Hostages

thirteen

- Louis -

I awoke in a dim room, a massive migraine pounding in my skull. I scrunched my face together to keep from whining. I blinked to clear away some of the dotted vision. A silhouette sat in a chair in the corner. I took in a deep breath, but cringed when I breathed out. My arm. It hurt like a thousand knives being stabbed into me.

"Look who's finally awake." Patch's deep and familiar voice shredded through me like paper. It made me groan and roll my eyes on the inside. I'm still living? To be honest, I'd rather be dead than listen to him right now.

"Andrea," I whimpered, before speaking of anything else. "Where is she?" It was a struggle to let the words out, but they managed to escape my lips.

"Oh, you mean you're little girlfriend?" Patch scolded, standing up and coming out from the shadows. "Yeah, she escaped. She might be a little bloody and bruised from the beating I gave her before you two got out, but she'll be live."

"She'll come for me, you know." I stated, looking up at his dark eyes. This is pointless and I'm running out of energy. Why am I not dead yet? I crane my neck to look at my arm. It was bandaged up but not tight enough. At least he had the generosity to help a brother out here.

"Oh, will she Lewis?" He questioned, turning and pacing slowly back to the candle burning in the corner of the room, his boots clunked heavily as he steadily walked.

"It's Louis." I glared, my arm completely draining my voice. "And yes she will. She's a good person like that. Caring and generous. She doesn't just give up on people. She actually has a heart, unlike some cold-blooded creatures."

"Well, let's just hope she won't be dumb and will actually try and figure out the puzzle." He gave a wicked smile.

My face fell into confusion. "What are you talking about?" I prodded, shaking my head. This dude has some serious issues. "Puzzle? What puzzle?"

"The hour-glass game." He said, not very explanatory, might I add.

"You're not very good at explaining things." I shot at him, speaking my thoughts aloud. His eyes darkened and he moved at me, squeezing my arm to make me cry out in pain. Holy god damn this fucking hurt so much.

"It's a game our family has been playing," he elaborated, finally. "You see, Andrea, whose name isn't even that, and I are actually cousins. Blood-related. Well, when Andrea was a tiny tot idiot, her mother gave her a necklace with an hour glass. The same timing as the one in the corner right here. And when times up and she's not here, the only thing I can kill is the other most prized possession of hers."

He looked at me. My face still confused. When I didn't reply, he said harshly, "You."

I questioned him. "What? No. That's crazy. She didn't even know me until today."

Patch laughed, loudly enough to echo the empty room. It was husky and smokey. You can tell he's a smoker. "You're kidding me, right? Do you even know her?"

"What are you talking about?"

"All Andrea ever talked about when she came over was you. She was what, six? She said she was 'in love with you' and was 'going to get married with you'." He laughed harder, hysterically. "Oh my God, she's so dumb."

"She isn't dumb." I snapped at him, causing his attention to direct to me. "She's actually very intelligent."

"Well, then it shouldn't take long for her to get here, now should it?" He barked loudly then huffed an evil laugh. I rolled my eyes at him, but he didn't notice which I'm thankful of. He probably would've squeezed my arm again and then for sure I would've been dead.

Andrea likes me? No, scratch that. Andrea's in love with me? The Andrea Chalmers? My first love, the girl who I stared at across the room for all of my high school career, loves me? I must be dreaming. No. I must be dead.

I looked around to check my surroundings. My eyes stopped to see something odd in the corner of the room next to the flickering candle. The hour glass. The sand was running slowly but it was almost empty. My heart quickened it's pace and I gulped. Come on, Andrea. I know you can do this.

Patch must've notice me staring at it because he picked up the glass object. "If I have done my math correctly, Andrea only has thirty more minutes until it stops."

"Why didn't you just kill me before?" I asked, darkly.

"Because I wouldn't have my necklace." He shot back, his voice irritated with my pile of questions.

"What's with the necklace?" I shot at him nervously, my hands starting to sweat and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. "I mean like, you're a dude and guys don't wear that girly stuff."

"That necklace was my mothers," he fired, raising his voice with each word that came out. "Andrea's mother stole it from her and gave it to that prissy bitch! I never knew she even had the necklace until after my mother died! My mother was everything to my sister and I and the old hag stole it!"

I decided not to continue and waste time bantering back and forth. It was beyond stupid to waste my breath on him any longer, especially since I don't have much left to live for.