2. Mine
Ellie was exhausted, so I gave her a heavy blanket and a pillow along with the remote to the TV so she could focus on something other than her situation and possibly take a nap if her mind let her. I sat in the oversized recliner next to her, tapping my fingers on my thigh and debating what our next moves were.
She had sent her dad a text, telling him to call her and that Lucinda had something bad planned, but we hadn’t heard anything from him. The entire street had been silent as the day went on, and the sun slowly lowered in the sky. Dusk was coming, and if what Ellie heard was correct, Lucinda would be home soon to collect her for whatever buyer she had in mind.
The clock on the wall ticked away as my nerves grew. I had gotten myself far too involved again. There were an array of reasons why I was a recluse, but the incessant need to meddle was a big one because it always ended with it blowing up in my face.
Help a cat out of a tree? End up with worms and a face full of scratches. Help an old lady across the street? Entire outfit covered in sewage water.
Those were just the small ones. One time, I helped my high school friend set up his prom-posal. The girl assumed it was for me, and I ended up getting hit by her car, leaving me with a broken leg.
I wanted to help. I always did, but karma was never on my side.
This was the biggest one yet, and I knew something bad was headed my way. I didn’t know what and refused to play the what-if game. Besides, only time would tell.
The adrenaline had finally worn off, leaving me with exhaustion in its place, so I dozed off without realizing it. Sometime later, loud banging woke me with a start, and Ellie shot up like a rocket from her place on the couch.
I placed my finger over my lips, telling her to shush while I go take a look. I pressed the footrest in and stood up. Before I made it five steps, the door busted in, and Ellie screamed. Men in black military-style garb rushed in, pointing their guns at me, while a couple went and grabbed Ellie.
I tried to get to her as she reached out for me, elbowing the men the best she could. She was an Omega, so I thought there was more she could do, but maybe my facts were wrong about that.
“We got her, sir,” one of the men holding Ellie said into a walkie-talkie on his vest. “The kidnapper is surrounded.”
I scoffed and ground my teeth before signing at them. You fuckheads, I didn’t kidnap anyone.
They ignored me, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to them not caring what I had to say or if they simply didn’t understand.
“She didn’t! Lucinda was going to sell me. Mine saved me!” Ellie cried out as they dragged her across the room and out the front door that was now broken and lying in pieces. “Let go!” She kept fighting and screaming at them the entire time, then a car door slammed, cutting her off.
Someone came up behind me and pulled my arms behind my back, cuffing my wrists together. I wiggled and attempted to pull out of their grasp, but they were both stronger and faster than I was.
Finally, everything hushed as a well-dressed man who was the near spitting image of Ellie walked in and stared me down. He was barely taller than me, so I knew if this were a one-on-one fight, I’d win without a doubt. My knowledge wasn’t always right, but I knew Omegas were fairly weak, especially against Humans since their pheromones didn’t work on us, which was why they had the Alphas be their military force.
With my hands secured, I had no way to communicate with him and explain, but given he ignored Ellie’s calls, texts, and fit as she was dragged away, it didn’t matter.
“Hello, Carmine. I’m Gerard Lorey. Under statute sixty-three and the agreement between Humans and Primarchs, I will be detaining you until a trial can be set.” The posh exterior he exuded dropped as he stepped closer and got in my face, hissing and spitting. “How dare you steal my daughter. You will pay for this.”
No one paid him any mind, giving no reaction to the facade fading away. The next second, he was adjusting his suit jacket and looking every bit the council’s bitch, as Ellie put it.
“Nothing to say?” He quirked a brow at me, and I rolled my eyes.
I tried mouthing, “I’m mute,” but he looked at me like I was ridiculous and wasting his time with lies, even though that’s exactly what he and Lucinda were doing. No one gave a shit what the truth was as long as their image was intact.
Even if he believed what Ellie had to say, would he do anything, risking the backlash of his sister’s wrong doings, or would he actually protect his daughter?
“I have the perfect place to keep her, gentlemen. Follow me.” Gerard stepped outside, avoiding the wooden splinters, and made his way to one of the black SUVs.
A lean man who I thought might be a Beta opened the door for him, revealing Ellie who was still shrieking and trying to get someone to listen to her. It made me smile, and I hoped she popped one of his eardrums on the way to wherever we were going.
I was hauled into a second black SUV that looked exactly like the first, except the backseat was blocked off by cages to ensure the prisoners couldn’t hop into the front or the trunk. The handsy man behind me shoved me inside and slammed the door shut in my face.
All these men looked the same, so I wasn’t sure if it was the same one who got into the driver’s seat or the passenger’s seat, or maybe it was neither. Either way, the men in front ignored me as instructions popped up onto the screen in front of them, directing them where to go. I couldn’t fully make it out, but the area had little roads and was surrounded by a patch of green.
Wherever this was, it was in the middle of nowhere, and that was never a good sign.
I sat back, annoyed that I still had the cuffs on and no one bothered to buckle me in. To them, it wouldn’t be a big deal if we crashed and I lost my life. Honestly, to most people in this world, it wouldn’t be a big deal. At least it would be a quicker death than whatever they had planned. I didn’t really feel like rotting away in a Primarchy prison cell.
I got as comfortable as I could with my cuffed hands between myself and the seat and leaned my head back. My eyes tried closing again, but I forced them open, watching every turn we made, especially once we made it out of town. I didn’t know if it would be of any use, but I had to do something.
Thankfully, I wore thick leggings, a T-shirt, and my boots today and fell asleep before I thought to take them off. That should have been another sign that today was messed up. Who sleeps with socks and shoes on?
A jacket would have been nice, but there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d fall asleep in the leather jacket I had on earlier.
My long brown hair clung to me, irritating me further since I had no way of sweeping it out of my face or off my arms. Every bit of this was one big overstimulation, and I wanted to scream, but I kept it in, not wanting to make this worse for me.
Time passed, and I lost track of the twists and turns we took into the forested mountains. It had been hours since they kidnapped me. I knew that wasn’t how they viewed it, but given the actual facts of the situation, that’s what they did. I wasn’t in the wrong. I was now a victim alongside Ellie. I only hoped they realized that before it was too late for her.
The dark sky slid into place, and there was no chance of me knowing which way we went. The lights on the car lit up enough for them to keep driving without risking us falling over a cliff, but that was about it.
The second SUV was behind us, and I believed there was another behind that one as well, cocooning Gerard and Ellie for this little escapade.
My hands and wrists were numb, and it was working its way up my arms when we made one final turn into a roundabout driveway in front of a large cabin. It was nestled so well in the tall and full evergreens that I wasn’t sure we would have been able to see it without knowing it was here in the daylight.
It grew even larger the closer we got, and I wondered how many people lived in this mansion of a cabin. There was a large wrap-around porch on the left side that went around the back. The right side was mostly windows, and I knew that wasn’t the best option for keeping anyone under lock and key. The wood was the typical shade, lighter with a tinge of yellow, and a small second story jutted above the right side as well. As we looped the driveway, I craned my neck to see the back of the house, but it went far enough back that I couldn’t see a thing in the dark even with the headlights and the lights on inside.
Thankfully, bright, nearly too bright, lights blasted on and covered the area around the driveway and the steps leading up to the front porch and large double doors that led inside.
I was so lost in thought about the owners, what was going to happen to me inside and how this was supposed to be a safe place for me to be imprisoned, I didn’t pay attention when man one and man two exited the vehicle, ripped open my door, and dragged me out into the night as if I was a rag doll.
I grunted and hissed as they yanked on my arm, nearly ripping my shoulder out of its socket. I would be cussing them out right now if I had my hands.
The other two SUVs stopped, and nearly everyone exited them. Ellie was forced back in, but I didn’t think she’d stay there for long.
No one said anything, and the only sound for now was the forest life slowly fading away as if some big bad monster had come out to play.
Gerard and whoever lived here might think they had power over me, but I wouldn’t lay back and accept their bullshit. I’d bide my time, then get the hell out of Dodge the first chance I had.
Unnecessarily, the guard holding on to my arm and leaving bruises across my skin in the shape of his hand threw me to the ground. My face hit hard dirt and rock, and I knew a few new scrapes and bruises were added.
My shoulder took some of the force, and I groaned at the impact and pain that shot through me. “Quiet, Human,” man whatever number demanded.
I stuck out my tongue as an alternative to flipping him off. That did it. He stepped forward, ready to teach me whatever lesson he found reasonable, but Ellie’s screeching took everyone’s attention off of me.
I was never a teenager kind of person, but that ear-piercing and glass-shattering pitch was an unacknowledged weapon that I was far too grateful for at the moment.