chronometer

restrike

A/N: sorry for the long wait. hope it was worth it ♥
as consolation have another chapter from mitch's point of view and a little recap from his perspective
try to enjoy! xo

song: slip - elliot moss
tw: depictions of violence

I don't remember much of anything after going through the guard rail. I know that I screamed so loudly my ears filled with fire from the piercing noise. I know that my head made contact with the dashboard, effectively breaking the bridge of my nose in half and knocking me out cold. I remember the sick 'thud', then darkness. Everything else following was just that. Darkness. I remained unconscious through being pulled from the car by an unknown group of men. I didn't even wake up when they took me back to their hideout. When I finally came to, my head swam with dizziness and confusion. My vision was distorted, and panic made my throat tighten.

I tried to get up from the chair I found myself in, only to realize that my wrists and ankles were strapped to them, feeding into the alarm. Like a cornered animal, I had begun to wiggle around uncomfortably. I wondered where Scott was-- if he was okay. My face ached, I remember knowing the moment I regained consciousness that something in my face was broken. That there had to be bruising. Dried blood just below my nostrils. I spent little time worrying about my face and more focusing on the figure that walked into the room shortly after my awakening.

I had demanded Scott's whereabouts, he laughed.

I had demanded my own whereabouts, he laughed again.

Finally he spoke, just as my temper began to shorten. "I will not tell you anything. You should be grateful you are living. You have an expensive arm, don't put it to waste by being a brat." He spat on the floor in front of me. "Your precious little prince is nowhere to be seen. We didn't bother to pick him up. He isn't the problem right now. We want what daddy's got."

Dear god, those words were the last kind that I wanted to hear. Regardless of my predicament, there was no way I would allow my father to save me. The man had ignored me though, and instead favored picking up the phone right before my eyes and dialing the number straight to my old home. My stomach churned when I heard a muffled voice on the other line.

"Good evening, Mr. Grassi. I'll cut right to the chase here. We have your son. We'll give you three days to offer time in exchange for the boy, or I'll consider timing him out. Understood? Have an excellent night. I will contact you again in three days. Don't bother tracing the phone." Click.

The male placed the phone on the ledge nearby and approached me, grabbing me by my jaw and forcing me to look at him. "Maybe daddy won't work out, and if he doesn't, we still have loose ends to tie up with Prince Charming anyways. His mommy was such a stunning woman, wasn't she? Too bad." My reaction was immediately to jerk and right hook this bastard in the face, but I was met with a force pulling me back into the chair. My head hung in defeat, anger boiling my blood. He wasn't going to make me speak. Not a single word.

"If Scott doesn't prove to be a success then, well, that's the end of your story. Sorry princess." He took two steps away, and I was left with darkness once again.

This darkness had been a different kind-- eerie, lonely, haunting. I did not sleep that first night. I didn't sleep the second either. I stared off into the bottomless night, searching for a key to unlock the door to the dream this had to have been. A part of me is still convinced I haven't found it yet. The other is slowly allowing itself to become enveloped by the darkness.

--

My father unsurprisingly declined to pay any kind of time for my safety, and the man that had been watching over me decided to blindfold me to keep me from becoming familiar with their faces. I did not know if they were actually going call Scott or not, and a demanding majority of me hoped that they wouldn't. We were better off if only one of us were at risk. Of course, things don't usually go the way I want them to even if I truly, deeply wish for them not to.