Oh, Ara

Chapter 7

Ara's POV

A man in all black steps in and smiles at us, "hello my dear friends."

There's another armchair across from me and he settles down in that.

Jamie and I don't say anything, we just wait for him to talk.

"Quiet are we? Well, good, that gives me some time to explain myself. My name is Levi, and you are my ticket to infamy."

"Infamy?" Jamie asks.

"Yes, I have money as you can see,"
He gestures around the cabin, "I have wealth and fortune but it's so empty. I want something more. So I took you two to stir up widespread public interest. I crave a good old fashioned chess match. If it takes them more than three years to find you two I'll just let you go and try again with other people. But I want to go down in history as the greatest criminal mastermind ever. I don't really want to hurt you but I will if I have to,"

"You're hurting us by keeping us against our wills," Jamie insists.

"Trivial details," Levi dismisses. His eyes turn to me, "what about you my dear, nothing to say?"

"Not to you," I say boldly.

"That's funny, you had a lot to say to your brother in that letter you left," Levi states. My face pales, "oh don't worry, I let him have it, give him and your brothers some piece of mind. You're quite clever, I'll give you that. You and Carter are shaping up to be worthy adversaries. But I already knew that."

He leans forward, "you really think I didn't know your Netflix tricks? I let it slide because I knew we'd be long gone before anyone could act on it but please Ara, step it up. Give me all you've got."

"Bring it on," I sneer, angrily.
Levi laughs, "I knew I liked you."

Levi stands up, "sleep dears, we've got quite a flight ahead of us."

Levi turns and exits the room.

"He's sick," Jamie spits out.

I shake my head, "no he's just craving attention. If it's a chess match he wants, it's a chess match he'll get."

Jamie's POV

Ara stays quiet for a while after that sick bastard leaves. She doesn't seem fazed by him in the slightest, just ready to beat him. I don't think she understands what we're up against. Then again I have no idea what were up against. Is this guy legit or is he just full of it.

It's insane how many people she has in her life that care about her. Yeah I have my parents but because of touring they're used to seeing me ten times a year. Ara's got her brothers and friends and that dude that she might be dating. Why does that make me feel weird. I don't know her. I glance over at her again. She really is quite stunning. Inside and out.

I go over what Levi talked about. Ara's been fighting against him. She's brave, braver than I am. When my bodyguards abducted me I didn't even put up much of a fight. Yeah I gave one of the dudes a black eye but once I was taken I just kind of admitted defeat.

It sounds like Ara and I were kidnapped at exactly the same time. How long has this Levi guy been planning this. Will his preparation be his advantage?

My mind continues to go over everything and eventually I drift off to sleep.

Ara's POV

"Ara, come on we're gonna be late," Lucy exclaims.

"Lucy it's not like we're meeting them anywhere, they're downstairs," I protest and check my hair in the mirror. I never thought I'd be the type of girl to check my hair in the mirror but I guess I am now.

"But we said we'd meet them at 7 and it's 6:59!" She exclaims.

"Okay okay I'm coming," I pick up my phone and wipe the smudged eyeliner under my eyes.

"You look hot, Cole's gonna die, let's go!" Lucy insists. We're both wearing ball gowns for the Senator's ball at some grand hotel ballroom tonight.

"Our first double date!" Lucy exclaims.

"Let's go," I insist. I follow Lucy down the stairs and watch as Will takes in the sight of her. She runs over to him and I can't help but coo at how cute they are.

Cole clears his throat and my eyes snap to him. He looks sexy. I always feel awkward using that word but it just fits him so perfectly. That word works too. He looks perfect. He's wearing a tux that fits him snugly and shows off every part of him. His eyes meet mine and I lose my breath. His beautiful eyes.

"Ara," he whispers. I rush down the few remaining stairs and step on my dress on the last step. I throw my arms out to brace my fall but it doesn't come. Cole catches me, as always.

"Careful babe," he whispers, his voice sending chills up and down and all around my spine, "you almost fell."

I stare into his deep eyes, "too late."

His grin widens as he kisses me. The kiss sends sparks everywhere and I feel so completely and utterly alive.

He breaks the kiss and whispers into my ear, "me too."

I'm suddenly jolted awake by the rumbling of the room. What's going on? Oh yeah I've been kidnapped with a teen sensation by a lonely lunatic and we're chained down to armchairs on a plane. Are we crashing? No, we're landing.

My heart rate calms down as I place myself. I glance over at Jamie. He shoots me a nervous smile and clutches his armchair tightly. He looks straight ahead, gritting his teeth.

"Planes make you squeamish?" I tease.

"Every time," he responds.

"I thought you fly all over the world like all the time as a Superstar?" I ask.

"Yeah but superstar training 101 doesn't come with handle landings. Besides who knows what's on the other side of this landing," Jamie states.

I snort, "please we'll be fine."

"You're not worried?" Jamie asks.

"These guys don't want to hurt us, they're just using us as pawns in their game, we just gotta outsmart them. I've been kidnapped before but that-" I inhale sharply and suppress the memories, "the was different, I was little and they didn't care about returning me in one piece, this Levi dude just wants a challenge. And I'm gonna beat him."

"I admire your determination," Jamie says, "now I'm shutting up before I puke."

I sit back and stretch my muscles. They've grown stiff and my wrists are starting to chaff from the restraints.

I think back over the nice dream I was having that the plane so rudely interrupted. I just want to go back. I miss Cole. Tears spring in my eyes and I shove them away. I'm not going to cry. Everything in my hurts because I can't be with him. I've never felt this way before.

Maybe they aren't going to hurt us, but being away from Cole and my brothers is the worst kind of pain. And it could be three years. No. I'm going to beat him, I have to.

The plane jerks and eventually comes to a complete stop. I gulp and mentally prepare myself for whatever's outside of this plane. I glance at Jamie who's sighing in relief

"Not too bad right?" I tease, not being able to help myself.

"Oh, Shut up," he quips and sticks his tongue at me.

Gas suddenly starts to pour through the cabin and I start to drift off. Damnit Levi! Everything goes black... again.

Okay I have to stop but hopefully these updates make up for being gone for so long. Who's ready for the Oscars? I am!

Thanks for reading and commenting an voting, unedited as always so point stuff out!

Love
xx M.