Page 116 of The Heir

"Oh I think I'll be okay, thank you." I walk out the door and then glance around, seeing I forgot to let Xavier know that I was headed out the door. It's darker than I anticipated, and the streetlights turn on. Their warm orange light giving the street a comforting glow.

I step down about three stairs, trying to dig for my phone but I can't find it. My eyes scan the street quickly for the black vehicle King forces me to utilize now. However, there's only street parking and I can't see our car.

"Dammit,ooofff course,"I mumble angrily, feeling the drizzle start to full on downpour. "My hair!" I complain.

Sucking my teeth, I walk the last couple stairs to the sidewalk and I plop my purse on the brick half fence which cages in Mrs. Ripple's front steps and some tall, skinny bushes. I'm digging around, trying to find my phone when a sick, icy cold shiver makes it's way down my spine and raises the hair on the back of my neck.

I pause all movement, snapping my head up and over just as a tall, stocky man dressed in all black in a black ski mask appears from beside me. Before I can process or even scream, he takes me by my hair and slams it straight into the brick fence, stunning me.

Pain radiates through my entire being. It even tingles in my toes.

"Ohh!"I gasp, going to grab my head, but the man snatches me up, forcing my arm behind my back. "No, God, please no! Don't do this. I have money," I whimper, trying to blink past the stars that are dotting my vision.

"Walk!" the man grunts, dragging me from the entryway to Mrs. Ripples stairs.

"No!" I yell, finding my voice again. I collapse, making myself dead weight. "No plleeassseee, please! I have money! I can pay you anything you want!" I screech.

I whip my head around frantically, seeing no one on the street. Squinting, I see a pair of legs and dark boots partially hidden at the corner of the street, just laying in the sidewalk. Rain works to wash blood down the washed out concrete.

My eyes widen, seeing I'm in some deep shit. Through the pain, I remember that I can't let them take me to a second location. It's either get away, or die trying.

Just then I hear Xavier."Mrs. King!"he shouts.

Seeing my bodyguard I'm temporarily relieved, but before the feeling can settle in good, another masked man with red hair steps out of the bushes next to me and points a gun firing at Xavier, and I see him go down.

My lips part in fear.

"Noooo!" I scream, jerking in earnest as the man walks past me, headed to Xavier with the gun pointed at him. He fires another shot and then I hear the front door burst open. My head whips over, screaming for her to get inside.

"Isobel!" Mrs. Ripple yells, running out the door with a bat."Let go of her!"

"No!" I screech, truly terrified.

Distracted from Xavier, the redhead man turns and fires at Mrs. Ripple. Her body jerks before she drops hard, falling and rolling down the rest of her concrete stairs. She's completely still, her eyes open and unseeing. My heart pounds and my knees collapse, only to be hauled up by this stranger that has my arms behind my back.

My shoulders twinge, pain suddenly slices through my back, and I feel the tip of a knife is pressed against me. I shudder, feeling my breathing erratic. "Walk!" The man shouts in my ear.

I nod, trying not to lose control over my bladder, but with every step I take, I feel a little leak out. The redhead man, with his back to me, steps to a nearby car and opens the trunk.

My blood runs cold.

"Kill me," I whisper. I make myself dead weight again."I'm not getting in there so you better fucking kill me!"I yell.

The redhead walks to the driver's side and then slides in, ignoring me.

Exhaust from the tail pipe billows up as the car starts, tickling my nose. This man, who's got my arms yanked up so hard they feel like they're about to dislocate, yanks me to his chest and then next thing I know, a needle is being shoved deep into my neck, followed by a cold sensation.

The fact I'm being drugged pisses me off more than the fact I'm being kidnapped for some reason.

Feeling my hair currently plastering to my head by the rain, I bare my teeth and growl. Ignoring the searing pain in my arms, I lean against him and pick my feet up, bracing myself against the bumper of the car. We struggle against each other for a few seconds before the knife digs into my side slightly deeper, causing me to whimper and my strength to falter as I instead fight to try and grab the wound. But I can't get loose to reach for it, making me even moreirate.

Unfortunately for me he gets me in the trunk, slapping me across the face so hard I gag, fighting the nauseous feeling of needing to vomit. The hit distracts me enough for him to tie my arms behind my back. As he raises his arm to grasp the top of the trunk, I roll my neck and look up at the pure gray of his irises through his mask.

He's got a wicked slash through his eye.

"I'm going to make you fucking regret putting your hands on me," I hiss.

Then I'm forced into darkness, and what feels like the longest ride of my life. So long, I'm knocked out cold before we get there.

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