I perk up.
I could’ve been hallucinating, right? Maybe he’s not actually that hot?
I scoot forward and hook my fingers in the slats of metal between the two front seats and me. Immediately, I have to use my hold to help me balance as the van switches lanes at speeds that make my stomach churn.
When we’re mostly stable again, I lift my eyes to the rearview mirror and make contact with blue. Nope, definitely not hallucinating.
I’ve never seen eyes that shade before. They remind me of the evening right after sunset, when a few stars are out but it’s not quite dark enough for them to cover the whole sky. Beautiful and breathtaking and… angry?
What’s he got to be angry about? I’m the one acting out every stranger danger bad scenario they talk about in elementary school. Nobody’s forcing him to slide around in a filthy van cage with a ticked off ethereal being in the driver’s seat. He breaks eye contact and looks back at the road.
If he’s transitioning from Unoriginal Kidnapper Man to Angry Kidnapper Man, it’s time for me to get a little more proactive. No more sitting silently in this cage.
Kidnapping 101: Get Information. Or something. I never paid attention during those elementary safety briefs. Talk about B-O-R-I-N-G.
“Hey, not to interrupt or anything, but where are youtaking me?”
That sounded good. Nice. Nothing that would cause further upset, surely.
His eyes flash to mine for an irate nanosecond before going back to the road.
“Shut up.”
I blink.
Did he just tell me to shut up? Seriously? He should have duct taped my mouth shut if he didn’t want me to talk!
“You should have duct taped my mouth shut if you didn’t want me to talk!” Hah! Good one, Millie.
“I’m sick of your sh–”
A car horn blares as he swerves lightning fast around a red sedan. My fingers slip from the metal of my cage, and I go flying into the side of it. Um, ouch!
“Hey, watch it! I don’t have a buckle back here!”
Totally on purpose, he switches lanes again, and I hit the other side.
“I said–” I start, and he executes another swerve. I slam into the cageagain.
Okay, I get it. I’m not stupid. He doesn’t want me to talk, and the fancy pants kidnapper man doesn’t need duct tape to keep me quiet. Finally, he’s giving a little originality.
I think I preferred it when he was using less imagination. Duct tape wouldn’t smart so much.
I rub my arms where they took the brunt of the hits. My shirtsleeves protected me from the bulk of the van’s grime, but they did little to block the force of my body crashing against the metal bars. I pull one up to check for bruising, and by some miracle don’t find any starting to form.
Well. At least one thing isn’t as bad as it could be. All things considered, not being a bruised mess when I make a break for it can only work in my favor.
Remembering I’m supposed to be doing recon for said escape, I look out the window only to realize that I don’t know where we are anymore. My heart beats uneven in my chest.
Stupid Millie.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I should’ve been paying attention. I should’ve spent less time trying to play nice with Captain Crazy and more time trying to getawayfrom him.
Okay. All right. Deep breaths. Shake it off. Focus.
I pull myself forcibly back to the issue at hand.