KIDNAPPED

Chapter Fifteen

"So, what do we know about it"  He says in all serious tone, which makes it clear that it is no time for joking anymore.

It's about time the ball gets rolling.
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As soon as the words leave Jason's mouth everyone starts looking at me with such a look of doubt that I, myself feel impulsed to get away from all of them.

"What! Isn't anyone going to speak up?" Jason's words are snarky as he demands some kind of reaction from his minions. He looks from one face to another, only to find them glaring at me.

"Hmm, Jason" One of the guys, whom I am not acquainted with, jerks his head in my direction and I watch as realization finally pours into Jason's eyes.

"Oh"

It's few seconds before he speaks up again, in which everyone holds their breath.

"Doesn't matter, continue" He says with complete disregard as if my presence will not amount to anything or be dangerous to their gang in some way.

I felt baffled and a little...insulted.

Am I not at all threatening? 

At all? Really!

Wow, I didn't feel this insulted even when I was dumped on a first a date and that is saying something.

"Are you sure?" The same guy asks.

Yeah, are you sure, Jason...

"Do I need to repeat myself, huh!" He barks at the guy.

"Don't you think we should discuss it privately" The person's voice was shaking and it was really obvious that he was scared of testing Jason's limits, but at least I have to give it to him for standing by his point, that too against his leader or whatever Jason is to this gang.

"I didn't knew that I took orders from you?" Jason mocked the guy with an over-ex aggregated surprised face.

Ouch! I feel for this guy at the moment, even if he is the one doubting me. Let me explain.

Although Jason's face showed expressions that suggested he might be joking with the poor guy, but his voice indicated what he truly meant, his voice was grating, hard, blank and all at once, the guy probably shat his pants. It was like a robot talking in place of a human, with no emotion in his tone at all. 

If I didn't knew any better, I would say that it was a threat...or may be it was.

"S..sorry" He said at last.

"So, anyone's gonna start or I have to pry open your mouths for information now" Jason asked in an overly made tone after dismissing the guy with a wave of his left hand.

"Ah...Uh..." Other unknown guy started saying but Jason cut him off before he could properly form a sentence.

"What!" Jason shouted.

"It was a guy, the one who shot the gun..." The one who doubted me started hurriedly as he saw their leader's temper rise.

"...looked in his early twenties, dark hair, slight build."He finishes saying.

"And?" 

"Well, he was around the first floor, looking for something, when we found him"

"We chased him...but the fucker got away by shooting Brody"

"Brody? No serious injury I'm thinking" Jason asks.

"No, he was able to dodge just in time to get shot in his left arm, otherwise..." He didn't end the sentence because everyone knew what he was going to say anyway.

Otherwise...otherwise, he would be dead, whomever this Brody is.

They are talking like it would be no big deal if this person died, as if he is not a live, breathing person but some pawn of theirs.  

He actually might be...

But they should show some sympathy for the guy on a human level, at least.

"Okay, okay...so anything else" Jason nods and wait for the guys to fill him in on more information.

"Well, after he shot Brody, he jumped out from the window and well..."

"And well?" Jason waits for the guy to finish his sentence, which he so conveniently left hanging.

"...and well, he ran away" The guy says at last.

"He had a tattoo too" The other unknown guy pipes up.

"What kind of tattoo?" It's obvious that this information has instantly gained Jason attention.

It surely did grab my attention too.

I mean, you don't randomly point out that the 'burglar' had a tattoo.

There is supposed to some significance behind it, right? 

"It was a...uh...a kind of distorted skull with red eyes, on the back of his hand" The person said.

"Coincidence?" Jack murmurs, more to himself than to any other person.

It is the only time I have seen Jack remotely serious about anything.

Yes, other times he's too busy insulting you.

"I don't think so, Jack" Jason replies without looking at him.

Everyone's nodding at Jason's comment, making me a bit confused.

They probably know something, which I don't, of course. 

"But what would they want?" Jack questions.

"I don't know, but if he's planning something, so help me God!" Jason almost shouted.

"After your meeting, I thought it was sorted out" One of the unknown guy says.

"I thought the same thing" Jason sighs.

My curiosity couldn't wait any longer, so I nudge Nate, who is sitting beside me, while the other four people carry on with their discussion.

"Pshh, Nate" I whisper to him.

"What is it?" He turns his head towards me and whispers back.

"What are you guys talking about?" I whisper again to him, so as to not draw attention towards us. But as I wait for Nate's answer, he again starts looking forward and I realize that the room has grown silent.

I slowly turn my head, only to find all four of the boys looking at me with a blank look on their face.

Shit...

"Uh...sorry, do carry on" I nervously smile at them. 

I really wish that it was possible for me to get away from them at this moment.

"As I was saying..." Jason glares at me before continuing his sentence.

"...this could be serious shit, I need all of you to be alert" Jason finishes with a sigh.

"Do you think it's because of her?" The unknown guy voices his doubt, nodding towards me in the process. 

Yes, like there is any other female in this room, genius.

"We'll have to find that out" Jason says while looking at me.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" I ask but nobody bothers to reply.

"Can someone please tell me something? Anything!" I almost shout. These assholes are so fucking infuriating, I mean the least they could do is tell me if I am in potential danger.

Jason sighs as if this was predictable-

It probably was

- and is tiresome for him to do this 'chore'.

"Look, you are kidnapped, right?" I nod as he waits for my answer before continuing. 

"And you're daughter of an businessman?" 

"I don't know where you are going with this" I say to Jason.

"Your kidnapping can bring business, you understand"

"Somewhat..."

"People will want to use you, now you understand?"

"It has started making sense..."

"...but I am already your captive, though, so why can someone else kidnap me?" I look at Jason quizzically.

"Gang rivalry" He says and walks towards me. 

I am still confused but from his expressions, I know he is not going to be tell me anything else.

I take the hand he had outstretched before me and let him pull me up.

"I need you all to inform me if anything comes up" He says to everyone else, who are watching us with starstruck expressions as we move out of the room.

***

"Are you okay?" Jason asks.

We are now back at 'my' room after the tension-filled discussion this afternoon. It is...well early evening.

I am taken aback by his question.

"Yes..." I reply with, I assume, a frown on my face.

"After the incident this morning" He clarifies himself after clearing his throat for a second too long.

"Oh" I say in realization.

"Well yeah", I shrug as if it's not a big deal, although we both know my statement differs from reality.

"You wanna talk about it?" He says a little awkwardly, such contrast from his usual collected and cool demeanor. 

I can't stop myself from laughing, it's an automatic reflex to his incredulous question.

"Really!" I ask in the most sarcastic way possible

"Yeah" His tone and posture had changed drastically from my response.

It was soft, awkward and nervous before, but after my reply he has gone back to his old, blank, and well-closed self.

"You are the person who kidnapped me and you are asking if I am okay?!"

"When I started thinking it can't get any worse, you ask this question..." I say dejectedly while shaking my head.

"Listen, you don't wanna talk, fine, but don't you try to play smart with me" He says, in a harsh tone, but something is off, it's not his usual harsh tone.

''What's up with you?" I ask, my head tilted in confusion.

His facade falters immediately.

"What do you mean?" He asks, not one ounce of authority in his voice.

Something is definitely missing.

"You, you are behaving differently" I say accusingly with my eyes narrowed on his face.

"No, I'm not" He says defensively and I know I have hit right on the target.

Otherwise, why would he get defensive from a mere question, okay, accusation, but still.

"Yes, you are!" I said with more pressure in my tone than I intended.

"Oh, what would you know!" He scoffs.

"Look, I know that something is going on, okay, why are you behaving in such a way"

"For fuck's sake! Shut up!" He shouts unexpectedly and I, taken aback by his unpredicted shouting, immediately shut up.

"Okay, damn! Calm down" 

"Wow, you wind me up and then tell me to calm down" He starts saying in a sarcastic tone but it soon turns into something entirely different as  he laughs after finishing his sentence, but it is not a sarcastic one.

I look at him weirdly, his emotions give me whiplash, someone needs to go get themselves checked.

Of course, someone does, dear.

I stay quiet, waiting for him to continue or something.

"After last night...and today, I just, well...I...I" He starts explaining once he registers my expressions.

"You what?" I ask quietly.

I have never seen him this unsure of something, all the days I have been here. 

I don't like where this is going. Seeing him unsure is wrecking up my nerves.

"He couldn't treat you same as before, now" Nate's voice comes from the doorway, but instead of looking at him, I focus on Jason.

I keep looking at him for confirmation, but he just stares at the ground awkwardly.

Was what Nate saying true?

Or was he just making it up?

Well, Jason was much more respectable towards me since this morning, so I guess it does make some sense.

If the case is true...

Today I have seen a side of Jason, or at least a part, which I would never have thought that he could possess.

A soft side, a genuine side...

I never thought Jason, or any criminal for that matter, would go soft on someone just because the said person suffers from some kind of disease. 

But I was friends with Nate, who is not that bad, so...maybe I should stop being a hypocrite.

Does that mean that he wouldn't have kidnapped me if he already knew...

Well, I guess Mom's advice had some side perks...

Too bad you didn't listen.

"Mom...I don't need a bracelet for the whole world to see my weaknesses" A eleven-year-old me whined.

"El, baby, what if you get stuck in some kind of shady situation, it could help..." Mom's little younger self chastised me.

"Like what, getting kidnapped..." Little me scoffed.

I think joking was only good to a certain extent...who knew my words will come true, even if it was only a joke.

Fingers move in front of me.

"Uh..." I say, shocked.

"Where do you mind keep disappearing to?" Nate questions.

Oh, you have no idea, buddy.

"Nowhere" I mutter.

I look around the room but Jason is nowhere in sight, I guess he slipped away while I was in the trance.

***

Again, we are in the living room.

"What's up, Nate?" I question him, nudging him slightly.

"I don't know, let's see" He nods towards Jason, who is standing in the middle of the room, texting someone.

I find this oddly disturbing.

I mean, it is just weird, why would he be even texting someone. 

Maybe he is planning another bombing, probably.

"So?" He finally looks up from his phone towards Drake.

Drake was the guy who was doubting me, I got his name from Nate.

Also, he is the, you know, kind of intel guy of this gang, got this from Nate too.

"As we suspected, the guy was a member of the Red Eye gang" Drake is into his whole intel mode right now, so serious, nothing like the childish acting earlier.

"Wait, is that 'thing' real?" I ask with distaste clear on my face and in my voice.

"What?" Jason asks tiredly, dejectedly.

"Red Eye?" I ask, still with distaste.

"Yeah..." Jason replies with an eyebrow raised.

"Wow, is that really the name of a 'gang'!" I say exasperated.

"Well..." 

"Oh, damn shit man! Like, what the fuck seriously!" I curse out loud.

Everyone is trying not to laugh, but from their expressions it is pretty obvious that they find it funny.
  
"You got a point there" Ryan, other unknown guy from the morning comments. 

He does so while biting his lip, and I must admit, he looks pretty darn attractive. He has brown hair and blue eyes with just the right build for a teenager. 

God! I sound like a hormonal teenage girl. Well, because I am.

Drake on the other hand had black hair and brown eyes, he is nice looking too, but in a cute geeky way. 

"I mean, who named them, a kid?..."

"Big Red Eye monster is coming to get you ,ah!" I said in a made up tone.

"No, no, stop" Jason said.

"Yeah, you are stretching it a bit too far" Ryan said, scratching his neck.

I looked around to find every guy with weird apologetic faces, with outright disgust on Jack's face, of course.

"Yeah, okay then..." I said clearing my throat.

Well, that was unexpectedly awkward.
 
"Do carry on please" I indicate to Drake.

I guess he is a shy guy, you can tell by the way he goes tomato red with the slight attention from me. 

Unlike morning, he has glasses on and pushes them up his nose while gulping.

He has a laptop open in front of him and he types something on it.

"Red Eye, as we know, is relatively a new gang" He says.

"I can't find any reason for this intrusion today"

"What else?" Jason asks.

"Same everyday shit- shop robbings, petty thefts, vehicle stealing, fights etc" Drake explains.

"So, they were just a normal gang till today" Jason muses.

Normal? These things aren't normal, they are heinous crimes, but I guess it is normal in underworld terms. 

"Maybe they just wanted some spotlight with this act" Jack voices and for the first time I am amazed by his thought, because, this statement actually made logical sense. 

"No, for the spotlight they would have robbed some big name, or they would have thrown a party" Jason says being deep in thoughts.

"So, what are you saying?" Nate says, who is literally on the edge of the sofa.

"They were sending a message, a threat something big is going to happen soon" Jason replies with his jaw clenched tight.

"It was a warning" His voice is foreboding and dread fills me up.

Whatever it is, it is not good.
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Hey, what's up?
Shorter than usual but hope you guys like it.
Shit is about to go down...maybe. Lol.
Anyways, enjoy!
And keep commenting because I love reading your opinions.
BBye! See you next time...or nah.