Hostages

one

- Andrea -

"Andrea Elizabeth Chalmers and Louis William Tomlinson have gone missing from the local bank, just after a robbery early this morning. The robber, taking over five thousand dollars. If you suspect anything, please call the police immediately."

My name is Andrea Elizabeth Chalmers. I'm a 21-year-old senior college student in London, England. I have long blonde hair and a light shade of blue for my eyes. My height is approximately 5'6" tall and I weigh just over 130lbs.

Recently, I have been reported missing. It all happened this morning before school. I was at my parents house last night, in Doncaster. I stayed there over the weekend for my sister's party. I was set to head to the bank for a little deposit, before going to back to London, when it all happened so quickly.

He entered the room. He was a mysterious and shifty character I found him in the first two minutes. He was dressed in mostly black except for the red bandana tied around his head. He had a familiar sense to him, that I couldn't put my finger on.

I was standing at the machine, checking out my money, when the lights went out.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Three loud gunshots sounded the room, leaving people screaming and running in terror. I remember it being hard to see with the the bank, having only one large window at the front of the room. The eight in the morning sunlight didn't even cascade throughout the entire bank.

I was snatched, straight from the machine, his hand covering my mouth and his other arm taking full control of me. Of course, my self-defense instinct told me to fight him off with all my might, mind, and strength, but it was pretty damn hard when he was twice my size.

I was thrown into the back of a vehicle. The last thing I remember was having him stare down at me through his sunglasses. He pulled them off, revealing himself, and I tried to make out who he was. It didn't take long until I was punched so hard, it knocked me out cold. Next thing I knew, I woke up tied to the back of a chair in a dim room, lit with only one candle.

I tried breaking free from the chair, but there was no point. My hands were tied behind my back and my ankles to the legs of the chair. The wooden chair was extremely uncomfortable under my bony butt. I heard a soft voice behind me.

"There's no use." The stranger interrupted my scared thoughts. It sounded vaguely familiar, but like with the kidnapper, I couldn't quite point out who. "We're tied together, and I've already tried but they're too tight."

My breathing became heavy, now that my throat went dry. "What? No. What's going on? Where am I? Who are you?" My chest burned with panic and confusion. My stomach churning and my heart was beating rapidly fast, I couldn't control it.

"Slow down," his voice softened and soothed me, trying to relax, "just stay calm. My name is Louis Tomlinson. We've been kidnapped. I have no clue where we could possibly be, but by the looks of it, it looks like we're in some sort of basement."

"Great," I groaned and rolled my eyes. Suddenly, my butt became ten times more bonier. "Kidnapped. This is just so fantastic, right? My mom's gonna kill me because I missed my third day of class."

"I don't think she'll be worrying about that when she finds you." Louis laughed, obviously trying to make something good come out of this. "More relieved than anything, I'd think."

"So Louis," I piped up, ignoring his comment, turning my head towards his shoulder. "Do you have a plan?"

"Andrea, we're tied to two chairs, back-to-back, in no possible way of escaping. Do you think we can do anything else?" He pointed out, exaggerating the words so they sounded humorous, causing me to let out a chuckle in this idiotic situation.

"I guess you've got that right." I smiled to myself. I would be smiling to him, but I'm not exactly facing -- wait a minute. "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"We went to the same high school together. You were in my math class every year. You were the only one that always had her hand up and got called on. That's how I know who you are. It's because of your voice." I could hear the smile creep up on his face. "You were one smart cookie to have been in a math class that was a year older than you."

Now I remember the name. Louis Tomlinson. He was the quiet kid that sat there making notes all the time. A smile creeped up my cheeks. "Oh yeah, everyone always made fun of me because I was the youngest in the class."

The door swung open, the sound of the door bouncing back off the wall, causing it to rattle. A casting light around the chilled room. I was not facing the door so I couldn't see what was going on. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach and my heart stopped beating. Oh no.

"Who are you?" Louis asked, his voice a little shaky and nervous. I could tell Louis was just as scared as I was.

"You can call me Patch." A deep, husky voice echoed, loud, into the nearly empty room. Heavy footsteps paced slowly into the room, making my heart beat ten times faster in my chest -- my throat was in desperate need of water.

Patch faced me. He was standing tall, so I could only see his crotch in my face if I looked straight. Instead, I kept my eyes down at the cement floor under his heavy feet. He was wearing work boots. I didn't dare to look at him. If I did, I might just have a panic attack. He could be an old, creepy man or a young, confused teenager.

"Look at me." He demanded with a steadfast voice, but I did not dare to move. "I said look at me!"

There was a sudden impact involving my face, and a hand. A warm sensation spreading in my cheek. His hand slapped me so hard, I could already feel it bruising. My eyes stung, burning tears, and I screwed my eyes shut to keep them from crying.

"Look at me!" Patch yelled even louder, his voice boomed like thunder without the lightning. I swallowed a sob, but my eyes couldn't help the pain as tears rolled down my red cheek, leaving a slight sting on the slap. I opened my eyes to find him crouched down in front of me. "Oh wow," he said, "what a pretty little face you have. Too bad you didn't listen because now it's all red." He gave me a pout and I glared at him, trying not to cry any more than I have.

Patch reached his hand up to my face, to touch my stinging and sore cheek, but I flinched away. "What do you want from us?" I blurted, before he could hurt me any more.

Patch let out a loud and obnoxious laugh. "You have something of mine that I want."

"What?"

He looked at me, hard, cold eyes -- as if I was stupid -- then stood up, walking back to stand in front of Louis. "Do you know what I want?" He asked the innocent boy.

I felt Louis shake his head. "Then you both are not leaving until you figure that out!" Patch's voice was loud and irritated, but he left the room with a slam of the door.

We were now left in complete and utter silence again. Only a small dim candle burning slowly in the corner of the room. I glanced up at it and mouthed, thank you, to the little candle that flickered. I hated the dark -- this moment bringing back hard memories -- and it was the only thing keeping me from screaming right now. That, and the company of my fellow hostage Louis.

Hostages. That's right. We are hostages. Closed, in a caged room that smelled of musty, old basment and pumpkin spice from the candle. It had a chill to the prison, leaving the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and goosebumps rise on my bare arms and legs. I guess that's what I get for wearing shorts and a tank top on the hottest day of the year, right?

"Andrea?" Louis' voice whispered, softly. It relieved me at heart to know I wasn't alone in this. That someone else -- out there in the seven billion people there are on this planet -- was going through the exact same thing I was.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

I sniffled, as another slow tear trickled down my burning cheek. I choked down another sob, showing Louis I was stronger than the monster locking us here. "Yeah, I'm good. How 'bout you?"

"I'm not the one who just got slapped." He said, trying to lighten the mood but failed. A moment of silence until he spoke again, "You're not alone in this. We will get out of here. Okay?"

I sighed, then smiled to myself and nodded. "Okay."