Falling Up

47. Captured

"Wait. Who's in the truck Riley?" said Kain as he realised the direction they were heading after a man in dark clothing stepped out of the truck and stared them down. He was gruff looking and disinterested as he eyed Riley and Kain up from a distance, then nodded his head in the direction of the open door as a sign to get in.

"My stepfather," replied Riley before Kain halted in his tracks, grabbing Riley's hand harshly and pulling her back towards him. "There is no way..."

"He has Jason," interrupted Riley before her phone started vibrating again in her hand. She gulped, seeing Jason's number again before accepting the call, this time putting it on speaker. If she was pulling Kain into this mess, she would at least let him know what was going on.

"Don't either of you try anything," said Vincent from the other end of the call. "Just get in the fucking truck." And with that, he hung up, leaving the dial tone beeping its empty tone as she took in a deep breath, trying to ready herself for this.

Slipping her hand out of Kain's grip as he merely stood still, no doubt processing what he was getting himself into, she ignored him walking closer to the vehicle. Her eyes glanced towards the gun being pulled out of the guard's pocket as he turned it subtly in their direction. When Kain glanced at the gun, his body moved forward, stepping in front of Riley as they both finally reached the truck.

"Get in." The man opened the door just wide enough for them to climb in.

Kain went first, easily stepping up to the large platform in front of him before turning around and pulling Riley up with an extended hand. The guard got in close behind them, closing the door with a loud bang as he pulled the latch shut from the inside.

It was darker in the truck that she imagined and it took a minute for Riley's eyes to adjust to the low level lighting that was humming from the roof of the vehicle in a dull fluorescent blue. In a bid to understand her surroundings, her eyes gazed around the long rectangular area she was standing.

There were long desks bolted down to both sides of the vehicle containing computer equipment, papers, and a selection of guns casually scattered on top. Plenty of space was still available down the centre of the vehicle as Riley felt a nudge in the centre of her back by the guard, who had kept his gun pointed at her and used it as a way to usher them down the truck.

The vehicle below her jolted forward at the exact moment, causing her to fall into the back of Kain, who luckily was more steady on his feet than her, as she balanced herself to the movement of the truck. There were no windows in the vehicle, which meant she had no means of knowing the direction which they were taking. The only sound was the roar of the engine, which drowned out her footsteps as they both moved forward down the long truck.

Past the messy desks, they reached a wider opening containing benches where more guards were sitting, guns in hand. A sickly taste coated her tongue as she struggled to swallow past the lump in her throat before Kain reached back, grabbing hold of her hand as they shuffled forward.

Now that they had reached into a wider opening of the vehicle, there was enough space for Riley to fall in line next to Kain. She immediately regretted doing so as she finally looked forward to who was waiting for her at the end of the truck.

There, sat on a bench, eyeing her down, was a person she never thought she would have to see again in her life, let alone be this close to ever again.

Her stepfather. Vincent.

With a smug look on his face, leaning forward on the bench, which he occupied alone, his hands intertwined together with his elbows resting on his knees.

And there on the floor, kneeling next to him and unmissable in his position with his hands bound behind his back with a gag shoved in his mouth, was her brother. Jason. With blood running down the side of his face and so many cuts and bruises scarring his body, he made a grunt in her direction.

The desperation in his movements as he struggled against his bonds showed how much he just wanted to get up off the floor and run into her arms. But Vincent's hand pushed down harshly on his shoulder as he dug in his grip and forced him to wince, returning to his crunched over position kneeling on the floor.

"Jason," Riley whispered out with a gasp as she took a step towards him before halting in her motion. Any step closer to Jason was another step closer to Vincent. Her heart hurt, torn between wanting to go to Jason and wanting to stay as far away from her stepfather as possible.

"Come here Riley," said Vincent as he motioned for her to move forward.

At that moment, Kain moved forward, taking less than three steps forward before reaching Vincent and punching him directly in the jaw, anger radiating from his body.

"Don't you fucking touch her," seethed Kain as he attempted to punch him again.

Two guards rushed over, grabbing Kain by his arms and pulling him backward before slamming him into the side of the vehicle and pushing him down on his knees. It wasn't long before they got him under control, now with a gun aimed at his head in a very similar position to Jason.

Vincent merely wiped the small amount of blood from the side of his mouth as his lips curled into an evil sneer. "Your boyfriend has guts. I'll give him that."

Riley cringed back, glancing at Jason, who looked confused at the words. She hadn't exactly told either of her brothers about hanging out with any guy, but from the look on Jason's face it soon clicked that Kain and her had been hanging out more than he knew. There was a salty look on Jason's face and in that moment, it looked like it might want to kill Kain more than Vincent. She was surprised she even had the nerve or energy to roll her eyes, knowing exactly the thoughts that were being conjured up in his mind. This was not the time to be discussing her and boys.

"Now why don't you come over, Riley? We have so much catching up to do."

Her gaze moved away from Jason as Vincent's words echoed through the vehicle. Frozen on the spot, she stared directly into the eyes of the man who destroyed her. She couldn't move. Getting any closer to him seemed out of the question as her body stood as still as a statue, her breath coming in short bursts and she felt a trickle of sweat or perhaps it was fear, running down the back of her neck.

When she didn't move for over a minute, Vincent sighed, bringing his gun back up to Jason's head as she heard the unmistakable sound of the gun clicking, indicating that it was armed and ready to fire.

Her foot moved forward of its own accord, unsteady in the moving vehicle as she swayed with the motion. A general shaky feeling coursed through her body. Footstep after footstep was the only sound she heard, despite the commotion of Jason trying to break free and Kain being pushed further against the floor as the guards chained his hands behind his back. The only she could hear in her mind was the thrumming in her head as she got closer and closer to Vincent.

It took longer than it should have to reach him, but as soon as she was in reach, Vincent lowered the gun from Jason, placing it back into his waistband before his arm reached out, pulling Riley towards him. She yelped, but only from the shock as she was dragged onto Vincent's lap and held in place by his powerful arms.

He brushed a strand of hair over and behind her ear, sending an unpleasant shiver down Riley's spine before he lowered his mouth to her ear, running his tongue along her earlobe. "I've missed you, my little birdy."