Chapter 6
River
I sit with my head against the wall, trying to get some sleep. I’ve been trying all night to no avail. It isn’t the most comfortable to be chained to a wall while trying to sleep sitting up, and my captor must see that. He stands and walks over, unhooking one of my arms before tossing me a blanket.
“Lie down,” he orders. I almost want to tell him to fuck off, but I don’t. I’ve taken enough orders in my life and sure as hell don’t need to take more from him, but at the same time, I don’t know what he might do. Not that he’s tried anything yet.
I grab the blanket with my now free hand and pull it over myself before lying on my side, resting my head on my free arm.
“You really think this is going to work?” I ask him.
“Why do you care?”
“Because you kidnapped me.”
“And you’ll be back to your little rich spoiled life in no time,” he tells me.
I watch him watching me, wondering what he thinks my life was like, but I already know.
The outward portrayal is what he sees, just like everyone else.
The look of happiness and a family that cares about each other.
That’s so far from the truth, it’s laughable.
“You make it sound so glamorous,” I sneer at him.
“I’m sure it is. Not having to worry about anything. Bills, a safe roof over your head, or where your next meal will come from.”
“You don’t know shit,” I huff as I close my eyes and try to sleep. Fuck him. He doesn’t know my life. He doesn’t know anything about me, for that matter. And why should I tell him? He doesn’t care. He only wants the money, just like everyone else in my life. Money means everything to them.
“Tell me,” he says through a yawn.
“Tell you what?”
“What it’s really like if it’s that bad.”
“They hate you. They hate what you are, what you were born to be. All they see is a money sign. You’re not worth anything unless money is attached to it.
Sure, you can buy all the things you want, but what does that get you in the end?
You’re not happy. You’re not free. You’re living a life they’ve set out for you.
All they see is what they can gain by using you or selling you out. ”
“That doesn’t sound like what we see on TV.”
“It’s not. You see what they want you to see.”
“Then why not leave?” he asks.
“What do you think I was doing?” I huff a laugh.
“When we took you,” he adds.
“Yeah. I get what you think will happen, but that’s not what you’re going to get. He isn’t going to pay to get me back.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” he adds.
“Suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I tell him as I close my eyes once more and try to get some rest.
I toss and turn most of the night listening to the soft snores of the man who took me. I’m not sure how he’s sitting up against the wall with that mask on, sleeping, but he is.
I glance around the dingy warehouse, but there’s nothing notable about it. I can see a bathroom, but I can’t get to it with this chain around my wrist. I lift it and blink, trying to see it to see if there’s a way I can get out of it, when I hear him speak.
“You can’t,” he says.
“What?”
“You can’t get out of it. Don’t even bother trying.”
“You don’t need me. You’re not going to get anything anyway.”
“Did you have somewhere else to be?” He taunts. I sigh.
“No.”
“Then you’re fine here,” he adds. I sigh and shove myself up, knowing I’m not going to get any rest. I sit with my back against the wall, much like he is. I can’t see his face through the mask, but I can feel his eyes on me.
“This your first time kidnapping someone?” I ask.
“Does it matter?”
“I guess not.”
“Then shut up.” I sigh once more and sit in silence, waiting for him to say anything. It doesn’t really matter to me what he says as long as he talks. I can’t stand sitting here in silence. But his words never come. He falls back asleep as I lie here waiting for the sun to come up.
When it does, it peeks through the window, and only then does he startle. He shifts and begins to pull the mask off his face before thinking better of it.
“I’m not going to say anything,” I tell him.
“What are you talking about?”
“You can take the mask off.” Now he chuckles.
“And let you see what I look like? Do you think I’m stupid?”
“I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“Isn’t that what they all say?”
“I don’t know how many times you’ve done this, but I swear I’m not going to say anything.” Just then, the door opens, and another man walks in with a mask over his face. He looks over at me, then to his friend.
“Did you sleep? You look like shit,” he tells him.
“You can’t even see my face, asshole.”
“And I already know it looks like shit,” the man laughs.
“Fuck you. Are we doing this?” He shoves to his feet, stretching, and that’s when I notice just how ripped he is.
His shirt rises, and all I can see are colorful tattoos and muscles.
He moves quickly to pull his shirt back down, careful not to reveal too much to me, before bending over to pick up the phone.
“Yeah, we’re doing this.” He passes the other guy the phone and tells him to call. I can only hear one side of the conversation before he flips the camera toward me.
“If you think I’m going to fall for this again, you’re crazy.
Get your ass home, River, and I won’t have to punish you!
” My dad roars into the line. The other guy tries to tell him this isn’t a joke and that she isn’t in charge here, but my dad won’t hear it.
The line goes dead, and the men share a look through their masks.
“What the fuck was that?” one asks the other.
“She said she’s done this before. Faked a kidnapping.”
“You’re fucking kidding me?”
“No. I’ve done it before,” I chime in now.
“What the fuck? Why?”
“To see if he really cared,” I tell him.
“And?”
“He didn’t.”