captor ❀ daniel seavey [ON HOLD]

3 ; unexpected

trees surround the car for miles; it almost feels as though we're drowning in nature. we've driven for around 2 hours now, and the longer we drive, the less we see anything in regards to human life. it's as though we're driving to another realm.

"are you excited?" zach inquires, nudging my arm. i smile, glancing at my lap.

"i guess," i force, anxiety crawling into my brain.

"what's wrong?"

i look out the window. "i'm not sure. something about this just feels wrong, i guess. too good to be true, maybe?"

he nods, placing a hand on my shoulder. "i know what you mean, but i'm just trying to have faith, you know?"

our car pulls into a turn off from the main road we were on, a large gate glistening before us. the driver leans out to the keypad, shielding the punched in numbers from zach and i. i brush it off, pinning the assumption that he was hiding it from us on my current state of doubt. zach is practically bouncing in excitement, a grin spread across his face like gossip amongst middle school girls.

we pull up to a cluster of small cabins surrounding a large, handsome mansion. zach and i stare in awe, admiring the three-story building. the dark wood contrasted from the bright green of the grass and trees beautifully, and the windows sparkled in the sunlight that peeked through the treetops. the driver stops in the driveway and opens the door for us. i hesitate, but zach scoots across the seat at lightning speed, forcing me out of the car. i stumble on my way out but stable myself, and zach is close behind. once he exits the car, we await further instruction from our chauffeur.

"follow me," he says simply, and we do as he asks. as we walk, i observe the area around us. there's trees galore and no sign of any humans other than cabins, which are small and seemingly belong to dr seavey. we come to a stop at the door, and the man guiding us turns around. i look at his coat for a name, curious of what it is, and i see a small tag, "jonah" inscribed on it. he takes a breath, ready to speak.

"when we go in, you must—"

zach cuts him off, banging his fists on the door behind jonah.

"...be quiet." he finishes, shooting a glare zach's way. he blushes, and his naturally rosy cheeks quickly fade to a crimson.  jonah opens the door, leading us in as a man descends the stairs, rubbing his temples.

"i'm sorry, i was on my way down, i just had quite the headache." he says, looking in our direction.

"it's alright, dr. seavey," jonah starts, "is your migraine improving at all?"

dr. seavey shakes his head. "not really, but it's only temporary. everything is. it will fade eventually." he finally reaches zach and i, smiling. "you guys must be the new lab rats," he laughs, and zach lets out a small chuckle.

"that's us," he sighs carelessly, seemingly already comfortable around the doctor. "nice to meet you, i'm zach."

they shake hands, and i reach mine out. "i'm alison. i'm so honored to be included, dr. seavey. thank you."

"please, call me daniel," he smiles, taking my hand and gently shaking it. i look into his eyes and feel like getting lost - no, found - in them. dr. se - daniel, drops his hand back to his side and continues. "i'm so glad you guys are here. feel free to make yourselves comfortable, i'll make dinner. there's netflix in the living room, if you'd like," he says, gesturing through a large archway. zach's eyes suddenly grow huge, "doesn't netflix have like... everything?"

daniel chuckles, "not quite everything, but it does have quite a bit."

i stifle a giggle at how much of a dork zach is, and daniel looks at me. he winks and walks away.

"he seems to have taken a liking to you." zach states, walking into the living room.

"probably because i didn't bang on the door when he had a migraine," i reply, laughing.

"he doesn't know it was me! he very well could have thought it was you, or that chauffeur guy!"

i nudge his shoulder, "his name is jonah, not chauffeur guy."

"whatever," zach says, plopping onto the couch, "he didn't care to introduce himself personally, and i didn't care to learn his name."

"just turn on a show," i say as i take a seat next to him, preparing for a long night.

-

a couple hours passed, and as the sun drew closer to the horizon, i drew closer with zach. from using popcorn as a basketball and our mouths as hoops to to screaming at the idiots in scary movies, we were laughing through the night.

a yell arose from the kitchen. "done!" daniel cries as he enters the room, a smile on his face. "dinner is served. bon appetit, uglies."

we enter the dining room to a feast fit for a queen - also known as an ordered pizza. i question how it got here, considering daniel lives in the middle of nowhere, but i put my thoughts aside. i look at daniel, "homecooked meal, huh?"

"spoiler alert: i didn't cook this. i can't cook to save my life."

we all laugh and take a seat, digging in to the pizza and getting lost in conversation. when we finish eating, zach dismisses himself to the bathroom. daniel turns to me.

"can i show you something?" he asks. i accept, and he takes my hand. i'm directed down multiple sets of stairs as we descend past ground level and into a basement, of sorts. we enter a room, glass boxes with beds inside them arranged in a hexagonal shape before us. a small stream runs through them all.

"what's this?" i ask, turning to daniel. before i get fully turned to him, i'm shoved to the ground in one of the rooms, my face hitting the floor. i take a second to check if my nose is bleeding as i hear a click. i whip my head around and come to the conclusion that i am, in fact, locked in this room, and i realize now that within the other rooms were more people, all seemingly unfazed by my capturing. my heart races, and tears begin to slip down my cheeks. i feel my throat close up, and i realize zach is in the room next to mine, and three of the other four are filled as well.

i look at daniel in horror as he whispers, "this is the only way. i'm sorry, alison." i hear a hiss, and i turn to find that gas is pouring into the room from a vent at the top of the room. i realize now that these might be my final minutes, and i run to the door, banging as hard as i can until my knuckles bleed and my hands are bruised, and just before i lose hope, everything fades to black.