that she never thought she'd escape." I reply.
"She will be safer with me." Mike insists.
"No sir, not now. She may be safe from the world, but if she gets brought back to Haven permanently. I don't think she'd be safe from herself. Sir, I have to go now." I hang up on him. And I come to a decision.
If Nicolette is happier here, with that Oliver douchebag, then so be it, but before I do anything. I am going to beg for forgiveness and bring her home safely.
And make sure she stays here with the Greys. Her happiness will come before mine.
My phone buzzes again, and one of those weird coded messages appear again.
= otu! p3yseLc - s!yt p!p kcnLt Lnoh 3^oLp I 3w!t tsL!j 3yt
I quickly recognized as.
The first time I drove your truck I did this - crashed into =
What can I say, four years of doing this and you get kind of good at it.
"The first time I drove your truck I did this minus crashed into." I read aloud. The police come and turn my phone upside down and check my work.
"What did she do?" Elliot asked, I snort.
"Crashed into a barn. Driving stick shift is not good for her, but she has learned over the past few years." I shrug.
"Barn, the answer is barn. That narrows it down." Officer Clarke groans.
"From house, go fucking do your job and find my daughter!" Grey shouts as my phone buzzes again.
= t33Lts - ycueLp + Le3h tsel d33f hw uo s!yt p3ddoLd noh
I snorted, rolling my eyes. Wondering if she would ever get over that.
"You dropped this on my jeep last year- branch + street =" I say aloud, I got strange looks from her family and the officers before I explained.
"I was helping Mike take some dead branches off of an Oak tree last summer, her jeep happened to be under one of the smaller branches that was dead and I didn't grab it before it dropped on top of her jeep. She was mad at me for days. She is in a barn on Oak Street." I answer their unasked questions. I smile at the memory.
The officers walk out of the room once again, and I get a text.
noh 3^ol + pew qu!3p Loj hLLos wa I
I am sorry for being mad + love you
I nearly start to cry. I drop my phone and put my head into my hands. What the hell is she sorry for? I'm the jackass in the equation. She love me. She still loves me and all I want to do is kiss her silly, if she were here that is.
Her dad picks up my phone, flips it upside down and scowls.
"The message isn't important to us." He says sullenly. I don't mind. I'd be pretty sullen if my beautiful daughter was in love with a complete asshole. I itch to message back, but the buzz could blow her cover and I don't want that.
I want her safe. I want her sound. I want her here.