Captive - Onyx martin (ebook offline reader txt) 📗

recliner chair he’d been sitting in. Must be his. Should I look through it? I wanted to. But it was wrong…
Who cares. He kidnapped me. Looking through his stuff was nothing compared to what he has done. Taken me away from my family and love. And I didn’t even do anything to him. Why did I deserve this? All I’d done was take a drink from that water fountain. That was all.
If only I hadn’t needed to go the bathroom. If only I hadn’t stayed there that extra few minutes to drink from that fountain. I wouldn’t have been there when they passed. They wouldn’t have beat me up. He wouldn’t have me right now.
Oh well. I slid off the bed, grabbing the bag. It was a black laptop bag with Contagious painted white on the side. He didn’t have good handwriting, I’ll tell you that.
I laid the bag on the bed and unzipped it, pulling out the black Compaq laptop and its charger. I held the power button until the screen lit up and I prayed there was no password. Then prayed there was free wi-fi here. If I could get in touch with Louis… it would make me feel a hundred times better.
After a moment of nothing but a black screen with Windows XP in the middle, the desktop loaded. The wallpaper was a picture of the band, all four of them standing side-by-side, arms crossed.
I rolled my eyes and clicked onto Internet Explorer. Typed in Facebook. Quickly entered my email and pass, unchecking the “Remember Me” box.
2 notifications.
I clicked the notifications first.
“Louis Merrick poked you.” And “Jose Suarez liked your status.”
Jose was my friend from 4 grade, but we didn’t talk much. I’d only recently found him on facebook. Any who, on to what I’d set out to do on here. Clicked the chat box. Only two people were online. My cousin Ash and Louis.

Axel Valles

: Thank god you r on!
Louis Merrick

: Omg, where r u? Your mom is crazy worried!
Axel Valles

: Don’t tell her… but Ive been… kind of…. Kidnapped.
Louis Merrick

: WHAT! R U OK? WHERE R U? WHO KIDNAPPEd YOU?
Axel Valles

: Louis, it’s OK. I’m fine… I don’t know where I am but the people… theyre friends. Ill be home… soon… I hope. Just PLZ promise you wont tell any 1! Especially MOM!
Louis Merrick

: … Im worried about you… I miss you…
Axel Valles

: ): im sorry… I miss you more… gotta go…
Louis Merrick

: …
Axel Valles

: I love u… <3
Louis Merrick

: I love you too <3 … please be careful… I don’t no y u wont let me help….
Louis Merrick has signed off at 8:34 pm.

I sighed. Logged off. Shut down the computer and tucked it back into the bag, which I placed back on the floor. My whole body felt heavy and I couldn’t catch a proper breath. I wrapped my arms around myself and curled up into a tight ball on the bed, imagining I was in Louis’s arms. For the shortest second I’ve ever experienced in my life, I could’ve sworn I smelled him there with me. His Axe, Pulse cologne. I closed my eyes.
All I wanted was to escape. Be with him. Feel his touch. His arms around me. Feel his lips against mine.
“Louis…”

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

If I dreamt, I didn’t remember it. All I knew was it must’ve been good. I woke up smiling. Until I realized, again, where I was. I didn’t bother opening my eyes. I wanted at least a little more time for myself. So I decided to pretend I was still asleep.
“Mam, can I get anoder cup a water?” a man said with a redneck accent. Who the hell was that?
‘’Of course! I’ll be right back.” A woman’s voice. Who were these people? Probably friends of Nick’s over for a party or something.
But then I realized I was sitting up and my eyes snapped open. Teal-ish colored seats in front of me. I looked to my left. A small, rounded window. Through it I could see houses and grocery stores and fields and woods far below. Everything looked so tiny. I turned to my right. Nick was sitting in the seat beside me. The last seat was empty. The other 3, Tanner, Ben and Stones were in the seats across the aisle from us, laughing over something Tanner had whispered. I didn’t catch it. Didn’t really care.
“Where are we going?” I said slowly.
“Well… we’re about 5 minutes away from New Orleans.”
“N… New Orleans?!” I almost screamed, throwing my hands in the air.
Nick smirked and laughed a little, “Yes, Axel. We’re on tour, don’t you know? That means traveling.”
Only now did I notice my eyes were wide and my mouth was set in such a hard line it hurt. I shook it off, “When am I going HOME?”
“You won’t be. Not anytime soon, at least.”
I bit my lip. I had to go home! I couldn’t abandon Mom and Louis! I turned to look out the window, just as the plane was lowering onto the runway. There was a fairly loud boom as the wheels of the plane came out, then there was a little bump several minutes later when they made contact with the runway.
The whole time I’d had my hands firmly gripped on my seat while I was shaking, trying to calm myself down by taking numerous deep breaths. Just calm down, Axel.
“I take it you’ve never been on a plane, before?” Nick laughed.
I just looked at him and shook my head.
“Well get used to it. We travel a lot.” Tanner said from across the aisle.
I sighed as the plane slowed to a stop and a woman announced that we were in New Orleans. However long the band made me stay with them, it was going to be a long, boring, difficult time for me.

After getting off the plane, going through security, getting bags, the equipment and whatever else the stupid band had to do, we were on our way. It was late afternoon, maybe 3 or 4 based on the sun. It was hot and I was sweating so much I felt like I’d walked all the way here.
Nick took me in his corvette and the other three shared the van with the instruments and equipment, following us. We sped down a couple different highways before we passed a large stadium, which Nick pointed at, gesturing the others to pull into it, which they did.
“Why are they going there and why aren’t we following?” I asked, confused.
“I have to take you to the hotel before I go back with them. We have to set up and practice for the concert tonight.”
“Oh, right.”
So why wasn’t I allowed to go?
“Tomorrow we’ll get your hair cut and dyed brown. Then we’ll get you some contacts. After that, you’ll be able to come with us wherever we go without anybody recognizing you and calling the police.”
I made a face. I’ve worn contacts before, and they dry out my eyes and make them burn. I also hated the idea of having something against my eye. It’s just not right. I had to rub my eye.
“We’re here.”
We pulled into the parking lot of a Holiday Inn just three turns from the stadium.
“Before we go in, me and the boys bought you some fresh clothes to wear.” He handed me a bag. I looked at it. Then looked back up at Nick. “Don’t worry, just black jeans and T-Shirts.”
I sighed and opened the car door.
“And also this hoodie.” He threw a hoodie at me and I almost didn’t catch it. It was solid black, and what do you know, it had Contagious printed on the back. Just great. Now everyone’s going to think I’m a Contagious fan. When instead I’m a Contagious captive.
“Put it on.” He demanded, stepping out of his car and shutting the door a little too hard. I slipped the hoodie over my head and grabbed the bag of clothes. It was probably all cheap, stupid Wal-Mart clothes. Or Contagious clothes. God damn-it.
I followed him into the hotel, where he went up the man working the front desk, a man in his 50’s with gray hair and a black mustache, and paid for a room. Nick handed me the room key and pointed to the elevator. He told me to behave, being sure to call me his cousin, then left.
No way in hell I was his cousin. He was just putting up a show for the man at the desk, but there was no way I wanted to even be considered related to that asshole.
I shook my head and looked down at the key. Room 121. Second floor. I headed down to the elevator and stepped inside. Just before the door closed, a little girl shot in beside me. Her hair was blonde and all messy and stuck up here and there. There was one brown streak but I couldn’t tell whether it was natural or dyed. But why an 8 year old girl would dye her hair, I don’t know. She had big blue eyes and was wearing a matching blue dress with spaghetti straps that went down to her knees. In hand she held a white stuffed teddy bear.
Now, I absolutely hate little kids and babies so this was pretty awkward. I wondered where it’s parents were and why it was staring at me so intently.
I awkwardly fidgeted.
“Hi.” She said shyly.
“Um… hello…” I looked around. The elevator door closed again and we were finally on our way up.
“What’s your name?”
“Axel. You?”
“Sarah.” She was petting the teddy bear and humming to it now.
“Where are your parents?”
“I don’t know. I ran away with my big brother, Sam. He’s 15.” She smiled, now rocking the teddy bear.
The elevator stopped at the second floor and I stepped out, a bit disturbed by my brief conversation with the little girl that I would probably, hopefully, never see again. I turned and she waved to me as the elevator doors closed and headed up to the fourth floor.
I shook my head and made my way down the hall, reading the numbers of the rooms. 115… 117… 119… 121. There we are. I slid the key, which was actually a little card, through the card reader thingy and pushed the door open. I hesitated before stepping into the dark room, slipping the card into my jeans pocket.
The room wasn’t as fancy as the others had been, but had basically all the same stuff. T.V. A couch. Little kitchen/dining area. Bathroom. 2 king-size beds.
I threw the bag on the bed and sorted through the clothes. 2 pairs of black jeans. 2