Children of Fire (Complete)

sixty-five

Emerson

The first thing I noticed when I came to, was the putrid smell surrounding me inside of the dark, damp room I was confined to. My first instinct was to get up and find a way out of here, but as soon as I tried to stand, I realized my legs were bound to the cold metal chair I was sitting in. Okay, time for plan b. I tried to reach down and untie my legs, but it only took a split second of trying to move my arms to realize that my wrists were bound behind me as well, the thick rope was already cutting into my skin and something told me that I had already tried to fight my way out of the room once before. My head felt heavy and I was groggy. Did someone drug me? Without my knowledge? What the fuck was going on? Where was I? How did I even get here?

Panic and fear had started to set in when I realized that I was bound to a fucking chair in the middle of some room I had never even seen. Holy shit. I was being held hostage. Holy shit, holy shit... I was fucking kidnapped. My heart started beating violently inside my chest, and I realized at that moment that I didn't have a way out. I felt like a caged animal, and it was a feeling that I never wanted to experience. Who took me? The last thing I remembered was being in the clubhouse, shut away inside Gideon and I's old bedroom. Wait... there was a knock on the door, I opened it and...

Ray.

That asshole! I knew he wasn't to be trusted, and I knew he had it out for Gideon since he had taken his patch and took over his position as President of the club, but I didn't think he would betray his son like this, by taking his fiance. Oh, right. I was engaged now. Weird. Okay, brain, now is not the time to be thinking about your recent engagement. There are way more pressing matters at hand now... like how the fuck I was supposed to get out of this predicament. I did my best to take calming breaths like Gideon had told me so many times, but I don't think it really applied to a hostage situation like this, especially when I was the hostage.

My eyes were darting around the room now, squinted so close together that they may have appeared shut. I was trying my hardest to make out anything in this room that I recognized, anything that could hint to where I was, but nothing stood out. The only thing in here was my chair, and another identical chair directly across from me. I looked up for a light source and found a lightbulb dangling directly above me, casting an eerie glow over my body, but not much else in the room. The walls were peeling and I swear the only thing I could smell was mold and stagnant water. Maybe I was underground? It was hard to tell, as there were no windows in this room and I couldn't hear anything. It was dead silent, which scared me more than I'd like to admit.

Okay, since nobody was around... I would allow myself three minutes to freak out. No more, no less... but I mean... it's not like I could tell time right? There wasn't a clock mounted on the wall and even if I wore a watch, I wouldn't be able to look at it right now. I fidgeted with my fingers like I always did when I was worried or anxious and noticed that my engagement ring was still resting on my ring finger, so at least I knew that wherever I was they weren't totally concerned with my engagement at least. Ray knew about it, and I remember the way his face looked whenever Gideon had asked me to marry him. He didn't look happy, not at all, but he still wore a smile on his face. At the time, I just thought he was pretending to be happy so nobody noticed how bitter he was towards his son, but now that I knew what he was capable of, I realized that he was happy about our engagement. But for all the wrong reasons.

He was happy about the engagement because he knew Gideon would do anything for me, now. He knew that he would be able to use me as a bargaining chip when it came to his son, and that thought caused my heart to go into hyperdrive. I was going to be Gideon's downfall. I would be the reason for his imminent death, because when he found out I was missing... when he got back to the clubhouse and set off to find me... I wouldn't be there. Neither would Ray. He would put the pieces together and he would tear apart Heaven, Hell, and the Earth to find me. I knew he would, and that thought had been a constant comfort for me, until now. I had to get out of here. I had to stop Gideon from walking into an inevitable trap that was set up for him. I had to keep him from meeting his demise, whatever the cost.