Hostage

Hostage - prologue and chapter 1

Prologue:

                “Okay class listen. Next week at Thursday lunchtime you can sign up for the gymnastics team. I would advise that you at least sign up for one club so that you can…” Miss King went on and on and on. Millie was tired and all she wanted was to go home with her best friend Bronte and watch ‘The It Girl’.

                She sighed. The way Miss King was rambling on made any thought of her dream impossible. Millie turned her head to where she knew Bronte would be looking at her. Their eyes met for a second before Bronte rolled her eyes and shook her head. Millie smiled to herself and looked at her lap.

                “…you see girls? It’s all about confidence! Well done Alice!” Miss King exclaimed patting a small brown haired girl named Alice on the back. “She just gave it her all! That is all that we can –”  

                A loud bang rang through the hall. Millie lifted her head in confusion to find Miss King looking down at her now stained red t-shirt. She opened her mouth to speak but only blood poured out. A moment later she was collapsed on the floor; eyes rolled back in her head, so clearly dead. Millie gasped and then screamed along with every other girl in the class. Girls all around her began to run around like headless chickens, screaming at an almost unbearable pitch and some girls were calling 9-1-1. Millie began scrambling towards her now dead teacher just as Bronte was holding her arm, restraining her from moving.

                “What are you doing? Get off me! I have to see if she’s ok! I have to…” Millie paused as she looked at Bronte. Her eyes were a deep crimson colour not her usual hazel.

                Millie’s eyes widened. Bronte looked down as a flash of pain flicked across her face. “Get out of the way. Or you’re going to get killed.” Her voice was low, rough and controlling. Not her usual sweet, light, sunny voice. She had transformed into someone Millie didn’t even recognise.

                All of a sudden Bronte had been ripped from Millie’s arm and tossed across the room by a tall, muscular man dressed all in black with a phone attached to his ear. “Yeah, it’s her.” He paused as he saw Millie’s horrified face, “And I’ve found the perfect hostage.”

                “No!” shouted Bronte from across the room. She was at Millie’s side in an instant. Her movement was blurred she moved with such speed. “You leave my friend out of this.” She spat in his face.  “Or I will kill you.”

                The man smirked, a terrifying smirk, nothing humorous about it. “I doubt you could even if you tried. I’ve already got Nick on the way.” As soon as the man said the name Nick a flash of anger and recognition flashed across Bronte’s face.

                Just as Bronte was getting ready to spring, the man whirled Millie around and pressed a gun to her temple. She stilled not wanting to give him any more of a reason to kill her.

                “Now that I have your full attention, you are going to have to listen very carefully and do exactly as I say.” He said quietly and roughly, a gun still pressed to Millie’s temple. Bronte crossed her arms and nodded. “Good. Nick will be here any second and when that second comes you will not fight me. You will not transform. Or there will be a very sad ending for your friend,” he paused for a second and looked deep into Millie’s eyes before smirking and adding, “Millie. For your bestest friend in the whole world.”

                Bronte’s now crimson eyes flashed an even brighter red as a whirlwind of air started blowing all around them. Millie looked all around desperately seeking an escape. Looking at the windows, doors, her now dead teacher before her eyes connected finally with Bronte’s. A look of defeat masked Bronte’s usually flawless face.