Chapter Thirty Seven

I was chained to a chair. It all looked like I'd slept for years. My throat begged for water, my soul for food. I tried to trace back my steps, of how I got here. When I was at school, the fierce-looking invigilator had her eye on me all through the exam. I couldn't write because I had a lot on my mind. 

Then, I was with Damien. I rode on his bike. Did I? My memory is blurry. I just had to think, to make something of where I was and how I got there. I was with Damien, and I rode on his bike. We were followed by a black car and then... Kidnapped!

That was how many days ago! How long have I slept?!

I felt empty. Jude Kam would have been in Africa by now. Who would find me now? It's obvious he isn't behind the kidnapping. But who else has something against us?

I had to find Damien. I tried to move my head, the sackcloth was not only intoxicating but blocking me out of the world. I only saw darkness. "Damien. Are you there?!" I reasoned that since we were kidnapped together we'd be placed in the same "cage" but there was no response and soon I gave up on the fact that I was the only one in the room.

*

After some time, a door clicked open and the room was illuminated. I could see a dark figure placing a telephone to my ears. It was my dad's voice on the other end .

"Oh my God! Paige! Can you hear me?!"He sounded agitated.

"Dad,"I gasped. "come get me out of here dad."

"I will..." His voice was shaky. "I...I will do my best. Stay calm!"

The kidnapper took the phone away and named his price. I didn't hear exactly, but I knew it was some huge millions. Why would I get kidnapped? Would it have been my father's business contenders' plan to punish him?

He left and came back some moments later with someone else. I could tell immediately that it was Damien, I could recognise his silhouette through the dark cloth. I cried. I caused this.

He was placed at the far end of the room. With the lights on, I could tell when the kidnapper left the room.

"Damien,"I called out. 

"You'll be fine Paige."He said. "We just... got into the wrong hands."

"They billed my dad. He'll get us out of here as soon as possible."

"Hm."He moaned.

"Are you okay?"

"I am." He didn't look it, at least his posture. I guessed he was hiding the truth so I wouldn't be more worried. "Are you?"

"I'm good if you are."

"I'm sorry. I caused you all this. If you'd stayed away from me earlier, you wouldn't have been in this mess. I'm..."

"Enough!"He gasped. "Aren't you too tired to talk?"

"I can't stop talking when I an with you." I was taken aback by my words."Do you know what day it is?"

"We've spent two nights here. I can't tell."

"Oh my..."I groaned. "Your parents, they'd be worried."

"I've thought of that already. It's no big deal. I'll be fine anyway. We'll be fine, okay. Stay calm."

I was quiet for a while. I had a bad feeling, my instincts weren't pessimistic about our stay there. I tried to distract myself but the silence wasn't helping. Then I remembered a verse I loved, from the bible that I even made into a song. Unconscious, I began to recite out loud.

✝ Psalms 91:5

"I shalt not be afraid of the terror by night;

 nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; 

nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday..."

"...A thousand shall fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand; but it shall not come nigh me.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked." Damien joined in.

"Because I have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most high, my habitation."

Then I sang, the highest my strength could take. 

"Wow, I'm proud,"Damien said. "It's amazing. Why didn't you tell me about this before now?"

"Never remembered. Always skipped my mind. I loved that verse and I had to sing it."

"You're perfect Paige."

"And you made me."

"No. God did."

"And you complemented his work. You're the second god, okay?"

"I won't take that. "

"Whatever." That moment I forgot I was in a cage, that's the effect Damien has on me. I just knew i had to be with him for the rest of my life.

"I never thought I'd like anyone. Talkless a guy. But you, I don't know what to say."

"Rest. Or you'll faint again."He warned.

"Did I faint?"

"You just woke up. I've been up all day, fairy princess."

"That's Liam's word!"

He laughed, not the usual type anyway.

The door creaked open again. The kidnapper walked over to me and snapped off my chains. He removed the sackcloth over my head and helped me up. I saw Damien limp on the ground, he probably had been tortured, he had blood stains on his shirt. Oh my...

I had expected the masked man to unchain him too but he didn't. Instead, he held my arms so strong that I couldn't break free and made some signals to two other masked men who stood by the door. They walked in, each holding a door. I shrieked. He stuffed my mouth with a piece of cloth. They were pointing the gun at Damien. He was so calm, I wished I could warn him. I struggled but his hold was just too strong. Besides, I was so weak, having starved for two days.

"Little girl, stay calm and I'll let you out. Unfortunately, I can't let the both of you out of here." The man in the mask who held the gun cackled. He seemed to be the leader of the gang. "I really do have a heart. But it's fun watching kids in love. He's ours now."

Then bang. He shot Damien. Then I didn't know what happened to my heart. If I explained it just the way it happened, I'd say I went down with him. But there was a big difference between life and death. Damien was dead, I only slept.