Taken

"It was dark and..."

I slipped in and out of consciousness. I barely knew what was happening.... from the information I was able to gather, I was in a vehicle of some sort. I assumed I had fallen asleep while Mia was driving me back home.... I'd see lights... here police sirens... hear talk radio on...something about a teenage girl going missing... nothing concerning me, right? There was nothing out of the ordinary here...soon I'd be home... daddy would probably yell at me for being out so late... but he'd hug me after and tell me how worried he was before we'd both head off to bed together. I'd crawl in to my soft bed with it's foam mattress and aqua blue sheets...look up at my poster of Justin Timberlake...and drift off to sleep.

When I permanently regained consciousness again I found myself in a dark room. No windows. All that was in here was a single candle burning away sitting atop an old dresser, a tiny television with a cable box right on top of it. And an ominous looking staircase... where a single light bulb hung. I tried to stand up, but as I did, I felt restrained by something....I looked down. My hands were tied to a wooden beam sticking up from the floor with rope.

Oh god.

I started to panic, I tugged and tugged trying to get free. My heart started to race, my throat was extremely dry, I tried to call out for help but I just couldn't. I could barely speak. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I continued to fight. This can't be happening to me! It can't! I had so much to do! I was gonna move in to my own house... I had just gotten accepted in to my college of choice....

What if they've taken me for ransom? Do they want something from daddy? I mean, I know he got in to some trouble when I was little due to financial difficulties... but that was over ten years ago? What would they want from him now? I thought daddy paid off all his debts before the divorce... What if they want to kill me? What did I do to them? I was never a mean girl in high school. I followed all the rules, got good grades, I never got in to a single fight and only took two sick days my entire high school experience.... I'm not a bully either. If anything, I was the one being bullied. Why would someone wanna kill me? And who the hell was this person?

As I fought and kicked and screamed I heard loud footsteps upstairs. I coward back, no longer fighting. Were they coming to finish me off? Oh god I should have kept my mouth shut. I shouldn't have fought... I just had to draw attention to myself.

The door that sat perched at the top of the stairs creaked open and I closed my eyes flinching. Whatever this person wanted, whoever they were. They weren't gonna get it from me. Ruby Waters doesn't give up no matter what happens. The Waters family fights until their last breath. I wasn't about to let my family down. Not today.

I opened my eyes, and saw a tall, buff, male figure standing at the top of the stairs. It was way too dark to tell exactly who he was. But I was not intimidated. I faced this kind of man before. I could do this...

"Good morning, sleepy head." He said as he started walking down the stairs. His voice... I heard it somewhere. I could have sworn I heard it somewhere. It was rough, cold. Deep. I knew the voice, but I couldn't put a face to it. Someone from my childhood? One of my dad's old friends from work? No it couldn't be. This voice sounds too young to be someone father knew.

"How are you feeling, Ruby?"

"How do you know my name?!" I shouted. Who was he? How did he know me? How did I know him? It didn't make sense. But... when he got to the bottom of the stairs, my eyes widened, and I knew who it was.

"Seth Waters." He looked much older now, with the 5'O Clock shadow he sported on his strong, chiseled jaw line and chin. His black hair was all messy and wet... probably from the rain... he wasn't wearing a shirt, his body was perfectly sculpted, with a v-line and abs.... a small happy trail of hair leading from his bellybutton down in to his pants. I swallowed. Okay, maybe he's a little more intimidating than I once remember. It was so long ago. How does he remember who I am?

He looked at me with a mix of lust and anger burning in his deep brown eyes. He crouched down and I flinched, bracing myself to be hit, like the kidnapped girls did in the movies, but...he didn't hit me. He just softly caressed my cheeks and forced me to look in to his eyes, my green ones wide with fear. He was so focused on me. Almost fascinated. Had I changed much in the past few years? I mean, I got my braces off but... that really can't be much of a difference.

"Even more beautiful than I remember." Seth said, smiling before kissing my cheek. I swallowed and squirmed, backing in to the beam I was tied too. He smiled and patted my head sweetly, but I looked up at him, still enraged.

"Oh my dear Ruby. You have no clue..." He said grinning as he stood up. "You have no idea how long it took me to find you... I thought you'd be with Linda until Monday."

"I stopped living with my mother after you graduated." I spat, kicking around. I had to get out.... he wasn't keeping me here forever.

"You see, I figured that out rather quickly." Seth paced back and forth. I watched him carefully, so I could be prepared for his next move. "When you didn't walk out of Linda's front door this morning to attend your weekly yoga class, I knew something was up, so I drove over to Charlie's apartment, and, well... let's just say I found you rather easily. You looked like a poor homeless puppy, all wet and cold..."

"What do you want from me?" I asked, practically yelling at him.

"Oh you'll see my sweetheart..." He slowly started walking back up the stairs. "You'll see...."