You Can Paint Me

Sequel Ch.18: Sleeping Beauty

 Mia screamed.

The old man started laughing. "Nice vocal cords, miss."

He seemed fluent in English, but he had an accent which meant he was Italian. Or not. For all I knew, he could be a wanted serial killer from another part of Europe.

"Stop the car," I said but he kept driving.

"She said stop the car!" Ava repeated after me louder.

All he did was glance at us through the view mirror with a grin. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

I gripped on the door handle, furiously pushing and pulling in hopes it would open. "Why did you lock the doors?!"

"So you wouldn't escape."

Shocker.

Mia was panicking in a way I've never seen her before. She was trembling, with tears in her eyes that looked soulless. Ava hugged her, not knowing what else to do. We were stuck here, locked. That creepy man made sure of it.

Let alone there was no phone service for some weird reason.

I just hoped Bethany was doing better than us.

"How's it that you're a taxi driver? You're obviously too old to work at that age," I said, as if I didn't already know of the answer. He was a kidnapper, not a taxi driver. Did Minho really call for him? Or was there another taxi nearby that we didn't spot?

I clearly remember leaving this old man back in the elevator. How could he had gone inside a taxi this fast? None of us had seen a single human being getting out of the hotel when we were at the reception. Not a single soul in sight.

"I'm not," was his only reply.

Not the talkative type now are we, old man? You were blabbering just fine earlier in the elevator.

"How old are you anyway?" I said and Ava instantly gave me a weird look. What are you saying kind of look. I ignored her. "Are you still going strong? Are those reflexes working? Because let me tell you, I ain't dying in a car crash tonight. If you happen to be too slow to press the brake pedal and stop the car when a cat appears and we crash, I'll kill you on behalf of the cat you killed."

Ava's mouth fell agape, her eyes were a mixture of why are you still talking and are you insane look. But I couldn't help my mouth. I was way too stressed to shut up. Stressed and pissed and worried and afraid that happened to make me talk nonsense. I wasn't lying about the killing him if he kills a cat part though.

If I was going to die tonight, it would be in my terms.

The old man laughed so hard at my words that for a split second the steering wheel slipped from his hands and the car took a small turn. Thankfully he was quick to take ahold of it before we bumped into a street lamp.

Wasn't he too chill for a kidnapper? Normally, they just tell you to shut up or else they'll blow your brains with a gun.

"You have quite the imagination, young miss. Fortunately, my reflexes are still doing just fine. No cat is going to die because me tonight."

Yeah, but we might.

"Where are you taking us, anyway?" I huffed.

"To where I was ordered."

Ordered by who, exactly?

I looked outside the window, seeing how the city was far behind us. There was no street lamp now, not a single light. The road was dark as he drove us towards the sea. Was he going to drown us? What fun is there in drowning us? Keeping us hostage and calling our families to give him money was a better idea.