The Ransom

Chapter 3

Brooklynne's POV:

The man let me out of the chair a couple of times during the night to let me go to the bathroom. I was pretty grateful for that. I would have been so embarrassed if I had to do it in my chair.

He just walked me back to the chair and tied me back to it. My body is getting so stiff and sore from sitting in this hard chair. As he was finishing tying the last rope around my ankle his phone started to ring. Could I possibly be getting lucky enough that my father may actually be coming here like they wanted?

"Yeah, Boss?" He said into the phone.

So that tells me that there's another higher up than he is. That he's not the one running the operation. Does that mean no matter how much begging I do I won't be able to change anyone's mind here because they are getting orders from someone else? Yea, my day just keeps getting better.

"Yeah, she did."

"Uh-huh."

"Yea I sent the video to him. Hopefully, hear back from him soon."

I can already tell by the way he is talking that they are talking about me. I doubt they have a bunch of other girls here that they made scream into a video camera begging for their lives. Well, at least I hope not anyway.

"Yes, I will let you know as soon as I hear something." He said into the phone before ending the call.

"Who was that?" I asked.

Not that I really needed to know but I'm getting quite bored sitting here for hours as I have. I don't even know what time it is or if it's morning yet. I can't sleep in this position and every time I think I may fall asleep some loud noise happens waking me back up again.

"Why do you care?" He turned towards me as he put his phone back into his pocket.

"I don't know. Just trying to start a conversation I guess." I told him while trying to shrug my shoulders in response.

I kind of already figured he wouldn't talk to me too much let alone tell me anything that was going on but I wanted to try. Get something out of him maybe. Besides, it's not like I'm going to be living long anyway. The moment they find out my dad isn't coming I'm sure they are either going to torture me to death or just kill me. Either way, I'm dead.

"That was the one hunting down your father." He responded.

"Hunting him down?" I asked raising my brows in confusion.

Why would anyone want to hunt him down? I may not ever see him or know anything about him but he's just a regular businessman who travels a lot for work. Why would anyone want him over that?

"Your father doesn't stay in one spot long, making it hard to catch up to him. So that is what you are for. To bait him. Make him come here and when he does we will attack." He said with a grin on his face.

"But why would you want to do that?"

I may not care for my father or want anything to do with him but I still wouldn't want him to die. After all, he's still my blood. My mother loved him at one time so that has to count for something. Before he could respond his phone started ringing again and he picked it up.

"What do you mean he won't!" He shouted into the phone.

I feel the words 'I told you so' are in order now. I was pretty certain he was referring to my dad not coming here like they had hoped. I guess next time you want to lure someone somewhere, use someone that they actually care about. Not the one that hasn't existed in their lives in 9 years!

"Uh-huh........right......okay" He was responding with very little information for me to pull from.

"I will let him know." He hung up the phone and turned to look at me.

"I'm dead aren't I" I responded with no expression on my face.

He pulled out his phone and dialed out while he continued to stare at me. He was making me a little nervous with that stare. I may have said I was dead, didn't mean I wanted to be though.

"Yea, they just called."

"No, he claims he doesn't have a daughter."

Even though I knew how my father felt, it stung quite a bit to hear it come from a stranger's mouth. I couldn't help but feel the tears start to fill up my eyes. Either my eyes were too blurry to tell but it almost looked like the man in front of me felt my pain.

"Yes, he got the video." He said into the phone now turning away from me.

"No, I don't. I don't think that will help.........Yes sir...........okay.............I will let you know." He hung up the phone and just looked at it for a few minutes before putting it back into his pocket.

He turned towards me and I could see in his expression that he was about to do something that he did not want to do. My eyes widened when he came closer to me.

"Please, Sir!" I cried out when he pulled out his knife and opened it up.

Oh dear, I really am going to die this day at this moment. My dad was getting what he always wanted, for me to disappear.

The man knelt down in front of me and put the knife against my shoulder and pulled it down. Cutting my skin, making me cry out in pain. The blood started to run down my arm and he placed the knife again on my other side.

"Please! Think of your children.....Aaaaah" I screamed as he cut me again.

He cut me a couple more times on my upper arms, making me bleed even more. It didn't matter how much I cried he just did it anyway. I was in too much pain to watch what he was doing. I opened my eyes slightly when I heard the knife close and saw him putting it back into his pocket.

"Please! I beg you! Don't kill me please!" I screamed at the top of my lungs when I saw him pull out the gun again.

I didn't have time to see it come, he came down on me hard with the gun in his hand and hit me across my cheek. I screamed again in pain and could feel the heat building up in my cheek.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." He said to me making me move my head enough to see him.

He stood up and put his gun back into his pocket.

"Why?" I asked him as I breathed heavily, hardly keeping my head up.

"Because I would kill anyone who laid a hand on my daughter like I just did to you." He told me.

"Then why do it?" I said in a whisper.

He didn't answer me, he just turned around and walked out of the room. I sat there, hunching over watching the blood drip from my face and onto the concrete floor. Why can't they just kill me and get me out of my misery already? Why drag this on longer than it needs to be?

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep with my head hanging until I heard the door slam shut and my head shot up. I could feel my face swelling and it was starting to affect my vision in my left eye. I looked over to where the footsteps were coming from and that same man that has been with me the entire time was walking over to me again. I sure hope he isn't here to beat the snot out of me again. When are they going to realize, I'm dead meat!

He pulled out his phone in front of me and within a few minutes the flash on his phone went off a few times. It was hard on my eyes and hurt my head. The headache still never fully went away but how could it if they keep hitting you.

"What are you doing?" I asked him when he was done taking the pictures.

"Sending updating images since your father missed the deadline." He said as he started typing away on his phone.

It's past ten in the morning already? I don't know why I'm surprised, I actually kind of thought it was later than that.

"It's not going to work." I softly said.

"What?" He asked as he looked up from his phone.

"The pictures won't work," I repeated myself now that I had his attention.

"Well, we are going to try." He said to me.

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked.

I just want to know when I am going to be dead. You know a little bit of a timeline here would be nice.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he pulled over the chair again and sat in front of me.

I looked at him with my good eye now that I can hardly see out of my other one. He put his phone back into his pocket and leaned on his arms on his legs.

"My dad's never going to come," I told him again.

I've tried telling him this several times. That man lives as if I was never born. He probably tells every woman he screws that he has never married and has no children. Hell, he's probably living with someone else now raising their kids and reading them bedtime stories. I probably never cross his mind.

"I, um, I don't know." He responded.

"How could you not know? You have to know what you will do with the prisoner if your plan fails!" I said almost yelling at his stupidity.

How can someone plan to kidnap someone, hold them up for ransom but have no idea what to do with them if the ransom never happens! Back up plan boys, back up plan.

"I guess, the boss figured your father loved you." He responded in a low voice with a hint of sadness.

Probably sad only because he was thinking of his own children. Probably had nothing to do with me sitting here tied up to a chair with my face beat in. I lowered my head in shame. Shame because I am apparently not good enough for my father to love me or to even care about me. It made it hard to listen to some of this from a stranger's mouth. I knew all of this before this last day happened in my life yet it hurts more now than it has ever hurt.

He put his hand under my chin again and lifted my face, causing the tears to charge towards the ground the moment the force of gravity changed.

"Hey, don't cry." He told me.

I jerked my head away from him and leaned back in my chair.

"Why not? Shouldn't I cry knowing that soon, my death will be upon me?" I told him with as much of a snotty voice as I could.

"I doubt my boss would ever kill you because of your father." He told me.

"Why did you say you would kill me then and you put a gun to my head threatening to kill me?" I shouted at him.

"Needed to get you to beg, that's all." He laughed.

"Then what are you going to do with me then? I've seen your face. I know who you are. You can't just let me go as if nothing has happened." I told him.

I don't know why I was threatening him. Maybe I wanted him to kill me that way I didn't have to go home knowing that my father chose his other family or whatever it is he is doing over his own daughter. Maybe I felt ending my life now would just be better than living. It's not like he would take me away from this place.

My eyes widened as I looked back into his eyes. Would he? Take me out of here?

I shook my head trying to remove those thoughts. I've been strapped to this chair under this awful swinging light that hardly stays lit for way too long now. I'm going crazy! I'm actually thinking about asking to go home with a complete stranger who kidnapped me! What the hell is my problem!

"No, I guess I can't just let you go can I." He finally responded after much thought.

Letting me sit here and yell at myself for being crazy.

"Could, I.....um, I don't know. Maybe I've been in here too long and have gone crazy but, maybe...." I was having the most difficult time ever trying to get my question out of my mouth it's a miracle he didn't smack it out of me.

"You take me to your country?" I said.

Oh great, did I really just say his country? Am I really implying that he isn't from this country? Am I making that assumption because his voice has an accent? Good one Brook, he may not have wanted to kill you before but he might want to now!

Oh crap, that look on his face. I sure the hell hope he doesn't think I want to be romantic with him!

"I didn't mean that. I mean I don't want to, um. I'm not interested in you. Crap, why did I just say that out loud!" I sat there having an argument with myself while he sat there amused with it all.

"You know, I wasn't thinking of you for me. You are not my type. Too young for one and way too talkative for my liking. You seem to have too many inner battles that would be hard to compete with." He sat there and laughed at me.

That's nice, now my kidnapper is laughing at me for having a breakdown because I have been tied to this chair for so many hours.

'But...." He spoke up pulling me out of my thoughts.

"But?" I repeated in question.

"It may be fun to watch you annoy the crap out of my boss." He stood up laughing even harder yet and started to walk towards the door.

"Wait! No! I didn't mean it! Please I take it back!" I yelled but he didn't listen. He just walked out of the room and shut the door.

What the hell did I just do? What the hell did I just do! I shouted in my head. I have a 4.0 in school in the highest curriculum they offer and I just went over the deep end and did the most stupidest thing I could ever have done!

"No no no no no," I mumbled to myself as I laid my head back on the wooden chair, staring up at that awful light that I swear is sitting there mocking me for my stupidity.