Nathaniel's POV
I sat in my room, unable to focus on anything. This was the first time I've seen something like this happen to Leila. I was confused and shaken up. I really shouldn't have taken my anger and frustration out on her. She looked like she was in so much pain. I stood up and walked to her door. When I got there it wasn't fully closed. I was about to knock when I saw her and my best friend, hugging. Something twitched inside me. I turned and walked back to my room. A few minutes later I heard his car drive away so I left to her room. When I got there I knocked but she didn't answer. I allowed myself in. To my disappointment she wasn't there. I searched the house, all the places I knew she might be but she was nowhere to be found. Right in the middle of the hall a thought occurred to me, she left with Pete. I found a seat and slumped onto it. Why do I feel so bad right now? I don't know how this awful feeling turned to anger, I grabbed the first item I could find and threw it at the wall. In one swift motion it collided with the wall and shuttered into pieces. I was not going to call anyone, especially in this state. Hopefully by tomorrow they'll return and then I'll get to talk to her. That night I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned so many times as this bad feeling started to creep up inside me. I tried so much to fight it until I finally fell asleep around 2 am.
By 4am I was up – this sleep was not coming back. I washed up and decided to occupy myself. I went to my office and started going through documents and files. When I was done with those I started working on my project. It helped because at some point I drifted off to sleep. I don't know how long I was out for but I started to hear my name. I opened my eyes and it was clear that someone is in my home calling out to me. I walked out and was greeted by Aaron and Anthony but no Pete. "How's she?" Aaron asked, looking towards the stairs in the direction of her room. I huffed and shrugged lazily. They both looked at me with a frown so I clarified. "I believe she left with Pete last night." "Oh..." They trailed off simultaneously. "Yh. Anyways, I'm done going through all the-..." I was interrupted when Pete walked in. "Good morning, is Leila up?" He asked, about to walk to her room, his phone and keys in his hand. We all stared at each other confused. "Wait. I thought you said she went home with Pete." Anthony asked what we were all thinking. "Yes...because I thought she did." I looked at Pete and continued talking. "I came to her room to talk to her but you guys were talking." I left out the part where I saw them hugging. "So I left hoping to come back when she was alone but I heard your car drive off and when I came to check, she was not in the house." Pete frowned and shook his head. "When we were done talking she walked me to the entrance but never entered the car with me. When I was driving away she was still at the entrance." There was a brief moment of silence, a common thought run between us then suddenly Pete and I dashed in the direction of Leila's room, Aaron and Anthony following right behind. When we entered it was empty. "Everything is how we left it." He started looking around. "I don't think anything has changed. The bed is still the way it was, even the bottle of water on her table is untouched. Her phone is even here!" I could hear the worry in Pete's voice. I was starting to get worried too but we can't assume the worst. "Guys." Anthony drew our attention. He had a small blue paper in his hand. "It has your name on it." The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed as if we all knew something bad was going to come out of the paper. I took the paper and read the message out loud. "One night with me, how many more without you." I looked at my brothers to check their response. "What kind of sick joke is this?" Aaron was the first to speak. That was the exact thought running through my mind. "How on earth did it even get in here?" Pete asked. "Leila..." Please be safe.
Leila's POV (from the time she got kidnapped)
I stirred in my sleep, starting to toss and turn. Something hard was beneath me, too hard to be my bed. I felt a hand brush my cheek, a small smile etched its way onto my lips. I'm sure it's Nathaniel. I don't blame him for what happened to me. I just feel strange that he saw me in the worst state I could be. I'm sure he's here to apologize. I opened my eyes, expecting to see Nate but I was met by a stranger's face. Immediately I jumped back startled. "Who are you and why are you in...my..." I stopped momentarily, noticing the environment. I looked around. The paint on the wall was peeling off. The corners of the walls were covered in cobwebs; the floor had what looks like patches of stains. There was barely any proper ventilation. Above me was a small ceiling fan, rusted and barely functional. Then looked back at him, fear and panic slowing gripping my heart - I had to hide that. He had an arrogant lopsided smile. "Where am I?" I asked sternly. "Somewhere." He responded. His voice was rough and strained. I don't know but some level of annoyance settled in me and I blurted out, "don't play jokes with me. What is that supposed to mean?!" He arched an eyebrow, surprised at my sudden outburst. "You've got some guts." He started nodding his head like he just realized something. He stood up and so quickly, the back of his hand collided with my cheek. I screamed upon impact; my head spun so fast I got a whiplash. "Watch your tongue!" He spat out and left the room. The side of my face begun to burn. I placed my palm over it as my eyes started filling up with tears. I took in a deep breath and stopped myself, crying won't solve anything. From the outside I could hear another voice. It sounded like two people arguing. I didn't bother myself trying to hear their conversation because the only thing I could think of was the guys and Nate, how did I get here and how am I going to leave. "Nate...". I stayed locked up in the room with nothing but my thoughts. I just sat there, staring at the door. For how long? I have no idea. They didn't even have the decency of putting a clock in the room – that will definitely increase the agony. Suddenly I heard the sound of the door being unlocked. That made me sit up. I don't know what came over me or what brought this crazy idea. As soon as the door opened I launched forward, almost like I flew off the bed but I got blocked and was slammed against the wall. Now I was trapped between the wall and a broad figure. 'What dumb thing have you done Leila?!' I thought to myself. 'What made you think you can just escape without proper planning. Do you even know what awaits you behind that door?'
"Seriously? Couldn't you have just waited and spent one night at least, before attempting to escape? A poor attempt at that too." He mocked. He started squeezing my arm making me wince in pain. "You're hurting me." I managed to say. "That's your fault my dear. I was just about to bring you something to eat but this stupid act of yours just changed my mind. You can starve for all I care." I tried to struggle my way out of his grip but that made things worse. "Stop struggling. I don't want to hurt you or do something you'll regret." His face was dangerously close to mine that I could smell his last meal. "I think it's too late for that." I rose my eyebrows, referring to his snake grip. 'Why am I provoking this man! Just shut up Leila!' He huffed and shook his head in unbelief. "Be careful. That mouth of yours will put you in so much trouble. The difficult ones are always the last to leave or the ones that die trying." He whispered that last part in my ears and as he was moving back, he nibbled at my ear lobe making a cold shiver run down my spine. I frowned and tried to move my head away. Now he grabbed my shoulder roughly and pushed me towards the bed. "Stay put. Be an obedient little girl or you wouldn't like what will happen next time." He looked at me and I promise, I wanted to slap him. It was after he left that I felt the bruise forming on my arm. With nothing else to do I tried to feel comfortable as I forced myself to sleep. If I'm going to plot an escape, I need to be well rested. As I drifted off to sleep I prayed that I'll wake up tomorrow and find out this will all be a vivid nightmare.
Nathaniel's POV (continuation...)
We had left Leila's room and were now in the hall, around the mini bar. "We have to find her." I broke the silence. "What if this is another one of her pranks like the last time?" Anthony said what I feared. When no one said anything I burst out, "God! I warned her! Now how... oh Leila, this better not be a prank." I took in a deep breath. "Maybe it's a prank." Pete said. "Do you think we should wait? Like 24 hours or something? Maybe she went out to visit a friend. Maybe she went to buy something and it was late so she stayed somewhere. Maybe she's with her parents." There was a glimmer of hope in Pete's eyes after his last statement. "Maybe..." "Pete..." Aaron alerted him. He took a long calming breath and left the room. Later, when she hadn't returned, I called Sam and Jennifer, her parents, but they said she wasn't with them. I didn't tell them about the situation at hand, I couldn't. By 7pm, we were officially concluding that she was not pulling a prank and something may have happened. We all sat around the dining table in silence, analyzing our individual thoughts, how to go about all of this. I was going crazy internally. The silence was broken when I received a message on my phone. I glanced at the group and took my phone. "It's an unknown number." I said to them. I opened the message and sat up as I read it to everyone. "I thought you'd act faster than this Nathaniel. I guess that makes two nights with me and less without you. Now that you have my contact, let's make the trade. Half a million in 5 days, in exchange for your girl in. The earlier the better. Get the police involved and well, you know the rest." Without thinking I threw my phone at the wall in rage. "I'm going to kill someone!" I yelled and threw the center piece off the table, scattering everything. "We need to act now! I am not paying half a million for Leila, she's worth way more. I can't stand another night not knowing where she is." I run my hands through my hair frustrated. "I didn't get to apologize, I..." "We'll find her Nate." Aaron assured me, hoping to calm me. "I'll need your phone. I'm going to try and see if I can trace where the text came from. That should give us a head start. I pray she's okay. I'll head home and if I find anything I'll let you know." He got up and patted my shoulder. "Try and get some sleep. The last thing we need is a sick Nate. Bye guys." With that he left. The rest followed later.
Pete's POV
I was on the road, on my way home when I noticed a lady at the side of the road signaling me to stop. When I was close enough I parked on the side and rolled the passenger's window down to hear what she had to say. I didn't think about the risk and the possible danger I could have put myself in if it was all a plot to rob me because I believe in helping people when you get the chance. "Please, help me. My sister, she's in pain. We were doing some work and she started complaining. Our phones died and..." As soon as she said 'pain' I started getting out of my car. "Where is she?" I asked her as I started calling the ambulance. "Behind the kiosk." I started following her. As we approached the kiosk I heard someone crying for help. I rushed and saw a woman lying on the floor. I bent to her level to find out how I could help. I didn't become a doctor just for the title. I was just about to examine her when I was struck at the back of my head. The pain was so sudden and travelled so fact it knocked me flat onto the floor. Before I lost consciousness, I saw the woman who was crying in pain tower over me with the lady who stopped me and a manly figure, this is not going to end well.
