My Precious Petal

Taco Hell

Terance's brother stood up, grunting from the pain in his legs, that have been longing to stand up for the past 24 hours. He rubbed his wrists after he had unwrapped them, then gave you an unsettling look. You backed up as an uneasy feeling sat in your stomach, the last time he had seen you it was during a very intense moment and it didn't end so well.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked. You opened your mouth to speak but he interrupted before you even began. "Let me guess, he's keeping you captive?" Your eyes widened, a bit stunned that he could figure that out, although...maybe it wasn't too hard to figure out since he has been locked up to plumbing pipes for the past 24 hours.

"Yes, he took away my phone and wallet," you thought a bit harder, "As well as my keys..." The longer you thought about all the wrong things that were going on the easier it became to think of new bad things. 

"Well if you're wondering if I know where they are then you might as well tie me back up cause I don't have an answer for you." He smirked as he started to crack his back. He walked past you and out into the hallway. "I'm assuming he locked all the doors?" You nodded your head, realizing though that he was ahead of you and couldn't see your action you let out a small yes. He walked up to a shelf next to the door were a flowerpot sat happily on it. He pushed the pot out of the way and mumbled to himself. You watched in anticipation. "He took the spare key" he grumbled. 

"You know... I've never heard of an apartment that can't be unlocked from the inside." you awkwardly chuckled, hoping to relieve some of the stress from the intimidating male. 

"I was the one who put it there." He growled. You stepped back, even though you were already pretty far from the man. "Where is he?" he asked, walking past you again and into the kitchen.

"Terrance?" You questioned, making sure you understood him properly. 

"Of course I mean Terrance." He snapped, looking for food in the covers. 

"Well, he told me he was going to get some food. I don't know when he'll be back."

"Well then," He stopped to shove a handful of cheerios into his mouth and continued, food still in mouth. "We only have a couple of minutes till he comes back and he won't be happy when he finds out that you found me." He twirled around suddenly to meet you face to face, making you jump. "So here's the plan." He sprinkled three cheerios onto the kitchen counter that was separating the two of you. 

"This is you." He pointed to on cheerio that he pushed away from the other Cheerios, "This will be me, he pointed to a cheerio that he kept in place, "and this will be Terrance." He took the cheerio and placed it next to your cheerio. "I'm going to be hiding behind that couch." He picked up his cheerio and pointed to a red sofa in their living room. " He placed it back down and took your and Terrance's cheerios, moving them to his cheerio. "You'll let him in and suggest that you eat at the couch, also, you need to explain how you got out." He paused his explanation and looked up at you, "How did you get out by the way"

"He left my door unlocked," You explained.

He thought for a bit then shrugged, "Ok then, simple enough," He continued, "So you'll be talking to him, keep him well distracted. While you're doing that..." He then took his cheerio and moved it away. "I'll escape and get help for you."

"No!" You yelled, pushing his cheerio back to where it was. "You're not leaving me alone with him!" The man sighed.  You began to speak. "Why do we even have to do this? can't you just confront him yourself?"

He lowered his head, "You don't get it, my brother is dangerous. I can't just talk to him, see this?" He pointed to the scar on his head from last night. "Yeah, that's what happens." 

"Can't you just hold him down while I get a phone and call the police? You look like you could easily take him down."

"Yeah, keyword look." He answered back, "He's a lot tougher then you'd think." His stomach started to growl and he looked uncomfortable. He walked to the fridge and opened the door, "Did he take the beers?!" 

"What's your name anyway?" you asked. He looked up at you as he pulled a simple water bottle out from the fridge. "Harper." he shortly answered. 

"Well ok then Harper, why don't we just both run out as soon as Terrance comes back and opens the door?"  He sluggishly walked back to the counter that you were standing behind, emotionless. He then took his fist and slammed it down on the counter which made you jump. lifting it back up you saw crumbled cheerio dust all over the place and only one cheerio remained on the counter, Terrance's cheerio. "Because you can't just run." His voice got deeper and your face looked terrified. "There's something wrong with my brother, you can't just get rid of him." 

"Well, there has to be something that can stop him." 

Harper thought for a bit, hands placed on his chin as he exaggerated his thinking, "Well we could get him his medication."

"And where would that be?"

"Well, we'd need to get a prescription from his psychiatrist first, which means I'd have to set up an appointment. I haven't taken him there in months but I could do it."

"So we'll need a phone is what you're saying?" He nodded, your planning was cut short though when you heard the door click, He ran across the room and jumped behind the couch while you quickly turned around, trying to look as natural as possible.

Terrance kept his eyes toward the ground thus not noticing you as he went to lock the door, all while holding a bag of food in his hands. When he was done he placed his key back into his pocket and turned around, his eyes widened. He walked up to you, uncomfortably close to you in fact. "What are you doing out?" 

You took a step back and went to look at the sofa where Harper was gesturing for you to keep talking. "I-I um," you averted your gaze to everything except Terrance at the moment, "you left the door unlocked." 

"Hmmm, here hold this, put it down at the table." He handed you the bag and walked towards the hallway, "Can we actually eat at the couch?" you asked. "Yeah, yeah sure." he waved, disappearing around the corner. You went to sit down at the couch and waited. He came back in a panic.

"Have you seen my brother?" He asked nervously, you shook your head. "B-but I took the key..." He mumbled, beginning to pace, "Did he have another one?" 

"How about we just eat." you smiled, patting the seat next to you. Terrance stopped and smiled as he looked at you. "Sure."

As he sat down he pulled the bag open and the warm smell couldn't help but get you excited. "What did you end up getting?" you asked, trying to peer into the bag. "Taco Bell." He shortly answered. 

You heard a gagging sound from behind the couch followed by Harper whispering, "more like taco hell." You couldn't help but give off a slight chuckle. Terrance looked up at you, "What's so funny?" He asked, trying to understand what joke he might have made. "Nothing," you smiled, "Just thought about something funny."

"Oh..." Terrance frowned, slightly disappointed he wasn't the one who made you smile like that. As he gave you your food he got some sauce on his fingers. He stood up quickly, "Here let me get some napkins." as he got up you noticed your phone fall out of his back pocket.