Upside Down ✔️

Chapter 6

I was still stuck in my cell, with my only company being Adrian, one of Kenneth's "Allies". He always tried to cheer me up and asked questions about when I was taken or how Kenneth was before I was taken. He usually tried to distract me by getting to know me, but sometimes, he seemed to forget I was terrified and he would try to feed his curiosity of how I was taken from Kenneth.

"Yeah, so, is this Kenneth's idea? Or were you kidnapped without him knowing?" He asked.

"What?"

"Did he plan this? Or are we goners?" He clarified, and when he did, I broke down again.

"We're goners?! Are they going to kill us?! Am I going to die?!" I panicked, and then began hyperventilating. "Oh my God!!! I'm going to die!!! But I haven't even graduated High School!!!"

"Hey, hey, no, shhh, hey, it's going to be ok!" Adrian tried to calm me down. "Look, you didn't see Kenneth when he talked about you. He won't let you die down here." He said, calmly.

I sniffled and began to calm down a little. "Really?"

"Really. And I'll bet all my money, that he's out there right now, searching every inch of this world for you. So don't you worry." he smiled.

Wanting to distract myself, I asked, "When Kenneth talked about me, what did he say?"

Adrian gave a chuckle at that. "I think you should ask 'What didn't he say'." He sighed, a memorable smile on his bearded lips.

"Was it good or bad?" I asked, trying to get him to help distract me of our current situation.

"All good. He went on and on of how beautiful his fiancé was. And how apparently she was third in her class. He mentioned you loved to read, and said your father had begged him to let the deal off, but Kenneth wouldn't allow it. He was already in love with you, and bad." he smiled, looking down at me.

"He was?" I asked, feeling a small smile of my own.

"Oh, you have no idea, Ellie. He was crazy about you." he laughed, but then his smile faded a little. "But then the thugs beating the crap out of a girl wanted him to do something he didn't want to do. He refused, but they said they would kick him out of the gang, thinking it would scare him. Instead, he said he wanted out anyway. This didn't settle well with them, so they sent in a team to find someone to threaten that would scare him into doing as they say. Someone he cared for deeply... Someone he loved." Adrian explained.

"Me." I said softly, most of the pieces coming together.

Adrian nodded. "When he found out they learned of his feelings for you, he begged a small group of us to do whatever we could to keep them off your trail. We swore to do our best to protect you if we ever had to, and he disappeared off the grid." he shrugged, finally looking back at me. "Then, a few weeks later, here you are, at the mercy of those monsters, while Kenneth is probably searching day an night for you."

"How did you end up here?" I asked.

He smiled, "After Kenneth disappeared, the gang leaders he pissed off came searching for those of us he trusted and might had known where he went. We were captured, tortured, questioned, and you are looking at the last survivor of his trusty allies." he sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, letting my head hang.

"For what?" He asked.

"You're down here because of me. The other people Kenneth trusted are dead because of me. Kenneth is probably going crazy because I opened the stupid door. It's all my fault." I told him.

Adrian shook his head. "We would have died if Kenneth asked us to, because he was going to become our leader, until the former leader found out. He was going to send Kenneth on a suicide mission but Kenneth was smart enough to see through the leader's lies and refused. You see, girly, Kenneth was planning on killing our leader and taking over for a better cause. The leader found out and wanted him dead, but wanted to make a fool outa Kenneth. That's why they insisted he do that job. Then he refused and made them look stupid, so they began the threats. That's why they're upset. It has nothing to do with anything you did. Your only involvement is because Kenneth cares for you. That's the only reason you're here." he explained.

I was about to reply to Adrian when we heard clapping, followed by approaching footsteps. "You tell stories so beautifully, Adrian." the same guy who beat me said.

Adrian stood straighter and glared at the man. "Like I just told her, she has nothing to do with this. Just have Kenneth fight you in a match and let her go. It's really Kenneth you want, so leave her alone." Adrian said.

"I would, if I didn't want to see Little Kenny crumble to the ground when we send him her head." the man said, as if it were sad for him to say. "Because, you see Adrian, we don't care if Kenneth is free and away from us. We just want to see him fall apart. And what better way to do that than to torture him with images of her beaten body? Maybe even a video as we slice her fingers off?" He grinned sadistically now. He pulled out an iPhone and I heard a tone before he grinned wider. "Say hi, sweetheart. This is going to your boyfriend."

"Please, just let me go." I begged.

One of the men standing behind the main guy came up and took the iPhone from him, holding it as the main guy came closer to me.

"But I can't do that, Sweetheart. I have too much fun at these meetings of ours." he laughed, then slapped me, making me gasp in shock. "What did I tell you about speaking out of turn. I told you say hi, not beg for your pathetic excuse of a life." he snapped, punching my gut.

I coughed up blood and felt tears fall. The man continued to beat me, and I faintly heard Adrian both begging him to stop and trying to calm me.

"Kill him, will you?!" The main man yelled, pointing to Adrian.

"No! Please! If you're going to kill someone, kill me!" I begged, seeing black spots bubble in my vision.

"Why should I do that?" He snapped.

"B-because, like you s-said, it would hurt Kenneth... and I'm too weak to take anymore. So just get it over with." I said, just above a whisper, slumped against the chains.

"Hmm, you're right, you're looking pretty pathetic." he paused, before holding a gun to my head. "Any last words to your boyfriend?"

I looked up at the phone, tears in my eyes. "I'm sorry."