The Missing Stranger

Chapter 4 {REWRITTEN}

   If you are confused as to why this is a rewritten version of chapter 4, please read the two A/N's titled "Future Edits Coming Possibly(?)" and "This is happening-- Hold on to your butts."

Now read on, fellow fangirl/fanboy ;)

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   ¤*@)%?, Jan. 2, 2009;
   The Abandoned Observatory
   Mount Alliance¤

   Aphmau opened her eyes slowly, her vision clearing to reveal the observatory in front of her. She had barely gotten any sleep after what had happened, so most of the night she just laid on the floor completely exhausted and traumatized.

   "This is a famliar situation." She felt the soft fabric of a blanket underneath her where Aaron must have moved her after she had passed out. She shuttered as she clutched her right arm to her body. She could feel tears dried onto her cheeks. Glancing upwards, Aphmau saw the beams of light coming from the circular window above her. She flinched as she saw Aaron sliding down the ladder. He stepped to the metal tables and started sifting through the arrangement of objects on the table. He suddenly stopped sifting through the items and looked over to Aphmau. Her eyes widened and her hand started to shake slightly. Aaron's eyes narrowed at her for a moment before looking back to the table in front of him. Aphmau sighed in relief and pulled her arm away from her chest enough to see the bloody messages carved on the inside of her forearm, each one overlapping. It was difficult to make out some of the words and phrases considering they were covering each other. She could only make out some letter and just guess what they actually meant.

   Aphmau felt uneasy as she attempted to read the text engraved on her skin. She sat up slowly, leaning against the wall. She looked to her right at the large observatory doors, then over to Aaron at the metal tables. He grabbed something out of a metal box, and then pulled up a hunting rifl--

   "Wait, a hunting rifle?!" Aphmau started to panic as he loaded it and put it down, only to pick up a pistol and load that as well.

   "Why does he have a rifle and a pistol?! Why does he have guns at all?!" Aaron stopped what he was doing for a moment, but then started walking over to Aphmau, pistol in hand. Aphmau pressed herself against the wall, her eyes widening in fear.

   "N-No... stay away from me...!" Aphmau begged, holding her right wrist to her chest protectively.

   "Don't hurt me..." She whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. She felt herself shaking in fear, and yet, nothing came. She didn't feel a gun to her head, she didn't feel a hand at her arm, she didn't even feel him touching her at all.

   "Calm down..." Aaron spoke in a soothing tone. He was now kneeling in front of her. Aphmau looked just over her arms and scanned his face. It was the same cold expression he always had on his features, and yet, something seemed different about it. He cautiously stroked the outside of her wrist with two fingers, making Aphmau flinch.

   "Relax... I'm not going to hurt you." He assured softly. Without even thinking, Aphmau's grip on her wrist loosened, and Aaron gently snaked his fingers around her hand and pulled her right arm towards him. He turned her arm to look at the cuts.

   "I-I don't understand..." Aphmau said quietly.

   "What's there to not understand?" Aaron questioned, continuing to examine her wrist.

   "Well... I... I just..." Aphmau wasn't sure what to say. He finally looked up at her, narrowing his eyes slightly.

   "It's as simple as this. I seriously doubt that after what happened last night, you wouldn't even dream of going against me. If you did..." Aaron gripped her wrist tighter, but was still careful not to touch the cuts on the inside of her arm. "You at least understand what would happen, don't you?"

   Aphmau gave a small nod, casting her gaze down at the floor.

   "That is why. You won't test my patience any more than you already have. You wouldn't ignore what I demand of you because you know what will happen. I think you'll agree that I don't have to threaten you anymore than I have to make sure you understand that, yes?" Aaron's face lost all sympathy for her and it was replaced with a threatening stare.

   "Y-Yes..."

   "Good." He grabbed her other arm, pulling her up to her feet suddenly. She started to black out, falling forward into him. He steadied her, and let her go.

   "Follow me." Aaron demanded coldly, not giving her any time to hesitate before walking forward towards the back of the spacious room. Aphmau started forward before falling toward the floor, unable to hold herself up. She flinched as she caught her self on her forearms, causing pain to sear on her cuts. She looked up at Aaron, who's only response was to stare at her, narrowing his eyes in impatience. She got up as fast as her body would allow. Aaron clicked his tongue before grabbing her right wrist.

   "Ow!" Aphmau tugged her wrist out of his grip. He rolled his eyes and gripped her left wrist instead, dragging her along with him.

   "That look of sympathy... that soft gaze... his gentle, soothing voice... all lies. All attempts to get me to just blindly obey him and his psychotic, insane personality. I can't believe I thought he actually cared." The more Aphmau thought about it, the angrier she got. "If he thinks I'm going to let him control me, than he's got another thing coming!"

   Aaron threw her in front of him onto the ground, snapping her back to reality. Aphmau looked up at him disdainfully, not bothering to try and argue... yet.

   Aaron paused for a moment. He started walking toward her. She backed up slightly before he walked past her to the support pole behind her. "I'm leaving. You're staying here. I honestly would be shocked if you were idiotic enough to try to disobey and leave, but just in case..." He started untying some rope that was around the pole, and Aphmau widened her eyes.

   "N-No! Not again!" Aphmau quickly got up and started to run for the door as fast as she could, fueled by fear alone. She only got a few steps in before strong arms snaked around her waist, trapping her in their grasp. She flailed slightly as she was being dragged back to the pole.

   "And this is why I'm tying you up. You'd think that you would've learned by now." Aaron grunted as his grip on her tightened. He threw her down on the ground, getting on top of her before she could get away. He held her down by the base of her neck, not tight enough to choke her, but tight enough to gain an advantage over her. She kicked her feet, and tried to push him away, he grabbed her hands with his free hand and pulled them down, but she pulled them free and grabbed his arm that was holding her neck, attempting to pry it off her.

   "That's enough!" He ordered, his voice echoing throughout the observatory. She slowly came to a halt, looking at him.

   "I was wrong. You are idiotic enough to try and run, despite what happened last night. Do you understand what position you're in?!" Aaron asked angrily.

   "Yes, I do understand what position I'm in. That's exactly why I'm trying to run! If you think I'm just going to lay down and let you walk all over me, then you're wrong! I'm not going to just spend the rest of my life up here as your personal play toy." Aphmau snapped, scowling up at him. Aaron looked taken aback at first. Aphmau smirked in satisfaction.

   "Hah! Bet he didn't expect that. He really does think I'm just gonna let him do whatever he wants. Who's the idiotic one now, huh?!" Aphmau's smile quickly faded from her face as Aaron laughed slightly, staring down at her.

   "Look at you, all tough so suddenly. You think acting stronger than what you really are will save you? It won't." He smiled at her in a way she could barely find words to describe. Was it psychotic? Seductive? She really couldn't decide. She really didn't want to. "It's cute that you still have hope though. That makes it all the more fun to break you. Like a glass cup that keeps trying to put itself back together after getting shattered over... and over... and over again. Until eventually..." Aaron leaned down, their noses practically touching.

   "You're nothing more than dust... particles so small that there's no possible way to put you back together, lying in pile, longing to be whole again. There's no hope for the optimist. You're either right, or severely disappointed." His eyes glittered red.

   "You... You're insane..." Aphmau whispered, trying to keep herself from shaking and her voice from revealing her fear. Aaron chuckled and leaned back from her, his eyes never leaving her's.

   "Insane...? Ha..." Aaron cast his eyes downward, his lips curved up in a small smile. "Sanity is a relative idea. You may say I'm insane, yet another man may say that I am perfectly sane, and that, perhaps, you're the insane one."

   "Yeah, but only another insane person would call you a saint and me the crazy one! Maybe the idea of sanity is relative, but moral code isn't. There's right and wrong and your mental instability doesn't change universal moral code. It just changes your messed up perception of it!" Aphmau argued. Aaron's eyes hooded slightly, his smile unwavering.

   "Is there a universal moral code? Is that something you can argue about down to the last detail?" Aaron said back.

   "Well... maybe not the little details sometimes, but I can sure as heck say that kidnapping and hurting someone is wrong, and definitely makes you a crazy criminal!" Aaron's smile faltered for a moment, but it happened so fast that Aphmau wasn't even sure if it happened at all.

   "Criminal? Be honest with yourself, do you really think I'm hurting you just for the fun of it? That I'm keeping you here for no reason? I've said it once, this place is dangerous. You should've never come up here anyways."

   "I came up here to bring you back to Phoenix Drop! But you knocked me out so quick that I... didn't..." Aphmau trailed off at the shocked expression Aaron gave her.

   "Phoenix Drop...?" Aaron murmured.

   "Uh, yeah! That's what I said, isn't it?" Aphmau retorted with a sassy tone. Aaron looked at her, his eyed narrowed. He was no longer smiling. In fact, his expression looked colder than it has ever been.

   "You shouldn't have wasted your time. I'm not going back to Phoenix Drop. Ever." Aaron hissed at her, standing up and backing away.

   "Wait, what? Why?!" Aphmau sat up and yelled. At the moment, she wasn't thinking about the fact that she really shouldn't bring this psychotic sadist back to Phoenix Drop anyways, but all she cared about was defying him as much as possible. Yes, it's petty, but she didn't care.

   "I don't have to explain myself to you. Stop asking questions." Aaron's voice was filled with irritation. He approached her again, and she scooted back until she hit the support pole that was behind her. He quickly grabbed her feet, tying them tight with the rope. Aphmau winced in pain as the rope rubbed the cuts Aaron had given her. She was ready to argue, but thought better of it when Aaron's eyes met her's as if he saying 'Don't even dare.' He stood up, and his gaze met Aphmau's once more.

   "Once again, I am leaving. You are staying. If I see you so much as move an inch towards that door, I promise that you will regret it." Aaron threatened, but it almost felt as if his words had no effort into them. Like he couldn't even be bothered to act like he cared. "Understood?" He asked.

   "'Understood?' He sounds like a warden talking down to his low-life prisoners." Aphmau looked away in defiance. Aaron opened his mouth, but then closed it and sighed. Aphmau felt confused for a moment. Was that a sigh of defeat she had heard?

   "Whatever. I can't be bothered to deal with you anymore right now." Aphmau looked up at him, shocked that he didn't argue. She quickly hid her shocked expression as he bent back down close to her, attempting to put on a straight face. She felt heat rush to her face as he wrapped his arms around her, tying her hands behind her back. He tied them together almost gracefully, without effort. As if he had done it before many times.

   "Don't say I didn't warn you." Aaron muttered, standing up and walked away towards the door. Aphmau stared after his, slightly wide-eyed as he walked out the door.

   "That was kind of weird. He just gave up arguing and let me ignore him. He hasn't done that as long as I've been up here." Aphmau thought. She decided that it was better not to question him letting her off the hook. The more she thought about it, the scarier this all became to her. "Why would I argue with him like that? I've said it myself, this guy's insane! He's already hurt me, what happens if I make him angry enough to just want to get rid of me all together?"

   Aphmau pulled her knees up to her face, trying to hold back tears that suddenly threatened to spill. She sat like that for what felt like hours, but she knew better than that. She guessed that in reality, it had only been about 20 minutes. She continued fighting back tears, knowing that if she had any hope of getting through this and going home, she couldn't show any fear to Aaron.

   "Where even is he?"

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   Took me long enough

   Chapter 3 is officially being unpublished and is being moved to its new home in my book, "Just for Funzies." If you ever want to read the original, go there! The same thing will happen to the original version of chapter 4 once the rewritten version of chapter 5 comes out.

   Thanks for reading! :3

   Go check out Aphmau's channel ;)

   Word count: 2306

   Writer:
   Nylo
   Editor:
   Nylo