Staring Into Glassy Eyes

Being the face of news channels and magazines was fine when I didn't know about it. The fourteen years I was trapped in a basement out in the woods, all I knew was my captor and pain. I didn't know my name and pictures of four five old me were being plastered all over the world.

But now that I had been found, current pictures of me were on news stands, videos of me being found by the police and being taken home were being replayed over and over on news channels. It was humiliating. Like I hadn't went through enough torment being a sex slave for a man triple my age.

Now that I was home, I didn't know what to do with myself. I had only been free for about a week, but I hadn't left my room much. I didn't want to face the world, I didn't want to deal with people constantly asking me if I was okay, or just pointing at me. I didn't know how to adapt, I had no friends and I didn't know my parents. It was terrifying.

My mom had been so happy to have me back home, relatively unscathed. She was constantly trying to make up for what I went through with food and gifts and it was now that she was finally forcing me out of my bedroom, and making me go out.

"As much as I'm terrified to have you go out on your own, you can't live cooped up in your bedroom." She had told me as she dropped me off at the outlet mall to go see a movie. She told me when I was a child I had loved superhero movies and the new Avengers movie was out.

Not like I would know what was going on.

I took the money she handed me and walked into the theatre, feeling like a terrified animal as large crowds of people pushed past me. The scent of popcorn wafted through the air and I let out a deep sigh as I headed for the concession stand.

I had followed Madeline Keen's story from the very beginning. Of course when it had first taken place, I didn't really understand quite why I was so interested but as time wore on and I watched her family slowly stop showing up in the media begging for her release, I began to realize. I wanted to kidnap a girl, I wanted to know that I held that power over not only a single woman but a family as well. I wanted to be able to have a girl at my mercy, who would eventually love me wholeheartedly.

When Madeline was found, an idea started to form in my mind but I knew it was far fetched. There was no way that I would be able to get close enough to Madeline to make her mine, not when she had just been rescued... There was just no way. Surely her family would keep a close eye on her, right?

I had more or less abandoned the idea, sure that I would never get the chance to make Madeline mine but I would find another girl when the time was right. Little did I know that time was tonight.

---

Deciding to head to the movies, I was just getting into line when a girl beside me caught my eye. I hesitated, my eyes raking over her form before the realization hit me. Madeline. Swallowing, i studied her for another moment before deciding that it was indeed Madeline Keen.

I cleared my throat as I stepped up behind her, shoving my hands into my pocket.s "Hey," I greeted her quietly, tilting my head to the side. "Can I.. Can I uh, buy you some popcorn?" I asked, trying to play it off as cool as I raised an eyebrow. "Hell, you can even get one of those popcorn pails if you really want."

@ castle.

This movie theatre was the last place I wanted to be. I didn't know why my mom thought this was a good idea. It was a saturday night, and this place was absolutely packed. You could barely move through the crowd without bumping into everyone you passed. It had my anxiety levels through the roof and I felt like I couldn't breathe as I stood there and waited in line to by my movie ticket.

"Can I.. Can I uh, buy you some popcorn? Hell, you can even get one of those popcorn pails if you really want." The voice broke through the haze of noise that surrounded me, and sent a chill down my spine. I was hoping that I could just go unnoticed, watch the movie in peace and quiet and go back home to my room. It didn't seem like that was an option.

Looking up towards the direction the voice came, I was a bit surprised to see just how handsome the man talking to me was. I wondered if he noticed me from the news, and if this was just some prank. He had brown wavy hair that was resting on his shoulders, pretty green eyes and was wearing a backwards baseball cap.

"U-Uhm, it's okay." I spoke, trying to talk loud enough to where he could hear me, but I doubt I was. I could feel my cheeks turning a bright pink, because I could feel them also heating up. "T-thank you, though."

Of course I recognized Madeline, it would have been silly if I didn't but I was doing my best not to let her know that because I didn't want to spook her. I just wanted to... well, I didn't really have a plan at the moment so her guess was probably about as good as mine would be. Frowning slightly when she answered me, I was admittedly a bit disappointed when she declined my initial offer but then was thanking me and my heart swelled a bit. Maybe this would be better than I thought.

"No, no. Come on, I just want to buy a pretty girl some popcorn. Nothing else, I promise," I said, offering a bit of a puppy dog look so hopefully, Madeline would be more inclined to accept my offer. I wasn't sure how much I believed that it would happen but still, I was hopeful as we moved through the concession stand line.

When Madeline reached the front, I stepped forward before she could finish her order. The teen behind the counter hesitated for a moment before taking my order - for a cola slushie and a bag of popcorn of my own. I held out two twenty dollar bills, grinning down at Madeline as she stared up at me all wide-eyed.

"What movie are you going to see?" I asked, hoping that I could spark a bit more of an actual conversation with her.

When the stranger slightly stepped in front of me, adding on to my order and handing over cash, I couldn't hide the fact that it surprised me. My eyes widened as I looked up at him and bit my bottom lip. "Infinity War." I told him, swallowing. Upon my answer, he told the clerk to add on a ticket for him, and I couldn't help the blush that rose to my face. I'm sure my whole face was bright red. The clerk looked towards me, wondering if I was okay, before printing out his ticket and handing him the drink and popcorn over the counter.

I took my own ticket, and walked with the man towards the room our movie was playing in. It didn't really strike me that this man was dangerous, or that he'd do something crazy like try to kidnap me, but the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up.

Even though I had been so young, I could remember my kidnapping vividly. It had went by so fast, and yet, it was like time was standing still. My mother had taken me to a park near the middle school. She had turned her back on me for literally a minute to answer a phone call, when that disgusting man appeared out of nowhere, grabbed me up and ran to his car.

This was nothing like that. This guy just seemed to be trying to hit on me, or something. I rubbed my arm and looked up at him when we sat down in the theater. We were up towards the top in the very last row, dead in the middle. I also didn't feel that afraid of this man because this place was so packed. "So... what's your name...?" I asked him, looking over at him.

@ castle.

{can we talk about zacky's long hair tho }

I had been half expecting Madeline not to tell me what movie she was going to see and I was going to have to take a guess to see if I ended up in the same theater as her. Pleasantly surprised when she answered me, I ordered a ticket to see the same movie before handing over money to the young clerk. The clerk seemed hesitant but when I raised an eyebrow, as if to ask if there was anything wrong, that prompted the young man to give me what I had ordered.

Leading the way into Infinity War's theater, I wasn't surprised when we found the place packed already. I bit back a huff, glancing toward Madeline with a raised eyebrow. I couldn't help but wonder how she was holding up in a crowded place for one of the first times after her ordeal... and why she was alone. Did her family really not care about her safety? Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I let Madeline pick our seats so she wouldn't be uncomfortable or anything.

"Matt," I answered, offering her a bright smile before popping a piece of popcorn into my mouth. I relaxed in my seat, leaning back as I crossed my ankles. "What's yours?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I already knew her name, I already knew what she had been through but I was sure if I blurted all of that out, I would freak her out and that was the last thing I wanted to do. To scare her away.

[Yes! ::lmao:]

Now that we were sitting in the darkened, overcrowded theater, I was only growing more and more uncomfortable. I had never been on my own in public, so I wasn't sure if men just approaching women like Matt had to me, was normal or not. Either way, my hair was standing up all over my arms and the back of my neck, as if it warn me to be on my guard.

When he asked for my name, I was a little surprised. Had he not seen my face plastered all over the news channels, all over the magazines? Swallowing before looking over at him, even though I could barely see him in the dark, I whispered, "Madeline."

Something was very off about this situation, I didn't need to be a kidnapped victim to realize that. Looking around the packed theater, seeing how some people were still standing in the isles, I relaxed just a tiny bit. There were way to many people here... Nothing bad could happen, like being kidnapped again, right?

@ castle.

{do you want him to kidnap her now or kind of play it out for a bit? write your reply with however you want it to go and I'll run with whatever }

I knew it might have seemed odd that I didn't know who Madeline was to her but I hoped that if I played it off and pretended maybe like i didn't know who she was at all, then she would be more comfortable around me... I had other ideas, sure, but I wasn't going to be stupid and risk my life to take her home. If an opportunity presented itself, I was sure that I would take it though. Madeline was absolutely gorgeous and I would love to call her mine, to love her and show her everything that she deserved to have... of what she had missed out on.

The movie had started and I was immersed into it, glad that I had the distraction from the beauty that was siting beside me. I wondered how she was liking the movie, I was certainly enjoying it.

The credits began to roll and I cleared my throat, sitting up as I glanced toward Madeline. "How did you like the movie, Madeline? Think it was one of my favourite yet," I said, nodding my head as I followed her out of the aisle, stuffing my hands into my pockets.