Captive - Onyx martin (ebook offline reader txt) 📗

at home, exhausted from the concert but no. Of course not. I was still stuck here in this damned room with this stupid creepy man.
“Good morning.”
I glared at him, “What’s so good about it?”
He shook his head, “Cheer up. I want you to meet the boys. Properly. Don’t be rude or bitchy to them like last time, I can’t guarantee they won’t beat you down again.”
I rolled my eyes, sliding off the bed, “Whatever.”
He stood and led me out the door, down a long hallway with a red carpet, the same peach walls from the room, a plastic plant in the corner and a small painted copy of the Mona Lisa at the end of the hall. Nick led me to the elevator and we rode it down to the first floor.
The lobby was roomy, with one flat-screen T.V. mounted to the wall, that same red carpet from before, two velvet couches and a small amber brown coffee table. There were two vending machines and a water fountain next to the elevator. There was also a large breakfast room across from the front desk, with a small fridge and counter filled with cereal, scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage and fruit.
There were only two other people in the lobby, besides Nick and me. The lady working the front desk, who appeared to be in her 40’s. She had short, thick blonde hair, pale skin and a worn smile. Then there was an old man in the breakfast room, sipping on a paper cup full of coffee, with short gray hair and gray eyes full of stories and secrets. He glanced up at me as we passed, smiling and waving slowly. I gave him a little smile in return, still following Nick out the sliding glass doors leading outside to the parking lot.
He pulled me over to a black corvette parked in the second row of the parking lot. He opened the passenger door for me before slipping himself into the drivers’ seat. The car smelled musky and… dirty. There was a bunch of crinkled papers, gum wrappers and an empty McDonalds cup on the floor. You’d think people who could afford cars like this would at least keep it clean. Even my pig of a mom kept her jeep cleaner than this.
“So where exactly are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
I sighed and laid my head against the window. I let my mind wander back to the concert. Back home. Back with Louis laying on his bed staring at each other.
“What is your name, might I ask?”
“Axel.” I closed my eyes.
“That’s cool. You already know me, I’m guessing?”
Unfortunately. I nodded. Then I remembered my mp3 player. I felt my pocket. Yep, it was still there. Thank God. I quickly pulled it out of my pocket, holding the power button until the screen lit up. Full charge.
I went to the pictures folder. There were only 5 pictures in there. One of me and my mom at the fair two years ago. One of both my mom and dad, back when they were first dating. Wow, that was about 25 years ago. Two of the remaining pictures were of Louis. First one was his yearbook picture. He always hated that one but I adored it. The other one was one I took of him at the park.
The last picture was my favorite. Louis and I’s first date. We’d gone to AMC and seen Paranormal Activity. I’d taken the picture outside when the movie finished. I looked so sleepy and Louis had his hand around my waist, kissing my cheek.
“That your boyfriend?”
My gaze snapped to Nick, watching me from the corner of his eye. I sighed and held the power button down until the picture faded to black and slipped the mp3 player back into my pocket. He needed to mind his own damn business.
“Looks a lot like me only younger.”
“You two are nothing alike.” I snapped.
The only thing similar about these two was their long black hair. Everything else was opposite. Nick was an asshole. Louis wasn’t. Nick was a jerk. Louis wasn’t. Louis is sexy, Nick is not. I love Louis. And I detest Nick.
“Whatever you say. Here we are.”
We pulled into the parking lot of another, bigger hotel. From the looks of it, it had to be at least 10 stories tall. A couple of men in black suits stood outside, probably for valet parking. We pulled up to them, where Nick got out and opened my door for me. I hesitated before stepping out, feeling insecure about my ripped jeans, tank top and converse against this huge, fancy hotel.
Nick paid one of the men in a suit and he nodded, grabbing the keys, hopping into the car and driving off.
“How can you just hand over your car keys to a total stranger like that?” I snapped.
Nick laughed and headed into the lobby of the grand hotel, expecting me to follow, which I did.
“He could steal your car!” I continued.
“Contagious?” Nick said to the man working the front desk.
He turned to the computer. Clicked something. Clicked something else, “Room 417. Elevator down the hall and to the right.” His voice was monotone. Boring. Like the lady on the GPS.
I followed Nick to the elevator, which we took up to the fourth floor. Eggshell white walls. Blue carpet. A painting of bamboo on each end of the hallway stretched out before us. We took a left then went on until we found room 417 on the right. There was music blasting from inside. Heavy metal.
Nick knocked 3 times. Powerfully and loudly. There was shuffling inside before the music suddenly shut off. A moment later the door opened and we scooted inside.
White walls. One black couch and two black recliner chairs next to it. Small T.V. across from all three. A small dining area consisting of a stove, a fridge and a marble counter with a sink. One caramel door led to the bedroom, consisting of another T.V., a wooden desk, a bedside table and two queen-sized beds.
Nick sat me in one of the recliner chairs while he took the other one. The same three men from the other night sat on the couch between us and I could feel my hands already start to shake. I looked around awkwardly. There was a little chip in the paint in the wall above the sink. Cigarette butt on the floor, underneath Nick’s feet. They weren’t allowed to smoke in here!
“Nick! You brought her here? With us?” The man with short brown hair said, glaring at Nick.
“You said you were going to take her back!”
“Shut up, you two! There’s been a slight change of plan. She’s going to be staying with us.”
“Permanently?” He shouted, his eyes wide with disbelief. Why would four 20-year old men in a band want to be stuck with a 17 year old girl?
“No! Just until I can find a way to bring her back without anybody knowing it was us.”
“Like taking her from the concert wasn’t obvious enough.” The man who had been quiet the whole time, the man with the dreads, pointed out, rolling his eyes. But it was true. Somebody had to know. Had to realize.
“She’s staying with us. End of discussion. And now you all should get to know each other better.”
The man with short brown hair coughed to hide his smirk.
Nick turned to him first, “Axel, this is Stones. He’s the drummer.”
He had dark, forest green eyes and a square-ish face. He was wearing a white tank top and baggy black jeans. All he did was nod.
Nick turned to the man with the long brown hair and brown eyes, “This is Ben. Bass guitarist.”
He said, “Hey.” And flicked his head upwards a little. He was wearing a black, long sleeve shirt and gray jeans a size too big for him.
“Hey.” I said in return, copying his gesture.
Nick chuckled and turned to the last man, the one with the dreads, “This is Tanner. Lead guitarist.”
He did nothing. Just looked at me with a blank and bored expression. He was built. Had dark brown eyes that dug into your soul and stole your inter-most secrets to use against you. Or so it felt. I hated people with eyes like that. Those that looked deeper than what’s on the outside. Down into what shouldn’t be found.

After about an hour of Nick trying desperately to get everyone to talk to me… to start a full-length conversation that lasted more than 3 sentences… and failing at it… he took me back to the hotel from before. Of course, it took him a while to find his corvette, parked right smack in the back of the parking lot. Then he realized he didn’t have his keys, cursed under his breath and we had to go back and find our valet.
It was quite entertaining to me, actually. The whole process took a good half an hour.
Once back in our… or his… hotel room, I took the recliner overlooking the beach through the glass door. I watched the waves crash onto the shore, then recede with the tide. I watched the children run and laugh and scream and kneel down every so often when they found a cool looking shell.
It brought back memories of me and Louis. Our third date had been at the beach. Wrestling and hugging in the sand. Cuddling with each other as we watched the sun set, the clouds glowing with shades of pink and orange and red.
“I have a show tonight.” His cold voice shattered the beautiful image in my mind.
Silence.
“Will you be okay here? On your own?”
I turned to him, my brows furrowed, “Just fine.”
“I’m leaving now. For practice with the band. I’ll be back around… 1?”
I glanced at the clock on the wall. 5:05. 8 hours on my own. Without that sick son of a bitch. Thank God. I nodded towards Nick and turned back towards the sliding glass doors. I let my mind drift off again. Back to the beach. Back to Louis and Mom.
The front door of the hotel room shut behind me and everything was silent. I felt myself breath. I looked around. Felt my face. I wanted out of here. I wanted Louis. I wanted Mom.
I stood and paced. I stopped in front of the door and grabbed the knob. The metal was cold underneath my fingers. Even if I were to escape, if I were to twist that knob, step out, get on the elevator, run out of this place, I wouldn’t know where to go. I’d just be some helpless girl running down a street without a clue about direction.
Maybe someone would recognize me from the missing persons list. Maybe some stranger would pick me up and kidnap me.
Only the band knew where I was. Only they knew how to get me home.
For now I was stuck here, in this hellhole. With a bunch of people I barely knew. Four men twice my age.
I let my thoughts drift back to the memory of me and Louis at the beach until I found myself asleep, my dream a continuation of that memory.
By the time I woke up, it was already 8’o’clock. 5 more hours until Nick’s return. God. I hated him even more with every passing moment.
I looked around again. Have to find something to do. Take my mind of things. I noticed a bag on the floor next to the