Fall - Prequel

09. Under the Stars

I was being lead down a long hallway that never seemed to end with Prince leading the way.

We were supposed to be getting a drink, but the longer we walked, the more suspicious I got about where he was taking me. I didn't trust him and I probably never would. I'd seen what he could do to other people and I knew that he could do the same to me.

I hated thinking about it, but if I was being honest with myself, I was the perfect victim. No one would notice that I was missing... at least not for a very long time. I'd been running away from home ever since I was in middle school. I'd disappear for a couple of days- maybe even a couple of weeks- but I'd always turn back up at home eventually.

It got the point where my mother was so used to it that she stopped reporting it to the police. She stopped caring. Although, I'm not sure she ever really did. One time, when I got back from pulling one of my stunts, she told me she wished that I would've stayed gone. She loved the peace and quiet when I wasn't there to disrupt it. She said I was chaos, but she was a commotion herself. That's why I took off running in the first place.

The sad truth of the matter was that no one was probably looking for me because nobody even noticed that I was gone.

"Where are we going?" I asked in an effort to sidetrack myself from all the dark thoughts coursing through my mind. They were hard to ignore.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." He looked back at me, giving me a devilish smile. When I stopped walking, paralyzed in fear behind him, he narrowed his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "Jesus Christ. I was only kidding with you. It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises." I replied warily, wishing I'd never gone along with this terrible idea. I should've ran when I had the chance. Maybe I wouldn't have made it very far, but at least I wouldn't be spending my life wondering if every single moment was going to be my last. I'd never been this paranoid or on edge before. The reality of my situation was starting to catch up with me.

"This isn't a normal surprise."

"That makes me feel even worse." I frowned in his direction, planting my feet into the ground. I wasn't going to take another step until he told me exactly where we were going. I'd taken enough risks to last a lifetime. It was time to start making sensible decisions. "I'm not taking another step until you tell me where you're taking me."

"If I tell you where we're going, you won't want to go." He crossed his arms over his chest, coming to a halt a few feet in front of me.

"Why?"

"Because you're a pussy." He said with an apologetic shrug, averting his eyes to the floor.

"Did you just call me a-"

"I did, and I'm sorry, but it's the truth, sweetheart." He leaned against the wall leisurely, crossing his legs to get comfortable. "If you weren't a pussy, you would have tried to escape by now."

"You specifically told me not to." I grimaced at him, remembering the entire conversation we'd had earlier today. He'd practically threatened me.

"And that should have made you want to do it so much more." His eyes narrowed in on me slowly. They were gray pools filled with judgement and hatred. It still frightened me how quickly his eyes could go from having a twinkle in them to having no light in them at all. Right now, there was only darkness. "You're terrified of being here, Elisabeth, but maybe you should be more frightened with what's waiting right outside of these walls. You wouldn't be afraid of us if you saw how the other men are."

"The other men?" I asked hesitantly.

Everet had briefly touched on this topic before. He'd said something about there being people who were looking for us. That was our whole reason for being here. He claimed that this was the only place I'd be safe, but I certainly didn't feel safe in this place. In fact, I felt the very opposite.