Vanishing Acts

|| Two ||

Coughing and spluttering my way back to consciousness, I found myself lying on my back. The moment I had opened my eyes, I felt my bones ache and my muscles felt like led. The aches became painful, and for the moment, I had no idea what was wrong.
In those moments, there was no fear. There was no panic, no motivation to get up; only the need to lie there until I felt better. I gingerly tried to move my arms, failing the first few attempts before being able to move them properly. What the hell did I do?
Adrianna.
I would shoot the girl; I had told her I didn't want to go partying. Hell, I couldn't even remember what had happened. We were at the beach after the game, and as I racked my brain, I hardly remembered much else. Was I drinking? I must've. I must've had way too much. I looked around, ignoring my pain to determine if I had at least made it home... I was definitely not home.
I couldn't have even been in a room; it was too tiny, too dark. I tried to let my eyes adjust, though the only light was coming from under the door, and that didn't offer much. The stench was awful, though it smelt as if the odour was mainly coming from the room outside.
I stumbled to my feet, determining that I was in a small closet and placed my hand on the doorknob. My first dash of panic came when I realized it was locked. I tried again, again, and even another time before I swallowed nervously, backing up until I was leaning against the wall. For a moment I felt angry at myself, trying to determine where I was. Something had happened after the game, I realized that but for the life of me I couldn't tell what it was. Something went wrong.
Something was wrong.
Fearfully, I stepped up to the door again though I didn't even know if I had the voice to speak, much less yell. "Hello?" I called, regardless of how dry my throat felt.
There was no response; no noise, no voice, no signal on the other side of that door that told me I was overreacting and everything was fine. Eventually, I began talking louder, hitting my fist against the wooden door. I tried shouting, but soon enough I found myself sliding down onto the ground with my head in my hands... Adrianna left the beach.
She had left with Joey, and I hadn't gone with her. I had been alone. I felt my hands shake as blurry visions and memories returned to me. By the time they had all come back, I was on the ground with my arms around myself, eyes burning with tears. The fear setting in made my stomach churn and my lip quiver, and still I desperately searched my mind for a rational, safe explanation. I was so withdrawn that I jumped wildly at the sound of the first noise on the other side of the door, banging my head in the process.
Footsteps.
My breath hitched in my throat as I realized that someone was coming, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up as it hit me that I had no clue who would be opening the door. I didn't even have time to get to my feet as I heard the sound of a key unlocking the door, and finally, the dreaded noise of the door being pushed open. Brightness flooded in, burning my eyes and forcing me to look down yet before I could look back up, the door had slammed shut. The sound of the lock installed me with fear, yet not as much as the next noise that I heard: crying.
Soft, frightened, quiet crying. I stood there dumbly, gaping at the figure that had been pushed into the room before I realized there was a young girl in front of me. Her voice gave it away; the rest was unknown. I couldn't tell what she looked like, who she was or how old she was, I could only see an outline shown from the light under the door. I swore, in those few seconds, I felt my fear vanish. I could've sworn it wasn't there; my attention had been captured by the other person in the room, and I didn't have the time to focus on my own fear.
Feeling conflicted as to how I could approach her, I slowly sat back down as I realized she was sitting as well. I bit my lip, reaching my hand out to tap her shoulder as she let out a petrified shriek, scurrying backwards across the tiny closet. She was panting and sobbing harder as I spoke quickly to try and calm her, "H-Hey, hey, I won't hurt you. Relax, don't be afraid of me."
Her eyes hadn't had quite as much time to adjust to the darkness, and I watched her head turn from side to side, trying to tell where I was. She was sobbing too hard to reply to me. The noise was traumatizing, and I felt engulfed in the need to calm her down. "Here, I'll sit beside you, o-okay? I'm Quinn. What's your name?" My voice was dry and raw, though I tried to use it anyways.
Slowly, trying not to alarm her more, I shifted across the little room until I was sitting beside her. I felt her tense up, shaking violently and once again I attempted at talking with her, "Can you tell me your name?"
We sat there for a moment until she could catch a breath, "L-Leslie." Her voice was frail.
The air was thick and silent as I racked my brain of what to say. Every possible option sounded wrong. "I won't hurt you, I promise."
"I-I didn't do anything, I s-swear, I was just going home from school-"
"It's okay, just take a breath. Where were you walking?" I interrupted, realizing she was working herself up more.
It took her a while to respond, "J-Jacksonville."
Her words made me nauseas with fear... She lived another state away. Where the hell was I? I tried to hide the edge in my voice as I spoke, "How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
That time, I didn't dare speak again because I'd be screaming angrily. It wasn't directed at her, but even still, my train wreck of emotions would scare her even more. A large percent was terror and horror, yet another ultimate emotion was sympathy. She was shaking so hard from fear and physically couldn't stop herself from crying, and for a moment, that entirely overrode my own thoughts. My attention was focused solely on her, and she was most likely the reason I wasn't launching into a panic attack. Lightly, I set my hand on her shoulder and though she jumped, I continued speaking, "I swear I'll help you."
I didn't know where I was, why I was there or who I was with, but those were the only genuine words I could muster. They were true.
I looked up at the door, conflicting thoughts attacking my mind. I knew it was locked; yet I didn't know whether I wanted to attract attention by shouting for help. I was afraid of the consequences if I did. Getting myself hurt or into trouble was one issue, but getting Leslie hurt wasn't even an option. I couldn't force myself to try to get out of the room with her sitting beside me. "Are you hurt?" I asked, my voice faltering.
"I-I'm just dizzy..."
She tried for a moment, truly tried to stop the tears. But after a moment, I had wrapped my arms around her and let her cry into my shoulder as she lost it again. I tried to soothe her by holding her, running my fingers through her messy hair, "You'll be alright Leslie."
I knew I couldn't promise her that- I knew, but I couldn't prevent myself from saying it. I didn't have any idea where we were, or what was going to happen but she needed to hear she was going to be kept safe; and I knew damn sure I was going to fight for that to be true.
Time slowly passed until she had normalized her breathing, and I focused on small conversations to keep her calm. I told her about Adrianna; she told me about her school. Little, tiny things that might've almost brought a smile to our lips. Things like both being an only child but with supportive parents, though I soon realized that that was a terrible topic.
Neither of us could handle thinking of our parents.
After a while, I looked up back at the door with strained thoughts. Even in the darkness, I was confident enough I could pick the lock. I just didn't know if I wanted to see what was waiting behind it.
As it turned out, I didn't have time to think about whether I wanted to or not. There was footsteps returning once again, and even though I knew she was tiny, Leslie had almost crushed my hand from squeezing it so hard. I held my arms around her, keeping her away from the door and against the wall as we listened to the door being unlocked. "No matter what happens, I'm going to get you home." I whispered assuringly.
The door was banged open, though thankfully we weren't quite close enough to be hit with it. Once again, I struggled with the fact that the light was far too blinding for me to see, but it wasn't his appearance that gave me a first impression, it was the man's voice. "Get the hell over here."
His voice was smooth and demanding, but his order forced me to look over at him even if it burned my eyes. The man looked just as dangerous as his voice sounded; possibly mid-twenties, standing at the doorway airing strength and power. Even through his jacket, I realized how muscular and intimidating he was. Neither of us stood a chance at overpowering him. He crossed his arms, glaring into the room with dark hair and darker eyes. After a moment, I realized it.
He wasn't talking to me.
Leslie whimpered and hid behind me, crouching down so lowly to the ground as if she could disappear from his view entirely. I felt her shaking and even as much as this man scared me, the next words that left my mouth were instinctive. "You're not going anywhere near her."
I had taken him off guard, yet that wasn't enough to make it a good choice. He focused his attention solely on me, momentarily forgetting or ignoring Leslie, "Move out of my goddamn way or I'll kill you."
His voice was harsh and there was no sign of dishonesty. I was sure that he meant it, and the realization nearly had me throwing up. My fear consumed me so much that I forgot what he had come for in the first place, "Get over here, you little bitch!" He barked.
She couldn't quieten her sobs by that point, and I couldn't quieten my bold attitude, "Don't you talk to her like that, leave her alone!"
Leslie screamed as he yanked me to my feet, slamming my back against the wall. The movement threatened to knock me out as he began shouting into my face, "You think this is a good idea?!"
Calculating rapidly in my head, I realized that no matter what happened, neither of us would survive around him. If I was near him, I was dead either way and even though my plan was reckless and stupid, it was my only idea at escape. Knowing it would catch him off guard, I spat at him and kneed him forcefully, "Leslie, run!"
He cursed in pain as he naturally loosened his grip enough for me to pull away, letting her run from the small room first. The two of us had run into what looked like a hallway and before I could make a sound, I heard Leslie's deafening scream. I didn't even have time to blink before he slammed her head against the wall, her body immediately collapsing to the floor. "You son of a bitch!" I screamed, lunging at him.
I had hardly reached him by the time he grabbed me by my neck and rammed me against the wall, tightening his fingers around my throat. He reeled his first back, glaring at me hatefully as I shut my eyes and prepared myself for the blow, but a loud voice cut in before it made contact with my jaw. "Back off Chris! I paid for her!"
My eyes flew open as I realized that the punch had never came, though I still struggled to breathe with his grip so tightly wound around my neck. The young adult watched me coldly, as if still tempted to completely end my life right at the moment. He squeezed his grip and my hands instinctively clawed at his arms as my oxygen was cut off, desperately trying to get away as he cut off my breathing. It only lasted a few seconds before he let go, yet the immense pressure he put on me forced me to fall to my knees the moment he took a step back. I coughed harshly, trying desperately to breathe normally once again but I felt it stop completely. He was going for Leslie.
She was on her back, moaning in pain and hardly conscious, too weak and dizzy to fight him off as he pulled her up by her arm. I was on my feet in seconds, "Leslie!" I shouted desperately.
As I furiously tried to attack the man once again, I shrieked in surprise as I was yanked back. Whoever had prevented him from punching me was preventing me from trying to smash his face in. I was slammed against his chest as he wrapped both of his arms around me, pinning my arms to my side uselessly.
Leslie jumped and tried to lean away from him, looking at me with such immense terror in her eyes that it haunted me. He shoved her ahead of him, leading her down the hall as she began pleading with him, "N-No don't do t-this just let me go, please, p-plea-"
"Shut up!" He roared impatiently.
I struggled against the unknown figure's grip, "Leslie! Let go of her! Let go of her!"
She sobbed harder as he dragged her beside him, and soon enough they were about to turn the corner, and she could've potentially been about to leave my view forever. I kicked behind me and swore at him, yet nothing made a difference; he was far stronger than I was, and I didn't stand a chance. "I'll find you!" I shouted helplessly.
They were the last words to leave my mouth before they had disappeared around the corner of the empty, bare hallway. I breathed heavily, nearly panting as I looked from side to side. The floor was cold cement and the hallway was illuminated by dim, flickering fluorescent lights above us. It was freezing, yet I could hardly tell because I was so hot and exhausted from fighting. Hell, I still felt nauseas from whatever drug they had forced into me. Slowly, whoever was holding onto me released his grip. My first reaction was to run, but I supposed it was fairly expected, and unsurprisingly, he had locked his hand around my wrist before I could make it three feet. I whirled around, out of breath, panicked and angry, "I have to go back for her!"
He was surprisingly younger than I had guessed; I could've sworn that while he was holding onto me, he had the strength of a thirty year old man. He was nearly ten years younger than that; twenty two at most, though probably twenty one. He stared back at me from agitated light blue eyes, running his hand through his raven hair for a moment before he decided to start walking. With his grip still around my wrist I was forced to stumble behind him, though it crushed my hope to realize we were going the opposite direction. I pulled back as hard as I could manage, "No! I won't go without her!"
"She's gone. You're not going to see her again, so quit fighting."
His flat tone slowly stalled me to a stop, and within seconds, I was positive I was going to throw up. Fear and worry attacked my mind, anxiety causing my hands to shake as I feared that his words were true. I shook my head, tears burning the back of my eyes as I pleaded with him, "T-That can't be true, that isn't true, please, just let me see her-"
"It won't happen. She's with Chris, now start moving. You're damn lucky I didn't let him hit you." His voice was calm, no where near as dangerous and angry as the other man's.
I was still stunned, though he tugged me ahead until I began walking and I found myself speaking bitterly, "Then why did you?"
My voice sounded as cold and hostile as the emotions I felt for him; I hid my fear with boldness and anger. "There isn't any point in spending all that money and getting you bruised up in five minutes, Alex would be pissed." He muttered, continuing to guide me through what seemed like a labyrinth of halls.
I shivered and tried to pull away from him, though he'd just reel me in closer and keep me walking. His words sent sparks of alarm, "What the hell are you talking about?!"
Even he had to look at me in surprise; my voice portrayed me as the mess that I was. Leslie had been taken away and I couldn't focus on anything else. "It doesn't matter." He answered eventually.
I didn't have time to begin screaming at him before he unexpectedly opened a door in front of us, and I quickly swore at myself for not paying attention to where we were going. The wind hitting my face gave me the first hint.
The fresh air seemed like a miracle; though I hadn't been a long while without it, it had seemed like years. I was thankful for it, and even more thankful as I realized going outside into the darkness could give me an advantage; I just had to get away from him. We walked outside and managed to step onto the gravel road, and as I allowed my eyes to adjust, I was shocked at what I saw. Expensive cars lined the small road, one after the other; narrow, long, bright, dark, all portraying extensive wealth.
I watched them, mortified, looking around desperately for some sort of escape plan when abruptly, the man in front of me came to a stop. We had paused in front of one of the vehicles; a slim black car, just as expensive as the rest. Keeping his grip around my wrist, he reached into his pocket and I realized he was searching for his keys.
It suddenly hit me how badly I did not want to get in that car.
He had managed to unlock and open the passenger door, attempting at pulling me inside before I pulled back with any strength I had left. Realizing I wasn't getting in easily, he stepped closer and looked down, narrowing his eyes at me. I cowered under him, nearly a foot or more shorter as I spoke quietly, "I'm not getting in, just let me go."
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as if it wasn't his choice to be there handling this, "Get in the goddamn car."
He tried once again to push me into the side door, and yet another fight broke out as I fought back desperately. It was a poor choice, seeing as it took less than five seconds after I had slapped him and kicked him for him to slam me against the side of the car, my head smacking against it painfully. Panic had started to rise from deep in my stomach and I screamed fearfully, fighting back as I tried to run. He latched his fingers around my wrists, pinning them together with one hand and pulling them over my head. I screamed, frightened and utterly defenceless as I realized I couldn't move. I was nearly hyperventilating, squirming around in attempt to get out of his grip when he snapped at me, "That's enough!"
I jumped wildly, shutting my eyes so that I wouldn't have to stare back at him, completely petrified. I didn't keep them closed for long, as I heard him pulling something out of his pocket. My knees went weak as the tears began pouring at the sight of his gun, shaking my head frantically, "W-Wait, wait, don't do this-"
"Don't you dare think I can't hurt you. You'd better start listening or you'll be dead before tomorrow, understand? If you'd like to leave without bruises, I'd suggest you comply. Get in the fucking car."
I cringed away from him, breathing heavily as I tried to squirm away. He pressed the gun against my temple and I began sobbing harder, uselessly defenceless against him. After a moment, he abruptly dropped my wrists, letting them fall back weakly to my sides. He glared at me for the moment, gesturing to the passenger door. My hands trembled as I looked at the car once again, absolutely petrified of getting in yet he still held the gun in his hands. Even though he wasn't holding onto me, there'd be nothing to stop him from pulling the trigger if I tried to run. I didn't have any options. Pulling my arms around myself, I silently sat down in the passenger seat and cringed as he closed the door, trapping me inside. After a moment, I heard a clicking sound and watched as the lock on the door disappeared. I realized you couldn't open the door from the inside, nearly throwing me into another round of sobbing and terror. I was horrified as he clambered into the driver's seat, cringing away from him and creating as much possible distance as I could. I quickly rubbed the tears away with the back of my hand, my lip still quivering. I nearly jumped once again as he started the car, trying not to lose in it an episode of sobbing. Within the next few moments, we were driving away from whatever godawful building I had been trapped in.
Carefully, I snuck a look at him. His face was void of much emotion, staring ahead at the road with his eyes narrowed. He seemed agitated, though I couldn't tell if it was directed at me. I prayed it wasn't; looking at him confirmed that he could've easily killed me without a weapon within minutes. I wasn't anywhere near strong enough to even put up a fight with him. It was so silent that I almost jumped as he spoke up, "Try to sleep, it's a long drive." He stated, keeping his eyes on the road.
It could've been a twelve hour drive and I wouldn't have taken my eyes off of him. Hell, half of the thoughts that rampaged my mind told me to try and make him crash; it could've been a better outcome than what was really going to happen, which for all I knew could've been anything. There was no way in hell I could defend myself from someone of his strength, and he had already mentioned names. There was more of them. I shivered as I looked out the window, biting my tongue to prevent tears. How in the hell could this have happened? This time, I did jump as he caught me off guard. He had reached over beside me, his hand brushing against my leg slightly; my instinctive reaction being to slap him. He was almost taken off guard, on the verge of getting angry as he sent me a sharp look, "Calm down, I'm getting my smokes."
My heartbeat was so loud I hardly heard him. "Don't you dare touch me."
He rolled his eyes as if he was agitated with the idea I thought he would do such a thing, "Then you get them. For God's sake I didn't mean to touch your leg, relax."
I watched him, completely mortified until his words sunk in. Shakily, I turned my attention towards the glove box and opened it, sure enough digging out a pack of Marlboro's. Completely terrified of him, I complied and handed him the small box. He muttered something that I could've sworn was a form of thanking me, though as soon as he had the pack I had curled myself further away from him again. I watched as he pulled the lighter from his pocket, placing the smoke between his lips as he flicked the lighter up to the tip. Once lit, he fidgeted to put the lighter back in his pocket and pulled the cigarette from out of his mouth, breathing out the smoke. I wasn't expecting him to speak, "And you'd better lose the attitude."
Even if I was afraid, his words fuelled anger that had already been burning, "Why?!"
He continued watching the road, not looking over at me as he spoke, "Because the moment you get out of this car, you're going to be at risk of getting killed every second of the day. They won't put up with a bitchy, rebelling little girl."
I scoffed at him, "Then you really should've thought of that before you did this to me!"
Suddenly, he had slammed on the brakes and my head had nearly bashed against the dashboard. Finally, he looked over at me through narrowed eyes, "You aren't understanding this, are you? They'll kill you." He snapped.
I looked down at the ground because I wasn't sure I could handle looking up at him. Eventually he muttered some curse words under his breath, starting to drive again as he said quietly, "I mean it, it's the last chance you'll get at a peaceful sleep. It's up to you."
My lip quivered as I stared down at the floor of the car, hands shaking so hard that I was sure he could see it. He took another drag of the cigarette, still completely calm. It was after a few minutes that the car was filled with the smoke from his cigarette, something I wasn't used to. I tried not to, yet I couldn't help but cough slightly. It wasn't the cigarette that made me uncomfortable; I didn't want to get his attention again. Yet he glanced over at me for a second as he noticed my coughing, taking another drag of the cigarette before rolling down the window and throwing it out, "Just get some sleep."
After a few minutes of letting the window down, the air had cleared up. "I can't." I responded quietly, looking at my feet.
It was an honest answer; I was exhausted, but my fear was overriding any other emotion. I couldn't fall asleep with him beside me in the car, not while I was so alone and defenceless. My heartbeat sped up as he pulled over, my hands shaking harder as panic attacked me, "W-Why did you-"
He had already left the car, walking around to my side. By the time he had opened my door, I was already pleading, shaking, swearing and shouting. He grabbed ahold of my wrist and pulled me out of the car, earning a loud shriek from me.
He was going to kill me.
I genuinely believed I was about to die, trying to pull away from his grip but he pulled me a few steps back. I started to scream, a few more tears escaping as I begged, "Wait! Don't hurt me, please! Don't do this!"
He suddenly set his fingers under my chin, forcing me to look up at him, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm putting you in the backseat." He said firmly.
I stumbled a step back, still entirely petrified, "W-Why?"
He rolled his eyes, opening the door, "Do you want to sit with me? No, you don't. Just go to sleep because I have to drive for eight hours." He said, rubbing his forehead.
Quickly, I nodded before I could make him angry and climbed into the backseat. I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity where I wasn't sitting next to him. By the time he had started driving again, I was already asleep.