Stockholm Syndrome

Chapter 4: Sex, Alcohol, and...Love?

Jake's P.O.V

I have gotten very few emails. Most of them leading to false assumptions. One though, really stood out to me. It read:

Hi, my name is Tom Sheldon and I live in London. The other day, I was in McDonalds and your cousins came in with two boys. They were waiting in line when the world news came on, and your report came on the screen. They were staring at the screen, watching you as you talked about them. The guys dragged them out of the restaurant. I called the police and they chased them down but they disappeared before they could catch them. I'm sorry that they couldn't get them. But I thought I should tell you what I found. I thought you might want to know that they are okay and that they are in London. I hopes this helps you.

I don't know why it stood out. I guess it's because the fact that Tom reassured me, helped me understand that they are okay even though they are over 4,000 miles away. My dad doesn't know about the email. I know if he found out about the email, he would fly over to London before we even have any proof that the email I'd giving cold, hard facts. We can't risk chasing down false leads. I highly doubt they are in London. That's too far away. Their abductors wouldn't risk putting them on a public plane. Would they?

Aubree's P.O.V

I get out of the shower and remember that we have no clean clothes with us. I wrap a towel around me and walk out "Louis." I say, stopping right in the door way. "Huh?" he says, not looking up from his phone "Do you guys have any clean clothes here? I took a shower and forgot I don't have clean clothes to change into" I say. He looks up at me, a smirk pulling at his lips. "Huh....um..... yeah..... I'll just text one of the guys and have them bring you down some." he says, his eyes never leaving my body. "Okay. Will you quit staring at me, it's weird?""Right" he says, looking back down at his phone.

The door swings open and in walks Harry. "Harry? What the hell are you doing here?" I ask him. He looks at me  "Put these on. I don't like the fact that you are standing here in only a towel in front of him" he says. He chucks a big T-shirt and a pair of boxers at me "You do know that I'm a girl, right? I don't wear boxers." I saw with a laugh "Just go put them on" he says. I sigh, walking back into the bathroom to put on the clothes Harry gave me. I walk out to see the door to Skylar's room slam shut "You lay another hand on her and I swear I'll kill you" I hear Harry yell from behind the door. I open the door and look in to see Harry holding Zayn up against the wall by his collar. "What's going on in here?" I ask. Harry turns his head to look at me "Get out of here Aubree" he yells "You're not the boss of me Harry" I yell back at him. He glares at me "I'm your older brother and you will listen to me" he yells the last part at me "Jake is more of an older brother than you ever will be and he's our cousin" I yell back at him as loud as I can. "This is the exact reason why I left, I was tired of you yelling at me""I wouldn't have to yell at you all the time if you didn't treat us like shit" I yell. His face softens when he hears those words leave my mouth "You know, I was glad you left. I didn't have to deal with your bullshit anymore." I say. I walk out of the room and plop down on the bed next to Louis "What happened in there?" Louis ask, looking down at me. "Harry being an asshole as usual" I say. He looks at his phone "You haven't seen him in 3 years," he starts "and he's still extremely over-protective; I always hated that about him. Jake's the same way but Harry is way worse. Harry wouldn't even let us leave the house while Jake let's us go out when ever we want. I hate when people are over protective of me. I can take care of myself" I say, leaning my head back up against the wall. "And look where taking care of yourself got you" I hear him whisper. "I'm sorry, last time I checked, you are the reason we are here" I say to him in a sarcastic tone. "Yeah, but if you would have just given us your money, we would've left you alone" he says. " My parents gave us that, in their will. Why on Earth would I give you something that my parents gave me when they died?" I ask him.  He looks away from his phone to look down at me "I wasn't expecting you to. I'm not stupid, I know how it feels to lose people close to you. I lost my parents to, you know? I would have given anything to remember them. I was taken away from my home when my parents were killed by the people who killed them, same as you" Louis says. My breath hitches in my throat when those words left his mouth. I was taken away from my home when my parents were killed by the people who killed them, same as you. Replays in my head. He killed my parents? "You killed my parents?" I whisper at him. He smiles down at me. "I was hired to. So was Zayn" he says. I stare up at him in shock, scooting as far away from him as I can. "Don't worry, it's not like I brutally murdered them, it was a car wreck. I won't hurt you. The only reason I did it was because my boss told me to. I already told you how my boss is. I wasn't gonna let him kill me, I had to do it." he says, scooting closer. I stand up from the bed and walk to the other side of the room "You still killed them, nothing you say will ever fix that" I say to him as a tear runs down my cheek. He gets up from his spot on the bed and starts to wall over to me "Stay away from me" I shout. He keeps walking like I never said anything. Before I know it, he has his arms around me "shhh...." he whispers into my hair. I push out of his embrace, not letting myself fall into that trap again. I back away from him. Unfortunately, my back hits the wall, giving me no where to go. "Aubree, I won't hurt you" he says. He steps right in front of me "It's not about me, it's about my parents, you killed them" I shouted at him. Skylar runs into the room "What the hell is going on?" she asked as soon as she saw me trapped up against the wall by Louis while crying my eyes out. "He killed our parents, Sky. They're dead because of him" I say as another tear runs down my cheek "It wasn't just me, it was Zayn too" he yells, running his hands through his hair in frustration. Skylar grabs my arm and pulls me away from him. She pulls me over to the bed and lays me down. As soon as I lay down, my eyes close. "She's just tired, this will all subside in the morning" she says to Louis "Why are you even talking to me? I killed your parents" Louis says. I feel the bed sink in at the foot but I don't know if it's Skylar or Louis "She was always closer to our parents. She never went out much so she spent time with them a lot. I on the other hand, never liked our parents. That's why I never stayed home. Aubree's very sensitive, if you tell her the wrong thing, she will explode. She might act all big and bad but deep down she doesn't want people looking at her because she thinks they are thinking something bad about her. Just don't make me have to come in here again and fix anymore problems you cause." Skylar says. I feel someone stand up from the bed, must've been Skylar. "How do I tell her that I like her without her exploding?" I hear Louis ask. "That's simple, you don't. She can't handle anything else right now. Please don't add anything else for her to worry about." Skylar says. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was the sound of the door closing.