Scrutinized | Tanner x Reader

chapter 1 ~

note: my writing's a little rusty so sorry for this being a weak chapter. i promise a lot more will happen next time :)

Your whole body ached. You don't know why, you were fine when you went to bed that night, well, from what you remembered at least. You coughed, pushing yourself forward then backwards as you exhaled roughly. Eventually you had the energy to open your eyes, doing so lightly. Your vision blurred, adjusting to the objects around you. Wait... this wasn't your bedroom. Quite obviously since you were sitting upright. Once your thoughts came back to you, you noticed where you were in your attic? You hadn't been up there in a while so it took you a minute to notice this was indeed your home.

There was a crash behind a few boxes in front of you, followed by what sounded like a young man cursing at himself. Their footsteps grew louder till their shadow loomed behind the boxes. You held your breath in fear. A young man stepped out from behind the boxes. He was wearing a white suit and was holding a box. Noticing you were awake, he trotted over to you.

"Ah, you're awake, I'm glad! Honestly thought I got the dosage wrong." He chuckled to himself, placing the box he was holding onto the floor. He got down on his knees and rummaged through the contents. He looked familiar, but you couldn't put your finger on it. You carefully studied his face. His hair... his facial structure... his light freckles... It finally clicked in your mind on who it was, the thought hitting you like a truck.

"You... you're the guy on the news! T-the wanted murderer!" You stupidly weeped out. His ears perked up and he turned to you. "Yea! Aww you recognised me, how sweet!" He stood up and adjusted his tie, smirking, "surprised though, I personally think they sketched my face wrong." He didn't seem to be taking this seriously. Your brow furrowed, "what the hell are you doing here? Why am I strapped to a chair in my own attic?!" His hands slipped behind his back, glaring at you,

"Well, that's not important." He scoffed almost mockingly, "all you need to know is that I'll be... 'looking after' you for a while." Your eye twitched, "I can look after myself just fine, actually! Now let me go!" You struggled against your restraints, feeling the zip ties that were wrapped around your wrists loosen before the man went behind you, tightening the zip tie till your fingers were turning blue. The man stood up straight again, looking down at you.

"My name's Tanner by the way." He said sternly, you opened your mouth to speak but he cut you off, "I already know your name, (Y/N), you don't have to introduce yourself." Sighing, you looked down. 'Tanner' walked back over to the box he was holding earlier, "Y'know, you really need to tidy up here once in a while. God it's such a mess, it's driving me crazy!" Rolling your eyes, you ignored him, continuing to get out of your restraints. By now, from how tight Tanner wrapped the zip ties around your wrists, the feeling of blood stopped rushing to your hands. You had to speak up otherwise your hands would've fell off, but you instead kept your mouth shut.

Tanner propped himself up, flicking his hair back out of his eye. "Bed time." He said, straightening his vest. "Don't worry, I'll replace your zip ties." Tanner went behind you and cut the zip ties with what you assumed to be a pair of scissors. The blood rushed your hands, causing your hands to tingle. Tanner's left hand wrapped around your arm as he tied another zip tie around your wrists. He stood up.

"Well, good night. I hope you sleep well, good night darling." He cooed in your ear. You cringed as he walked out of sight and climbed down the ladder out of the attic. It was now cold and dark, you had no idea what time it was. You took a minute to think to yourself. Who was this man? Why was he keeping you captive in your own attic? "Darling?" You scoffed, "what a prick!" You were angrily mumbling to yourself. "And... he's probably sleeping in my bed right now!" Your fists clenched, "How did he know my name anyway? Bastard must've been..." ...you didn't have the heart to finish your sentence. Although the time was completely unknown to you, it was exhausting to be this furious.

You let out a shaky sigh and shut your eyes, hoping for at least an hour of sleep. It is a little but difficult to sleep upright with your hands tied, but that didn't stop you from trying. Things went all shaky, shutting your eyes and exhaling before falling asleep...