Their Situation, Our Problem

Chapter 12: Sofia

She'd never had a hangover but, she was pretty sure that this was what it felt like. Her head was pulsing and her body ached. The heavenly mattress did not give her any incentives to get up. She didn't know what time it was and she really didn't care. She snuggled further into the blankets and buried her head under her pillow. It was summer. She had graduated. Their parents had left for a cruise and they had the house to themselves for three weeks. They-

They had just been kidnapped. Sofia's eyes shot open and she sprung up from the pillows only to fall back down as she cringed at the pain on her back. Everything that had happened yesterday, came back to her slowly. The attempted kidnapping. The shooting. The Arsenics. The house attack. The actual kidnapping.

The Rachel situation and the attempted kidnapping in her home explained why her back felt like it was on fire. The adrenaline must really have been helping her gloss over the pain. Sofia took a deep breath and tried getting up again, but eventually gave up. She lifted her head and got a good look at her surroundings. She was in a bedroom with no windows. Of course. It had an expensive and ancient vibe to it. The bed was enormous. It had four posts at each corner and a flimsy, translucent, curtain that was tied back. The room had a bookshelf, a desk, a vanity, some drawers and a big flat screen TV bolted to the wall. She saw two doors; one she assumed led to the rest of the house. Or prison. Or hellhole. She had no idea where she was.

God, how could they have been so stupid! The first sign should have been that they didn't go to the cops. Now here she was, in god knows where, with no Amara in sight, and who the fuck knows how long she had been knocked out.

Sofia was starting to freak out. Her breaths started getting faster and she felt her throat constricting. She felt like she wasn't getting enough air into her system. As she started hyperventilating, the door opened. Her head jerked to the sound and she saw Elijah walk in. The sight of him shut her down; emotionally and physically. Her breathing evened out, but her mind kept its erratic thoughts bouncing around. He stopped as soon as he saw she was up. He hesitated for a second before entering the room completely and shutting the door.

"I see you're up," Elijah stated as he made his way farther into the room. Sofia didn't move from her spot on the bed. She lifted her head a little bit higher to stare him down but otherwise stayed put.

"I brought you some food," He gestured to the plate he was carrying and a bottle of water.

"It's not much, but I figured you'd be hungry," He said as he set the plate on one of the nightstands. He backed away from Sofia; giving her plenty of space as he stood near the desk, as if waiting for Sofia to do or say something. And she did consider it. She really thought about making a dash for the door, but given the fact that she couldn't even sit up and that Elijah seemed in perfect health, Sofia doubted she would even make it to the door.

"Look, I realize what this looks like, but I promise you that I mean you no harm whatsoever. You don't have to be afraid," Elijah finally spoke after a couple of tense moments of silence.

Sofia hadn't reacted in any way since Elijah walked in, but that made her already-there frown plunge even more.

"You don't believe me," Elijah responded to her expression change.

"I'm not as gullible as my cousin. I know when someone is bullshiting me and you have been lying to us since you drove up that alley," Sofia finally answered. Her voice was monotone, with not even an ounce of emotion in it.

Elijah seemed to think about her answer, before he answered her with a question, "You want honesty?".

Before Sofia could reply, Elijah spoke again, "Here's some, I stopped a man from beating you to death. I didn't abandon you to some thugs. I took you home when you asked and I saved you from being kidnapped. I have saved your life twice now. The only reason we are not letting you go is because the wrong people found out who you are."

"I am being held against my will and no amount of charm is gonna make me forget that. You're not keeping us here because the 'wrong people' found out who we are. You're keeping us here because they're the 'wrong people' to you. You're a liar and I don't trust liars" Sofia finished. Her gaze never wavered. She seemed to be daring Elijah to contradict anything she had said. He held her gaze for a few minutes. He stared and Sofia didn't flinch once. He finally sighed and looked away. He made his way to the door before looking back at Sofia.

"You're right, they're the wrong people to us, but that won't make them the right people for you. Not matter what my main reason was, the fact that I don't want you to get hurt, isn't changing," Elijah gave her a quick once over before walking back out of the room.