A Loaded Gun

Chapter 29

A/N This is partly an apology chapter and partly a celebratory chapter.  Apology because I accidentally posted the same chapter twice, and a celebratory chapter because as of 20 minutes ago the epilogue has been written and this story is done.  I am going to release two chapters a day; one in the morning and one in the evening.  Yay!

Also make sure you go back and read the real chapter 28 before reading this chapter.

Brooke POV

I stayed in my room for the entire afternoon. I knew I should be mature and go down and talk to them, but for once I wanted to be selfish.

I sat on my window seat flipping through a Redwall book absentmindedly. I couldn't pay attention to the words on the page, though, so I stared out the window instead.

I saw a flash of movement but brushed it off, thinking it was probably a guard of some sort.

Glancing at the time, I groaned when the clock only read 3:30. I was bored out of my mind, but I did not want to see my brothers.

I yawned hugely, realizing how horribly I slept the night before. Maybe a quick nap would help my mood swings.

I shook out a half-tablet of melatonin, the only pill that could stop my night terrors, and curled up on my squishy bed.

"Get up," a harsh, hushed voice whispered. I groaned. I was not in the mood to deal with my clingy brothers.

I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders and mumbled, "I'm not dealing with you right now. Go away."

"What? No, you have to get up or your brothers are dead," the voice whispered, seeming a bit bewildered.

Grumbling through the pillow, I said, "Right now that doesn't sound too horrible. Who is this?"

"It's–I'm not telling you who I am! Come with me right now or this entire household is dead," the voice darkened and I felt cool metal against my head. 

I sighed. I did not need this on top of everything else.

I sat up and looked around blearily. My room was dark, but a light breeze was blowing through the open window, curtains fluttering gently.

A dark figure was standing beside my bed, a pistol gleaming in his left hand.

Grumbling under my breath, I shoved on a light jacket and sweatpants, shuddering when I realized a random dude saw me in just a t-shirt. But it couldn't be helped, and I was still too tired to care.

After I shuffled my feet into my fluffy unicorn slippers, I turned to the dark figure and tossed my hands up. "Well? Let's get this show on the road. Where's the van?"

The person I could now see was a man in his 30s looked shocked. "That's it? No screaming? No pleading?"

I sighed. "Look, I'm a bit pissed at my brothers right now, so a nice kidnapping should make them appreciate me more. It can't possibly be that bad, right?"

His gun hand wavered and lowered, a myriad of expressions running through his face before landing on the most logical one: confused.

I sat on my bed and absentmindedly drew patterns in the fluffy rug with my foot as he tried to process my words.

"I'm holding a gun on you and you think it isn't that bad?"

Shrugging, I trudged toward the window, looking down at the ladder extending to the ground.

"It's really not. I'm assuming this is for money or revenge, which means you won't hurt me until you get a message to my brothers, who will then go through hell to get me back.

"Logically, I'm safe for now. And quite honestly, I'm way too tired to care about anything else. Now, can we leave?"

His gun lowered even more, and he nodded blankly. I looked down the ladder, realizing I definitely picked the wrong shoes for this.

I struggled down the ladder, the horns on my unicorn slippers bumping against the rungs.

The kidnapper (if he could even be called that) followed behind me, completely abandoning the pretense of threatening me with a gun.

He led me across the manicured lawn to an idling car. I couldn't hold back a scoff as I saw the windowless dingy white van, like could he be any more cliche?

He slid open the side door and gestured for me to get in. I surveyed the torn cloth seats and sighed wearily. "I can see why you need a ransom, this thing is disgusting."

He turned to me with a hurt expression and I fought back a grin. As I entered the gross vehicle, I turned toward the house and waved. He stared at me like I was crazy, which wasn't far off.

"Did you just wave at a house?"

I shrugged. "Houses have feelings too, man. Inanimate objects may not be able to express themselves, but that doesn't mean you can't treat them nicely."

In reality, I just waved at my brothers. This dude did not do his homework if he didn't even notice the disguised security cameras observing our every move.

The fact that my brothers ran a mafia oddly comforted me now. I knew they'd destroy anything in their path to get me back, however pissed we were at each other.

I zoned back in at the sound of an engine backfiring and rolled my eyes.

"Ok, I'm so confused. How on earth are you making this a profession? You're supposed to be quiet when you kidnap someone, which is kind of impossible when you have a crappy car."

He finally seemed to realize I wouldn't shut up and just let out a weary sigh. My plan, though it probably wasn't a good one, was to annoy him so much he'd give me back.

I trusted my brothers to rescue me before anything too horrible happened, though if something did it wouldn't be the first time.

"So where are you taking me? I know kidnappers don't usually answer that, but what the heck am I supposed to do with that information? It's not like I can text anyone 'SOS been kidnapped lol' because you didn't let me take my phone."

His hands tightened on the wheel but gave no other answer. I continued on.

"Also you didn't give me time to grab my anxiety or sleep meds, so you're gonna be stuck with a super stressed, very nightmarish fidgety teenager. Tell me you at least have melatonin?"

I heard him audibly swallow but he still didn't speak.

"So how much are you going to ask for me? I feel like I'm not worth much but then again I don't think much of myself. That's something I have yet to unpack with my therapist.

"By the way, I was supposed to have an appointment tomorrow, so is there any way I can get hooked up with a computer? She does online sessions and she's not allowed to tell anyone what happens in those sessions, so your secret is safe.

"Also, you did not prepare this van for kidnapping at all. You are in the business of kidnapping kids, right? Where's the entertainment, the toys? Seriously, you don't even have a fidget spinn–"

I saw the exact moment he snapped. His knuckles cracked and turned white on the creaking steering wheel and his head jerked toward me.

"SHUT UP! Why the hell are you like this? He told me you would be–"

He never finished his sentence as brake lights flashed in front of us. All I remembered after that was a crunch of metal and a pained scream before I passed out.

A/N usually I don't say this but please make sure you read the author's note at the top because it's important.