It had been days of the same routine, though now Lindsay was kept in a room on the second level of the house. It was rather similar to her room at home, an on-suite bathroom adding to her comfort here. There was a double bed to one side feather pillows piled on it with a nice thick down feather duvet. A desk up against the opposite wall complete with a tin pencil holder and paper. Mathew and another man he had called Ian had brought up the dresser from the basement with all the clothing she had dumped all over the floor.
Ian had scowled as he dumped the massive armload of clothing onto the bed, muttering under his breath. She hadn’t quite caught what he had said but was sure she had heard him say something about ‘time wasted folding’. To her chagrin, she had felt guilty for messing up the clothing. Mathew had laughed in amusement when he had found the shirt with the rest of the broken glass. Shaking his head and taking the folded up shirt out of the room with him.
Laying on the bed now and staring up at the ceiling, Mathew kept her locked in here. He didn’t trust her to have the run of the house and he was probably right. She was allowed up in the morning to come down for breakfast, sitting at the table across from Mathew. It was only ever the two of them, and he was always studying her like she changed daily. Lindsay knew there were others in the house besides Ian and Mathew, she often heard Ian’s raised voice and then another from someone called Alex.
The security locks on the front door and kitchen door has deterred her thought of escape only for a few days. Then she started to think about how she could get passed the locks without knowing the code. So far the only thing that she could think of was to get Mathew to trust her and stop locking her in the room. If she had full reign of the house then maybe she could get through the door when someone was leaving or coming in. Catching them unaware and slipping through the door, this was the only way she could see herself getting out.
At least there was daylight, she was able to tell the time of day and the passage of time. She had been writing on the paper on the desk to keep herself busy, there wasn’t much to do in this room. Taking a wild guess, Lindsay assumed it had been about a week. There was more noise in the house down below than normal, it made her think it was possibly the weekend. Closing her eyes and feeling restless, she wished more than anything she could just get out of this room. She felt like she was slowly going insane, looking at these same walls all the time.
What was going on out in the world, her mother would have called the police. Were they any closer to figuring out who these strange men were? What her father had to do with any of it? Her mother had never told her much about her father. Only that they had met in college and from what the journals she had read said, this was mostly true. Though it turned out that her father wasn’t from around here and had never actually attended the college.
He had frequented the ground and nearby coffee shop in the hopes of seeing and spending time with her mother. It was all very stalkery and creepy, Lindsay frowned as her mind flowed from one random thought to another. The smell of food brought her out of her forever trailing mind. Leaning up on her elbows and looking at the door as her stomach growled hungrily. It was just about the time Mathew would show up with her evening meal. They ate breakfast together and usually lunch. However the last two days he had brought up all her meals, though he refused to leave her with the dishes. He would take the chair at the desk and keep her company as she ate.
Closing her eyes again and inhaling deeply, she had made a small game out of trying to smell what was cooking. A guessing game for her senses, shaking her head at herself. Eyes snapping open as there was a sound outside the door, pushing herself upright almost eagerly. There was a click of the lock before the door opened slowly revealing Mathew, his hands were empty though. She frowned a little having expected him to show up with food, her stomach growled again.
“I thought you would want to join us at the table,” he said once the door was open fully, his body filling the frame.
“Us?” she raised that brow at him that always made him smile.
“Yes, princess.” he chuckled softly, this pet name he had given her making her scowl at him, which amused him further.
“Stop calling me that.” she snapped pushing herself up to her feet, hands on her hips.
“My apologies, princess” he bowed slightly and laughed as she looked ready to fly at him, fists swinging. Stepping back and motioning for her to follow as he left the doorway.
“You’re so annoying!” she snapped at his back, still scowling and now stomping behind him.
“I am?” he asked over his shoulder slowing so they walked nearly side by side, this was only possible because she was so much smaller than him.
“You most definitely are. The most annoying man I have ever had the displeasure to meet.” her brows were still lowered in a scowl as she stomped down the stairs. As the two of them rounded the corner and walked through the archway and into the kitchen she stopped and stared. There were three others in the room, two identical except that one had a lip piercing.
“You!” she gasped, staring at him sitting at the table with Ian, the identical man was at the stove, he had turned to watch her enter before going back to the frying pan. The two at the table stood, Ian moved to pull out a chair for her. She didn’t move, she was still staring at the blond skater boy Cassie had been drooling over. He had a smile on his face as he tipped his head a little, just standing there as if she wasn’t a hostage in his house.
“You might want to sit down, dinner is almost ready!” the man at the stove called out in a sing-song voice. Still, she didn’t move.
“This is Alex and Damian, my cousins.” Mathew made the introduction as he placed a hand on her back and propelled her toward the chair that Ian was holding out for her. She didn’t respond, all kinds of conspiracy theories running through her head as she sat. Damian coming over and placing down a frying pan with some kind of rice dish, it smelled amazing and her stomach was growling again. Damian grinned brightly and scooped food onto her plate before taking his seat.
“You must be hungry, eat, eat!” he smiled charmingly at her as the other started to fill their plates with food, though no one touched anything until Mathew took the first bite. She found it a little odd, they all seemed to watch her and Mathew closely, no one moving until Mathew did, he was the one in charge.
“So you all had a hand in this, and it’s not a coincidence that you go to my school.” her eyes were on Alex who blushed sheepishly and tucked down his head.
“Yes, we all have a part to play,” Damian answered, ignoring the glaring look Mathew gave him. He just continued to smile and watch her for a moment before getting up to get a cup of coffee.
“So you all know my father then.” it was a statement not a question and it had the twins and Ian choking on their food, this made Mathew burst out into laughter at the sight of them, they, in turn, stared at him like he was a total stranger.
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