by MJ Bockarie
I nodded. I didn't mind Andy. I didn't like him regardless, but he was tolerable.
"See you, Princess," Alec winked for again and left with Andy trailing behind him.
I sighed and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch. I turned on the television and switched to the news.
"Police are searching for eighteen-year-old Mariana DeLiza, who went missing two days ago from the convenience store on Main and Third. The store clerk who witnessed the girl being taken away was shot and is in stable condition. If you have seen her, please call 911."
The camera switches from the female reporter to my brothers. My parents were in the background, sobbing. I put a hand over my mouth as tears pooled my eyes.
"Mari," Paul's voice was shaky as he spoke into a microphone, "oh, Mari, wherever you are, please find a way to contact us. Please come home. God, we miss you so much. I love you, Justin and Wyatt love you, and Ma and Pops love you, too. We want you home safe and sound."
After that, he stopped speaking because he began crying. My whole body was shaking. Justin walked away, tears streaming down his face.
"Oh my baby!" My mother cried as my father led her away from the cameras. I slid off the couch and onto my knees. I buried my face in my hands and cried. I sat there and cried like I had never cried before.
I screamed, I tugged at my hair, I hit myself, I knocked over objects around me. I kicked my feet and pounded the ground. I knew I was acting like a child and I didn't care. I needed to get everything out and at the time, this was the only way to do so.
I was a complete mess. I was tired and worn out. I crawled back on the couch and curled up in a ball. I shook, but I didn't care. The news lady continued to plead for people to call the police if they had seen me, and that was the last thing I saw before falling asleep.
Four
"What the hell happened here?"
"Well, what the hell do you think happened? She flipped out."
"Over what?"
"The news, duh. She probably saw her family or whatever."
I didn't move a muscle. The boys were home, and it seemed like Austin wasn't too happy about the mess I had made.
"Just leave it, Aus." Alec yawned. "We can clean this up tomorrow morning."
"Don't tell me what to fucking do, Alec." Austin hissed. "Just... just take her to her room. I need to deal with all this right now."
"Yeah, whatever," I felt Alec's arms slide under my body and pick me up. Once I was sure we were a safe distance away from Austin and Andy, I opened my eyes.
"How was it?" I whispered.
"Jesus, Princess!" Alec hissed quietly. I could feel his heart beating quickly. "You scared the shit out of me."
"Oops," I shrugged, "put me down now."
Alec sets me down on the ground. He furrowed his eyebrows and pointed down the stairs. "What the hell did you do? Austin's pissed, if you couldn't already tell."
"I freaked out," I sighed, "I saw my family on the news crying for me and I kind of saw red. I'm... I'm sorry."
Alec ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "It's fine, just avoid Austin as much as you can tomorrow morning."
I nodded. Alec motioned for us to continue going up the stairs. We reached the top and I stretched, cracking my back.
Alec yawned. "Holy shit, I need to sleep. Night, Princess."
"Yeah, night," I replied and felt my way through the dark. I opened a door and flicked on the light, thinking it was the room I was staying in, but it wasn't.
This was some 50 Shades of Grey type of shit.
Whips and various sex toys were hanging on hooks, lying on tables, and scattered on the floor. I froze in place. I was horrified.
Was Austin planning on using these of me if I misbehaved? I shook the thought out of my head and quickly turned off the light, then closed the door. I continued down the hall and opened another door, and luckily it was my room.
I closed the door and slid down to the floor, staring off into space. I couldn't get the image out of my head. They all looked like deadly weapons.
My hands were shaking now. I stood up and switched off the light, then walked over to the bed and crawled in.
***
I couldn't sleep.
My imagination kept me up all night. It wasn't all rainbows and unicorns; it was the sickest part of my brain. I was terrified of what I had seen and desperately wanted it to go away.
"Princess," Alec sang as he opened the door, "rise and shine."
"What time is it?" I grumbled.
"11:30," he replied. I peeked out over the edge of my blanket and looked at him. He was still in his pajamas, but he was wide-awake now.
"You look horrible, " he scoffed.
I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks. I couldn't sleep. I found Austin's secret room of torture."
Alec burst out laughing. "That isn't Austin's, it's Andy's."
My eyes widened. "Are you fucking serious?"
He nodded. "Yeah, all those contraptions belong to Andy. Austin borrows them from time to time."
My head was spinning. Andy was the last person I expected to own those... let's call them weapons.
"Don't worry," Alec smirked, "I'm pretty sure Austin has no intention of using them on you. Well, after your cute little stunt last night, I'm not entirely sure."
"Alec!" I whined and sat up. He smiled and shook his head, then pointed to his chest. I looked down and blushed when I saw the massive amount of cleavage I was accidentally showing.
"That's not going to make things better between us, Princess," Alec chuckled.
"Shut up," I muttered. "Is Austin awake?"
"I think," he said, "are you coming or what?"
"Uh, let me brush my teeth first," I said and got out of bed. I walked to the bathroom and grabbed the extra toothbrush, then started brushing my teeth.
"Don't get too comfortable with us, Princess," Alec popped his head into the bathroom.
"I have no intentions of doing so," I told him.
"That's not what it looks like, at least not here," he motioned between the two of us, "you seem to be getting comfortable with me."
"And whose fault is that?" I asked as I rinsed my mouth. "You're the one who said you were going to be nice to me."
"Maybe you're right, that's my mistake," he narrowed his eyes and I have him a cheeky smile.
"Nothing's happening between us, Alec. Nothing’s happening now and nothing's ever going to happen." I stated as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"If you say so, Princess," Alec shrugged, "okay, come on now. Austin's probably awake."
When we got downstairs, Alec was right. Austin was wide-awake, and he didn't look too happy.
"Morning, Mariana. You want to explain my broken vases and cracked coffee table?" He glared at me. "And let's not forget the ripped throw pillows."
"I had a breakdown," I explained quietly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to destroy anything. Anger got the best of me."
"Sure it did," Austin rolled his eyes, "don't feed her today."
"Austin," Alec growled, "there was an agreement."
"Yes, I made it, and you and Andy agreed to it." He narrowed his eyes at his brother. "And since I made it, I get to change it. She gets no food today, understood?"
"Whatever," Alec grumbled and looked down at me, "sorry, Princess."
"Take her to her room and lock her in there," Austin commanded before walking out.
"You'll get food, don't worry," Alec whispered, "I'm not going to let that stupid son of a bitch hurt you."
Wasn't he the one complaining about me getting too comfortable around him like ten minutes ago?
"Thanks," I muttered.
FIVE
I watched Alec quietly as he stared down at his phone. His eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was clenched. His eyes scanned over the words. I wondered what he was reading.
Austin had instructed that Alec stay up here with me so I didn't try to kill myself by jumping out the window or something. I didn't
know where he had gotten that thought from but I personally thought it was ridiculous.
My mind wondered about the agreement Austin had spoken about. Although both Alec and Andy had said that Austin had no intentions of hurting me, I felt like they were the ones who had been lied to. Austin realized that not feeding me was hurting me, right?
But like he said, he made the agreement and they agreed to it. Since he made it, he got to change it.
If I were one of the boys, I would've knocked him out so quick.
I still felt like this was just some huge joke. I knew being in denial wasn't going to help me. I needed to accept the fact that I might not ever make it out of here. I would never see my family again. I would be forced to start a life with one of the boys.
The last thought should've made me sick to my stomach... but it didn't.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What was I doing, enjoying the thought of being with Austin, Alec, or Andy? It was probably the marijuana speaking, but I realized it must've worn off a long time ago.
"Hungry yet?" Alec's voice interrupted my train of thought, and I was grateful. I didn't know where my mind was headed to, and frankly, I was hesitant to find out.
"No," I replied, but my stomach betrayed me and grumbled lowly. He glanced up from his phone.
"Hungry now?"
"Yeah,"
"Thought so," Alec chuckled and stood up, "I'll be right back."
I nodded and watched him leave. I leaned my head against the wall and stared up at the ceiling.
I wasn't mortified or disgusted at the thought of being in a relationship with one of the boys. I closed my eyes. Maybe I was tired. I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, so maybe this was paranoia or delusion speaking?
Yes, that's what it was. After I ate – if Alec was able to sneak food up here – I would take a nap. A nap is what I needed and would restore my mind to its rightful thought path.
"I'm back," Alec's voice scared me as he closed the bedroom door behind him, locking it. My heart skipped a beat. He hadn't locked it before, so why was he locking it now?
I had all these questions and was just afraid of the answers.
"Here," Alec handed me a turkey sandwich, "it isn't the fanciest thing in the house, but the quickest thing I could make before Austin caught me."
"It's all right, thank you." I gave him a half-hearted smile and took a bite.
Alec shook his head. "I don't know what's gotten into him."
"Austin?"
"Mhm," he confirmed, "after last night, his mood about you has changed."
I stopped chewing. "Changed how?"
"He isn't as love struck as he was before," Alec explained, "I keep hearing him mumble things about punishments and discipline. He's still madly in love with you, no doubt about that, but I don't know if it's the kind of love you want to be receiving."
I blinked multiple times. I felt like my life was in danger and was now partly grateful that I would be locked up in here for today.
"Mariana?" Alec waved his hands in my face. "Don't worry. He won't do anything."
"How do you know?" I asked. "I didn't know he capable of being angry, but I was wrong. God knows what he's going to do now because I've really pissed him off."
Alec chuckled bitterly. "He's so dumb sometimes. He should've seen it coming. I did, and I'm sure Andy did, too. I mean, you were unwillingly taken away from your family and just saw them again for the first time in three days. What did he expect you to do, sit down and pray?"
I couldn't help but laugh a little bit. His sarcasm towards his brother was lightening my mood. I was growing closer to Alec, and I knew he didn't want that.
The little voice in the back of my mind was telling me to be careful. I didn't want to do anything I would regret later on.
"Okay, you freaked out, so what? I get him a little bit. Be angry about her breaking a thing or two for a second and then move on. She's obviously going to be upset so you should've expected it." Alec continued. Judging by his tone of voice, he was quite peeved at his brother's sudden change of attitude.
It was my fault, though.
"I'm sorry," he apologized after a minute, "I shouldn't be ranting to you."
I shrugged as I finished the sandwich. "It's fine, I don't care."
Alec nodded and spaced out. I started poking holes in the plastic bag where the sandwich was in. I was bored. Maybe now was a good time for that nap.
"I'm going to sleep." I mumbled as I laid down. Alec nodded.
"Sleep tight, Princess." he said. I rolled my eyes at the nickname and curled myself up, closing my eyes.
***
"How's she doing?"
"She's fine. She's sleeping."
"Austin keeps saying how he's going to use the whip from now on and I'm afraid for her."
"Ha! That's funny. There's no way that's happening."
I continued listening to the brothers speak. I tried to stop myself from shaking. I was still tired, cranky, and now scared... again.
"I need to get a lock for the door, you know?"
"That's the smartest thing I've heard you say in a while."
Andy groaned. "Fuck off."
Alec chuckled. They stayed silent for a while. Finally, Andy spoke up. "Do you like her?"
"What?" Alec sounded taken back.
"Do you like her?" Andy repeated. "I mean, Austin suspects something's going on between you two. You're so protective and she's warmed up to you so quickly."
"She's nice and all, but no." Alec denied, and I was relieved... kind of.
"I knew you'd deny it," Andy laughed, "you're such a moron. I know you like her, dumb ass."
"I don't!" Alec retorted.
"Oh really?" I could almost imagine a smirk on Andy's face. "I'm pretty sure you've called her 'Princess' more times than you've called her by her actual name."
"So?" Alec asked. "It annoys her, so I call her 'Princess'. Doesn't mean I like her, little brother."
"Okay, okay," Andy finally gave up, "but just so you know, I totally ship it."
"Fuck off."
"Love you too."
SIX
After I had pretended to wake up, Andy left Alec and me alone, but not after making silly facial expressions at his brother, which caused Alec to turn red.
"Sleep well?" Alec cleared his throat. His face was slowly returning to normal.
I nodded. "Yeah, thanks."
"I ship it!" Andy yelled from right outside the door. He burst in. "I ship this so hard."
"What the fuck does 'ship' even mean? Like I'm so lost?" Alec raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Do you know what it means?"
I nodded. "I'm a teenage girl, of course I do."
"How the fuck do you know what it means?" Alec asked Andy.
Andy shrugged. "I'm a teenage boy who hangs around teenage girls. What do you expect?"
Andy was a teenager?
"You're a teen?" I blurted out, but felt myself turn red. "I'm sorry, I didn't–"
"It's all good," Andy shrugged with a smile, "yeah, I'm nineteen."
"Ah," I nodded. I turned to Alec. "Then how old are you?"
"Twenty-one," he said, "Austin's twenty-seven."
"And he's in love with an eighteen-year-old?" I asked.
Alec shrugged. "Guess so."
"You're eighteen?" Andy asked.
Alec also processed what I had said and looked at me in confusion. "Wait, you're eighteen?"
"Yes," I nodded, "I'm eighteen, nineteen in a few days. Why?"
"We were told you're like, twenty-six." Andy said. "Obviously you don't look that old, but still."
"We thought it was good genes or something," Alec let out a breath.
I shook my head. "Nope, I was born June 10th, 1997. I'm nineteen in like, two days I think?"
"Yeah, two days," Andy nodded.
"You're not supposed to be up here; you know that right?" Alec asked his brother. "I love your company and I'm sure Mariana appreciates it, but Austin's going to l
ose it if he finds out you're here."
Andy closed the door and locked it, then sat down on the edge of my bed. "Let him come after me, then. It's dumb that he's locked Mariana up in here in the first place, but expects her to have no contact with anyone else but you."