Sagittarii

The room is spinning as my brain pounds against my skull. Nausea sweeps over me quickly. I’m wrenching over, puking the contents of my stomach. I can promise you this is from the sweet smelling liquid I inhaled; chloroform.

The air is cool against my feverish skin, thankfully. The room is dark, the only light coming in is from the cloudy windows at the top of the warehouse. It’s probably in the early morning hours, there is not much light coming in. Being in a dark room is good for the headache but not when you have no idea where you are. Also it’s not good when you don’t remember anything from the time you left your apartment to now.

After what feels like an eternity, bright fluorescent lights come on; filling the warehouse with artificial light. I look around and this is no warehouse I know. In the last couple years I’ve been to most abandoned warehouses in the city; raves and secret concerts and what not. I’m not stranger to warehouses, but I don’t know this one.

“This isn’t one of my girls.” A voice says out of the shadows. I look up and see a dark skinned man coming towards me. Nice suit, nice haircut but a sinister smile on his lips and evil fills his eyes. “No, none of my girls look like this. Not classy enough.”

“Aw, a pimp with a standard.” I coo, instantly earning a kick to my stomach.

“Too mouthy to be one of my girls.” He growls, looking down at me; examining me. “No, you’re definitely not a hooker.”

“Glad we established that,” I scoff, “can I go now?” I ask as I try and get up off the ground. Instead of answering, the guy kicked my stomach once more and I drop to the ground again in agony.

“Not so fast, little birdie.” His voice sickeningly sweet. I look up and immediately see a sadistic smirk on his lips. “It took me a bit, but I finally know why you look so familiar. Your daddy is an Avenger and your mommy is a top SHIELD agent.”

“It’s easy to find all that stuff online, you know.” I mouth off, only causing the man in front of me to laugh.

“How much do you think mommy and daddy will pay for your safe return?”

“They don’t make deals with psychopaths.” I spit.

He just laughs as he slowly stands up straight; his eyes never leaving mine. “We’ll just see about that…

I get out of the shower, wrapping my zebra print towel around my torso before heading to the mirror; wiping some of the condensation off so that I can look at my reflection. Dark bags under my eyes and my eyes look dull, dead and lifeless. Before the whole kidnapping, I wasn’t like this. I ate normally, didn’t drink so much and the only reasons why I didn’t sleep was because I drank a couple too many Rockstars or was doped up on someone’s prescription for Adderall; a girl had to study for exams. I wasn’t plagued with nightmares. I didn’t wake up in a cold sweat; I was a normal college student. That’s a thing of the past now…

One final look and I head into my bedroom to get changed. After being so good for the week, not drinking anything, I’m going out. I need the fun, it’s been a month since moving here and I need to enjoy the nightlife. Maybe I’ll get lucky and forget who I am just for tonight.

I get to Verdant an hour or so later. The line is long and the music is blaring from the inside. A smirk appears on my lips as I walk up to the bouncer, batting my eyelashes at him; something Kate and I did a lot in New York. And just like in New York it worked. I made my way past the velvet ropes without having to pay a cover charge; earning a groan from the people behind me.

Some kind of dubstep crap is playing as I make my way through the club and straight to the bar. I order a drink, a Screwdriver, and wait. As I wait, I can feel eyes on me. I turn my head and see Oliver staring at me from the VIP section. I just roll my eyes as turn my head back around as the bartender gave me my drink.

“He’s really staring at you huh?” A voice on my right chuckles. I turn my head and see a rather attractive guy sitting there. Very built, nice eyes and a smile to die for; he’s a pretty boy with a beard. “What could you have done to piss off Oliver Queen?”

“I’ve got no idea.” I chuckle, “I’m Austen by the way.”

“Jason,” he states, “Jason Todd.”

“Nice to meet you Jason,” I smile.

“You too Austen,” A smile appears on his lips. “How about I buy you a real drink and we can go somewhere to talk?”

“It’s a deal.” I laugh as he hails down the bartender to order me a “real” drink. I look up at the VIP area and see Oliver still standing there, watching. This time he has a pretty pissed off expression on his face. I sweetly smile as I wave at him. It’s not like he’s going to come down here and tear me away from Jason; no matter how pissed off he is. And maybe this is the point; to piss him off.