Lesser Evil

7| The Princess

I didn't land on my feet. Instead, I stumbled onto the hard ground and fell so hard that I was certain my hip was bruised. My pants and sleeve had dirtied up from the dust.

But, I was still thriving on adrenaline. Planting my palms flat on the ground, I pushed up on my feet and ran as fast as I could. I didn't dare look over my shoulder, afraid that I might see the one person I didn't want to see.

What I assumed to be the back of his house opened to a narrow alley that was completely empty and dark even in the middle of the day. I narrowly dodged rocks and anything else that could cause me harm or slow me down. Light flowed into the end of the alley and I risked a glance over my shoulder to find it as empty as it had been a second ago.

He... He didn't know. He wasn't here to get me back. I sighed in relief but an ache in my chest bloomed and grew until my breathing came out restricted. My movements slowed, solely because I didn't feel so eager to run anymore.

I felt shame. For what I didn't know. He'd been kind, and I... I ran away. I couldn't be feeling guilty for running away from my kidnapper, for God's sake.

I walked briskly through another alley, this one much wider than the last and with more people. I stopped in front of a small grocery store, eyes darting back and forth from the cashier and the way I'd come from.

I closed my eyes to calm my racing heart and level my breaths to speak. "Can I—can I borrow your phone? I have to make a call." I tried to be as polite and normal as I could be in such a situation. The middle aged man looked to be contemplating his decision, maybe because he couldn't see my face under the abnormally large hood that I'd thrown over my head before entering the store. I had no reason to hide but it gave me a sense of security.

Impatiently, I watched as the man slowly and suspiciously handed his phone to me. I opened the phone's keypad, hands shaking as I dialed in the only number that I knew by heart.

My father's.

The ring went on and on. One, two, three...

"Why isn't he picking up?" I mumbled under my breath, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. My eyes had permanently glued themselves onto the exit door, waiting for it to blast open. It only made breathing harder and escalated my pulse so I turned away, looking in the opposite direction.

The call wasn't answered.

"Are you done?" The man seemed to be getting as impatient as I was.

I held up a finger, shooting him a sheepish smile. I wasn't sure if he saw I. "One second."

I thought to try my father's number again but I knew I wouldn't get any answer, call it a gut feeling. So I wracked through my memory to see if I could remember my father's assistant's number. He was the only other man I could trust.

Countless times of back spacing and retyping the number led me nowhere. I didn't remember his number right.

Suddenly, a hand clamped onto the top of the phone and gently plucked it away from my hands. I stood there and gaped at the movement before whirling around with my heart thumping wildly in my chest.

I knew who I'd face and it was exactly who I thought.

I took a step back, genuinely scared for my life. I'd gotten so far away... He would kill me. I was sure of it. Before I could take another step back and possibly run, that same hand latched onto my wrist and pulled me forward until I was stumbling right into him.

"I'm sorry." That was all I managed to whisper out. I didn't look up either, afraid that I would see the anger raging through him and break down. Maybe an apology would calm him down.

"Your apology doesn't matter, princess. Now, be a good girl and don't make a scene and silently come back with me, hmm? You shouldn't have tried in the first place." Shaz sounded unusually calm, like there he wasn't angry at all. But I knew better than to believe that illusion.

I didn't protest when he opened the door of the store and stepped out, taking me with him. I didn't protest when he led me back the same way I had run out through and I didn't protest when his house came into view.

Though my heart did jump a little when I knew I'd have to be alone in the basement again. He was mad, he wouldn't visit me. He'd give me the silent treatment that I deserved until I forgot what it felt like to speak to someone.

My surprise was vivid on my face when he led me up the stairs and not down. "This isn't the basement." I blurted out for some reason, taking the house once again that I had tried and failed to escaped from.

He stilled there, in the middle of the room, and glanced at me over his shoulder, nothing except his mouth visible under the dark hood. "I know."

He surprised me once again when he let go of my wrist and walked away to sit down on the couch on the opposite side of the room. I fought back the unnecessary burn of my eyes, pressing the tip of my finger to the edge of my eye to soak in the wetness there.

Why was he still being so...nice?

I dared a step forward in his direction, keeping my eyes on my feet like a kid being scolded.

"You impressed me, princess." My eyes snapped up so fast that I was scared they would pop out.

I tilted my head in confusion. "What?"

"No one has managed to escape before, at least has gotten that far. But then again..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Forget it. I admire that you didn't give up on trying."

He admired that I didn't give up on trying to escape from him?

What nonsense is this?

I only stood there idly, my brain slowly turning into mush. He was probably drunk or high. That had to be it.

He got up abruptly and tossed his hood back, revealing that devilishly handsome face. I didn't try to ignore how I'd used the word handsome for him, simply because I didn't have the energy for it.

"Sit." He ordered, pointing behind me at a wooden chair identical to the one in the basement. I only eyed and decided that I was good where I was.

"Sit, Ayat." I gulped at the use of my name, relenting and sitting down. For another surprise, he knelt down in front of me. I only stared as his hands reached up and... dusted my clothes. His clothes, actually.

"You just showered." He clicked his tongue in disapproval before getting up and sitting on the armrest of the chair. I slid into the opposite direction, not liking whatever he was doing.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked without thinking and immediately regretted saying it. He raised an eyebrow at me, eyes narrowing.

He then shrugged. "You assume something is wrong with me because I'm being nice?"

"Yes! You are supposed to be my kidnapper, Shaz. Stop pretending like we live together and I'm here willingly."

He stared at me intensely and I felt my heart jump up to my throat and drop down to my stomach at the same time.

"And what if I don't consider you a captive anymore?"

Well, I didn't exactly know what to do with that information.