Fleur

Chapter Ten

TRIGGER WARNINGS (is kidnapping a trigger warning??)

•

Evan opened his eyes lazily and slowly. He didn't remember anything, only walking down to eat breakfast the morning before. He didn't know exactly where he was but it felt oddly familiar. His eyes followed the odd, zigzagged, pattern on the scratched, wooden floor as he took in the approximate size of the dimly lit room. Yes, he'd definitely been here before.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly staggered to his feet, having a
mini-celebration once he conquered the struggle to stand up. His celebration immediately ended when his knees gave out and he collapsed right back onto the ground. He put his hands on the floor and panted, desperate for water and answers to his questions. Where was he? How'd he end up here? Where was his mom and Jared and Connor? How and when could he leave?

There was a water cooler and paper cups next to him and alongside it was a cheese sandwich that looked about a week old. He poured himself some warm water from the cooler and leaned his head against the wall, feeling it throb against the wooden panels. He had a terrible migraine, but that was the least of his problems at the moment. There was a little stool on the other side of the room underneath a sliding window pane too small to capture any light, but too big to keep out insects; the floor was littered with the carcasses of dead flies, ants, spiders, and unidentifiable insects.
The bugs along with the damp and moldy essence of the room made Evan sick and he could feel his stomach churning as his lungs grasped for just one breath of fresh air. He didn't know exactly when the room started to spin, but the walls seemed to be twirling and the floor wasn't steady at all. He tried calling to his mom for help but his hoarse throat could barely make out a word, much less scream for his mom, the only person he wanted. He checked his pocket for his phone, only to realize his backpack was gone as well.

And he was scared, past scared really. Petrified was more like it. This stuff wasn't taught in school and no matter how many scenarios he had envisioned as a child, none of them involved him getting kidnapped.

A chipped mug sat to his right filled with stubby pencils and a pink eraser. Maybe it was the fact that he thought he was in severe danger, or maybe it was a small miracle, but suddenly an idea formed in Evan's head.

He picked up the mug and chucked it against the wall, hoping the sound of shattering ceramic would be quiet so his kidnapper wouldn't be alerted.

It clanged against the wall and shattered into a million tiny pieces and a few large, pointy shards. He grabbed one of the shards and shoved it into his pocket, then waited until he had enough courage to carry out his plan.

•

Connor had just finished his now-daily route to the coffee shop to buy Jared his outrageously expensive coffee (which he never actually drinks). He handed Jared the coffee and waited to find out what Jared wanted next.

"Text my girlfriend would ya, Connor?" Jared asked, coffee in hand.

"Use your thumbs for god's sake," Connor complained while taking Jared's phone out of his pocket in a way that definitely raised questions.

"This is the bulkiest case I've ever seen. It probably weighs more than I do. What's your password?"

Jared looked around to make sure nobody was watching then whispered to Connor.

"2-8-4-2-6-2-7"

"That's a really long password."

"Yeah well 'bathbombs' without any vowels is a really long word," Jared argued. "And speaking of bathbombs, I read somewhere online that Lush is having a buy two get two free sale."

"Isn't it buy one get one free?"

"Same thing," Jared shrugged. "Anyway, go get me four bathbombs - any kind. Just be back soon. Oh and, use your money."

Connor groaned and got back into his car, speeding a lot to get to Lush before the sale ended. That's when he noticed flowers on his arm that spelled out "help". Connor slammed the break, probably causing an accident as he inspected the flowers. Where on earth was Evan?

•

Evan cried as he saw his own blood drip down his arm. There was a lot of blood and he was scared he would die of blood loss. Using most of the little strength he has left, he ripped off the collar of his shirt and pressed it as hard as he could against the cuts to stop the blood flow. He was lightheaded and drowsy, his eyelids drooping until his eyes were closed and he fell asleep, praying to every force in the universe that Connor saw his message.