Kidnapped, Unfortunately

Chapter Nine

After my failed escape attempt, I managed to fall asleep.

But it seemed like only minutes before I was shaken awake by my very best friend.

"Rise and shine," Jacob sang, parading into my room and going to open the windows.

I grumbled something unintelligible and rolled over to the other side.

I heard him mutter something, and the next thing I knew, he gave me a hard shove and I rolled off the bed and onto the floor.

As usual, I landed right on my face. It's a miracle I haven't had any permanent damage yet.

"It's time to start the day!" He said in a chipper voice.

"Just let me die," I wallowed in despair, still on the ground.

My life was more of a mess than usual, and that is something I never thought could happen.

"Die later," He told me. "Right now we have to meet downstairs."

I shed a silent tear for my old life. If I were at home right now, Paige would be planning some insane party and I would be slacking off. I missed the old days.

My heart now heavy, I pulled myself off the floor and forced my feet to follow him out the door.

No use wallowing, it's not going to change anything. Action will.

Time to put on my grown up pants, and then take them off again and use them to strangle Jacob.

"Did you have a nice night?" Jacob asked casually as we descended the stairs.

"Savor these moments," I said, "Because soon you won't be able to savor anything."

He gave me a sideways glance. "Sounds like a threat."

I gasped. "Wow. So you aren't as stupid as you look."

He scowled. "That was mean."

We reached the bottom of the stairs and swerved into the kitchen.

Hayley and her Kidnapper were seated on couches in the living room. Hayley's arms were crossed while she was sulking, and the other guy, Carson I presumed, was lounging on a sofa casually, flipping through some kind of sports magazine.

When we arrived, he looked up at us and smiled, setting the magazine down.

"Morning gorgeous," He grinned.

"Well thank you," I replied, walking over and sitting on the other side of Hayley. She looked up at me and smiled, scooting over to give me more room. "Finally someone noticed."

"Actually, I was talking to Jacob," said Carson.

Jacob beamed at him, and went to sit in the couch with the other guy, across from us.

"What's going on?" Hayley raised an eyebrow at them.

"Exactly my thoughts," I agreed, staring them down.

"Just give us a moment," said Carson, and then he and Jacob turned around so that their backs were to us, and began to whisper.

But their whispering was awful and I could hear every word they were saying.

"What should we do?" Jacob asked in what he thought was a hushed whisper.

"Good cop bad cop?" Carson suggested.

"Good idea," Jacob agreed. "I'll be the bad cop."

"What?" Carson protested. "That's ridiculous! I'm ALWAYS the bad cop!"

"So it's my turn!"

"You can't be bad!"

"I can too! Watch me!"

"I refuse."

Jacob began to sniffle.

Carson snapped, "Fine."

"YES!" Jacob cheered, and they both spun around to face us.

It was a bit quiet, until I said, "Ok, I'm only going to ask this once. Why the heck did you bring us down here?"

"Actually, you've asked that twice now," said Carson.

Hayley snorted beside me, but quickly covered it up with a fake cough.

The corners of his mouth quirked up into a brief, half-smile, and he cleared his throat.

"So, after your little episode last night-"

"I object!" Jacob declared.

Carson gave him an impatient look. "Not now-"

"You're all going to jail!"

"Stop that!"

"Fine," Jacob growled.

Carson rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, after your escape-attempt, we thought we should set some house rules."

"More rules?" Hayley asked in disbelief. "I'm still memorizing the first two!"

"Rule one," Jacob said in a gruff voice, trying to imitate a thug. As if! I knew what a thug sounded like, and that definitely wasn't it.

"No leaving the house," Carson continued. "Any limb found outside of these walls will be cut off immediately."

"Ew," I commented.

"Rule two," Jacob growled.

"Absolutely not contacting anyone. Attempts to call someone other than us will result in severe consequences."

"Rule three."

"No escape attempts from here on out," Carson finished. "Got it?"

Hayley raised her hand. "What was rule number two again? And one and three?"

Jacob's attempt at looking menacing made him look like he was constipated, and I made a face.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. "You don't look so good..."

"What do you mean?!" Jacob panicked. "This is how I normally look!! What's wrong with my face?!?!!"

"Nothing, your face is fine," Carson assured him, shooting me a glare.

Just then, my stomach made the most horrible sound ever.

Everyone's attention immediately turned to me.

"What the heck was that?" Carson asked in an astonished voice.

"Nothing," I claimed. Then I looked down at my stomach and hissed, "Be quiet!"

Sadly, my stomach ignored me, and let out another cry of anguish.

"You know," Jacob began, looking uncomfortable with the noises coming out of me, "You can go get some breakfast if you want."

My mood instantly brightened at the mention of food, and that was that.

I jumped out of my chair, leaped over the coffee table in my way, swerved around the railing between the kitchen and living room, and dropped on my knees and slid under the long breakfast table, stopping right at the base of the pantry.

This all took place in under five seconds.

Everyone's eyes bulged as I flung open the doors and grabbed a box of muffins.

You see, I have this special talent where I turn into a gymnast at the mention of food.

I ripped open the lid and grabbed a muffin, while for a moment, everything was ok.

Baby, here I come.