Rapunzel

"Hurry," I told myself. "If you're late to work one more day then you'll be fired." I quickened my pace.
"Food. Go get chicken from that chicken place we like." My stomach tried to convince me.
I couldn't give in. I wouldn't be fired. I loved working at the hair salon. Seeing all the crazy hairstyles that people would ask us to do. It let's you know about the personalities of people from different parts of the city.
I heard a car pull up next to me. "Need a ride, Rapunzel?" my sister Rachel asked.
"Sure," I said as I got in the car.
As I was getting in, some regular looking passerby ran to the drivers, door, opened it, and threw Rachel onto the ground. He got in the car and pulled a gun out.
"If you make a scene," he said, gesturing down to my bag where you could see a faint outline of my phone, "or pull out your phone, I'll shoot." He hesitated. "You know what? How about I do this." He grabbed my purse from my lap and chucked it out the window.
He took off down the road, paying no attention to any of the traffic lights, and almost got us in a couple crashes. After a few miles he reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
"What's tha-"
He pressed a trigger and everything went black.
I woke up in a dark room with a really bad headache. I could see the outline of a door so I headed over to it. I tried the handle but it was locked. I guess you would have to be a really bad kidnapper if you didn't lock your victims into their dark, frightening room.
I could hear a faint conversation going on, so I decided to stick my ear against the door.
"Is it really her?" an old woman's voice was saying.
"I'm pretty sure it's her," The male voice of my captor replied. "What's so special about her anyway, Mother?"
"Mother?!?!" Did he just call her "Mother?" Why would somebody kidnap a person for their mother? Creepy.
"Well, Flynn, if it is her, then I can be young once more. That 22 year old hair stylist can work magic."
"I really doubt that that sweet girl is magic, Mother. Magic isn't even real. So why don't we just let her-"
SMACK!!!
"Shut your mouth, Boy, you don't know what you're talking about." She paused. "She must be awake by now. Go let our guest out of her room."
"Yes, Mother."
I heard foot steps approaching, so I ran away from the door. I scanned the room, hoping to find something to defend myself with, but there was nothing. The door opened, and my captor walked in. His brown hair and the shadows covered his face.
"What do you want with me?!?!" I yelled.
"Just come on-"
"Who are you?!?!" I yelled even louder.
He moved out of the way to reveal his mother. I kept my eyes on him a bit longer. Now that there was light on his face I could see that one side of his face was red and swelling. That must have been where she had hit him. I moved my glace over to his mother. She was old and wrinkled, but she had a strong, fierce look to her.
"I just need your help," She said.
I looked around the room to see if there was a way to escape and to try and get a sense of my surroundings. The floors were wood. To the right of the room I was being held in was a kitchen, and there was a small living area to the left along with a door to the balcony. It looked like it was too high up too jump off.
"What do you need me for?" I was curious about what she had said about me being magic and why she would need my help. I still tried to put some edge into my question, though.
"For this."
She removed a clip from her hair, and down fell two feet of tangled gray hair.
"You want me to do your hair? You could've made an appointment like a regular person."
"Yes, I could've....But I didn't. From now on you will be my hair slave. Now GET TO WORK!!!!!"
She walked me down the hall to a pristine bathroom/salon hybrid thing that looked to have cost a fortune.
Within three hours, I had been able to straighten half of Dame Gothel's hair.
Dame Gothel. What a strange thing to be called. Gothel in itself is a weird name. But Dame. Who in New York City calls herself Dame? Nonetheless, that's what she made me call her, and I wasn't about to ask this crazy woman why.
There is a song that I like too hum to myself as I work. Sometimes I would start to hum it as I worked on her hair until she lashed out at me. During that short time of humming he hair was easier to prefect. If only she let me do it longer than just a few seconds. This would be so much easier for both of us.
After another four hours, I had her hair curled and pretty. This might not sound that bad, but if I made the slightest mistake she would hit me. If I tried to converse with her, she would find a way to shut me up.
I was to afraid to ask about what she had meant by how I had magic. She would have know that I had eavesdropped on her conversation.
By the time I had finished, she sent me to my room with a little water and half a piece of bread. I didn't argue. I was too tired and too worried about getting hit again.
For three more days she had me work on her hair. At the end of each day, when she sent me off to my room, covered in bruises and burns, I would look at her and notice that she looked several years younger than the day before.
On the fifth day that I was there, she only made me work until noon. After that she, left for the day.
I guess she told Flynn where she was going and when she would get back because shortly after she left, he came into my room.
I went to the far corner of my tiny room, trying to get away from him. He walked over and sat on the blankets that I had been using to sleep on every night.
"Mother can be so evil sometimes, can't she." He turned showing me his bruised face. "Got this one today."
I stared at him, not saying a thing.
"Not one to talk much are you, huh? I have something that might cheer you up." He left the room. He came back a minute later with a beautiful red dress.
He was right. It did cheer me up.
Then I had a thought. Where did the dress come from? Was it from some other kidnapped woman who died here?
He must have seen my reaction because he said, "Don't worry. It's one of Mother's old dresses. Now I'll need your help."
He started grabbing blankets and sheets from around the apartment and tied them together to form a rope. "The front door is guarded," he explained. "We won't be able to get out that way. I'm as much a prisoner here as you are." He walked to the balcony and tied our rope to it. "There are also people all over town watching for us. Specifically you, so you won't be able to come with me. I'll be back in about two hours. Plenty of time for you to get ready. Just hide the rope, and I'll holler when I get back." With that he slid down the rope and was off.
I headed over to the bathroom and took a nice warm shower then started getting ready. As I curled my blonde hair I started humming the song I always hum. As I hummed, my bruises started fading. I stopped. I touched my biggest bruise and it didn't hurt as much.
I started humming again. Only this time louder. All my bruises left and I looked and felt healthier. My cheeks weren't hallow and my green eyes were greener than ever.
I went to wait for Flynn by the balcony door humming away. After a few minutes I heard a shout.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your rope!"
I ran over to the balcony and saw Flynn and a few other people. I threw the rope over the side and they climbed up, Flynn climbing up last. When he got up he threw the rope back in.
He introduced me to his friends then pulled out sodas and pizzas. It was the best thing I had eaten that week.
"I have gathered you all here this evening," Flynn started, "to help Rapunzel and I escape the wrath of my mother. I will be open to any suggestions."
His friends started brainstorming ideas. Somebody recommended calling the cops but Flynn pointed out that she has to much black mail on everybody. That is what makes her so powerful.
We brainstormed for about an hour trying to come up with ways to get rid of her.
Once we finished discussing, Flynn decided that should take a break for the night and so we started playing games and dancing. We partied for a few hours and they were the best hours of my life. It showed me that "even in the darkest of hours one can find happiness." Quote from Dumbledore. One of my fictional heros.
Flynn announced that Dame Gothel would soon be home so he started to shoo everybody out the door, onto the balcony and down the rope.
We threw the trash out of the apartment to hide all the evidence, then Flynn threw me into my room.
This happened for the next couple nights. Dame Gothel would go out and Flynn's friends would come in and we would plan and have fun.
One night Dame Gothel decided to come home early. We were almost done planning when Flynn got an alert on his phone notifying us that she was almost home. We just needed one more night then we could take action and I could escape.
We quickly got everybody out and set the rope down on the table and started walking back in.
"Wait!" I shouted out to him. "Thank you. This has been one of the best nights ever."
He turned around and kissed me.
Dame Gothel decided that would be the perfect time to come in. She saw her son kissing her prisoner and went into a murderous rage. "Why you little-" She ran towards us and grabbed a Knife. She almost stabbed Flynn with it but I pulled him out of the way. She went flying over the rail down to her death. But not before she could grab Flynn and pull him down with her.
I threw him the end of the rope but I was too late.
As he fell over the railing, Dame Gothel stuck her knife in his back killing him before they landed on the concrete.
Flynn's death wasn't in vain. The height of the fall and the added weight of Flynn's dead body on top of her had crushed Dame Gothel.
The rest of the month was a blur. The police came and took the bodies. They let me call my parents and tell them I was ok, and the police took me to my parents house where I will be living for the next little while. They are making me move out of the apartment that I had shared with my sister and some friends. The next day I was thrown a welcome back party. It was good but not as good as the previous night.
They tell me I'm still in shock and that after a few months I'll be fine. That was two months ago. I'm still depressed but we're hoping it will soon go away. They put me in therapy and it's working but very slowly. They are trying to get me over my Stockholm syndrome but it is working even slower.
Sometimes when I'm feeling extra lonely and depressed I will start to hum and I feel a little better. I feel like Flynn is right there next to me. I will look over and see that he is not.
I miss Flynn.