Everything was blank, nto dark but blank. Like my brain had been wiped clean and my body was floating sowhere else entirely. For a mont I honestly thought I was dreaming. My head felt heavy, like I’d been underwater for too long and only just broke the surface.
I tried to move, but my arms didn’t move.
I pulled harder, instinctively, and that was when I felt a rope tied around my wrists. It was burning my sensitive skin.
"What...?" My voice ca out small, hoarse, and confused.
I tried again, harder, twisting my wrists, yet the rope didn’t budge. My heart started hamring. My breath ca too fast. Then I tried opening my eyes—only to realize sothing soft and thick was tied around my head.
A blindfold? Who did I offended?"
"What—what is this?" I whispered. "What’s going on?"
My heartbeat was loud enough to drown everything else. My throat tightened as the panic rose to my chest. I scread
"HELLO?! SOBODY HELP! HELLOOO! ANYONE!"
My voice bounced off walls. It sounded like I was in a room—not huge, but empty enough for the echo to co back at . My breathing gotragged.
"Oh my God. Oh my God."
I jerked my legs, and they at least moved, but the chair beneath didn’t.
"SOE!"
Sowhere far, footsteps approached. Heavy ones. The door creaked open, and I went completely still.
"Oh," one man said, sounding almost amused. "She’s awake."
My stomach dropped imdiately as two sets of n entered the room.
"Should we take the blindfold off?" a second voice asked. This one was younger, maybe. Less calm.
"Not yet," the first one said. "Boss isn’t here."
Boss.what Boss?
My heartbeat kicked so hard I felt it in my throat.
"Who—who are you?" I stamred. "Why did you bring here? What do you want from ? Let go, please—"
They didn’t answer, instead one of them chuckled. Just a short sound, but it made my blood run cold.
I felt their eyes on . I couldn’t see them, but I could feel it—like sothing slimy crawling across my skin. One of them walked closer; I heard the floor creak under his weight. I straightened instinctively, like it would protect .
"Pretty little thing, huh?" the younger one muttered.
The older one humd in agreent. "Boss won’t be happy she woke up early."
Their voices were too calm. Too casual, this wasn’t the first ti they were doing this sort of job.
"Please," I managed, my voice breaking. "Please just tell what you want." I pleaded
Neither of them spoke, then the older one finally said, "You’ll find out."
My entire body went cold instantly.
"What did I do?" I whispered.
No one answered and my pulse wouldn’t slow down I tried rembering how I got here—what I was doing before everything went black.
Nathan...? Yes Nathan!!
We were at the restaurant. He asked that stupid marriage question and nearly made choke on my drink. He laughed. I laughed. My chest got warm in that embarrassing way it always does around him. We were still eating and still talking. He touched my hand...
Then what? What happened after the dessert? After the wine?
Afterthe part where he asked thag question. "Do you see a future with ?"
I blinked behind the blindfold. My mind was foggy, sothing wasn’t right. Did I black out? Did soone sneak sothing into my drink? Did soone follow us?
Was Nathan okay?
"Where’s Nathan? Is he here? Did you take him too?"
They still didn’t answer. The younger one laughed lightly.
, judging from his tone. "She’s panicking."
"No shit," the older one muttered.
My hands trembled against the rope. I could feel sweat dripping down my spine. My throat was dry and my tongue felt thick.
"Please," I whispered again. "I didn’t do anything. Just—just let go. Or tell why I’m here. Please."
"You talk too much," the older one said.
Then I heard him move again, closer. His footsteps stopped right in front of . I leaned as far back as the chair allowed.
His hands didn’t touch , but I felt his breath, warm and slow, brushing my cheek.
"She slls so good," he said to the other one.
The younger one scoffed. "Well yeah, she ca in wearing that dress. You saw it."
I swallowed hard. My entire body was shaking now.
"What do you want from ?" I said again, louder this ti, even though my voice cracked at the end.
They ignored and just kept talking about like I wasn’t even there.
"She’s smaller than I expected," the younger one said.
"But pretty. Boss said she’d be pretty."
Who the heck is this boss?
My brain was spiraling, reaching for any explanation. Any connection. Who would do this?
Then another thought hit ; was this connected to the person who sent those anonymous pictures?
My stomach twisted at the thought of that.
"Nathan will find ," I said suddenly, forcing the words out. "He’ll—he’ll notice I’m missing. He’ll look for and when he does you’ll be sorry! So free now!."
Te older one chuckled under his breath. "We’re counting on it."
My heart seed to stop. I stopped breathing because how the heck did my life turn from a romantic dinner to this?
"What... does that an?" I said, my voice trembling.
He didn’t bother answering. Instead he sighed like he was bored.
"How long till Boss gets here?" the younger one asked.
"Thirty minutes," the older one replied.
I jerked again, the rope burning my skin. "Please, I’ll give you money! I’ll give you whatever you want—"
"We’re not here for money."
The younger one leaned closer; I heard his clothes rustle. "Relax," he said mockingly. "If we wanted to hurt you, we would’ve done it already."
That didn’t calm at all, my breath was hitching. I could barely sit still. The blindfold made everything worse—every sound was louder.
"I was just—I was just eating," I whispered to myself more than to them. "We were just sitting there....talking, laughing. He—he wiped my mouth—"
I felt nausea rise.
"How am I here? What happened...?"
No one responded, I could hear one of them pacing slowly around the room. The other leaned against sothing—a table maybe—because the wood creaked.
"Stop staring at !" I snapped without aning to. "I can feel it!"
They laughed at . Tears pricked behind the blindfold.
God. I hated this. I hated not seeing anything. Not knowing anything. I hated how helpless I suddenly felt.
"Please," I whispered again, and this ti my voice cracked fully. "Just tell if Nathan is okay. Did you hurt him?"
"He’s alive," the older one said.
Alive? Why did that sound so much worse than a reassurance?
"What do you want with ?" I whispered.
"You’ll see," he said again.
I wanted to scream but my throat was too dry.Nathan’s face kept flashing in my mind. His smile, His unfunny jokes. The way he leaned forward when he teased .
The way he had asked—
"How would you feel about getting married?"
And now I was tied to a chair, blindfolded, kidnapped—because soone wanted for so reason I didn’t know of
My voice shook. "Please... don’t hurt him."
The door suddenly opened again.
"Boss is here," the older one muttered.
I went completely still as the footsteps approached. My heart pounded so hard the blindfold felt like it was tightening.
The footsteps stopped directly in front of . I could feel this person watching .
Just then a hand—gloved—grabbed the blindfold and everything inside froze as he pulled it off.
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