Axel

There was a crash. Next, I fought an unknown man and from there, everything became foggy. There were glimpses of memories of me getting on my feet but not on my own. I had support from something or rather someone. Suddenly, the wind was slapping against my face. The sight was blurry and went by faster than it should. I tried to move my body or rather kind of lean away from where I was. Instead, I felt a hand grab onto my wrist, pulled at it so I was unable to push away. My eyes were eager to shut so I let it.

Gently, I fluttered my eyes open only to feel a splitting headache come on. I squeezed my face in pain and tried to sit up. Instead, I felt a hold around my wrists and ankles. The sleep or rather dizziness was gone from my eyes just as I took a look at my hands. There was a rope around my hands as well as my ankles. I looked to the side and a pair of familiar eyes stared at me.

A sigh left my lips and I relaxed my head on the pillow once more. "Is this supposed to be a joke?"

"I'm not sure. Does it seem like one?"

Momentarily, I looked away from her. "Untie me."

"That's not going to happen."

I glared at her, for her to see how serious I was. Being tied this way was one of the things I hated.

"I saved your life. The least you could do is say thank you."

Again, I looked away from her. This time, I spent a minute looking around. We were in a small square foot room, brown rugs laid the entire floor, a small television hung on the wall and there was no personal item or property to indicate this was her bedroom.

"I saved myself." I replied after my gaze was back on her. She stared at me and for a moment, I eyes lurked left and right, her lips parted briefly. "You're nervous. You should be. Imagine what I would do to you when I'm free."

She narrowed her eyes at me. Just like that, there was a sense or somewhat show of confidence. I watched her stand to her feet from the chair she sat on. She nodded her head in assurance. "Okay, let's say you will be able to kill me if you become free. I'm not scared of death. I nearly got myself killed while trying to save you whom I hate so, I'm ready to go the extreme mile."

This time, it was me who narrowed my eyes on her.

"Tell me where my mother is and I'll let you go."

I gave her a blank stare and remained quiet. She was patient, well the first few minutes while she expected a reply from me. "Just so you know, I'm not going to stop. You might as well get comfortable in your position."

Still, I gave her no reply and enjoyed watching the fact it ate her up. There was a knock on the door and she went after it.

"Who is it?" She asked while standing close to the door.

"Reyna. It's me, Afam."

Reyna.

I watched her unlock the door and the young man walked in, after which she closed the door right away. The period his eyes laid on me, they held surprise and fear before he returned them to her.

"Rey, what is this? You have a man tied up in here." He told her in a voice that seemed like a whisper.

"Calm down, okay? You said to tell you if I ever need your help. This is it. Right until now, I've managed on my own but I think I need help and you're the only one I can call."

He looked at me once more, this time his facial expression was that of nervousness.

"Rey, this can get us in trouble with the law."

"It won't. Trust me, we're doing the right thing." She said before shifting her eyes to me. I looked from one to the other. Somehow, I got a clearer understanding of who they were.

"How old are you guys?" I had to ask. Their gaze was similar and it gave away the fact that I was onto something. "Twenty...? Twenty-two?"

The young man, Afam gulped down and lowered his eyes. A light chuckle left my lips. "You're both just kids... Fine, I'll be merciful this once. Untie me and I can pretend this never happened."

Reyna folded her arms below her chest and gave a clear stare that indicated she wasn't buying into my request. But the other one was the opposite. He held her by the arm and dragged her along with him to the corner. I watched them converse in whispers. Their gestures and reaction suggested they were in disagreement. Yet, in the end, they seemed in unison and walked up to me.

"Listen, neither I nor Rey will hurt you. We just need to know where you hid her mother and why you have her hidden away." Afam started and I looked from him to her and back to him.

"Which mother?"

"Enough with the games!" Reyna bursted out. "You know who I'm talking about. You once threatened to harm her."

I shifted my eyes to her. "I did?"

In sheer annoyance she got on the bed and grabbed me by the collar and her friend tried to control her. "I said enough! I don't care anymore. If you don't tell me the truth, I'll kill you. Like I said, I don't care what happens to me."

I allowed a little grin to appear at the corner of my lips. "How? Have you thought about the weapon to use and how you might dispose of the body? Trust me, those are not easy tasks."

The frown on her face as well as the hate in her eyes deepened. When I didn't expect, she folded her hand into a fist and threw a punch at my face. It wasn't strong but it was enough for me to feel the impact. The pain reminded me of the ones I already have from the car crash. I saw her walk away, waving her hand in the air and squeezing her face in pain. It was clear this was her first. It was hard to prevent the amusement on my face. She really was a different breed. Nothing like I expected.

"Let me see." Afam told her as he rushed to her aid and held her hand in his. I watched them out of curiosity. He lightly caressed her knuckles as if doing that would heal whatever bruise that might have appeared.

"You shouldn't have done that."

She withdrew her hand from his. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Let's hand him over to the police. I'm sure they'll get him to speak."

She shook her head. "I can't. They're vastly connected. He won't even spend the night in jail and he'll be let free."

I shut my eyes and mentally pushed them out. For a while, it was a little fun to upset them. For the mere reason of annoyance, I didn't want her to have it easy but I was starting to reach my limit. Any moment from now, I might really kill her once I free myself.

"I don't have her." I spoke up once I opened my eyes and rested my gaze on her.

"What are you saying?" She turned to me.

"Your mother. She's not with me."

"Then, who is she with? Mordecai?"

"I don't know."

"That's a lie. Need I remind you that you threatened me about her safety."

"That's because you just won't quit."

She scoffed. "You're full of lies."

A moment of silence lasted between us. "It doesn't take a whole village to understand your one weakness is your mother. I lied to you about having her hostage in hopes it would work. Clearly, you're crazier than I thought."

They both stared at me. I could see the confusion on her face, in her eyes. She was having a hard time believing I could be lying.

"You're not manipulating the situation, are you?" Afam asked.

"I don't like being tied up. The grace time I've given you two is enough. Either you believe me or not, that's up to you. But if you don't untie me now, I'll definitely see to it that I bury both your dead bodies myself."

Afam's look was fear and remorse, right what I needed to see. He walked up to me and tried to untie me. Reyna stopped him.

"Don't. I'm telling you; he's playing us."

"What if he's telling the truth, Rey? This might backfire on us."

"You said you would support me. This is it." She told him then walked to the table and picked up the duct tape I didn't once notice was there.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you." I told her just as she tore out some and regardless of my refusal, she covered my mouth with it.

"Rey."

She ran a hand over her hair. "You should go home before your parents notice you're missing. We'll talk when the sun comes up."

He was reluctant and the look in his eyes was that of empathy but it was clear she'd made-up her mind not to pursue the conversation any further.

"Okay. If anything goes wrong, call me right away."

She nodded and soon he was on his way out of the room. The moment she shut the door, she looked at me and I simply stared back. She walked away towards the window, turning her back to me.

I rolled my eyes away from her. Thinking back, it's ridiculous I'd ignored all the signs of her craziness. If my men saw me this way, they would laugh at my predicament. In all my capabilities, I was held hostage by a child.

Thank you for reading this chapter! Let's look forward to a new chapter next Monday. Don't forget, vote and comments are very much appreciated.