2 Chapter 2

The road was busy, cars passing by quickly and people walking on the side for some reason. Jackson felt anxious and nervous as he kept his eyes pinned on the road, his hands clenching over the steering wheel, his breath coming out quickly. He was beyond nervous that someone was going to stop him and he would have to do something he didn't want to do,   his car was warm, the interior was leather and black, the car was a old one. The seats worn out from having it for a while now, in the passengers seat was a bag full of supplies including the knife and a small revolver he would use if needed. One might wonder why he had done it, why he had taken the girl and why he had such a fascination with the perfect family. His own family had been messed up, his father had been a drinker and his mom had left him and his siblings behind, it had been awful. Ever since then he had grown up to yearn for something like this, and he had found it. Hope couldn't understand, she was to blind with the pain and anger that she had, so he was going to make her understand...even if it makes him the bad guy.

Jackson hadn't realized how fast he was going until a pair of blue and white lights flashed behind him and his heart dropped, he gulped. Realizing he had to stop, his car slowed down and he pulled over. A bulky man with greasy hair and tattoos on his arm leaned to the window and made a motion for him to roll down his windows and he did. Offering a charming smile he looked at the officer.

"Hello Officer, what can I do for you?" He asked.

The officer studied him with cold brown eyes and stood up straight before making a motion to a sign behind him somewhere.

"You were going 80 on a 60 speed limit road. Where's the fire?"

Jackson chuckled nervously and shrugged apologetically. His gaze flicked to the rearview mirror where Hope was still asleep, her breathing was heavy and he was sure that the officer could hear her but he didn't, his attention remained on Jackson.

"My wife is at home, she's about to have her child and I'm trying to get there in Time." He lied.

The officer studied him briefly before trying to look into the back. Jackson reached inside his bag quietly, his hands griping the revolver and within the moment The officer stepped back and Jackson let go.

"Go on, I'm letting you off with a warning." He said.

After going as slow as he could he began to drive even faster when the cop was no longer in sight. It was to close, after a hour of driving he arrived at his destination which was a house surrounded by other people, he wasn't worried about her escaping though and when he parked the car he stepped out, shuffling to the back he grabbed her and dragged her inside before leaving her near a bookcase, he had to shove his shoulder against it, wincing until he managed to move it to show a metal door which he unlocked and put her down into the cellar. There were plenty of things around for her to keep herself occupied.

As he watched her sleep he smirked and he stepped back. The shadows concealing his face.

"Sleep well."

The cold is what woke her up, it was freezing and on top of that her head was hurting badly. She sat up and realized she was in complete darkness, her breath caught in her chest and she scrambled up to her feet and tried to figure our where she was but she felt herself bumping into things. She would probably be bruised up, after finding nothing she collapsed to the ground and screamed, screaming until her throat was raw and she pulled her knees against her chest. Why was this happening to her? Of all People, he had done this to her. She didn't know what to do, her hands fluttered over the ground to try to figure out what she was on, to get a feeling at least. The ground beneath her fingers was rough, cold and a little damp. What was this? Tile? No it couldn't be. Trying to focus more,  her hands pressed into it and she realized the roughness of the ground wasn't from tile or anything, it was carpet.

As Hope felt around the light suddenly flooded on and she winced, squinting her eyes she finally caught a glimpse of where she was. It was...empty, the walls were stripped of paint, there was a rusted and old bed sitting in a corner and a counter that had a bucket of water and some food sitting there. Her eyes skimmed over everything, the carpet was the color of caramel and rather ugly, sitting to the side was a table and on it was one of those old phones you'd see in your grandparents house. A retro phone. Why?

Almost as soon as she questioned herself she heard something and looked up, Jackson came walking down the steps, a smirk resting on his face. Anger flashed through her and she clenched her jaw together, as he neared her she lunged at him and slapped him, her hands bunching his shirt up and she shook him.

"Let me go!" She yelled.

Jackson winced and jerked back, grabbing her hand and pushing her back. He kept pushing her until she was sitting down on the bed and he glared down at her.

"Stop, you'll hurt yourself. I'm not letting you go until you understand me." He snapped back at her.

"I don't want to understand you! You sick-"

His palm smacked against her face and she cried out, a iron taste filling her mouth and she touched the throbbing part where he slapped her, no doubt it would probably leave a nasty bruise on her face. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she went silent and he knelt down in front of her, gently grasping her jaw and forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Look at what you made me do, listen to me very carefully. Your going to stay here until you have your baby, your going to be my family and if you behave then I might give you a surprise. If you try to run I will find you, if you try to hurt me I will not hesitate to kill you. Understand?" Jackson said in a demanding voice.

Hope nodded her head and he stood up, smiling and backing up.

"Good, now fix up the room. Make it however you want, surprise me. I'll be back in a hour to see your progress."

With that he left her to herself. She pulled herself up and looked around, her throat burning with signs of crying and she felt her knees weaken and she almost fell, but he had given her precise instructions and that was to fix the room up...oh god. Fix the room up. What if he expects me to stay? I can't do this. She thought to herself and her tears collected in her eyes once more, but she couldn't let him get the best of her. She had to do what he wanted of her, even if it means doing something as stupid as this. Hope knew that in order to survive she had to gain his trust, that was something that she could do and she hoped it would work. Get his trust, fool him and run for her life. She wiped her head and looked around, with shaking hands she grabbed cleaning supplies and bent down, scrubbing the carpet until the chemical smell burned her nose and she couldn't breath in the fumes any longer. She did this to get out whatever sour smell had built up, she moved from carpet to carpet until she was practically finished.

Something caught her eyes however, when she put the bucket of cleaning supplies up and she noticed the dark stain on the wall, it was small, a splotch really, but it was as if someone had tried covering it and failed miserably. She stepped closer and as she bent down she realized with horror that the dark stain was blood, it wasn't that hard to figure out because it also trailed down and onto the carpet. Bending down she pulled at the edge of the carpet where it had been laid down, she struggled at first with pulling it up and when she did she felt herself gag and almost throw up. There was blood dried up and it was a lot, it stained the cement underneath and there were small little critters scurrying around. She laid the carpet down and felt herself cry, sobbing and she picked up the brush she had been using to clean with, she threw it towards a mirror and it hit it, causing the mirror to shudder and crack, but that was all.

Hope sniffled and curled up in a ball, her head burying into her hands and she fell asleep like that, alone, scared helpless and very much angry. She slept for what felt like hours, thinking that maybe it was just a dream she was having and at any moment she would wake up and be in her own bed at home. She missed her parents, wishing she hadn't left home. They probably didn't even know what had happened...but Alisha would. She knew that when Hope didn't return home in the afternoon that something had happened, surely she would send a missing person report. She opened her eyes when she heard footsteps and she sat up. Her back was hurting badly and she felt a sharp pain on her arm, looking down she noticed a small scratch. Probably from sleeping like so. Her eyes zeroed in on Jackson as he paused and looked at her, a charming smile lifted the corner of his mouth and yet she could only glare at him.

Jackson looked around, observing what she had done and when he saw nothing but the cracked mirror and the strong smell of chemicals he frowned and turned to her, coming closer before grabbing her arm and forcing her up. She could feel his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her upper arm and it brought tears to her eyes. His look became cold and uncaring.

"What did I say? Clean this place up, and what do you do? You just wash the carpet and crack the mirror, if you keep this up you'll never learn." He growled.

She turned her head and held in her tears, her breathing was coming out in shallow breaths and when he realized he was hurting her he let her go and she stumbled backwards. Her head tilted down and she was shaking. He grimaced and backed up.

"I've picked up dinner, I'll bring it down in a little bit. You aren't allowed to go upstairs until I know you won't leave me, now get to work." He said.

Hope didn't move until she heard the door shut and she looked around. He wanted her go fix everything up? Then she would do it, she didn't want to make him angry. She didn't know what to do, so she started from scratch. Cleaning the disgusting walls, picking up everything and just making everything look better. She heard the door open and froze up, scared he was coming down but all she heard was a door slam and nothing. Hesitating she slowly sat down what she had before making her way up the stairs and finding a tray of food, it was chicken, macaroni and mashed potatoes. Her stomach growled in hunger, begging her to eat and she didn't. She would rather starve then to eat what food he had so she grabbed it and threw it in a trashcan.

Yes she had to eat, Yet Hope couldn't find herself to do do. Especially with food coming from the man who kidnapped her. She didn't know what else to do and lowered herself onto the old bed before pulling the thin covers over her body and trying to sleep. Within the couple of days being there it was a regular routine if him to leave the food on the steps, he would always visit in the mornings. No she didn't actually know the hour, but normal he came early when she woke up so that's why she assumed the mornings, in the afternoon and he dropped off food then, yet she had never touched it. Starving herself. It was with one of his interactions when he brought the first item in, a thick blanket with little dog paws on it.

He must have noticed how cold it was down there because he sat them down near the bed and he didn't say anything before leaving. It was odd how he never spoke to her, what was he even doing? She had lost count of the days and was looking at the walls because she literally had nothing to do, the covers were bunched up around her and she was lost in her mind. I'd anyone was looking for her they would had already found her by now, but she couldn't give up hope now. It was the only thing she was looking forward to.

The only thing keeping her alive.