STALEMATE [MAFIA] [MXM] ✓

4: YOU'RE WELCOME

Salem is nowhere close to his apartment complex, something that is made apparent as soon as he gains consciousness. In fact, he's pretty sure he isn't even still in Astren. That is, if he's right about what this place is. It looks like an old subway station.

Actually, it definitely is. He can see the tracks, which are only a couple feet from where he's sitting. There are posters and signs on the walls that advertise attractions about the city, as well as detailed diagrams of the subway system and it's routes. Still, the station itself does not appear functional at all. Astren has a subway system—every Toplines city does—but it's functional, which is how Salem knows he's away from home.

"Oh my god, finally. He's been sleeping for like a fucking day." Salem hears from somewhere in front of him. He glances up to find someone across from him, on the other side of the tracks. It's a girl, and he watches her jump over the tracks with grace. Salem is momentarily distracted by this, wondering how the hell someone could just jump over double train tracks like that. She has pretty long legs, but still.

She must do it a lot.

Salem watches her walk somewhere behind him, and he finds himself irritated at his captors not willing to talk to him face to face. He can hear people behind him, and judging by footsteps there has to be at least four of them. Clearly these people have some intelligence, Salem will give them that. At least, if the fact he's facing the wall is anything to go by.

He can barely look around due to being tied up, movement very restricted. These people have to have some idea what he's capable of, if the lengths they went to in order to keep him contained—and to kidnap him in the first place—are anything to go by. This puts him at a disadvantage, since he loses any kind of element of surprise he could've used in his favor.

Salem's mouth is taped, which is basically the only reason he hasn't bitched about the lack of visibility yet. It's seriously bothering him that he can't gauge the situation at all. He can't locate his exits, can barely count the people or get any kind of physical description due to how dark it is. There are no reflective surfaces, none that he can see from this angle, and it smells bad. This sucks.

A guy walks around Salem's chair, and he looks similar to the guy who kidnapped Salem. Pale skin, a hat, excessive amounts of scarring. It doesn't take Salem long to recognize that this is his captor.

The guy leans down, placing his hands on the back of the arm rests. He is way too close, and his size (and injuries) are what solidifies that Salem is right. This is the guy that drugged him. His familiar voice solidifies that when he speaks.

"Do you know why you're here?"

Salem meets his eyes evenly, eyebrows furrowed in a mix of irritation and confusion. He can't talk, so he just shakes his head in the negative. The guy doesn't appear much older than him, although it's kind of hard to tell. He has an eyebrow raised, staring down at Salem with an expression almost devoid of emotion. He also looks kind of inconvenienced, which Salem can fucking relate to.

"Bait!" Salem hears someone call cheerfully behind himself. This does not clear up any confusion. It's also doesn't aid in his irritation, growing quite sick of these people being so fucking happy. At least it isn't a toxic workplace, he guesses.

Also, bait? Are they out of their minds? What does that even mean—who the hell would come get him? Ruby? Salem doesn't exactly have friends, unless you count his forced relationship with Donovan as anything. That could be a possibility, but it would just raise the question: why would these people want to lure a random cop? They already have one, and they just called him bait!

Whatever. Salem needs to focus on the task at hand: leaving. He really needs to find a way out of here, something that would be a lot easier if he wasn't condemned to such limited mobility. Yeah, they didn't underestimate him by any means. Honestly, at this point they probably overestimated him.