Wrists bound tightly behind him, Eli watched as his captor's fist wound back again before it landed a strike on his cheek. His body hit the desk behind him as the force sent him reeling back. He wheezed as a hand wrapped around his throat, squeezing tightly. He should've known this would go all wrong.
Of course the Abyss would've known.
The moment they didn't receive any information from the tracking devices of course they would've known the Mafia found out. Naturally they would take action. What better way than to outnumber and take people hostage in the building itself.
His captor scoffed and left, leaving the office and locking the door behind him. Eli turned over gingerly to look at the others who had been held hostage. They seemed to all be unconscious still. The same drug had been administered to Eli, and it was slowly working it's way through his veins. At least it would numb out the pain he was feeling all over him. His vision blacked out as he slumped against the desk.
Meanwhile, Freddy Riley headed to an abandoned underground subway. His heart hammered away at his chest as he saw the people on either sides of the wall. He could hear the Call of the Abyss as he gave away more orders. When he finally noticed Freddy's presence, he stretched a hand out beckoning Freddy closer. Freddy knelt before him, finally seeing the full face of the giver of the Calls. jet-black hair spiking up with a gold mask on his face, hiding his true expression. A mask concealed his mouth as well, the design of the mask showing a menacing smile. As Freddy knelt in front of him, he leaned down and examined the other male in silence. Not long later, he leaned back in his throne.
"Make sure they don't mess up the plan this time."
Freddy shuddered, having never heard the Call this close to him. He looked up to the mask of the Netherwalker.
"Of course, sir."
----------------------------
Eli was roughly awakened by a kick at his ribs. He winced, looking around at the office. The others were already gone, and it seems wherever they were taken, Eli was going to join soon. He was dragged out roughly by the collar down to the elevator. He could feel his body aching now that he was fully awake. Indeed the others were in the lobby, all lined right in the middle of the lobby. None of them looked up when they heard footsteps bringing Eli closer to them, but some certainly flinched when Eli was flung across the floor. He lay on side, willing for the stinging pain in his side to go away. They pulled him to his knees and placed him next to one of their other victims before leaving to stand on either sides of the lobby.
"Mr Clark..?"
There was a hushed whisper beside him. He dared himself to look up slightly, realising that it was one of the armoury guards' sub-ordinates. He was also badly injured, bruised around his eye.
"Sir, are you alright? They didn't hurt you too bad did they?"
He asked again, hushed. Eli looked around, making sure none of the guards were watching.
"I'm alright. How did this happen?"
"Ambush."
One of the guards walked by, staying in front of them for way too long. Eli could feel the heat of their gaze on the his head before they moved away. Neither of the males spoke again until they heard the front door open, along with the gasp of quite a few people. The men on the sides rushed out to surround the small group. There was a struggle as they were pulled away from each other and forced on their knees as well. The same happened to all the others who entered until the two finance executives barged in.
"What the hell?!"
Norton took out his gun with zero hesitation as Jack dodged a member of the Abyss who lunged at him. It took six of them to pin Norton down, and another six to get Jack on his knees. Norton was snarling profanities at them, thrashing around.
"You either shut up and hold still, or this pretty boy's brain gets blown out."
Norton froze, looking up. Eli froze too. There was no mistaking the cold steel of a gun's barrel being pressed to one's head, and sure enough it was pressing against his head real hard right now. Norton shot him a look, having just noticed he had been one of the people held captive. The surprise was clear in his eyes before it was replaced by pain as a sharp kick was delivered to the back of his knees. His gun was cast away before he was brought over beside Jack, who was wordlessly held down by two Abyss members. The other executive looked over at him before nodding his head towards Eli's direction.
After about an hour, almost everyone was held in silence at the lobby. Even Vera put up a fight by spraying about half a bottle's worth of perfume into her captor's eyes. Joseph, confused, didn't need to be held down. The only people who hadn't turned up was Aesop and Naib. However, Aesop's car turned into the parking in a few minutes. There was no way Eli would ever miss the gleaming black car.
"Good morning- What the fuck..?"
He froze at the doorway, eyes sweeping around the lobby. His gaze hardened upon seeing the Abyss members, one of whom was on their phone. He looked over to his executives, who were lined against the wall. His eyes widened a little when he didn't see Eli, and for a moment he thought the male hadn't come for work, until Norton nudged his head towards the crowd in the center. Right there, injured and tired, was Eli Clark. Aesop made to cross the lobby to reach his lover, but the gun that was pressed behind Eli's head again told him otherwise.
One more step closer to him and he's one more step closer to his grave.
He slowly backed up.
"Holding my employees hostage and have my executive at gunpoint. What is the meaning of this?"
"Ahhh if it isn't Aesop Carl- No, boss!"
Aesop looked around and saw Freddy Riley emerging from the corner. He had a huge smirk on his face as he walked through the crowd of crouched people, only stopping a short distance away from Aesop. It wasn't much space, but just enough to give him time to dodge should Aesop try lunging out at him. Even so, the other male stood, a passive expression on his face.
"So...What is the meaning of all this, Mr Riley?"
Freddy snorted a little before he burst into fits of laughter. The executives on the sides shifted a little as they struggled to contain their anger. It didn't go unnoticed by Aesop as he saw Norton's hands ball into fists. He waited for Freddy to finish wiping his tears of laughter, all while keeping his eyes on Eli. Even if the other male was concentrated on the ground.
"Aha! Ahh you are a funny one sir! To think you would fall for this. I must say I overestimated you!"
A few more members came in through the door and whispered something to Freddy, who nodded and dismissed them. A huge smirk lifted his lips once more.
"Our small chat here was indeed fun Mr Mafia Boss but there is an important guest for you, and if you may head up to your office please!"
He pulled out a gun, a Skorpion, Aesop noted, and pointed it at Aesop's chest. The other male didn't flinch, but with one sweep took off his coat. As Freddy followed Aesop through the crowd of people to the elevator, Aesop dropped the coat onto Eli's shoulders before wordlessly leaving the lobby. In all seriousness, Joseph let out a muffled chuckle that sounded like a horse before being composing himself again.
Eli let the warmth of the coat engulf him as a small tear fell from his eye, dripping down his chin and splattering on the floor under him. Boldly, Jack stood and shook off his captor's hands, walking over to Eli despite the many eyes that watched him, guns at the ready. He helped the shaking executive to stand and guided him to the wall where the others were, hushing him gently. He let the executive cry softly into his shoulder as he pulled Aesop's coat closer to him.
There was no need to maintain dignity or any nonsense anymore. They'd lost at this point.
