Anguish
The ceiling had never looked as interesting as it did in that moment, she wondered how the first ever ceiling was made, who had decided that the inside of a roof should look pretty? Her mind whirled with aimless thoughts, intended to distract her of the reality of her situation. Ultimately they were useless, the ceiling wasn't hers but her captors, this wasn't her room but a prison. As if on cue, the door opened and in walked the man who had done this to her. She sat up in the bed and remained silent as he opened a bag and dropped its contents on the bed. Ezra looked at the objects; most of it were the things that were in her bag the day they first met, her books, notes and Ipad which she was grateful to have back as it had cost her a fortune. The odd addition was the brand new laptop that was still in its box. She looked up at him, what was this?
"You'll be starting school again next week." Yong said casually, face unreadable as always. School? Ezra's eyes lit up with excitment. "Online." He added and her face fell.
"How's that even possible? I'm a medical student, it's literally impossible for me to do my classes online.It's not even allowed." She argued back and he shrugged.
"Well, after a substantial donation and a brief conversation with the Dean, I've learned that online tuition is indeed possible."
"What about my practical classes? Clinical skills? Simulated consultations? I can't do all of those online." She questioned desperately, hoping he'd realise that it would be so much easier to just let her go to school herself than arrange all these alternatives.
"You'll them have here."
"What?"
"You'll see." Yong dismissed, looking down at his watch. "The boys are going to be here for some meetings for most of the day, I'll be busy." There was something about the way he was speaking to her, it didn't feel like he was informing her, more like he was warning her. Don't do anything stupid.
She glanced briefly at her Ipad and the brand new laptop, perhaps she could co-
"Don't even bother." He laughed, bringing Ezra's attention back to him, "I'll be able to see whatever you do on there. Ezra, darling, use them to study and be a good student, doctor or whatever it is you do." She glared as he turned around to walk out the room. She despised the sense of familiarity that came with him calling her name, as if this was all normal. It wasn't, and she wouldn't allow it to be. She looked back at the things he left on her bed, a frown forming on her face as she fell deep into thought. Why would he make all this effort to ensure she was able to still go to school and keep up with her studies? What was the point? Yong's actions had left her more than confused but a hopeful smile still found its way to her lips. Surely this had to mean that at some point he was planning on letting her go. Why else would he bother? Delusion or not, Ezra decided to cling onto this reasoning, taking no time to unbox the laptop and arrange her notes.
Yong stared back at the closed door, hesitating slighty before turning the knob and locking it. He turned back to look at Rose, who bowed in obedience, knowing what he wanted without the words having to be said. Watch her.
"Sir, Mr Park is here to see you." She announced as she followed behind Yong who had started walking towards his office, as if on cue Jian stepped in front of his path.
"Mr Park." He laughed with his hands in his pockets. "Since when does my presence need to be announced, I thought we were friends." Yong narrowed his eyes at him and nodded towards the office. Jian closed the door behind him as Yong went to the bar and poured them both a glass of bourbon.
"What do you want?" He asked, handing Jian the glass before sitting opposite him. Jian scoffed before taking a sip of his drink;
"What? Since when am I not allowed to come see you. It's not like we haven't been friends for more than fourteen years."
"It's because we've been friends for fourteens that I know you're here to tell or ask me something, I know you better than you think Jian." He rolled his eyes at Yong's fatherly tone.
"Julian wants to see you." Yong paused, the glass still in his hand, on it's way to his mouth before the sudden interruption. He sighed, downing the drink before putting the glass down with a gentle but firm slam. He looked at Jian, eyes intimidating as ever, so much so that he shuffled slightly uncomfortable in his seat. "I didn't say anything, I swear."
Yong leaned back in his armchair, running a hand through his long, black hair. "I never said that you did." He replied calmly, a calmness that Jian didn't know how to interpret.
"I doubt it's got anything to do with that bitch but you know what the boss is like, let's not leave it up to chance. She's not worth it Yong, Hannah can do whatever she can and probably more." Yong laughed at Jian's words, shaking his head with humour.
"And by that bitch I assume you're referring to Ezra?" Jian didn't respond, but he cockily raised an eyebrow. "Jian, who's house is this?"
"Yours."
"And who's guest is she?"
"Yours but I can hardly call her a gue-''
"What's her name?" Jian looked back at Yong who cocked his head to side, awaiting an answer.
"Ezra." He responded after awhile, bitterness evident in his tone.
"Good, you know her name." Yong said with a grin, getting up and walking over to Jian, standing behind him as he whispered into his ear. "Call her by her name and her name only, or else I'll show you what a bitch truly looks like." His voice was smooth, warm and yet sent shivers down Jian's spine, Yong's lips hovered over the side of his neck causing him to subconsciouly take a sharp and deep breath in. Yong smiled before standing up and turning around to walk away.
"The others will be here this afternoon to discuss logistics and weaponry. I better hear your input Jian, since you have so much to say about my affairs. "
***
Ezra sat on the windowsill next to the single large window in her room, sorry her prison. She sighed, swiping aimlessly at her Ipad as she attempted to catch up on some studying. It felt futile, to be bothered about school when she had quite literally been kidnapped and told time and time again that she was going to die or was already supposed to be dead. She had already attempted to use the Ipad and laptop to access her social media accounts or send some sort of an alert through the police website, however she was blocked each time. At one point Rose had even knocked on her door and delivered a stern warning from Yong, he wasn't joking when he said he'd able to see everything she was doing. She sighed again, suddenly distracted when she spotted a few of the men from yesterday in the garden, laughing as they swung their feet in the pool. She couldn't recall their names exactly but she recognized the Nathan look-alike and the one that had threatened her outside of Yong's office.
"I've brought dinner." Ezra tore her gaze away from the window to face Rose who was standing there with a tray of rice, soup and side dishes. Ezra looked at the tray, a lump suddenly forming in her throat. This was her third dinner here, things were getting too normal, falling into a natural routine and she didn't like it. The longer she stayed here, the more accepting she was of this situation, allowing that bastard Yong to cruelly take away life as she knew it, the life she deserved and worked hard for, the life filled with friends and family. She faced the window again, the sound of shared laughter only further heightened her emotions. Why did they get to be happy while she sat up here miserable and alone?
"Rose, tell me about them, Yong's friends I mean. After all, it seems like I'm not leaving here anytime soon." Rose lifted her eyes from the floor, looking back at Ezra with slight hesitation before giving in, standing up in a more relaxed position.
"Mr Mason has known them for over fourteen years, they're practically brothers." She walked over to the window and pointed at one of the men standing a distance from the rest of them, observing them with a smile on his face. He was tall with a particulary handsome face, he seemed almost out of place compared to the others, like he could have a wife, children and own a company instead of whatever illegal business that was going on. "That's Sebastian, he's the oldest and the others look up to him, Yong holds a lot of respect for him and the two have gone through a lot together. Those two kicking water at each other are Tatum and Hendrix, they're the more lighthearted duo of the group although don't let it fool you. Hendrix together with Sebastian and Yong are the oldest and gets serious when needed. The one reading is Noah, a close friend of Yong's who you'll most likely see around often and the one in the corner flipping knives is Jian. I suppose from your encounter with him last time you'll know that he's not one to get involved with and perhaps its best to stay out of his path completely." Ezra nodded, slightly suprised that Rose had been willing to share all this with her.
"Tatum seems like the youngest." Ezra whispered to nobody in particular, the excited way the man was telling Sebastian something reminding her of Sonny.
"No, there's another one but he's not here right now. He lives here with Mr Mason, so you'll see him at one point." Ezra turned to Rose abruptly;
"They live here?" The latter sighed, handing Ezra the tray of food.
"Eat." She ordered and Ezra decided to listen. Somehow Rose was sharing this information, unknowingly getting the gears in her head turning as she thought of ways she could use this to escape. All this even after she had called her a bitch. "Tatum and Jian live together. You'll notice the dynamics of their friendship as time goes by." Ezra paused, the spoon halfway towards her mouth. As time goes by? She didn't want time to go by. Infact, she wished time could stop, just until she got out. She was scared of being forgotten, that people would she assume was dead and move on, that Theo wouldn't get her hint and believe that she had truly relapsed and gone back to that dark period of her life. "Sebastian lives on his own, Noah and Hendrix also live on their own. But none of them live too far from here." Ezra put down the spoon, she didn't want to hear anymore. She handed the tray back to Rose before moving towards the bed.
"I'm not hungry, I just want some sleep." She spoke quietly, voice cracking as she slipped into bed, pulling the covers over her head. She clutched on to the duvet tightly as she sobbed quietly into her pillow; she wanted to go home. She wanted her mum, she wanted her friends, hell she even wanted to see her histology professors. She closed her eyes, choking back sobs, all she wanted was for things to go back to normal.
Several hours passed and her eyes fluttered open, her head was pounding heavily and she winced, holding on to her head as she sat up in pain. A sob escaped her lips, this time not out of loneliness or homesickness but anguish, internally begging for the pain to stop. It felt like her head was about to explode, like someone was using a mallet and hitting her head with full force. She stumbled out of bed, blindly making her way to the bathroom in the darkness. She hissed at the brightness of the bathroom light, before reaching for the cabinet, recalling that Rose had put some Advil there. She grabbed the bottle taking two pills and filling a glass of water but she hesitated before putting them in her mouth. It's just an advil, you'll be fine. You need them for your headache, nothing more than that. It's fine, you're fine.
She put the medication in her mouth, followed by a large gulp of water. She closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths, before turning the lights off and leaving the bathroom. Her stomach growled and she stopped in her stance, staring at the bedroom door, suddenly regretting not finishing her dinner. She stared at the door knob, what are the chances tha - Her eyes widened, as the door clicked open. She peered out into the hallway, the lights were off and there was no sign of abnormal flickering or red lights that could signify a camera. She took a careful step out the door into the hallway, followed by another and another until soon enough she was at the end of the corridor. She knew that ahead of her was the living room and to her left was Yong's office, her gaze fell to the right. She wouldn't get an opportunity like this again. Her head screamed for her to sit down and get away from the light, a migraine more than definitely in the works but she ignored the pain and nausea, she'd rather be in pain in the middle of the street away from here than in that damned bedroom. What seemed like the front door was right infront of her and she grinned triumphently, reaching for it when suddenly a voice spoke up out of nowhere.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ezra froze, Yong? It didn't sound like him, it sounded strange and yet familiar. A familiar voice but a voice nonetheless. She wondered which one of the boys it was, she hoped, no she prayed it wasn't Jian. He seemed the most adament on getting rid of her and being caught practically escaping gave him more than enough reason to do just that. She turned around slowly, her eyesight blurry due to her growing headache and she winced, holding her hand to her forehead.
"Do what?" She said with a soft, slightly pained voice, as she tried to play off her actions.
"There's an alarm on that door, not to mention a gate and security patrolling the compound throughout the night. You wouldn't even make it out two steps before getting shot down. "
"Isn't that what you all want anyway?" She whispered under her breath. She blinked, looking at the man, trying to decipher who she was speaking to. "Which one are you again?" She asked, voice growing frailer and frailer, the pressure in her head was growing and she swayed slightly in her stance as she held her head in her hands, desperate to ease the pain.
"Ju-you good?" Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor, black spots clouding her vision as her head felt like it was about to split open. She hadn't felt a migraine like this in years and she had completely forgotten just how excruciating and torturous they were.
"Migr-" The words were left in the air as the pain overwhelmed her, closing her eyes as she slumped backwards. She felt her head hit the floor, sending a wave of agony through her body before consciousness slipped away from her.
A/N: Anyways who suffers from migraines might be able to relate to Ezra in this chapter. Are you enjoying this story so far? Don't forget to vote and comment!!