Hostage

22. "Patience is virtue"

Spencer

"These pictures were taken at approximately three in the afternoon on Friday, March 13th."

A dozen black and white pictures were strewn out in front of me, all of my mother. I picked them up and flicked through them in order. I created a mental video through my mind of how this all must have gone down.

In the first photo she was talking to man, and slowly, as the pictures progressed, she grabbed an oxygen mask and made her way into the building. Why would she do that?

Why would she risk that?

"And look who decides to show up right after she went into the house" The boss smirks, handing me one single picture; I stared at the man in the picture for a good minute before letting out an animalistic yell and crumbling it in my hand.

I saw red as I kicked my chair back and began ripping up every last picture.

"I'll kill him" I growled. "I'll fucking rip his throat out and chop him up one by one. I'll fucking slaughter him. First he takes my sister and now he kills my mom. What the fuck?!"

I kicked y chair against the wall and pulled my gun out of my back pocket, cocking it. "Just give me a fucking address or wherever we saw him last. I'll find him, I'll get Raleigh, I'll kill him, and this will all be over."

"Patience is virtue, my boy"

~*~

Raleigh

"Oh look who's finally decided to join us boys" A deep voice snickered. For a minute my mind convinced me it was Harry. This was all just some sick April Fool's joke and I'd wake up in my basement.

But it wasn't April. And this wasn't a joke.

I felt the man before I saw him. His cold hands cupped my cheek before slapping it quickly and making me jolt up, my eyes opening in alarm.

"So beautiful. Boss wasn't kidding when he said she was a catch" The man grinned, giving me a view of his chipped yellow teeth.

"Where am I?" I whispered into the thin air. Where had my confidence gone? I'd been in this situation before. Tied to a chair in some grummy basement.. The only difference was that I was actually fighting back against Harry and them.

What happened to me?

"Don't worry about that, sweetheart. You're safe"

Safe. Suddenly, that word had a whole different meaning.

"We'll take good care of you, won't be boys"

At the sound of whistles and claps of acknowledgement, my eyes flew around me, where at least twelve different men were staring at me, all with smiles on their faces.

"We're gonna kill you" The one who seemed to be in charge said. "Well, the boss is gonna kill you" He corrected himself.

"But not until we get that father of yours to tell us where he is. And do you know how we're gonna do that, baby?" Laughter erupted around me and I shrunk back into my seat. I could tell instantly that these boys were way different than Harry and his guys.

"We're gonna have a little fun with you, get ourselves off. Then we're gonna cut you up, slowly. Maybe just a finger at first, and then a toe. We'll let you bleed out. Make it as painful as possible. Might break a few bones while we're at it" He grinned, as if he was entertained by the thought.

"And we're gonna record it and send it to your father" The rest of the boys behind him hollered and clapped, and I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping, praying that this was some twisted nightmare. That Harry would swoop in and save me like he'd done many times before.

"And hey, who knows? We may even send it to Harry"

~*~

Harry

"Here, Gem" I placed the metal tray beside her, giving her a small nod of acknowledgement. Her eyes stayed locked on mine, but she didn't seem comforted in the slightest. Her hands were shaky, her body was curled in on itself in my bed.

She hadn't let me touch her since she'd been here. I went in for a hug and she screamed and dropped to the floor, crawling away on her hands and knees and screaming at me.

I'd take it though. I'd paint on a smile when she rejected my touch if it meant she was back with me and safe.

However, I could only imagine the things they did to her that made her behave like this. Gemma hadn't been like this before. She was sarcastic, smart, witty. Much like Raleigh.

And then she's with them for a little over a month and now she's a completely different person.

And the guilt ate up in my chest because whatever they'd been doing to Gemma were now going to be ousted on Raleigh. They take take take from her until she was nothing.

Just like they'd done with Gemma.

Fuck.

"I brought some clothes for you. They were Ra-" I cut myself up, my eyes widening in alarm at the name I was about to utter. "they were this girls, they should fit, you two were the same size"

I set the clothes on the bed, letting out a frustrated sigh at Gemma's unresponsive frame before grabbing my phone off the dresser and walking out into the hallway.

I placed my head against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut and taking deep breaths.

If Raleigh died, that would be on my hands. I sacrificed an innocent human beings life selfishly, because I wanted my sister back.

I could feel the sting behind my eyes at the vision of Raleigh's immobile body restrained by a chair. Left to be touched and tortured by those dirty fucking men.

"Harry" Louis' voice came out panicked, and I didn't hesitate to tighten my features, making sure there were no traces of my sadness evident before I pushed away from the wall to face him.

"You need to see this"

I wish I hadn't.

Because playing on Louis' mobile was a video of a sobbing Raleigh, being touched in places she shouldn't be. She was screaming beneath the gag, and crying beneath the blindfold. I could see her body shaking as the men continued their actions.

And I couldn't help but run down the hall and into my bathroom, cackling up my food from lunch into the toilet. I vomited long enough for Louis to come in and rub my back.

"We have to get her Lou" I wheezed out in between my wrenching. "I can't-I can't let them do that to her" I cringed.

"It's okay, Harry. We're gonna get her. We'll get some rest and we can leave in the morning" He whispered.

"We'll find her"