My Beautiful Doll

Chapter Eight

The first thing Don felt was a drilling sensation in his skull. Then, the nausea slowly creeped in, climbing up his throat. Opening his eyes, the room span, making the nausea even worse. Closing his eyes, he tried to swallow the bile down, not willing to deal with the aftermath of throwing up. He tried to roll over, but found that his hands were stuck above his head, a metal clang ringing out as he moved. Looking around, he realized he was laying on an unfamiliar bed with his hands handcuffed together, the chain looping around the center bedpost. Not only that, his legs were bound together with duct tape.

He felt a spike of panic shot through him. Knowing that his options are limited, he decided to push his body upwards so he could sit up in order to assess everything. As soon as he did, he looked down, horrified at what he saw. His shirt was completely unbuttoned with one side falling off his shoulder. What the hell happened? he thought. Then he remembered. Hotel, car, knockout gas, the memories flashed through his head. I've been kidnapped. Fortunately for him, his pants were still on, although his belt had also disappeared. At least the nausea was gone, but it had been replaced with dread.

Don shook his head, talk about bad luck. What are the chances that he runs into two kinds of dangerous criminals? Because there was no way this person had taken off his belt without seeing the FBI badge but still decided to kidnap him anyways. There were only a handful of criminals who would do something like that, and none of them brought him any good news.

He tried to tug at his bonds, hoping to break the frame but the metal was too thick. He looked around, cataloguing anything he could use to find a way out. But the bedroom was completely devoid of anything he could use. In fact, other than the bed, there was nothing in sight. Just a single lightbulb and a window that's covered over with curtains. He tried to look behind him so that he could gauge the situation with his hands, but an overly affectionate voice rang out.

"You're finally awake~".

Looking up, there was a figure in the doorway. He was wearing a cloth mask that covered his entire face. It looked thick enough to hide any possible distinguishing features but thin enough to the point where the man was able to see despite not having any eye holes cut out. He held a bag in his hand and wore all black, which definitely wasn't ominous at all.

"No thanks to you" Don hissed, never one to shy away even when in danger. The man let out a chilling laugh.

"So feisty..." the other man said, sounding amused. "Have your parents ever taught you how to be polite?". Don could hear the smile, even if he couldn't see it.

Don tugged at the handcuffs aggressively, "Let me go and I'll show you how polite I can be" he growled.

"Tempting offer, but no."

"Why? Too scared to take me on yourself?" Don challenged, hoping to gain some sort of reaction. But instead of getting angry, the man just laughed again.

"Trying to provoke me into making a mistake huh? Good strategy. But unfortunately for you, it won't work on me". Then he walked closer until he stopped right beside the bed, placing the bag on top. "You see, I'm well aware of the fact that you can take me out if given the chance."

Don narrowed his eyes. A criminal who knows their capabilities and limits is a dangerous one. Usually, criminals are overconfident or defensive in their abilities. They think they're better than law enforcement. But, because of that, they unintentionally give him holes that he can exploit. But, a person who understands what they can and can't do is an entirely different thing. The fact that this man admits that Don is a better fighter than him means that this guy is aware of Don's abilities and would spare him no leeway in anything. Escape definitely won't come easy, he thought to himself.