Hold Me Close (Edited Version)

Chapter 27

It had been a week since I came back with the news that they planned to kill us. Ryan had tried to talk to me, but all I did was sulk in the corner, ignoring Ryan and sometimes crying when I thought no one would notice. Ryan was worried about me, I knew that, but I just kept pushing him away. Every time he tried to comfort me or calm me down, I'd brush Ryan off and curl into a little ball. Once Ryan asked if I just wanted to talk, but all I said was that I wasn't in the mood. I wasn't ready to open up about my concerns, and Ryan wasn't ready to face facts. We were at a crossroads, and after a while, Ryan just stopped trying.

However, I knew he had just about had enough of it. The only time I would talk was when Ryan would get dragged out of the room for one reason of another. I'd ask him where he'd been and if he was okay, but even those conversations were short as Ryan wouldn't want to talk about it. I didn't blame him.

I watched him sadly as he stood on the other side of the room, looking out the room's only window that was blocked up with bars. His eyes were glazed over more than usual today, and he looked like a ghost. "Maybe we should try and think of a way out?" he suggested absentmindedly.

I shrugged. "What's the point? It doesn't matter anymore," I said.

Ryan frowned. "It matters. If we could get to a phone or something I'm sure we could call for help," he said.

"If we could..." I chuckled bitterly. "'Could' is the key word. You don't even think we can do it..." I said with a sigh. "It's useless. No matter what we do, we lose."

This must have been the last straw and Ryan grew annoyed with my negative attitude. He crossed his arms. "That's not true. If we make it out we can get back to your dad. If they try to take us somewhere, then we could try to run," he suggested.

"If we try to make a run for it now, they'll kill us," I said bluntly. "If we wait until they decide to kill us, we barely have a chance, and even if we do get away, my dad will probably be dead by then anyways and I'll have nowhere to go." I sniffled at that thought. "It's a losing situation..."

Ryan couldn't take it. He suddenly stormed over to me. I looked up in surprise as he yanked me to my feet, pulling me right in front of his face. "I am not going to sit here and just give up. I don't want to see you acting like that either," he said sharply. He had an edge to his voice that I wasn't used to and I blinked several times. Ryan let go and he took a couple steps back. "Sorry, Jacob. I'm just a little anxious," he mumbled.

I looked down, knowing he had no reason to apologize. "I'm sorry too. I guess I've been a pretty awful companion lately," I said.

Ryan didn't comment on that, but he cleared his throat. "Let's at least try to think of something. I can't stand just sitting. around like this," he said. I gave a nod and we both sat down. "So, everytime I get taken out of here, I get brought to a smaller room with a bunch of old stuff. I'm assuming we're in a shut down building or something similar. If we can get out or maybe find some way to call the cops, we can get back to warn your dad."

But that brought us to our first problem. "How do we get out?" I asked.

Ryan paused in thought. "Maybe I can get to a phone the next time they take me away," he suggested.

"But what if you can't get away?" I asked, trying to avoid any options that lead to the worst case scenarios.

Again, Ryan hesitated. "We'll just have to see then. I'm sure it won't be too hard. They only ever send one guy," he said. I shrugged halfheartedly, still unsure, and he sighed. "I can do this. Just trust me. I'm going to get us out of here."

Just then, like perfect timing, the door opened and one of the men walked in. Ryan glanced at me. "I'll be careful," he whispered as he stood up.

The guy smirked at Ryan's obedience. "Finally know your place?" he asked. Ryan and I both glared at him in disgust. Pervert. I watched helplessly, as Ryan was pushed out of the room. Ryan eyed him as the man held onto his arm, his grip tight with anticipation. As they turned a corner to an unoccupied hallway, Ryan slammed his elbow into the man's stomach. As the full grown man doubled over in pain, he let go of Ryan's and, giving Ryan the chance to bring both his hands down on the back of his head. He fell down with groan and Ryan bolted away down the hall.

There were doors everywhere, but they were all locked when Ryan tried them. When he finally made it to an open doorway, he ran inside. It was an empty room with no phone, but there was a door on the other side. Ryan rushed over to it and opened it quickly. He was just about to hurry through when the door behind his was thrown open forcefully. He took a moment to glance back and see several man running towards him. Ryan slammed the door behind him and ran down some stairs, taking them two at a time. He go to the bottom floor and looked around frantically. It looked like a big factory of some kind. He didn't see any exits though, just a lot of machinery as he ran to a different set of stairs. They didn't go down, but he didn't have much of a choice, so he raced up them and back onto the next floor.

He started checking rooms again until he opened a door into what looked to be an office. His eyes spotted a phone on a desk and he ran over to it, picking it up and dialing nine-one-one immediately. Ryan felt his heart rate pick up as a voice spoke. "Hello, this is 911. What's your emergency?"

"We need help. We're-" As Ryan was speaking, the phone was suddenly snatched from his hand. He turned around in surprise to see the man he'd come to know as Steven, the man in charge of the whole twisted plan. He was glaring at Ryan, the phone held tight in his hand. Ryan could hear the dispatcher's voice on the phone as she asked what was going on before the man placed the phone back in the receiver to end the call. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, grabbing Ryan's collar and yanking him towards the door.

Ryan tried to pry his hand away. "Let go! Don't touch me!" he shouted.

Steven tugged roughly on Ryan's shirt, dragging him along at a brisk pace. Ryan was desperate to get away and he managed to dig his nails into Steven's hand who cursed loudly as his grip loosening. Taking his chance, Ryan slammed him into the wall with his shoulder and pushed him to the ground. "Stay down!" he said, voice wavering only a little.

Steven glared at Ryan before a smirk appeared on his lips. "I wouldn't do anything stupid, if I was you," he said.

Ryan heard a shuffling noise and looked up. His eyes widened before hardening when he saw I was being held around my neck by one of the guys. When Steven had heard Ryan was running around the building, he had ordered someone to grab me. "Just in case we need a little insurance," he had said. So, now I was being held as an ultimatum with a gun pressed to my temple in a silent threat.

I trembled with fear, but tried to keep my voice steady. "Don't worry about m-me..." I said. "Get out while you can..."

He knew I meant it, but the stuttering in my voice worked to the opposite effect as my words. To my horror, Ryan hesitated for a moment before he got off of Steven and stepped back with his hands up in surrender. Once he was standing, Steven nodded towards Ryan and two men grabbed his arms, twisting them behind his back. I saw him wince, but he tried not to show any weakness.

Steven looked livid. "It's not worth it. I'm not going to play babysitter anymore," Steven growled. "Take them back to the room. I'll see to it they get what they deserve."

*******

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