The plan
The wind of the night touched your face with languid strokes. It reminded you of the way how Michael's tongue had touched your neck about an hour ago.
Shivering – but not because of the cold – you gripped the edge of the roof even tighter. He'd said he would be back soon, but you hoped he would stay away a little longer. You weren't sure how to act around him if he would return while you were still feeling... things.
You let your eyes glide along the rooftops until you felt a tingle at the back of your neck. You turned around quickly, suddenly worried someone had climbed onto the rooftop with you, but there was nothing there. Only dark emptiness.
A little startled, you looked around you, noticing nothing out of the ordinary.
Something didn't feel right though.
Without lingering much longer, you turned back towards the staircase which led down towards the lab. You'd been up there long enough anyway. Maybe it was best if you returned to your bed - Michael's bed – and closed your eyes for a little while.
You kicked off your shoes and crawled onto the bed once you had entered the bedroom. The entire place was still dark except for a few led lights in the lab. But you didn't want it to be completely dark so you were glad those were still glowing brightly, casting a few strokes of light into the room.
As you laid there, your mind started wandering and you couldn't help but think about the rooftop. You hadn't seen anyone, but of one thing you were sure; someone had been watching you.
And it hadn't just been some random passer-by. No, someone had been staring at you. It was like their eyes were still on you and you cringed a little.
“Maybe I'm actually going crazy,” you mumbled under your breath.
Your dreams were filled with blacks and greys – and strange red-coloured eyes.
Something touched your shoulders and you instantly opened your eyes, the weird feeling of fear still lingering from your dream.
“It's just me,” came a familiar voice. Michael.
You looked at him for a good second before letting out a breath. “Sorry, bad dream,” you whispered as you rubbed your eyes.
The sound of feet shuffling made you look back at Michael. His face was one of regret.
“It wasn't about you.”
He stopped walking.
You crawled up into a sitting position and patted the space in front of you. “Please, sit...”
Michael's face told you he wasn't sure about being close to you again and you were glad you weren't the only one who was having that thought.
A small smile appeared on your lips. “Let's start discussing a plan,” you said, indicating you had no intension to reach out to him again.
Michael and you had come up with a plan after talking for what seemed like hours. He couldn't seem to stress enough how dangerous the plan was, but you weren't that worried. In the end, Michael would be near and could interfere if something went wrong. Besides, it was a risk you were willing to take if it meant you could take those assholes down into their grave. Well, Michael would, but you would be his accomplice.
The following night Michael had tracked down the man that had escaped his previous attack. And within an hour you were sitting next to Michael in a taxi. He had asked if you were afraid of heights, and you had answered with an unsure voice. It was then he explained how he could've basically flown you to the designated location – something that scared the shit out of you. And so you were taking a mundane car to get to the club.
“You look so different,” Michael commented as he eyed you from his seat.
You snorted softly. “Yeah, well, I can't go clubbing without looking the part, can I?” He wasn't wrong though – you had put on so much make-up, you were sure it would take another hour to rub it all off. And you had put your hair in a braid so it wouldn't get in the way of your vision. To top it all off, you had put on a tight short red dress and high heels which wasn't exactly part of your wardrobe – Michael had bought it for you after you had asked him to.
You would get a lot of attention, that was for sure. Which was part of the plan, of course.
As the taxi neared the club, you noticed your fingers trembling a little. And as if your body was disagreeing with your plan, you felt a pang of nervousness in your chest. Was this really a good idea?
A pair of hands suddenly grabbed your own and you looked at Michael. His brows knit together in a worried look. “We can still back out.”
You let out a shivering breath and shook your head. “No, I can do this.”
“Just call my name when you feel like you're in danger, okay?”
You nodded. And then the car stopped, it was time.
As soon as you climbed out of the car, you knew you had to shake off the nerves. It was now or never.
Michael was going to part ways as he couldn't be seen with you. He had already put up his hoodie as he walked you towards the entrance.
You were about to enter when he grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him. “Remember,” he said as his mouth was next to your ear, “I'll be close.”
His nearness made your heart skip a bit and it gave you some new found adrenaline.
And as if he had been just a dream, he was gone, leaving you standing alone on the sidewalk.
The club was filled with people already, despite it being quite early in the evening still. You had been sitting at the bar with a drink for half an hour already, acting like you were drinking everything, but in reality, you'd dumped most of the contents in the toilet each time you'd ordered a new drink.
You took a small sip and let the bitter taste run over your tongue. A little bit of alcohol was good – it numbed your nerves. Besides, you had to smell like you had been drinking.
“Hey.” It was a short greeting, but the voice made you shiver in your seat. It was sickly familiar.
Slowly, you turned around and looked straight into the face of the tattooed man who had tried to kidnap you before. Jay.
As soon as you faced him, he frowned, his eyes squinting a little as his gaze raked over your body. “Don't I know you from somewhere?”
You swallowed and quickly thought of a drunken act. This wasn't the time to screw things up just because you were having flashbacks to the other night.
Grabbing your glass, you turned towards him completely and flashed him a big smile. “How rude,” you said, making sure to slur your words a little. “If this is a new way of picking up girls, then I'm not sure if I want a guy to flirt with me ever again.” You took a large gulp of your drink, and you were glad you had only just been sipping the rest of the drinks as you knew you couldn't have more than this.
He still had his face scrunched up a little longer before deciding you were someone who just happened to look familiar. He mirrored your smile and leaned against the bar. His naked arms flashing his tattoos. “Can I buy you a drink?”
You nodded. “Of course.”
And so the same thing happened again – he bought you a drink but not before telling you to stand up and turn on your heels so he could see your entire outfit. It gave him a split second to put in the drugs as you weren't looking.
“Thank you,” you said as you accepted the glass with contents. You acted like you took a sip and smiled back up at him. “Just how I like them.”
He grinned and you almost wanted to puke. He was absolutely disgusting to look at now that you knew the truth about him.
“You're really handsome,” you said, laying it on thick as you wanted him to think you were stupid drunk. “But I have to pee.” You held your glass and took another fake sip. “I'll be right back.” And you took your glass with you. It only took a few minutes to dump the contents in to the toilet and walk back with the act of being drugged and drunk.
Jay wasn't at the bar anymore though. He had moved himself closer to the bathroom and as soon as he saw you, he smiled bigger, knowing his plan was working. Or so he thought.
“I don't feel so good,” you said as you crashed against him, and he caught you, his hands gripping your upper arms. You wanted to pull yourself away but knew you couldn't. Not if you wanted this to work.
“You have had too much to drink,” he said and his hot breath glided along your neck. “Let's take you home.” Home – you wondered how many girls he had promised this.
You simply nodded, letting him drag you out of the club. And just as you reached the night air, you let yourself go limp. Jay chuckled as he took you into his arms, carrying you towards which had to be the same type of car like last time.
“She's out,” he said as you were put on cold leather.
“Good, let's go. Two is enough for tonight,” said a different voice. You had never heard it before.
It took you a lot of energy to stay calm, to act like you weren't aware of your situation. The fact that there was another girl in this car with you, made you angry and scared at the same time. What were they going to do?
You felt the car moving and soon you were on the way. The two guys were talking with each other, but you couldn't hear them as they were mostly mumbling and the music they were playing was too loud. It was annoying.
After what felt like hours – which was probably something like thirty minutes – the car came to a halt. A pair of hands grabbed you out of the blue and you almost screamed. He pulled you against his chest as he carried you somewhere. It had to be Jay.
“Put her there.” A new voice said. There were even more men apparently.
Jay put you down on something uncomfortable. It was a chair. Made of wood. You could feel the splinters dig into the naked flesh of your arms and legs.
Your head was suddenly pulled backwards as your neck was strapped against something. As were your wrists and your ankles.
Your heart started racing. Remember, I'll be close.
You knew Michael was nearby. But it still didn't calm your nerves and the sick feeling that had started crawling up your chest.
Please don't puke, you thought to yourself.
A few minutes of silence went by and you wondered if they had left you all by yourself. That thought was quickly answered as footsteps echoed around you. It sounded like a warehouse – the echoes went far.
“Evening, sir.” It was Jay who spoke. The way he suddenly used his manners made you suspicious. Was the big boss approaching?
A low chuckle followed. “Good evening indeed. I see you have found two lovely ladies this time.”
All senses left your body when you heard that voice. Your heart was probably so loud by now, you were wondering how they couldn't hear it beating.
“This one looks rather familiar...” He spoke once more. And you knew then who he was.
It was the man who had enslaved you into work, who had fucked girls in his office while yelling at you to work harder. It was the man who had fired you. Your former boss. And he was here, right in front of you, leading some sort of illegal organisation as he kidnapped girls to do god knows what with them.
He started laughing then, hard.
“Who is she, sir?” Jay asked.
He suddenly put his cold rough hand against your cheek, stroking from your chin to your temple. You flinched a little, but he probably didn't notice as he continued. “This, my friend, is my former employer.”