Trapped in a Vile World

The quiet footsteps of my kidnapper echoed in the entrance hall as the doors creaked shut. I finally recovered from my motion sickness and peeked at my surroundings. We were in a very large room with highly polished wooden floors and dark colored walls colored in paintings. I was thrown down onto the floor. I got a good look at my captor, even in the dim light. I was a bit surprised to see that it wasn’t a he, but a she. She was tall and very slender, wearing a cropped black top, cargo pants, and black boots. Her short brown hair was tucked into a gray beanie, and she looked rather impatient. She tapped her foot as the sound of approaching footsteps echoed down a large stone staircase across the room.

“You’re late,” a deep voice rang out as a cloaked figure emerged at the bottom of the stairs.

“Causalities,” my kidnapper shrugged. The cloaked figure paused for a moment.

“Is that why you’re alone?” his voice came slower. She nodded impatiently.

“He jumped the gun and got himself killed.” The deep voice sighed and my kidnapper tapped her foot impatiently. “Where’s the payment you promised?” she asked promptly, stepping in front of me. I rolled my eyes. She held out her hand and I heard the rustle of paper being exchanged. “Thank you,” she said, strolling out the door. She glanced back over her shoulder at me. “Good luck.” I bit my lip as she strolled out the door. When they creaked shut, I turned my attention to the hooded cloak. He held out a hand, and the familiarity clicked in my head.

“You,” I said quietly. “You’re the one who came in the alley yesterday.” A dark chuckle echoed from underneath the hood.

“You’re an observant one. Perhaps Sullivan was right to keep you around.” I flinched at the mention of Jimmy’s name. He paused, and I assumed he looked at me. “Take my hand,” he said quietly. I hesitated. “It’s the better option.” I could hear the threat in his voice, and lightly raised my hand. He snatched it and pulled me to my feet, practically dragging me up the stairs. I didn’t really have time to take in my surroundings; I was being pulled away too fast. All movement suddenly ceased, and I was nearly thrown to the ground, but was pulled into a room by the hooded man. When he finally let go of me, I had to lean against the wall to keep from falling. My head was spinning. I sunk down onto the floor, trying to take in my surroundings. We were in a room that had pure white carpet with mirrored walls and a large bed covered in fluffy white blankets. I sunk down onto the bed, glancing around. There was a huge crystal chandelier hanging overhead. This place was even more luxurious than the guys’ house. I felt a pang of longing for their familiar faces. I finally found my voice.

“Where am I?” I asked quietly, looking at the cloaked figure.

“You mean you still haven’t figured it out?” I heard the amusement in the cloaked man’s voice, and I narrowed my eyes. He chuckled. “You’re at the elder’s mansion.” I nodded slowly, not but so surprised.

“So, who’re you?” I asked in a whisper, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

“Just a messenger of the elders,” he replied blandly. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Now, this shall be your attire for seeing the elders,” he said authoritatively, pointing to a hanger with a long, flowing white dress. I raised an eyebrow.

“Why is everything in this room so… white?” I asked, frowning at the fancy ball gown. He shrugged.

“Elders’ orders,” was all he replied. I couldn’t resist.

“Are you really just some puppet, or what?” I asked, smirking. “You sound like a robot.” I could feel the air tense, and I regretted my remark.

“You have five minutes to be ready,” he said icily. A smile tugged at the corner of my lip; at least he was showing some emotion. “And if you’re not wearing that by the time I get back,” he said, gesturing towards the huge dress. “I’ll put you in it.” The smirk in his voice wiped any trace of a smile from my face. He chuckled darkly. “Two can play this game. Four minutes,” he said, exiting and closing the door behind him. I scanned the walls for a clock, but there wasn’t one. I sighed, strolling over to the dress and frowning even deeper. Fancy wasn’t really my style, but I was more afraid of what he might do than of how stupid I’d look in the dress. I stripped down and slipped it over my head. The neckline plunged below my bust line to my waist, making me extremely uncomfortable. I twisted my hair up in a tidy bun and looked into a mirror. The “s” on my necklace shone in the candlelight from the chandelier, and I rubbed my ring with one finger. There was a knock on the door, and before I could say anything, it opened. I heard a sharp intake of air from across the room as I turned around. His silence made me nervous.

“I don’t think I could wear this, it’s at least three inches too long,” I said, provoking a response. He said nothing. “Too bad,” I said again.

“There are shoes for you over there,” he said, not even gesturing. I turned back to where my dress was, and saw a pair of black velvet pumps with little straps around the ankles. I rolled my eyes, but walked over and slipped them on, fastening them accordingly. When I turned back around to sass the cloaked man, he was suddenly next to me, less than six inches away from my face. I stood paralyzed with fear and shock, close enough to breathe in his scent. He smelled like expensive cologne and clean clothes. He leaned in closer, taking in a long breath. “You smell… delightful,” he barely whispered, hot breath spilling down my neck and shoulder. I shivered, taking a step back. He matched my step, taking my hand, and slowly raising it to his lips. He gently pressed them against the back of my hand. His lips were so soft that I could barely feel them. I could hardly breathe. Every moment our skin touched drug on, time seeming to slow. When he released me at last, the candlelight flashed across his smug smile, his teeth glistening dangerously. “Never forget who is the true puppet here,” he whispered, pulling me out of my trance and out of the room.

We were suddenly zooming through the large castle again, and I couldn’t keep from tripping. I heard an exasperated sigh, and we stopped, the abruptness nearly throwing me into a wall. He slipped an arm around my waist, and lifted me off the ground, making me incredibly uncomfortable. He chuckled, and was off again, keeping me a few inches off of the ground. It couldn’t have even been a whole minute later when we stopped again. I swayed when he set me back on my feet. His face was just inches from mine, and he raised a hand, swiping it across my cheek and moving the loose hairs.

“Now, be on your best behavior,” he whispered, smirking. Before I had a chance to retort, he had knocked on the heavy wooden doors that stood before us.

“Enter,” a deep voice boomed out. It was the same voice that had spoken when I had been dragged into this castle. I bit my lip nervously as the cloaked man pushed the doors open, pulling me in with him.

There was a large stone fireplace roaring on the other side of the room, and two chairs with tall backs in front of it. I could see an arm on one of the chairs and my heart nearly stopped. I guess I was going to find out who that voice belonged to whether I wanted to or not.