Red streaks covered Taylor's cheeks, the remains of the many tears that had fallen. He was no longer crying;too frightened to even move. His wrist ached horribly, but stark uncertainty seemed to blunt the pain. As his eyes rested on the glowing numbers of the digital clock near the dashboard, Taylor estimated that they had been driving for at least an hour and half.
I was supposed to be home hours ago... Mom and Dad are probably trying to find me now, calling my friends. Taylor noted, sparking a bit of hope,but they'd never think to look for me in... the middle of nowhere." Unable to find any humor in his pun, he released a shaky sigh.
"Almost there, kid," the man seated next to Taylor grumbled.
"But where is there?" Tay whispered quietly, finally finding the courage to face his captors,"Where are we exactly?"
The second man snarled,"Well, we would tell you..."
Taylor widened his eyes...
"But what would be the fun in that?" the other man finished, releasing a snort-like laugh.
Once again, hopes dashed, Taylor returned his stare to the window and the nearly pitch-black countryside visible.
"You know, you're not going to get away with this."
The men scoffed at Taylor's statement,"Uh-huh, sure. We'll see about that."
"It's true! I'm sorta famous,and-and a lot of people might want to find me," Taylor tried to sound convinced, but didn't believe his own words. The men shook their heads and turned to each other.
"Ohhhh, we better watch out for the vicious little teenyboppers!"
"I'm so scared! Whiny 10 year old girls can be so cruel..."
Taylor saw his attempts at being 'tough man' were pointless against their so-called 'humor'. Instead, he decided to go with the basics.
"Um, could-could you tell me your names, please?" he asked timidly.
"Why do you care?"
He looked down at his feet,"Um, I was just wondering."
"Fine. My name's Clayton," the man nearest Taylor said gruffly,"And this other guy's Rodney, but all of us call him Rod."
Rodney... Hmmm, wonder how they came up with 'Rod'? Tay cracked to himself, his sense of humor returning momentarily.
"What do you mean 'all of us'?" Tay inquired,trying to uncover how big of an operation this really was.
Rod bit his lip,"Um, about 10 or so... Could be more later."
10 or more... later... Taylor took in the info,How MUCH later? Knowing the men would not answer his question, or perhaps didn't know the answer themselves, he kept the question to himself.
The car slowed down, bouncing over a long, rough driveway, leading to what appeared to be an abandoned farm house. Finally it came to an abrupt halt. Taylor winced as his wrist was once again slammed.
"Last stop! All out!" Rod announced cheerfully.
Clayton groaned,"This is a car, not a school bus..."
The driver quickly exited before Taylor could get a close view. He moved forward a bit, trying to identify the person who had drove him here, but they were out of sight in moments. The door jerked open, causing Taylor who had been leaning against it, to tumble out onto the ground.
"Nice job, dumbass," Clayton said, picking Taylor up by the collar of his shirt. Taylor swore under his breath as an intense shot of pain shivered through his wrist and then down his spine. He slowly brushed the dirt off his pants and tried, one-handedly, to fix his hair a bit. What the hell am I doing? Taylor chastised himself,I'm in who the hell knows where with two idiots planning on shipping me off to jail, and i'm worrying about my hair...
The two men began the short walk to the front door, which looked like it would collapse if so much as a mosquito landed on it. Taylor realized he was virtually alone, as the others continued on. I could make a break for it... It's pretty dark, but maybe if I just follow the driveway down, it'll eventually lead to a highway and I can get help-
"Hey! Kid! Get your ass over here NOW!" Clayton interrupted Tay's 'brilliant' plan, returning to escort him personally. Shit Taylor thought I missed my chance!
"What, are you on drugs or something? Hurry up!"
Taylor obeyed, unsure of what would happen if he did otherwise. They entered the farmhouse to see that while the outside was ragged and rundown, the inside was nothing short of a design and decorating miracle. The cracking walls had been repainted, plush carpets installed. A fire even burned in the small gas fireplace.
Not exactly what I woulda thought a hide out to be like... Tay noted as he glanced around what could be his home for a long, long time.
Outside, night fully engulfed day, leaving everything blanketed in darkness, including a single daisy, released unknowingly from Taylor's grip...
~Chapter 13~
~Chapter 11~
~Home~
