Kidnap For Ransom

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"HMMMM HMMMM." Zeirenne struggled under the cloth before falling into the man's arms despite being fully conscious.

Just like her suspicion, the man was not alone—he had reinforcements. Right after feigning unconsciousness, four men popped out of nowhere. In terms of strength, she could easily take them all down. But for some reason, had to resort into acting instead.

For weeks, she's been under surveillance. Countless cameras were hidden around the hallway and she knew how fighting all these men by herself can spark the thought of the man behind the screen.

If Miura Takumi were to watch her flipping and kicking with tenacity, all the efforts she put into acting and even film editing would go to waste. So she had to make them take her somewhere else instead.

Two men carried her into the elevator and even then, she wondered if they'd be able to make it out of the building.

"These men are doing a good job at laying low... really," she thought to herself; pertaining to how her kidnappers were dressed. In all black.

After some flights of stairs, her then exhausted kidnappers managed to take her out of the building. They entered the parking lot after some time and Zeirenne almost expressed her surprise. Deep inside, she was congratulating her kidnappers for their success.

As the car door opened, three men placed her into the backseat before strapping her on the middle.

"Cover her eyes before she wakes up," an old groggy voice commanded.

The car started moving even before her 'body guards could cover her eyes with a stinky cloth.

After getting the job done, all her kidnappers jumped out of their seats when she spoke, "You should cover my ears too. Not only your faces can be recognized you know."

"What the!"

The car veered into the hallway and she took the smelly blindfold off just to see what it was. "You used a dirty sock to cover my eyes?! Man this is very rude!"

She spun her eyes around the car to glare at her kidnappers. They were men of all ages and had distinct features. But what their faces had in common were panic... and desperation.

"Sit still or I'll shoot!" the man sitting on the shotgun seat, as coincidentally as it sounded, took a gun out—ready to shoot.

Her two seat mates raised their hands, "Woah! Woah! Put that gun down Luisito! You're gonna kill us too!"

Zeirenne crossed her arms while nodding her head, "That's true. I advise you tilt your gun a little bit to the left. Or you'll end up shooting his arms. Not mine."

Their jaws dropped from her words, and their minds shouted in unison, "What the hell is wrong with this lady?!"

After regaining his wit, the man on her left, who was also the one who greeted her on her doorstep, took out the same handkerchief. He moved to do the same trick but she simply shoved his arms.

"That won't work again the second time," she said while shaking her head, "Oh wait. It never really worked in the first place."

The poor guy subconsciously sniffed the handkerchief like he was hypnotized into doing so. Wondering how he could've fallen for such a cheap trick, his fellow kidnappers cursed him while facepalming themselves. But he didn't fall asleep.

"You see... this might be your first kidnapping attempt so I'll have to break it to you," Zeirenne said, meeting their eyes while flicking her pointer finger as if she was lecturing them, "Chloroform doesn't work like wonders. If you gassed my room for a good ten minutes, that might have done the trick. But covering my nose for a few seconds? Na-ah."

She shrugged, "What?" after seeing all their confused expressions. Having their kidnap victim lecturing them at their own job surely didn't click and so it took them a couple of minutes to let the situation buffer. The eldest looking-one with the gun, Luisito as they called him, snapped them all back to reality.

"Sh!t!" he growled before facing the men on the backseat, "Don't let her get into your heads, idiots! Grab her arms!"

Still a bit confused, the two men followed his order, grabbing Zeirenne on both arms to which she only shrugged. Luisito then faced the driver, "Drive you fool!"

The car started moving once again with a tense atmosphere covering the whole ride. Everyone was starting to get fidgety.

After a few moments, Luisito turned his head to the back seat of the van, "How's the contact going, Jonas?" he asked the young boy who's been on his laptop ever since their getaway.

"I can't find their numbers."

The two men lost their grip on Zeirenne's arms as she turned her body towards the boy. She even leaned her arms on the headrest to get a good view.

"What numbers do you need?"

The boy met her gaze just to evade her question, "Give me your phone."

"Yeah sure..." Zeirenne reached out for her pockets feeling nothing, "Oh right... I left it at home."

Crunchy curses echoed around the car.

"You need to call someone to ask for ransom?" she said while tapping her chin, "Well..."

Everyone waited for her suggestion. Already accepting the fact that she might just be someone who's crazy enough to help her own abductors.

"You can call our costumer service center," she said and they all had to rub their heads, "What? It's not like we have a choice?"

The boy on the backseat searched for ZA International's costumer service hotline before looking in front to meet his fellowmen's eyes.

"I have it. It's here."

Luisito cleared his throat before giving a go signal, "Fine. Then let's do what we can... and make sure you shut your mouth," he pointed his gun to Zeirenne again. She shrugged her shoulders before making a zipping gesture on her mouth.

"Good Day! This is Zelenne Asia International's Costumer Service Hotline. If you want to inquire about our services, please press one. If you have some complaints about our products, please press two. If you want to--"

"Just press 9," she interrupted after growing impatient.

The boy followed her advice and the car tensed once again. "Hello. I am ZA International's costumer service representative. How may I help you today?" A sweet voice started speaking on the line and they all looked at each other.

There was a pause on their side and so the sweet voice spoke once again, "Hello? Ma'am? Sir?"

Luisito opened his hand out and the young boy named Jonas handed him the phone with a mini voice changer attached.

"We have your CEO," he said and Zeirenne had to stifle her laughter after the voice changer altered Luisito's baritone voice into a tiny squeak. Even the other men had to cover their mouths to stop themselves.

"Oh. Can I ask you for proof, Ma'am?" the representative replied, giving everyone a harder time in keeping their laughter.

Flustered from this, Luisito shoved the phone in front of Zeirenne, urging her to speak. She furrowed her brows, pointing her lips as if saying they've been sealed. Luisito glared at her and she pouted before taking the call.

"Hello Miss Vanessa... this is Miss Lin."

. . .