Kayla's pov
I smiled and I looked up at a woman as she hummed my favourite song. I was lying down on her lap while she played with my hair. We were in a small house, sitting at the fire place. There were not much furnitures, just a few frames, some books, and some toys. But it was home. We were home.
"Mommy, can you sing it for me please," I heard my tender voice say. The woman chuckled, and it was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard.
"Of course darling, anything for my sweet muffin," she pinched my cheeks and I giggled.
♪"Tallyman Tallyman, he keeps count
Tallyman Tallyman, don't step out
If you're good, then he pays
If you're not, then he slays"♪
And I enjoyed the song as she continued soothing me with her voice, almost drifting me off to sleep. Then we heard a loud knock on the door, jolting us.
"Mom–"
"Shh," she pressed her index finger against my lips. "Let's play hide and seek," she said. I looked towards the door. They knocked again.
"But mom–"
"Remember what I use to say?" She asked and I nodded.
"Always obey the Tallyman," I said.
"Good. Because he always keeps count," she said and took me to her closet, covering me with clothes, "And now he says...," she paused and looked into my eyes, "...don't step out,"
She shut the closet door, leaving me with the dark.
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I groaned, fluttering my eyes open. Was that a dream or a memory? I couldn't tell, but it did felt real. I slowly looked around me. I was tied to a chair in a small empty room, with a small window that was beyond my reach. And even if I could reach it, it was too small for me to escape. A metal door was on the left side of the room, close to the wall I was facing, which was a bit far from where I was. Then I spotted a CCTV camera at the corner of the room. There was a tiny red light to show that it was on. They had stripped off my weapons which includes the dagger I always had with me. I cursed. That dagger was the only thing left of my birth parents. The only thing I had on me was my ring. I sighed.
The door opened and my kidnapper walked in. "You're awake," she said, "took you long enough,"
"Seeing you just makes me wanna go back to sleep," I said.
"Nah I don't think so, considering all you did was sleep for hours," she said. That's not right. The small light that shone from the window told me it was nighttime instead of daytime, considering everything that happened. Unless....
"How long was I out?" I asked. She smirked.
"You know, it's so sexy seeing you do all those maths in your head. But I'll save you the stress," she said, "you've been out for two days,"
"What?!"
"We were actually thinking you might not wake up, seeing the way you passed out at the warehouse. So we called a doctor," she pulled out a chair I didn't notice before from the corner of the room and sat down on it. I hope they didn't find out about my condition.
"Turns out, the doctor doesn't even know what caused it. He said for some reason your brain had shut down completely, and if we hadn't called him sooner, you would be in a coma,"
Ava.
When she called me a psychopath, it was like something in me snapped. I wanted to yell and convince her over and over again that I wasn't a psychopath. I'm not sure why it affected me so much, but I knew I just wanted her to believe me. I hope she's okay. I looked at Ariel.
"Why'd you kidnap me Ariel, if that's even your real name," I asked wearingly.
"It's not, and would you believe me if I said it's because I'm attracted to you?" I scoffed.
"Cut the crap, this isn't some obsessive stalker movie," I said dryly. She chuckled.
"You're right, this is so much more," she said, "you see, the idea was to stage a fake arrest since there was no other way to talk to you. So I sent someone to tip the FBI about the drug dealing, got arrested, faked resistance till you showed up. Made sure I was a bit annoying and also did little things like bringing you coffee. Anyways, the point was to get you to trust me, long enough to tell me about the safe,"
"I'm afraid that plan of yours was never gonna work anyways, I have trust issues," I told her. She smiled.
"Oh I'm aware," she said, "which was why I decided to tell you that I knew about Agent Halton's death, cause I knew it would bring your attention then,"
"But that plan was ruined when we met at the warehouse," I said.
"Yep, and I didn't have enough time to come up with another plan so instead, I took you,"
"You played Bryan, and the agency," I said, "...and me,"
She chuckled, "That's kind of my line of work honey. The art of deception," she stood up and walked towards me, placing her hands on my shoulders and leaning so close to my face. My expression was neutral as I gazed back at her. "And seduction," she whispered in my ear.
"The Feds will come for you," I whispered, "all of you,". She chuckled and walked back to her seat.
"Oh they would be busy alright, looking for you," she snickered and sat down. I looked at her confusedly. "You're kinda wanted now," she said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You see, while you were busy figuring out how Donald died, seven other people were assassinated on that same floor. And you and your partner just happened to be the only people the security cameras picked up on that floor. Plus, your gun was found on the crime scene, so that kinda makes you a wanted person now," she said.
"My gun?"
"Oh you know, the one in your apartment," she said while inspecting her nails.
"Wait, you blew up my apartment?!" I seethed. She looked at me amusedly.
"And just like I said the first time we met, you do have a temper," she said, "but no, I didn't. They did,"
"Who?". She looked at me like I was stupid.
"You're not seriously asking me for information of some kind," she deadpanned.
"No," I scoffed. Okay maybe I was trying to get some information but I can't help it, I'm an FBI agent.
"Good," she said. "I did save your dog though,"
"You did?" She saved Chase? Chase is alive. I felt a little happiness wash over me. But it soon died down just as it came. I looked at her.
"Oh come on, I may be deceptive but I'm not heartless," she said, "I couldn't possibly let them kill that cute little thing,"
Funny.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"In a safe place you don't need to know of," she said. I will, eventually. "Now where was I...ah yes, so now the Feds will be looking for you and your partner. So when you think about it, I kinda save your ass,"
"With my disappearance, they'll think I'm on the run. And with the Feds on our tail your Mafia business will be overlooked, making you operate without any disturbance. This was an elaborate plan," I looked at her, "with help from the inside,"
"Bravo! I underestimated your intelligence," she said.
"It wasn't that hard, you're just that dumb,"
"And here I was actually considering on letting you live for a few days,"
"Who is it?" I asked, "your accomplice,"
"Have you learnt nothing from your agent experience? You don't ask those type of questions when you're tied to a chair,"
"Technically I shouldn't ask any questions when I'm tied to a chair. But you let me," I tilted my head, "Why?"
She hesitated and stood up, "Enough talking, I'll send someone to bring you food,"
I chuckled as she walked towards the door and stopped. "You're not the real person behind my kidnap, are you?"
"I hope you like salads," she said and open the door.
"Well I can't exactly eat with my hands tied," I said. She looked over her shoulders.
"That will be rearranged," and she left, slamming the door on her way out. I think I hit a nerve.