“Have fun,” he winks and turns to walk away.
“Trust me, I will,” I yell before I close the door.
I lock the door and set the alarm before I walk to the kitchen. I stock up on snacks and move to the living room, where the big TV screen already shows the feed for the bedroom. Rachel is still asleep. I will need to figure out a way to contact her job since she will need a cover for that, but maybe Noah will handle it after Leo contacts him. After the three days we spend together, she will either fall in love with me and we will emerge from our lockdown as a couple or she will report me to the cops the moment she is free. Either way, it’s worth it. Maybe I am a little delusional. I am probably causing her some form of trauma, but that’s something we can worry about later. My girl is unhinged and unpredictable. It’s more likely she will be into this than be traumatized by the kidnapping. After all, she started it.She kidnapped me first.
Rachel
I OPEN MY EYES, FEELINGa little more disoriented than usual. Last night, I doubled the dose of my sleeping pills. Anxiety sometimes makes it hard for me to sleep, and having a new puppy, although it’s exciting, still brings some feelings of anxiety. The fogginess in my brain is very much expected; what’s not expected is that I’m not in my room. I look around. It’s a spacious bedroom with floral tapestries on the walls and a white iron bed in the middle. I see a white vanity that matches the rest of the furniture in the corner of the room and a fluffy carpet surrounding the bed. I try to move and quickly realize my left ankle is connected to a handcuff, keeping me attached to the bed's iron frame.That’s great.I search the corners of the room with my eyes, looking for the camera I know is in here. I can’t see one, but then I notice a little red light in the bookcase in front of me. It’s barely noticeable, coming from a flower arrangement that decorates one of the shelves. A camera is hidden among the fake flowers that form a bouquet.
“What the hell, Kai?” I yell without a trace of fear in my voice because I know for a fact that this is the work of my lovely biker. Kidnapping him was a great idea. A normal person would panic right about now. They would try desperately to get themselves free and run for the hills.Not me.I decide to yell at my kidnapper instead because that will go well. It’s a clear sign that I’m insane. Who does that? Who provokes the damn kidnapper?Oh well, I guess it’s this girl. “Kai, I’ll fucking murder you. Come in here and unlock the damn cuff,” I yell again, because why not make it worse for myself,right?
“Hello, little criminal.” His voice comes from behind the door, but the asshole doesn’t dare to get inside and face me. Stop being a fucking coward, Kai, and come in here. I won’t bite...much.
“Why am I attached to your bed, Kai?” I yank the chain just enough to make a sound for him to realize I’m fucking pissed. I’m not sure it’s his bed. It could be anyone’s. It doesn’t look like a hotel, but it also doesn’t look like this would be his house. The way this room is decorated, it’s as if an older woman decorated it. It looks like a mother’s room.
“Because, sweetie, I know for a fact you’re going to try and scoop my eyes out with a spoon if I let you roam free before you calm down.” Fair. That was number one on my list of things to do to him right now. Number two would be to bite his ear off while he tries to unlock the cuff around my ankle. Number three is my favorite, though: I would choke him to death with the fucking chain.
“Be a fucking man and come face me, you idiot!” I let out a loud scream to follow my words, frustrated, while I yank the chain as hard as I can, making a loud noise in the process.It’s pointless.I look around for my phone, but nothing that belongs to me is in this room. Everything is strangely new and unfamiliar. I notice the neatly arranged bookcase with psychology and parenting books; a pink robe resting neatly on the chair in front of the vanity; and the perfume bottles and hairbrush waiting for the woman who is clearly the resident of the room to return for her night routine. A half-empty bottle of body lotion with the cap still open, dust gathering on it, is on the nightstand, along with a book with a worn-out bookmark that looks like some sort of thriller. “On another note, where thefuck are we, Kai?” Even though this room looks well put together and neatly arranged, it also looks like it hasn’t been used in at least a decade. It’s as if the space were frozen in time. Someone lived here, clearly, but they haven’t been here in a while. My eyes search from corner to corner for more clues while I wait for his answer.
“My mother’s house. She died years ago. My siblings and I own the house, but I’m the only one who comes here. I’ve been keeping everything as is for the most part, except for my bedroom and my brother’s bedroom, where Leo stayed for a while,” he explains, and so many questions arise.Why the hell does everything look like this place is frozen in time?“I’ll let you calm down, my sweet criminal, and then we'll have some fun.”I know I will, when I scoop your eyes out with a fucking spoon. Number one on the list of how to kill Kai is looking very attractive right now.
“I know I will have fun when I murder you,” I say with a smirk he can’t see.
“Don’t be cheeky, Criminal. You know full well you won’t kill me.” He is so full of himself, but he also happens to be right.
“I think I might, unless you uncuff me in the near future,” I yell again and yank the chain that keeps me attached to the ankle cuff just for good measure.
“You know, I would do that if I didn’t think you might actually try to bite me if I come close.”Asshole.“So, I recommend that you get comfortable. I will be back in a few hours, or days. Hopefully you will be calm by then.” I hear his footsteps as he walks away. The bastard actually left me tied to the fucking bed. I am going to kill him. I am going to make it hurt, too. Who the hell kidnaps a woman like that? The guy I kidnapped first... I am the one to blame for my situation. My fucking delusions and love for spicy romance books will be the end of me, and the most surprising part of the situation is thateven though I am really mad about it, I kind of find it hot. He is obsessed with me to the point of kidnapping me.Who wouldn’t like that?
Kai
Iam sitting on the couch watching Rachel,my favorite show.It has been a week since she kidnapped me, and there has been a lot of back and forth between us. Here we are now, with her tied to a bed and me being the kidnapper this time. It’s almost romantic. A love story worthy of a song. She yelled for a while, and now she has settled down, sitting on that bed with her legs crossed in front of her, knees against her chest. The chain is stretched completely, and I am sure she is feeling a little resistance from the way she sits. However, my stubborn girl seems to find a little pain comforting. She stares at the door as if it will respond to her or tell her a joke. At this point, I think she might be losing it, but I am also almost sure she will try to bite me if I come too close. So, I choose to sit here and watch her until she calms down. It’s not like she can be more insane than the woman who thought kidnapping me was a good idea.She will be fine.
I am almost ready to fall asleep because, let’s face it, as fun as watching Rachel usually is, watching her cuffed to a bed is not. As my eyes slowly close, a loud knocking at the door jolts me back to the world of the living.Who the hell is that?It’s not like anyone knows this house. I walk toward the door, and Rachel’s voice comes from the bedroom right on cue.
“Heeelp!” she yells with all her strength. I should have gagged her. I am not too worried about anyone hearing her; the house has good soundproofing. As long as that door remains closed, no one will really hear her.
I look through the Ring camera on my phone and see Leo with Noah standing at the door. I open it with a smile. “Hello, gentlemen. How may I help you this fine evening?”
“Cut the crap, Kai.” Noah pushes past me and enters the house with Leo right on his trail. “You know, if you wanted to kidnap her, you could have said something before so I didn’t have to come up with a lie about why she’s not at work.” I laugh, because this man is not pissed off that I kidnapped his best friend but because I did not share my plan first.
“My apologies. I will make sure to text the group chat next time,” I smirk, pleased with myself, because there is no group chat.
“You should,” Noah huffs and takes a seat on the couch. The camera feed from the bedroom is still displayed on the main TV. “For what it’s worth, she doesn’t look like she will gut you and feed you your own intestines anytime soon.” Good to know. I am not taking any chances either way. “I told the salon owner that Rachel has food poisoning. She won’t be expected to work until Friday. Will that be enough?”
I chuckle. “Yes, that’s plenty of time.”
Noah nods in approval as he reaches for the bowl of chips on the coffee table. He munches on the salty crisps while watching the screen with his friend in full view. “You know, you two are kind of made for each other,” he casually mentions, and it’s the most wonderful thing I have heard all day. I like this guy. I totally agree; we are made for each other!
As I am about to respond, a sound comes from my phone, and when I look at the screen, I see a notification that I have been added to a fucking group chat by Leo. I look at him. “Seriously, dude?”
He smirks. “Now you have no excuse not to inform him.”
“The least you could do is share this feed with us; she is looking pissed.” Noah laughs as he grabs a handful of chips and passes the bowl to Leo.
“She does, doesn’t she?” I laugh and take some for myself.
“Do you think she will let you live when you remove her cuff?” Leo questions.