Vanishing Acts

|| Three ||

I had hardly opened my eyes by the time I felt the car stalling to a stop. Groggily, I raised my head and saw that it was nearly nine in the morning before he had shut the car off. I jumped awake, looking around frantically to realize we were in a garage, the garage door closed already. I realized abruptly that now I didn't want to get out of the car. Before he opened his door, he glanced at me through the rearview mirror. "Calm down. Panicking isn't going to help you, and neither is running. It'll get you hurt, and you're not going to escape either way."
I nervously brushed the hair from my eyes as he got out of the car, soon walking around to my side of the car. I tried to shake off the drowsiness as he pulled me out, keeping his grip around my arm as he began walking me towards the house. My feet weren't functioning properly, neither was my mind. By the time we neared the door, I wasn't capable of walking. I was frozen to the spot, completely and utterly petrified of what I would find inside the house. "Don't do anything stupid." He warned, an edge in his voice.
I swallowed, stealing a glance at him to realize he had already started walking. I forced myself to shuffle my feet as we stepped into the house, and what I saw took me off guard. It was completely silent in the house, though we had stepped into a luxurious and obviously expensive kitchen. The sunlight from the tall windows shone through onto the black granite countertops that were lined around two walls, a subtle light. There was an island in the middle of the kitchen with three barstools, as well as stainless steel appliances. The entire room portrayed wealth, something I wasn't sure that I was expecting. He had no interest in letting me look around, pulling me forward carelessly and sitting me at the island. "Don't move." He muttered, walking across the room to one of the cupboards.
I bit at my lip nervously, immediately aware of the fact that he had his back to me and he wasn't holding onto me. I knew he had told me not to run, I knew there was more of them, and I knew it would be impulsive and stupid. But this had been the first time in my eight hours of knowing him he didn't have me completely trapped or was holding onto me. I didn't know if I'd get another chance like that again, where I wasn't locked away or being held onto. Terrified I could miss my only chance to run, or at least hide, I booked it.
I took off running down the only hallway that led out from the kitchen, blindly trying to escape. I soon realized it wasn't a simple, small little house; there was corner after corner, hallway after hallway, and I saw three sets of stairways before I turned behind me to see if I was being followed. I nearly let out a breath of relief, turning a corner as I checked again to make sure he wasn't following me. Abruptly, I ran straight into something as I turned the corner. I bounced back with a severe head rush realizing it wasn't something... it was someone. I jumped to look up to an unfamiliar blonde young adult, who looked just as alarmed to see me. I was too shocked to react, gaping at him fearfully as I anticipated his reaction. It stunned me even more.
He laughed.
"Going for a tour?"
Mortified, I slowly backed away from him, whirling around to run back the other way when I felt my knees go weak. He was leaning against the wall at the end of the hall, arms crossed and narrowing his eyes at me. The man with the raven hair and blue eyes; the one I had run from. He was blocking my way.
As I turned around to face the other young adult, he was blocking my way as well. I was trapped between the two of them. I looked back at the one with dark hair, too terrified to move my gaze away from him when an unexpected arm wrapped around my waist; the blonde. I yelped fearfully, automatically trying to fight him off of me yet he didn't do anything but keep his arm around my waist. I couldn't help it; it sickened me that I was so defenceless against them, that I was so painfully alone and most likely going to die, I burst into tears at the thought. I sobbed into my hands, so genuinely terrified and overwhelmed. Only days ago, I had been in bed, safely tucked in my home. The blonde chuckled again, "Hey, hey, relax!"
The blonde hadn't been expecting it, but the other one had. The brunette had pulled me off of the blonde before I could reel my fist back and punch him, though I still kicked and screamed. I hated the blonde immediately. His tone was so light and humorous, showing no sign of concern or even recognition that this was wrong. "Stop it!" The brunette shouted at me as I furiously struggled to escape his grip.
I wiped the tears away as I glared harshly at both of them, attempting at keeping some form of sanity and dignity. "Go to hell." I spat at them, though I was ignored as they began walking me back to the kitchen.
By the time we had made it back, I had convinced myself that I had to find a way out of this or I would die; I was too overwhelmed to assume any other option. I was pushed back towards the island, though the blonde smoothly wrapped his arm around my waist again and made sure I sat down. I grimaced as he sat beside me, not bothering to move his arm away. I'm not sure whether he didn't notice my discomfort or he ignored it. The dark haired one began shuffling through the cupboards again, the blonde turning his attention towards me, "What's your name?"
I glared down at my feet, both afraid of him and afraid of making him angry. I wasn't sure what the consequences of slapping him and screaming at him would be, and I wasn't overly tempted to figure them out. Either way, I ignored the question. The blonde spoke up again, shrugging, "I'll tell you ours, then. I'm Jesse, that's Dominic."
He continued looked at me, and I continued ignoring him. I could only focus on trying to diminish the anger that was brewing, hating the fact he held his arm around my waist. "It's Quinn." Dominic, the brunette answered eventually, pulling a box of some sort of cereal from the cupboard.
"It's not that hard to tell me that." Jesse commented lightly, looking over at me.
I couldn't help it, the anger was killing me, "Get your hands off of me!"
He tilted his head and chuckled, "Why?"
"Because I told you to!" I hissed, trying to pull away.
I attempted at getting off the stool, pulling away from him or even moving his goddamn arm, but his strength was similar to Dominic's. They both were completely able to snap my bones without much difficulty. "Relax, I'm not even hurting you!" The blonde laughed.
The urge to throw something heavy at his face was beyond tempting. He spoke so lightly, with such a lack of empathy as if this was okay. As if I wasn't there and he was speaking with a group of close friends. It wasn't even a condescending laugh, it was light and humorous. It was infuriating. He smiled and shrugged, moving his arm away, "I have to get a few things done anyways. I mean, if you can handle her, Dominic."
Dominic's eyes flickered over from Jesse to me for a moment, and finally back to whatever he was doing. Jesse grinned deviously as he hopped off the stool, "See ya around, fighter."
I glared at him hatefully as he walked out of the room, though by the time he was out of sight, my anger had vanished. It left behind paralyzing fear in its wake. I kept my eyes on the ground as I felt Dominic's harsh stare on me, "You're lucky you ran into him."
I couldn't help but scoff. I was anything but lucky to be here in general. Dominic finished his point, "Because you ran into the only person in here that wouldn't beat you for trying to run like that."
I cringed at his words, breathing heavily though I didn't dare look up at him. He shook his head and muttered curses under his breath, "Just don't move."
My hands were trembling by the time he had walked over to me again, placing a bowl of cereal in front of me. I looked up hesitantly, though he had leaned back against the counter and his attention wasn't on me.
I stared at the cereal, so tempted to rebel against him for the sake of rebelling, though we both knew I was starving. I had cleared the bowl within minutes. I wondered what to do with it; it was an automatic habit being to put in the sink, and keeping it on the counter felt strange. I hadn't done that in my entire seventeen years of living. I supposed out of everything going on around me, I shouldn't have noticed an empty bowl... Yet it reminded me of home.
I paused.
I entirely stopped, forcing those thoughts away. I couldn't bare to think of home, I wouldn't be able to handle it. Even still, the mention of my mother's name or the thought of my father's laugh was enough to crush me. By the time I was looked up, forcing tears away, I realized he was glancing over at me. "Let's go."
I cringed away from him as he walked over to me, though he pulled me off of the stool and started to walk anyways. I swallowed nervously as he began walking me through the complex hallways that varied in length; some seeming fairly long yet there seemed to be dozens of short hallways scattered throughout the massive house. There were plenty of doors on either side of us, though it didn't seem like I could find any exit doors. Hell, even the windows, as few of them as there were, seemed to have some form of lock on them. "Where are we going?"
I meant to ask it forwardly and boldly, but it came out as a fearful whisper instead. He didn't respond, beginning to pull me up a set of stairs. I waited, but he made it obvious he wasn't planning on replying. He only looked ahead, continuing to walk. I was too afraid to keep quiet, "Tell me. Now." I snapped viciously, trying to pull back.
He pulled me forward easily, causing me to stumble a few steps behind him, "Just wait."
I managed to regain my balance, looking around to realize I was utterly lost in such a huge place like this. "That's not good enough!" I shouted.
Abruptly, he stopped. I froze to my spot, flinching as he turned around. I had convinced myself that I had angered him enough into hitting me, though he didn't turn around to face me. He opened a door that we were standing in front of, offering no explanation or reason before pulling me inside. I had immediately whirled around before I even glanced into the room; too terrified of him to have my back turned. I watched in horror as he shut the door, locking it behind him but as he turned around, he didn't have any interest in me. He walked directly passed me without another glance, and I realized how nervous I was to turn around. There was nothing alarming about the room itself, other than the fact that it was similar to the kitchen; portraying excessive amounts of money and wealth. I immediately recognized it as some form of a game room after realizing that there was both a foosball table and a pool table on one side of the room, a bar on the other side and white couches in between. If only it had been an empty room, I might not have had the slight heart attack.
Immediately stumbling a step back, my eyes darted around the room in panic to realize I was surrounded. Jesse, the confident blonde was sitting alone at the couch, leaning back comfortably while I realized Dominic had walked over to join someone at the bar. He seemed older than the rest, possibly twenty five; I quickly realized he was more intimidating than both Dominic and Jesse put together. He turned his head to glance at me, his gaze almost naturally being a harsh glare. His hair was dark, nearly jet black and his eyes weren't far behind. From where I stood, there was some tint of green in them yet I was so fixated and petrified of the gaze itself that I didn't notice any details. He watched me; he wasn't glancing or simply looking over, he was watching me menacingly like the only thing he wanted to do was cause me harm. I couldn't help but shiver as he continued to stare, feeling more alone and self conscious than I ever had before. "Hey Quinn, come sit over here!" Jesse called.
I blinked, completely thrown out of my trance as I looked over at Jesse. He had his feet propped up comfortably on one of the couches, grinning slightly as he took a sip of his drink, "I'll be nice, I promise."
I stared at him, completely mortified as unconscious words fell from my mouth. "You son of a bitch."
Jesse chuckled carelessly, unaffected by my words yet the brunette at the bar responded immediately, "You heard him. Get over there."
I looked back at him, once again shaking at the sight of his glare. Even still, I was too alone, overwhelmed, angry and too goddamn stubborn to comply. "No way in hell."
With those words, the room became silent. Even Jesse had stopped laughing, and immediately I took that as a terrible sign. I instinctively took a step back as the brunette at the bar stood up, his glare intensifying and directed solely at me. He stepped forward, yet Jesse held up his hand. "Leave it Blake, she just got here."
He smirked, continuing to walk, "Then it's a good time to make sure that little bitch knows her place."
I could only back up a few steps until my back hit the wall, and by the time Blake approached me I didn't have time to run. I cowered away from him, my heart beating rapidly as he glared down at me, standing nearly a foot taller. I needed out of that room; I had never wanted anything so badly in my life. "Would you like to repeat that?" He snapped viciously.
My hands were shaking so hard I was sure everyone in the room could tell, and for the life of me I couldn't find a functioning voice inside myself. Any words I attempted at would be slurred with the fear running circles in my head. I tried to sidestep away from him, yet he immediately slapped his palm against the wall beside me, blocking my way. I bit my lip to keep from screaming, though I did flinch as he shouted loudly, "Answer me!"
Before I could even open my mouth to reply, my head was whipped to the side and his hand was in the air.
It took over ten seconds to register that he had slapped me.
I was far too stunned to react; in my entire life, not one hand had ever been laid on me. "Get over there, and don't you dare make me repeat myself."
I hardly heard him, staring at the ground, completely floored. Even as my mind unconsciously processed his words and my feet started to carry me across the room, I wasn't quite ready to handle the fact that he had hit me, or much less, that it could happen again. Reluctantly, I sat down on the couch as I fought to keep my face void of emotion, most likely failing. "Prick." I muttered, once out of earshot.
I stopped, remembering Jesse was sitting on the couch across from me. As I looked up at him, I realized he had heard me. Fear seized me as I panicked for a moment, petrified of gaining Blake's attention again. For the moment, Jesse wasn't grinning or laughing as he was every other single second. His eyes trailed from Blake and back to me for a few minutes as if he were thinking; for a moment, I was nearly confident he grimaced. By the time Blake had started walking back to the bar, Jesse was back to grinning lightly and whatever I had seen had vanished. He didn't call me out for swearing at Blake.
I snuck a look back at the bar nervously, watching as Dominic sent Blake a glare as he sat down. I looked away, not wanting to be caught staring. By the time I had turned around, Jesse had switched couches and I found him sitting beside me. I flinched and backed away instinctively, but I was battling anger just as much as fear. Every instinct was screaming in my head to do whatever possible to get myself out of the room. "It's Quinn, isn't it?"
I peered back hesitantly at the green-eyed blonde, trying to stop myself from shaking. I wrapped my arms around my knees as I leaned away from him, feeling Blake glance over at me once again. I stared at the floor miserably, whispering to Jesse quietly, "J-Just tell me why I'm here."
"Don't worry about it for now." His tone was quiet as well, as if he wasn't interested in Blake listening either.
I looked up at him, seconds away from harassing him with questions when there was a sudden noise coming from outside the room. Someone was fumbling with the lock. My palms began to get sweaty as I nearly hid behind my knees, not prepared to face anyone else but someone that would help me. That is definitely not what I found.
I hadn't ever been more afraid of someone at first glance in my life.
I hardly heard Jesse speak up beside me, "Hey Alex."
Alex walked in, narrowing his eyes as he nodded at Jesse in response. His fiery red dyed hair fell in long side bangs over eyes that were an icy shade of light blue; shock cold and menacing. His black shirt clung tightly to his chest, clearly defining every muscle he had. He was tall, every single aspect about him screaming dangerous. Abruptly, he did something that terrified me so much I could've thrown up, he simply looked over at me.
The only eyes I had ever seen had held something in them; compassion, sorrow, happiness, anger, selfishness. Something. Yet as I sat there, completely distraught with terror, I found nothing in his. It was hard to tell if I was looking into another human being's eyes. I couldn't even force myself to keep his gaze, I frightfully looked away and prayed I wouldn't have to go near him. I felt my hands shake at the thought of even looking back up at him again.
Thankfully, I felt his gaze shift away from me. I snuck a glance as Alex looked over at Dominic, "That's her?"
Dominic grimly downed the last of his drink, watching Alex through narrowed eyes. Eventually he nodded his head, "Yeah."
I flinched as Alex turned his attention towards me again, but his next words nearly paralyzed me to the spot. He nodded his head towards the door, "Come with me."
I stared at him, stunned as if he hadn't even spoken a word. I did nothing but watch him, trying to process what I could out of the hectic mess I had been thrown into. Eventually, it was Jesse tapping my shoulder and Blake glaring at me that pulled me out of my trance; I expected I only had a few seconds to obey before being hit again by Blake, and the thought of Alex getting angry petrified me. Slowly, I forced myself to get on my feet, staring directly at the ground and focusing solely on keeping myself walking as I nervously passed Alex out into the hallway. I flinched as he shut the door, walking off the other direction. It took me a few seconds to fearfully trail behind him, only assuming that was what was expected. Realistically, it took every form of willpower to keep from running the other direction. If I was certain that there wasn't any more of them lying around the house, I probably would've. I was so consumed in fear, thoughts and escape plans that I had zoned out as I walked behind him.
As he abruptly stopped, I abruptly ran straight into him. I jumped wildly at the contact, trying to back away yet he snatched my wrist to keep me from running. He yanked me closer to him, pointing up at something on the ceiling as he questioned at me, "See that?"
I glanced at him in alarm, shifting my view up to what he was pointing at. It took a moment to spot, yet that was only because it blended in. A tiny, white box at the very top of the wall. He continued, "I suppose you didn't think of cameras, hm? They're great to have,"
He suddenly snatched a lock of my hair and pulled me closer, hissing at me, "In case someone is found where they aren't supposed to be."
I'm not sure whether I was going to pass out or cry, but either option seemed likely results of my fear. With his grip on my hair, holding my face nearly inches away from his own, I had no where to hide my gaze. I was forced to look back at him, attempting desperately at acting brave enough to face him. I could only keep up with it for a few seconds, and soon after I fearfully pulled back; begging him silently to let me go. I swore that there was no other purpose of holding me there other than to scare me, but he succeeded with that and eventually dropped his hold on me. He turned around and calmly began walking away, gesturing for me to follow once again. My breathing was heavy and erratic, completely horrified by him yet I followed, too terrified to rebel against him while I was unarmed and defenceless. My eyes darted around in panic, searching for something, anything that could help me until he suddenly grabbed my arm again. I jumped again out of surprise, yet he had already pushed me ahead of him into the dark room. I was shivering in fear as he reached around for the light switch, and I was surprised to find the most humble room of the house I had seen. It was a small bedroom; not nearly as large or expensive as the other rooms, yet it still was tidy and held everything that the average bedroom would hold. I looked around to realize there was a door that led to a personal bathroom. I jumped in alarm as I realized Alex had shut the door and locked it behind him, "W-What are you doing?" I stuttered out.
He ignored me, walking towards the dresser and digging around for a moment. After he had found what he was looking for, he tossed the article of clothing over to me. I caught it instinctively as he walked passed me, lying down on the bed with his feet propped up lazily. I ran my fingers over material, realizing it was a tiny black dress that seemed too small and too tight to even fit me. I knew sure as hell it was too low cut for me to ever want to wear in my life. He leaned back and glanced over at me, "Get dressed."
I stared at it uncomfortably for another moment, "It isn't even considered a dress." I muttered, accidentally forgetting my place.
I cringed, sneaking a glance over at him to see his reaction. His eyes remained empty and calm, hardly even blinking. He didn't do anything to respond until he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, twirling it around between his fingers absentmindedly. He didn't even have to glare or speak to cause my heartbeat to accelerate, and I was fairly confident that putting on a slutty dress was much better than letting him do whatever he wanted to do with that knife. Nervously, I took a step towards the bathroom until he loudly cleared his throat; I glanced back at him in confusion, taking a few seconds until my eyes went wide as I realized what he meant. "Hurry up."
I stumbled a step back, overwhelmed as I shook my head and tried to plead with him, "I-I can't, please, I can't."
"Alright, then come here." He responded simply.
Both orders were equally horrifying, and I wasn't sure that I was capable of doing either. I stood there dumbly for a moment, stunned and racking my brain for another option. Fearfully, I backed away from him and shook my head, too afraid to do anything else. His calm face faltered into an emotion that I had hoped I would never see; I hadn't ever seen someone become so angry so quickly. "You sure as hell better not make me get up, you'll regret it." He threatened lowly.
I flinched at the tone of his voice; so dark and still keeping calm, yet it was most likely the calmness that scared me. Not knowing what else to do, I forced myself to move my legs that felt like led and slowly shuffle over towards him. I kept my eyes down, which were brimming with tears by that point as I walked. The second I was in arm's reach, he suddenly grabbed my wrists and pulled me onto the bed in a rapid movement. I shrieked out of surprise, yet he easily had me pushed onto my back within seconds, pinning my arms down on either side of me. "Well, are you going to put the dress on?" He smirked cruelly.
I struggled furiously as panic consumed me; I couldn't move. "J-Just let go of me! Leave me alone!"
He leaned over me, pinning my legs underneath his own and pushing my wrists down on the bed, "I guess I'll take that as a no, then."
I screamed out of complete fear, feeling my stomach drop as he reached for his knife. He shifted his grip so that he held both of my wrists in one hand, keeping them pinned over my head as he brought the knife down to my waist with his other hand. By the time the blade neared my skin, I was screaming hysterically, "Stop it! S-Stop!"
He went to slash the knife, going through my shirt instead of my skin. I froze to the spot, utterly terrified as the blade continued up my shirt; he only grinned deviously, "I wouldn't move if I were you sweetheart, wouldn't want to slip."
I felt the tip of the blade touch my skin, causing complete panic as my mind spiralled out in fear. I jumped unconsciously, the knife slashing my side. I screamed again, this time in pain. He laughed; a light, calm and amused sound, "I warned you, didn't I?"
Panic, fear, confusion; they were all sprawled across my face as well as the tears that had began streaming, "P-Please stop it, please!" I begged.
I was in such a hazy panic that I could hardly breathe, though he simply hushed me, "If you don't move, if won't hurt."
I shut my eyes tightly as I felt the knife cut through the fabric; each single movement daring the blade to dive into my skin at any given time. I had hardly even noticed the shirt was off; I had been shaking too hard to tell. By the time I noticed, I was out of breath and in such a frenzy that I couldn't function. He tossed the shirt to the side and grinned devilishly, easily keeping me pinned down as I continued to squirm and fight against his grip. "Get off of me!" I screamed at him.
He laughed, "Oh relax Quinn, I'm not even going to do anything yet!"
Yet.
He must've caught the deep panic running through my eyes because he chuckled again, abruptly letting go of my wrists. I dashed off the bed, breathing heavily as I covered my arms around myself. He seemed satisfied with himself, taking his time to smoothly get off the bed and grin over at me, "Try not to miss me too much."
Before I could react, he had left the room after locking the door.