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This Christmas	By : LittleWing Category: Twilight Series > Slash > Edward/Jasper Views: 3258 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-This Christmas
- 1
I shivered slightly despite the thick winter coat I wore as I glanced at the steel grey sky hanging over Seattle. Living in Forks had prepared me for unpredictable weather, and the cold surrounding the city was nothing new to me—the feeling of dread that had sprung up on the drive to Seattle was. Walking around spouting about how something felt off was more my younger sister’s, Alice, area expertise. She was close to infamous in Forks for “knowing” when something was going to happen. Despite feeling as though something was going to go wrong with the trip, I went and kept silent.

I looked over at my shopping companion, Jasper Whitlock, and tried not to laugh. Jasper hated shopping almost as much as I did, and it being the week before Christmas didn’t help—too many people. The look, a mixture of horror and pure concentration, on Jasper’s face was most amusing.

We had spent half the morning at the mall. Not only had that trip been a wash, not a thing in the place right for Alice or for Bella Sawn, my girlfriend, but it had been over crowded and too highly priced to boot. Grabbing lunch in the form of cookies and coffee, Jasper and I had headed for downtown in the hopes of more unique shops.

“How can you not know what Alice might like?” Jasper muttered as we made our way from the coffee shop to an odd little book store. Crystals, books, candles, and odd bits of jewelry were placed carefully in the front window. An amethyst ring hanging from a bit of fishing line on a manufactured twig had caught Jasper’s eye on our way to lunch.

“She’s my sister, Jazz, I’m not programmed to know all of her likes and dislikes…you’re her boyfriend,” I shot back as we walked through the bookstore’s front door.

The smell of sandalwood hit us before we could get in to the store. I cringed and blew air out hard through my nose—it was not my favorite scent. I watched as Jasper approached the counter with more purpose and confidence than he normally exuded. I moved away from the smoking incense burner and toward a display of scarves. Some were brightly colored; others were sheer with solid imprints of stars, suns and moons; others were striped with many colors. I carefully ran my long fingers over the fabrics—they were soft. Guessing at their expense, I moved away from the display.

Bella would never have worn one and if she suspected that it cost a lot of money she would have pitched a fit; although the sheer purple one with a mixture of suns and moons on it would have looked nice hung the wall.

A long shelf full of candles sat between two taller units full of books. I could not even begin to tell what any one candle smelled like, as they all blended together and assaulted my nose before I got within five feet of the display. Nothing in the store called to me, not even the beautiful handmade jewelry.

“What’d’ya think?” Jasper drawled outside the shop, showing me the amethyst set he’d purchased for Alice.

“It’s beautiful, Jazz, she should love it,” I said.

“Where to now?” Jasper asked, as we stared up the street scanning the shops for the next stop.

One store stood out to me as we stared up the street. It was a small sliver of a sign that simply said “Curious Books.” If it was the kind of shop I was hoping it was, I was certain that I’d find Bella the perfect gift inside. “There,” I said, moving toward the small store before I even bothered to made sure Jasper was with me.

The store’s window was barely two feet wide and only had the store’s name etched on to the glass. Excited, I pulled the door open—the bells at the door’s hinge jingling as it moved. I smiled as I inhaled the smell of the old books. It was a hundred times better than the new age store Jasper had insisted on visiting.

The front few rows of the store housed newer books. Used hard bound copies of Stephen King novels and other contemporary authors I really didn’t read. The middle section of the store held slightly older books. And the back of the store held the books that I was interested in—the older copies of much older authors and playwrights. Carefully I scanned over the titles. I skipped over the titles I knew Bella would never read, like The Wizard of Oz and Through the Looking Glass. I’d read them, and they were good, but Bella’s taste was much different than that.

On the last shelf in the back of the store I found several hard copies of Jane Austin’s works and some collections of Shakespeare’s sonnets. My fingers hovered momentarily over Jane Austin’s “Jayne Ayre” before grabbing the book of Shakespeare’s sonnets from the shelf. I’d read through the titles to the books Bella already owned and this was one she did not have, and I couldn’t wait to read some of them to her.

“What’d you find?” Jasper asked, waiting for me near the front of the store.

“A book of Shakespeare’s sonnets,” I answered setting it down on the counter.

The clerk appeared, rang up the book, boxed it and wished us a ‘Happy Holidays’ before disappearing as quickly as she’d appeared. We stared after the path she’d taken before sharing a stunned look and a shrug. It was most definitely a curious book store.

“Can we go home now?” Jasper asked as we stepped from the warmth of the odd little store to the cold air of the great outdoors.

“Yes,” I answered, happy for the first time that day with the trip to Seattle.

We headed back to the parking structure where we’d left Jasper’s jeep chatting about the things we’d gotten Bella and Alice the previous year for Christmas. Laughing at how perfect the lump of coal Emmett, my brother, had jokingly given his girlfriend had been. She’d glowered for the entire day…until Emmett gave her his real gift, a one carrot engagement ring. The smile that had lit her face made Alice and I very grateful that Emmett already had his own place—no one would have gotten any sleep if he didn’t.

Thin fingers wove through my hair, wrenching me back against a firm body as we rounded the corner to the side stair entrance to the structure. “Jasper,” I hissed through clenched teeth. Something akin to a laugh sounded in my ear. My breath caught hard in my throat when my head was forced to tilt back and something very cold, hard and sharp was placed just behind my jaw. I closed my eyes in disbelief at the sudden situation.

“Yeah,” Jasper said his voice still conversational telling me that he hadn’t turned around yet. “Whoa!” he hissed. I forced my eyes to open. Jasper was facing me and whoever had grabbed me. Shocked widened his blue eyes beyond any expression I had ever seen on his face. “What do you want?” He asked moving toward us. I could tell that he was hoping the same thing I was that the guy would just take what little cash we had between us and leave.

“We’ve been watching you two since you left the mall,” the man said, his voice harsh in my ear. He tugged me closer, and I let out a slow breath. “Your parents have money.” It wasn’t a question.

Jasper looked as though the guy had hit him with a brick. Not only had this guy followed us around for the day, but he had a partner and thought that we were both from wealthy families. I wanted to shake my head, snort a laugh at the guy and let him know that not everyone who didn’t commit crimes to make a living was rich.

“Not really,” he said trying to sound casual. It wasn’t going to get us out of trouble, but perhaps it would make them think that they picked the wrong kids.

“Vicki, baby, why don’t you take Blondie here up to get his car,” the man holding me drawled. A redhead with a body that would almost have made Emmett’s fiancé jealous suddenly appeared from behind where my captor held me.

Tremors of fear tried to roll through my body as she stopped next to us. A smile adorned her ruby red lips as she scratched a finger nail down my cheek before locking vibrant green eyes with Jasper. In a walk that Angelina Jolie practically had patented, Vicki sauntered toward Jasper. “You try to fight me and James will kill your friend. We have five minutes…so move,” she whispered almost seductively in Jasper’s ear as she weaved her slender arm around his. Turning him toward the door, she pulled him away from me.

I shivered in fear as I watched Jasper being led in to the building by Vicki—it wasn’t the cold causing it this time as it had earlier. James’ breath was hot on the exposed skin of my neck. I felt sick. I’d known this trip was going to end badly. I should have said something to Jasper. Even now, with a knife to my throat and my best friend forced to get his car for the get away vehicle, I knew that Jasper would have teased me that Alice’s talent is genetic or rubbing off on me.

“How much do you think your parents will pay to get you back?” James asked gruffly in my ear. I fought back another shiver of fear. “I think that they’ll pay half a million to get you back before Christmas. Your friend on the other hand…” James smiled against the skin of my neck.

I closed my eyes again and tried to push my new fear that Jasper might not survive this with me aside. My family could easily pay almost any amount James and Vicki demanded, but Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, like many families in and around Forks, lived very humbly. There was no way Jasper’s parents would be able to get much together to get him back. Jasper had saved all year, working at Newton’s shop and as a trail guide during the tourist season, just to afford what he’d bought Alice. I swallowed hard, the point of the knife digging uncomfortably against the skin of my neck, as I thought of Alice. Even though Jasper’s family might not be able to pay enough to bring him home I was grateful that she was not with me. There was no telling what James would do to her. Jasper and I could handle what they were going to do to us, but Alice…

“W- wh-what about him?” I stammered, afraid and curious what Vicki and her partner had in store for Jasper. My legs were beginning to beg me to move them and my neck was growing stiff from the awkward way James was holding me. The fingers tangled in my hair relaxed their stiff hold and began to knead at my scalp. I resisted the instinctual urge to pull away from the unwanted touch. The knife pressed harder in to the flesh of my neck reminding me to be careful not to literally slit my own throat.

James suddenly drew in a sharp breath. “Your hair…is so soft…smells so very good. Do you think the stuff you use will work on mine as well as it does on yours?” He laughed, harsh and almost barking in my ear.

“Time to go,” he said, taking the knife from my throat and pulling me toward Jasper’s jeep.

Jasper watched in angered silence as James forced me in to the back seat of his small jeep. Vicki sat with a smug smile etched in a harsh line across her otherwise beautiful face next to Jasper in the front.

“Go where she tells you,” James said from the seat behind Jasper. “No stops,” he surged forward suddenly, grabbing a fist full of Jasper’s collar length blond locks, pulling him against the seat and slipped the knife under his chin, “no drawing attention to us, no funny business or one of you gets hurt…I’ll start with him and then you.”

“Y-yes,” Jasper said, not daring to nod his head in understanding of the threat to me if he did anything other than what they wanted.

Just as quickly as he’d grabbed Jasper, James let go. He settled on to the bench seat in the back of the jeep, pulling me closer to him. “Seatbelt,” James hissed. I started slightly, but with shaking hands quickly fastened the lap belt across my hips. In the front seat, Vicki and Jasper quickly complied with James’ order.

“Where to?” Jasper asked the beautiful redhead, tersely.

Vicki smiled at the tone in Jasper’s voice. “Straight three blocks,” she said reminding me of the TomTom mounted on the dash of Esme’s car. “Then make a left.” Jasper carefully pulled the jeep in to the traffic of the street and followed Vicki’s directions.

My stomach sank lower as I watched the better parts of the city disappear…along with the higher volume traffic, and the possibility of a traffic accident or being pulled over for some traffic violation caused by Vicki’s directions. Businesses that had been shining spots of shopping, sat empty, boarded up and crumbling. It wasn’t long before houses, paint dulled by years of Seattle’s mostly wet weather, came in to view. More houses than not looked similar to the businesses we’d passed moments ago.

“Do you have a phone?” James asked, leaning on the seat to whisper in my ear. An involuntary shudder ran down my spine as his warm breath grazed across the lobe of my ear. I nodded, unable to from the word needed to answer the man leaning in to me. “Where is it?”

I was afraid to answer him, but more afraid not to. “It’s in my pocket.”

“Which pocket?” He asked, his hand already patting down the front pockets of my jeans. Before I could even manage an answer James slid his hand between the seat and my ass—fingers digging at the pockets.

“F-front c-coat pocket,” I managed to spit out. His hand molded to my backside and was doing more than searching for my cell phone. I tried to move away from him, but the seat belt and his black stare held me fast. He didn’t look away as his other hand came to my coat. He slowly slipped his hand in the pocket on the furthest side of my body from him. He moved his hand carefully around the inside of the pocket for a moment before withdrawing it—empty. He repeated his actions on the other pocket. He grinned as his hand pulled from the pocket with my cell phone held firmly in his fingers.

“Thank you,” he whispered, breath once again brushing across my ear. He leaned away from me—eyes on the cell phone in his free hand. His other hand stayed firmly planted between the seat and my body. I tried to ignore it. “Expensive little machine,” James mumbled as his fingers deftly punched keys.

“Pull in the drive to the last house on the block to the right,” Vicki’s voice suddenly cut through the strange bubble that had settled over the backseat. Jasper did as he was told. As he placed the jeep in park, Jasper stole a glance at James and me. I tried not to look as though James was grabbing my ass.

Jasper glared in to the rearview mirror. “What now?”

“Now we go inside.”

“Slowly,” James warned us as he removed his hand from the back pocket of my jeans.

I moved slowly, as James had warned, to unfasten the seatbelt across my lap. Jasper moved slightly faster. My hands shook slightly as I they closed in on the button. “You can move faster than that,” James nearly hissed as his nimble fingers pressed the button and the belt clicked. “Let’s go.” He grabbed my arm in a bruising grip and pulled me from the jeep.

“Inside,” Vickie said, sharply, once again lacing her slender arms around Jasper’s.

The house, like the neighborhood, appeared old and as though most of the people had moved away, been evicted, or been condemned. The paint on the wooden siding was a faded shade of dark blue. The flower gardens were over run with weeds and dead flowers. The rotted wood of the front porch looked as though it would not take any weight at all.

James’ grip did not let up as he dragged me through the front door of the run down house behind Vicki and Jasper. Vicki already had Jasper up the stairs to the next floor as James closed the front door.

The inside was only marginally better than the outside. The living room was carpeted in what was once a cream or beige color, but was now stained varying shades of brown and black. The dining room just beyond the living room was missing large sections of linoleum, exposing the plywood floor beneath. There was no furniture, which almost surprised me. There was also not as much trash as I would have suspected either.

“What are you going to do with Jasper?” I asked as he pulled me toward the stairs. They creaked and moaned as we moved up them. He didn’t answer my question. “At the parking ramp you knew that my parents could pay…”

“And that his couldn’t?!” he said mockingly, pulling me up the last two steps before slamming me in to the wall at the top of the steps. The drywall gave slightly behind me. His harsh grip on my arm suddenly disappeared as his other hand rested harshly on my chest. I was transfixed by the rage, humor, and I couldn’t tell what else in his eyes, and missed the hand that had been wrapped around my arm suddenly flying at my face. I braced for the blow. He laughed.

Looking at him though half open eyes I could see his hand frozen inches from my face. I dared a glance at his face to see his eyes alight with delight at my fear. Taking advantage of my shock, James moved his threatening hand closer. He ghosted it over my face, from my eyes to my jaw. His smile widened as I tried to move away from his hand. He followed my attempts to jerk my head from his ghosting hand. “Ah-ah,” he scolded softly, allowing the tips of his fingers to touch and trace along my jaw, “that’s not very nice.” Two of his fingers pulled across my lips before dipping down my chin and tracing the length of my neck. He leaned in close. “That’s better.”

“James,” Vicki’s sultry voice called from down the hall, “take it easy on the boy.”

James laughed again, harsh and breathy against my face. I tried to pull back, further in to the wall, but his fingers tracing light lines over my neck suddenly dug in. My hands flew up to grip his wrist in an attempt to wrench his hand from my throat. He laughed again.

“Right now,” he whispered, pulling me impossibly closer to him, “I’d worry more about myself than my poor friend.” Our lips almost touched as he spoke. Fear of what he could do to me right then as I gasped for air against his constricting hand began to consume me. He smiled as though he wanted to do more before he shoved me back in to the wall. The hand on my neck disappeared.

“What are you going to do to me?” I whispered, rubbing at my throat as he pushed me up the hall. He snickered, but did not answer the question.

Vickie waited just inside the room James steered me toward. With one last shove from James I was in the room. It was large with several areas of cracked and chipped paint with exposed studs. The window was covered in newspaper. A small amount of the already muted sunlight filtered in. Other than James and Vicki the room was empty.

“Where’s Jasper?” I asked, afraid of what the sultry redhead had done with him. James and I were away from her and Jasper long enough for her to have hurt him or worse.

“Oh he’s close enough to hear us,” she said coming close to me, “don’t worry.”

James had yet to let go of my arm that he’d recaptured in the hall. I fought against the urge to yank my arm from his too tight grip. The thought of being throttled or tossed in to more walls kept my normally vibrant temper in check. Vicki smiled viciously at me and held her hand out to James. Without a word he fished my cell phone from his jeans pocket and slid it onto her palm.

“This takes video?” She asked.

“It’s a camera phone.”

She wanted to hit me. James snickered as he moved behind me. He grabbed at my shoulders, slid his hands down my arms to wrap around my wrists. I closed my eyes in preparation for the blow that Vicki was sure to deliver. It did not come. Instead something coarse was wrapped around my wrists. I opened my eyes to find Vicki not looking at me, but quickly punching buttons on the phone. The rope used to bind my wrists together was pulled tight—I let out a hiss of pain. James’ breath was at my neck a second later. “I could teach you how to appreciate that.”

“No thanks,” I mumbled.

“Too bad,” he said, letting go of my bound hands, “would’ve been fun.”

“For who?” It was out of my mouth before I even had a chance to think. The answer to the question was more than clear—James would have had all the fun.

He spun me around to face him, the room continuing to spin after I stopped. My stomach, both, lurched and growled. James let out a chuckle and grabbed my shoulder to steady me.

“Someone should have had more than coffee and a cookie for lunch.” He let go of me to tear a piece of duct tape from the roll he held in his other hand. They really had been watching us all day. My stomach immediately sank, and forgot about being empty. “We’re going to be calling mommy and daddy,” James said, reaching a hand behind my head to once again entwine his fingers in my hair, “don’t want them to think that you’re too cozy.” He pulled me closer to him. “Your hair really is very soft…almost silky,” he said; fingers once again kneading harshly at my scalp.

I was about to open my mouth and tell him to go to hell when his other hand came between us and covered my mouth with the silver tape. His fingers smoothed the tape over my mouth, pressing a little too firmly at the edges. I closed my eyes to keep him from seeing the pain he’d inflicted and my fear. He laughed. The hand in my hair tightened again as I was pulled closer to him. To my horror and shock the hand that had been pressing hard lines over the tape on my mouth came to my waist. His fingers pressed in as he forced the lower half of my body flush to his. My eyes snapped open in alarm.

He was too close. It made me uncomfortable. Bella was one of the few people I’ve ever had this close to me. The thought of her made we wonder if I was going to be able to see her again. Tears started to sting at my eyes.

James leaned in closer to me, his eyes closed, a smile on his lips and hands firmly planted in my hair and on my waist. He ran his nose along my jaw, breathing deeply as he went. “Your fear,” he whispered after a long moment, “is delicious.” He pulled back slightly, still too close, eyes open and staring at me. “Do you have any idea how green your eyes are?” I glared at him. He leaned in close to my ear. “It’s really too bad that I won’t be able to keep you.” He pulled away again, laying a kiss on the tape covering my lips as he went.

“Enough play time, James, it’s time,” Vicki said from somewhere behind us.

With a look akin to disappointment James turned me, roughly, to face away from him. His hands slid gently up the sides of my arms to rest atop my shoulders. His touch was heavy as his hands pushed down on my shoulders until my knees began to bend. Seconds later my knees met the rough carpet covering the floor. His hands did not move.

“Mr. Cullen,” Vicki’s sultry voice said in to my phone. She smiled. “It doesn’t matter who I am, Mr. Cullen,” she gave James a sharp nod, “what matters is why I have your son’s cell phone.” She pointed the camera on the phone at me. A camera noise sounded, signaling that a picture had been taken. Punching a couple buttons, she put the phone back up to her ear. “I sent you a picture.”

The pause was not long. She held the phone away from her ear slightly as dad yelled in to the other line. I could hear his voice, but not what he was saying. Vicki’s smile widened. “No, as you can plainly see he cannot talk at the moment. … I want half a million dollars in non-sequential, small bills. You have until Christmas to get it around. …If you don’t meet the deadline then your son and his blond friend will stay missing. Oh, and Mr. Cullen, if you call the police…well you know the rest of that threat. Call your son’s phone when the money’s ready and we’ll arrange the drop. We’ll send pictures everyday as proof that they live and we still have them. One last parting picture, shall we,” she said, voice sickly sweet as though she’d just arranged for Jasper and I to stay the week at her house instead of ransoming us.

At her suggestion of another picture, James fisted a hand in my hair, pulling me up and in to his hip. His knife was once again pressed against my throat. I blinked back tears from the pain of being pulled up by my hair. The phone’s camera noise went off signaling the picture had been taken. I watched as she once again punched a couple buttons and then pocketed the phone.

“Put him in the closet,” she said heading for the door. “I’m going to get food. Don’t need them starving on us…and, James, no playing with the hostage.”

He dropped the knife away from my throat, his fingers leaving my hair at the same time, a disgruntled growl escaping him. My body sank down in to as much of a ball as I could form in relief that the threat James had just posed was gone. I almost wanted to laugh at how surreal the situation felt.

Firm fingers wrapped around the upper portion of one of my arms and pulled. My feet stumbled as they were forced to help push my body up right. Wordlessly, James led me across the room to a door…that had to be the closet. I prayed that it was a walk in. He didn’t reach for the knob, to my surprise. He gently maneuvered me in to the wall next to the door instead. Pushing me flush against the wall, he stepped closer pressing his body tight against mine.

His tongue flicked out to lick at the back of my ear. “Are you sure you don’t want to me teach you how to appreciate your situation?” I could feel him smile against my neck. Seconds later fingers were digging at the edges of the tape, peeling it away from my mouth.

“I’m sure that I don’t want you anywhere near me,” I gasped as soon as the tape was no longer covering my mouth.

He snarled, pulled me away from the wall and yanked the door open. “Have fun with your friend then.” He shoved me in to the closet and slammed the door closed.

I fell hard to the floor of the closet. My left cheek glanced off the rough carpeting seconds before my shoulder drove hard in to the flooring. I didn’t bother to stop the cried grunt of pain that escaped me. My breath came in heavy pants as I lay there trying to force my eyes to adjust to the blackness of the closet. The tape James had peeled most of the way off before tossing me through the door hung loosely from one side of my mouth. The rope was still too tight around my wrists.

“Edward?” The concern and relief in Jasper’s voice was unmistakable. “Are you all right?” Fabric rustled somewhere in the dark as he moved slowly from his position in the closet.

“I’m fine,” I ground out through a wave of pain from my shoulder. Heat roared through the top of my shoulder down to my elbow. The tears that I’d denied moments ago ran freely from my eyes. “They called my dad.”

“And my family...Did they call my family?” His hands patted audibly along the floor.

“No.” He was getting closer; the soft patting of his hands against the floor was getting louder. “They mentioned you to my dad.” I could almost feel his relief and disappointment as the tips of his fingers came in to contact with my coat. “They made it sound like if my dad pays they’ll let us both go.”

“Don’t be naïve, Edward,” Jasper said harshly. “They aren’t going to let me leave…hell they might not even let you leave.”

“I know,” I breathed, pulling at the rope around my wrists. “But I just don’t want to think about being trapped with that guy.” I gave up and dropped my head to the floor.

“I’m more worried about the girl,” he whispered. I wanted to laugh. They had us locked in a closet in the dark and I was tied up, I doubt they care if we say something bad about them. “She’s so cold…”

“I’d much rather she gropes me than him!”

“You haven’t moved,” he noted, ignoring my declaration. Concern laced his voice. He wanted to reach out and touch me again—I could feel his hesitation.

“I can’t,” I admitted. “My hands are tied behind me.”

Wordlessly his hands were once again on me; searching for my hands. I tried not to shudder at his touch. His touch was much lighter than James’ had been, but after the intimate way James’ hands had moved over me I really didn’t want to be touched for a while. Jasper’s fingers fumbled with the tight knot in the dark. He apologized every time he bumped my shoulder. After a few minutes the rope loosened enough for me to slip my hands free. I rolled to my back, bringing my right hand up to yank the remaining edge of tape stuck to my face off.

New waves of pain emanated from my other shoulder. The pain was hot and electric as it moved down my arm and up my neck. My breath came in gasps. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to force the pain to stop.

“How bad is it?” Jasper asked, still close to me.

“I don’t know…remember that time I broke my finger?”

“Yeah.”

“Multiply that by a thousand and light it on fire.”

“Ouch,” he muttered.

Hour long minutes passed before the pain stopped radiating around my shoulder, down my arm and up in to my neck and I was able to breathe normally. Dad would have to do any x-ray to see what they had done to my shoulder…that is if I ever got to see him again. Vicki would probably be slightly upset that I was injured being the cash cow that I was for them, but James would love it. I wouldn’t be able to get away from him or really fight back against him if he decided to molest me. I was hoping and praying that Vicki wouldn’t let him.

The closet door flew open, missing my feet by inches. “All right, boys,” Vicki said stepping inside, flashlight in hand, “Time for dinner before we find a new home.”

We blinked against the sudden invasion of light. I groaned and let my head drop back to the floor. Getting up was not something I was looking forward to doing, not with the pain dully circulating in my shoulder. Carefully, I rolled on to my pained shoulder—biting my lip against the fresh wave of pain. With my good arm I pushed myself to my knees.

“What in the hell happened to him?!” Vicki yelled at Jasper.

“Why don’t you ask your boyfriend?” Jasper spat at her, as he climbed to his feet.

She glared at him. Vicki stood in the center of the doorway to the closet, her barely five foot five inch frame standing at full height. Jasper stood a couple feet away, his six foot three inch frame drawn up to full height. Neither flinched or backed away from the glares they were giving each other. I stifled at laugh. They looked a bit silly; an odd sort of David and Goliath, which one was which I wasn’t sure.

I moved to stand beside Jasper, placing the hand of my good arm on his shoulder. “Let it go,” I whispered. James wouldn’t need an excuse to beat, wound or kill my best friend—from the looks of it neither would Vicki—and I didn’t want him to give either of them a reason. More selfishly than that, I didn’t want to be stuck with the two of them without Jasper. “Please, just let it go, Jazz.”

Jasper looked away from Vicki and stared hotly at me for a long moment. His blue eyes searched my face, for I don’t know what, but he lowered his eyes and bowed his head slightly. Vicki giggled. I glared at her. A new light danced in her too green eyes and I wondered what she was thinking. Probably that Jasper and I harbored secret lustful feelings for each other. She would not have been farther from how we felt about each other. The only lustful feelings being harbored by anyone were the ones James made very clear he had for me.

Vicki moved from the door frame of the closet to stand sideways inside. She motioned with a hand that we were to exit. Jasper placed a hand on my back and gave me a gentle push forward. His eyes were glued to Vicki as he forced me to move ahead of him. I didn’t trust her any further than he did, but we needed her on our side. At least I needed her on my side…to keep James in check. Her eyes followed me as I moved past her.

“Did the two of you enjoy your time alone?” James asked, grabbing hold of the upper portion of my left arm. I bit my lip and grunted in pain as he pulled me away from the closet. Heat once again radiated through my shoulder and arm. James frowned as he forced me down the stairs to the main floor of the house. “Guess you didn’t let him teach anything about being tied up either, huh?”

“We have girlfriends,” I grumbled, doing my best to ignore the burning pain from my left shoulder.

“Sure you do,” he murmured, pulling me toward the kitchen/dining area just off the living room. Pain shot down my shoulder like an electrical current, bypassing my elbow and not stopping until it hit my finger tips. I tried to stifle the scream that wanted to come from the pain James had just induced in my shoulder. Tired and failed. I clenched my teeth together and tried to breathe through my nose to force the pain to lessen. It was a useless attempt as James spun me around to face him.

His eyes were a mixture of delight and confusion. My breath came in pants against the pain in my shoulder, and I fought my knees on their desire to fold. James let go of my arm too quickly and another wave of pain coursed through my arm—I let out another yelp. This time I did not try to remain on my feet and allowed gravity to pull me to the floor. My right arm grasped my left at the elbow and I glared up at James. This was his fault.

“What did you do to him this time?” Vicki asked in a near yell.

“I barely touched him!” He answered without taking his eyes off me. “Did I hurt you just now?”

“Yes…and no,” I grunted, pushing my feet under me so that I could stand.

“See,” he said, sounding like a second grader showing up a friend on the school playground. “I didn’t do anything to him other than drag his ass down here.”

“He was like that when I opened the closet, dumbass,” she scolded back. “So, I ask again, what did you do to him?”

“Nothing!” He shouted, turning to face her fully. “I put him in the closet like you told me to.”

“Before or after you tried to play whit him?”

“I can’t help that he’s clumsy, Vicki.”

“You two,” she snapped at me and Jasper, “what happened?”

“Your partner shoved Edward in to the closet. Edward fell hard on his shoulder. He’s been in pain ever since,” Jasper explained, glaring at James.

“You ass,” she hissed to James. She moved from the living room to the kitchen, hips sashaying slightly as she went. With deliberate movements she pulled food from a McDonald’s bag and placed it on the counter. On one side of the counter she placed a napkin, a medium drink, small fries, and a burger. She repeated the placing of food on the other side of the already laid out food. On her side of the counter she laid out another napkin and placed fries and chicken nuggets atop it. “We don’t want to starve you two to death. This will be the only meal you get for today, so I highly suggest you eat up.”

She didn’t watch to see if we believed her or not. She casually picked up a nugget, dipped in the sauce that came with the meal and took a bite. My stomach growled at the sight of food being eaten, and the aroma of the food waiting to be eaten. I didn’t look to see if Jasper would join in the meal as I approached the setting of food directly across from Vicki.

“Thank you,” I murmured picking up the foil wrapped burger. She smiled around a ketchup drenched French fry. My head spun when I tried to move my left arm to unwrap the burger from its packaging. I growled. Jasper gently touched my good arm before scooping up the burger and nimbly opening the packaging. He sat it back down on the counter and moved over to his own food. “Thanks, Jazz,” I whispered, picking up the burger and taking a bite.

James snatched up the food Vicki had left in a pile next to bag.

I could feel his eyes on me as we ate. I kept my eyes down, only looking at my food. His eyes did not waver from me despite my lack of looking at anything but the food in front of me. My stomach stopped grumbling loudly as I quickly worked my way through the almost too salty French fries before finishing off the burger and drink. James had been right…we should have had more than coffee and a cookie for lunch. But who in their right mind eats a full meal with the anticipation of being kidnapped? Had none of this happened we would have grabbed some semi-real food from a fast food place on our way back to Forks.

“Did you hit your face in the fall?” Vicki asked, startling me from my thoughts.

“Yes,” I said. She glared at James. Pursing her lips she stared between me and James; indecision written in her green eyes as they bounced from my face to James’. Anger and mischievousness flashed through her eyes as they locked on to me.

She reached for the McDonald’s bag. Reaching in to the bag she pulled out a small cardboard box. She turned her gaze to James as she spoke. “I hope that one apple pie is enough for the two of you.” James growled as she slid the box toward Jasper.

“Thank you,” he muttered.

James glared angrily at Vicki before turning his attention to Jasper. He watched with intense interest as Jasper carefully broke the pie in half. His eyes followed Jasper’s hand as he placed half of the pie on the empty napkin in front of me. Vicki watched James with an amused smile on her full lips as he watched Jasper and I eat the apple pie I could only assume was meant for him. A part of me relished eating the hand held pie knowing that it was his punishment for injuring me, the other part worried what and when his retribution would be. All delight at my injury had washed from his eyes. Pure unbridled anger burned behind his eyes as he glared at Vicki.

“When did you turn in to mom?” he growled at her before stuffing the trash from his dinner in the empty McDonald’s bag.

Vicki shrugged, grabbing the bag and tossing in her trash. “Finished?”

“Yes,” I said, gathering up the empty packaging from my food and placing it in the bag with the rest of the trash. Jasper did the same.

“Time to go,” she said, snatching up the now full McDonald’s bag. “James you and Blondie get to sit in the back. This one sits up front with me.”

Relived that she seemed to have taken charge somewhere along the way, I followed her from the kitchen. I was a little sad to be leaving the house, but at the same time I was glad. It would not have been a pleasant place to spend the night. There was no heat, no electricity, or running water. And I was pretty certain that my dad would have the GPS in my phone traced; which in my mind was more behind the reason we were being moved than the lack of amenities the house offered.

Jasper’s jeep stood out among a street of mostly empty houses, and completely empty drive ways. It would not have mattered if my dad traced the phone call or not, eventually someone would have noticed a vehicle parked in the drive way of an abandoned house. Though I think that, that eventuality would be around the time they smelled our rotting corpses.

As the four of us, Vicki in the lead, Jasper at my side and James behind us, headed for the jeep I couldn’t help but wonder what dad would tell Jasper’s parents. Probably that we decided to stay the night in a motel and would be heading home in the morning—that would buy him enough time to find out that we were still alive, but not explain why he didn’t call or show up the next day. Then they’d probably think that I lost him, killed him or he wrecked the jeep. I bet that Esme would tell them that Jasper wanted to stay with us for a few days, but he’d be home in plenty of time for Christmas. I had my doubts that we’d be home in time for Christmas…if we ever got to go home at all.

Strong arms suddenly snaked around my waist, yanking me back away from the ever nearing jeep and Jasper. For a fleeting moment I struggled against the arms holding me fast. One of the arms let go and gripped my left shoulder lightly. I screamed against the sudden rush of pain. A second later the other hand let go of my waist and covered my mouth. I stopped struggling and concentrated on breathing through the pain engulfing my shoulder.

“Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing, James?” Vicki snarled from the driver’s side of the jeep.

“He’s sitting in the back with me, or we’re not going anywhere,” he answered, letting go of my shoulder and mouth, grabbing my good arm.

Wordlessly, Jasper opened the passenger door to the front seat and climbed in. Vicki’s scowl deepened as she slid behind the wheel and started the jeep.

“Maybe I will keep you when this is all over,” James muttered, pulling me toward the back seat of the jeep.

It was our third night of captivity and our fourth abandoned location. It was far enough out of the city that after our pictures were taken Vicki had to drive more than thirty minutes back in to Seattle to get a signal strong enough for the phone to work—which I was more than certain was a lie. James was beginning to relish the daily trek Vicki had to make back to the city…it meant that he could harass me without Vicki getting in his way.

The first day at this location, a cabin somewhere just outside of Seattle, James came for me as soon as he was sure that Vicki was too far away to turn around. Though the cabin contained furniture we were not allowed on it—like the family dog on new furniture. That was fine with me considering the layer of dust coating the drop cloths over the few pieces there were of furniture each one was most likely full of dust mites, spiders and who knew what else. The first night Jasper and I settled for a small amount of open space near the kitchen/dining area.

James had spent the night and much of the morning watching me; it was uncomfortable. When it was time for pictures and he was allowed near me to tie Jasper up, he radiated near euphoria. I was not looking forward to Vicki’s departure. She took three pictures, one of Jasper alone, one of me alone, and one of the two of us. She had James set us side by side, me unbound with duct tape covering my mouth and my injured arm tied up to show I was injured and Jasper bound and gagged, for the last picture. She had left shortly after that.

I tried not to follow James as he paced in hurried strides in front of the window that over looked the driveway, casting glances between me and the world on the other side of the window; but just could not help myself. I knew that he’d come for me the moment he was certain that Vicki was gone. He had to make a pass at me. It had been two days since he’d been able to get closer to me than what Vicki would allow for the pictures and it was driving him insane…I could tell; even Jasper had begun to trust Vicki over James.

Even though he’d injured my shoulder beyond anything I’d ever done before I almost preferred James’ rough unwanted advances to his stares of longing. At least one night with the way that he was staring at me, I was afraid that he’d drag me in to a secluded spot despite Vicki’s careful control over him and do things to me that I definitely did not want to have done to me by him or any other male for that matter. I stayed closer to Jasper after that night.

His pacing stopped. He stared out the window for minute long seconds before turning to face us. James showed no emotion or intention on his face as he stalked from the window to us. I was surprised and scared at the same time. He had at least an hour to do whatever he wanted to me while Vicki was gone, and he showed no delight or anger or planning of what he intended to do to me in that time on his face.

He extended his hand to me. “Come with me,” he said in a flat, calm voice.

I stared at his hand for a long moment. Beside me, Jasper grunted beneath the tape. I didn’t have to hear what he was trying to say to know what Jasper meant: Don’t trust James.

“I can force you, but I’d much rather you be willing,” James said not moving his offered hand. I didn’t move. “Would it be easier for you if I threatened to hit him until you decide to come with me?” He dropped his hand and moved closer to Jasper, his other hand ready to strike.

Before he could move to strike Jasper, I moved forward. James stopped and turned his full attention back to me. He smiled and once again stretched a hand out to me. I didn’t look at Jasper to see the disapproval I knew was in his eyes, nor did I look at James and the expectant look I was certain was in his eyes. I carefully placed my right hand in his and allowed him to pull me to my feet.

My breath caught in my chest and refused to move as he pulled me tight against his body for an odd sort of hug. His hands ran up and down my back, and were careful not to get too close to my left shoulder. Almost reluctantly James pulled away from me. Both of his hands captured my right hand and he began pulling me toward the couch. I shuffled carefully along with his gentle tug—my mind racing to figure out what he was up to.

He was being far too gentle to me to merely take what he wanted from me. Even his threat to beat Jasper was kind…in an odd sort of way. The first day he would have just grabbed me, hauled me to my feet and forced me to wherever it was he wanted me to go. Up until a moment ago he had used me against Jasper…it was all too odd.

I could feel Jasper’s eyes on us as James led us away from him. He would have gladly taken the blows from James if it kept the man away from me. And I would have done exactly what I was doing to protect him from being beaten. Calling him my best friend had not felt right in the last couple of years. We’d been close since his parents moved from Houston, Texas to Forks when we were in the first grade. Brother was more the word that came to mind when I thought of Jasper. I should have objected to him dating Alice, but they were just so right together that there was nothing to object to.

My legs bumped in to the edge of the couch stopping my thoughts. James was already seated, hands still firmly covering my good hand. I glanced at Jasper. He wasn’t looking at us. His eyes were cast down at the floor a look like none I had ever seen etched on his face. I closed my eyes and turned back to face James.

As my eyes slowly peeled open to the man seated on the dusty old couch, I heard his breath hitch. My body went stiff. I didn’t like the sound. I had done the same thing over the summer when Bella had taken her shirt off while we were fooling around in my room in appreciation of her body. Her milk white skin had been even more flawless than I had imagined it would be…and far, far softer than that of her face and arms. Her breasts, still encased in her creamy pink bra, were the perfect size and unlike other girls they appeared more of the same size. My eyes had traveled up and down her body more times than necessary, but I didn’t want to forget the look of her as she blushed from my stare, or when I pulled her close to my own bare chest and held her whispering how beautiful she was.

I didn’t move as he stared at me. He had liked something I had done in the seconds it had taken me to cast a look at Jasper and back again. My arm suddenly felt heavy. I suddenly felt sick and unable to move. I knew that James liked me from day one, but to have it brought to my attention in such a subtle and sexual way was unexpected. Okay, so I was probably pushing the sexual aspect of it, but given the way he’d laid his hands on me the first day I don’t think it was much of a stretch.

“Sit with me,” James whispered, tugging gently on my arm.

Stiffly my body gave way to his demand and sank to the couch. It was surprisingly soft under the stiff looking tarp covering it. Cautious of my bad arm, James slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. Once I was all but seated on his lap, James reached up to run his hand through my hair.

“So very soft,” he mumbled. He once again ran his nose along my jaw, inhaling deeply as he moved. I tried not to shiver or other wise give a sign that could be misconstrued as pleasure. It was down right creepy to me. Sure I’d done things like that with Bella, but to have a man doing that and saying the things he was…it did not make me comfortable. “I want you to stay when this over.”

I tried to pull away. His grip tightened around my waist and in my hair. I froze once more.

“Don’t,” he warned. He pulled back slightly continuing to hold me still. “I don’t want you to be afraid.” The hand around my waist loosened slightly as the one tangled in my hair let go completely. His hand shook slightly as he brought it to my face to peel back the tape he’d placed there an hour ago. “You are a very beautiful boy…more beautiful than I’ve ever seen. I shouldn’t have been so rough with you that first day…”

“What are you on?” I asked, dead serious. The first day he’d all but dragged me off by my hair and raped me, and now he wanted to make me stay by being kind. I wanted to shove him away from me and go back to where Jasper sat on the other side of the room. “I have a girlfriend. I’m not into guys.” I didn’t give him the chance to answer my first question.

“Nothing and I know, you already told me that, remember,” he answered calmly, setting off more alarm bells in my head. “Look, I like you. If you want to stay with me when we get the money, Vicki won’t force me to give you back.”

“But I don’t like you and I don’t want to stay,” I said. Anger flashed through James’ eyes, but he did nothing.

“Fine,” he said after a pregnant pause. “Do you mind then if I at least enjoy the presence of your company while I can?”

“That depends on what you expect of me.” He smiled at me.

“Would it be all right if I played with your hair?”

This was very odd. The first night he’d wounded my shoulder after very nearly molesting me, and now he wanted to play with my hair…so very strange. I didn’t dare look over at Jasper.

“That’s all you want from me?” I asked skeptical of his request and new found gentleness.

“Yes,” he said with a vehement nod. The expression on his face promised nothing but innocent motives.

“Okay,” I said with a sigh. I turned away from him to give him better access to the hair at the back of my head.

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Lay down,” he said patting his jean clad legs. “It’ll be easier on your shoulder.”

In disbelief of his request and where he wanted me to be I stared at him longer than I should have; he scowled. His hand once again patted against his thigh. I lowered my gaze to the floor and carefully maneuvered my body on the couch so that my back was to him and my head was in his lap. Instantly his hands were in my hair. The rough skin of his fingers occasionally scraped across my cheek. He was mostly careful to gently rake his fingers through my hair from the edge of my hair line until his fingers had gone all the way through.

I closed my eyes and despite myself relaxed in to his ministrations on my hair. It was something mom would do when I was ill, couldn’t sleep, or had had a nightmare. It always relaxed me and made me want to sleep. I loved Esme as though she was my mother, but this was not something I let her do. It had been something between mom and me. Once I had allowed Bella to do this, but it reminded me too much of what was gone from my life and it never happened again.

I tuned out where I was and who was raking their fingers through my hair and pretended that for the while that James was smoothing my hair back it was mom. Jasper was the only person aside from me who knew how much I missed my mom. He’d been there when she’d died of cancer in the third grade. He was there in the fifth grade when dad married Esme and adopted her daughter, Alice. Alice and I got along fine, but I was never as close to Esme as I was to my mom. Esme was far from the evil step mother type in fairy tales. She never tried to take mom’s place in my life. I always found it wonderful how out of the way she went to not take my mom out of my life. She left pictures of her up throughout the house and insisted that dad and I both help with a scrapbook that became a tribute to mom and sat proudly on the coffee table still.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Vicki’s voice shot through the cabin in a roar.

“Shhh!” James hissed, not stopping his hands. “I’m not doing anything to him.”

“Not doing anything to him?! He’s lying in your lap, you idiot! What did you say to him to get him there? I suppose that you threatened the other one?”

All thoughts of my family quickly dropped from my head as Vickie yelled at James for even touching me. A part of me was relieved—the other part was terrified of what James would do the next time she left us alone. I opened my eyes to see Jasper alternating his gaze between Vickie and the floor. I carefully moved to sit up and scramble away from James, but his hands quickly grabbed hold, refusing to let go. Great, I’m the shiny new play thing and they’re fighting over me. Ending up cut in two because they wanted to fight over me was not how I wanted to be sent home.

James glared at Vicki not answering her barrage of rhetorical questions, hands keeping a firm grip on me. The calm of the room evaporated quickly in to anger as James and Vicki stared at one another. It reminded me of Jasper and Vicki staring each other down the first night. I was caught in the middle again. It had been no different at home. Jessica Stanley had made getting close to me in the hopes that I’d ask one of them out in to a competition. They hadn’t been close friends, Bella and Jessica. Bella hadn’t played by the rules, which had really pissed Jessica off. I couldn’t help find but find the entire situation fascinating. Bella, though fully engaged in the unspoken struggle with Jessica for my affection, had refused to cheapen and change who she was to get my attention.

Jessica on the other hand had tried low cut sweaters with necklaces that hung down to her breasts; different combinations of make up and tight shirts. She even wore a pair of black skinny jeans, three inch heals and a tight sweater. I was more than amused that she was sent to the office and sent home to change. Bella would start little conversations with me before the classes we shared began. I preferred it to the subtleness of Jessica.

“I wasn’t going to hurt him,” James finally said. “I just…”

“Oh no,” Vicki said sternly. “No, no, no, no, you are not keeping him! This one has to go back. We cannot afford another manhunt, James!”

James’ grip on me tensed for a moment causing me to wince. I fought the urge to pull away from his grip and scramble away afraid of what the retaliation might be. A second later his grip loosened, but did not let go and I let out a breath. He took a deep breath and let it out smoothly before he spoke again.

“Vic, I’m not going to force him to go back when this is all over, if he doesn’t want to.”

“He’s not going to stay with you because you were nice to him one time, James,” she retorted in a near yell. “He’s going to want to go home. We cannot afford the search for him, Brother.”

“We’d disappear,” he insisted “They’d never find us.”

I don’t know how I knew that the “we” did not include Jasper or Vicki, but I did. It was a gut feeling. He wanted to steal me away in a literal way not just a romantic way. I again tried not to shutter at the thought; I didn’t want him to think that I was anticipating running off with him. I was hoping that Vicki would win the argument.
“And how are you going to accomplish that, huh, genius?!” Her voice raised more than two octaves as she spoke. “His hair is a bit distinctive don’t you think? I know you won’t dye it because it’s what you like the most about…”

“Fine!” James shouted interrupting her screaming rant.

Had that argument happened the first night, Jasper and I would have been home days ago from all the attention it would have attracted.

“But he stays by me until he has to go back,” James conceded, pulling me closer to him.

“Not one more injury,” she said shaking her index finger at him as a mother would in scolding her child. “And no forcing him in to anything. He goes home after we get the money period, James. No begging to keep and no dragging him off into the night either.”

“Fine,” he mumbled.

The argument never happened again. Jasper and I were together for pictures and then James would drag me back to the couch. The night of the fight with Vicki he’d had me lay back down in his lap so that he could play with my hair again. Once again I had closed my eyes and pretended that it was my mother comforting me in the stress of the situation—it wasn’t long after that I had drifted off to sleep.

The day after the confrontation with his sister James took me out for a walk while Vicki kept watch over Jasper. It was an uneasy stroll around the cabin. He was trying to keep us from being seen, all the while trying to convince me to stay with him. I told him that I wasn’t going to stay and that he wasn’t going to convince me to in the day and a half they had left to collect the money. As I had predicted he would do, James got angry and forced me back to the cabin.

That night, instead of keeping me on the couch he’d pulled me in to one of the bedrooms just off the living room. Scared of what would happen I looked to Jasper who looked as angry and hurt by James’ actions as I felt. Telling me to sit on the bed, James shut the door, closing off Jasper’s stare and my hope of rescue from Vicki. This was what I had been afraid would happen from the first night—James dragging me away and doing I don’t know what to me.

“Relax,” he said moving away from the door. “I won’t hurt you. I just wanted to be somewhere alone with you and have it be more comfortable than the couch.”

I glared at him, but said nothing. I had been quite comfortable on the couch. There we were in full view of Vicki. He couldn’t do more than run his fingers through my hair out there. In here it was a different story. He could do more than just touch my hair, and it made me more than uncomfortable to think about what he might have planned for me in what could his last night to fondle me.

“I haven’t changed my mind about wanting to keep you,” he said moving to sit beside me on the bed. “But I won’t push my sister.”

“What happened to the last guy you kept?” I asked trying to keep the bitterness I felt from my voice, though I couldn’t keep the slight wobble from it.

“He left,” he said quietly, looking at the floor.

It was a simple answer. James and Vicki kidnapped a kid that James ended up liking, and after a week of James’ irresistible charm decided to stay. And then for whatever reason he decided to leave after a while. Something told me that there was more than James wanted to tell about the story. I also had the distinct feeling that, that guy was no longer among the living.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at James or even bother wondering why he didn’t say more than the last guy he kept left. I was thankful that Vicki would not allow him to keep me.

“Did you kill him?” Just the last time I’d smarted off to him, it just slipped out. James did not move or breathe for a long moment. I didn’t either.

His weight suddenly shifted on the bed. He was behind me, pulling me in close to his body. My back pressed against his chest, hips firm against his lap. What breath I did have in my lungs escaped my lips in a rush, my heart threatened to beat through my ribs and I could not will a muscle to move.

His lips brushed against the back of my neck. “Does it matter? Even if you wanted to leave with me, Vicki would never allow it.”

“I don’t want to die, James,” I whispered.

“Is that why you let me touch you these last couple days? Hmm? Or do you imagine that my hands belong to your friend out there?” His breath was hot on my neck. I kept my head bowed, chin almost touching my chest and eyes down studying the bed covering.

Jasper and I were practically brothers, there was no way on the planet that I wished James’ hands were his. I’d rather have had the entire situation be the type that they usually made movies about on TV where we were starved, beaten, and the threat of death was always there. Not this, this oddity of my male captor trying to talk me in to running away with him and accusing me of harboring romantic feelings for my best friend.

I wanted to tell him that I only let him touch me because I was afraid that he’d kill Jasper and I in a fit of rage, not because we loved each other like that. I decided to keep my mouth shut. He would have, either, twisted my words to mean that Jasper and I were a secret item, or humored me but continued to insinuate that I was in love with Jasper.

“Lay with me,” he said against my neck, before letting his arms fall away from me and moving across the bed.

This time I did turn to look at him. Lust shone in his eyes as he stared at me. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to stay in this room with him. I didn’t want to stay anywhere with him. I wanted to go home to my family and pretend that none of this ever happened. I wanted to pull Bella in to bed with me and just lay there. Unlike the times he’d raked his fingers through my hair and I was able to pretend that it was my mother there was no way I could pretend that Bella was on the bed with me.

“If I don’t want to?” Yet, another question that was out before I could think it through. He let out a breathy laugh, not moving any closer to me. “Are you going to beat me? Or will you try to use Jasper against me?”

His grey-blue eyes fixed on mine, lips forming a grim line. There was no trace of his momentary humor. I was defying him and he clearly did not appreciate it. The one before me must have made the same mistake.

I was unable to move when he moved toward me, the bed dipping and shaking with his movement. I was afraid what he was going to do. His expression was blank, unreadable.

“Lay with me,” he said again, a bit more forcefully this time, grasping and tugging at my good arm. “I only want to lay with you…Look,” he said softly when my body didn’t flow with his tugging. “I won’t hurt you. I won’t hurt your friend. And I won’t force you to do more than what I’m asking you to. Please, lay with me.”

“Why are you being so…nice? Less than a week ago…”

“You go home tomorrow after your dad pays up, Kid, what does it matter if I was nice or not to you? Would you want to stay if I kept being nice? Or would you want to leave after a few months when you realize that it was your friend out there that you wanted all along, hmmmn? Either way you choose I lose, unless I just take you with me…Vicki would murder us both if I did that.

“That’s what happened to Matt. He’s the one from before you. He was almost at beautiful as you…a little bit younger. At first he wanted to stay with me, but after his parents paid and he really had the choice of staying or going he decided to go. I took him anyway. We got all the way to New Mexico before Vicki found us.”

“Did she kill him?” I really didn’t want to know which one did it, but I needed to know which one to be more afraid of.

“Not on purpose. She was trying to kill me. She dragged me away from the hotel. We lived off the ransom for a while and then last year we did it again. It was a girl last time. But I couldn’t resist you when we saw you in Forks…”

“What?!” I nearly shouted. They hadn’t followed that first day they’d taken us. They’d started in Forks. No wonder they knew that my parents could pay and Jasper’s couldn’t. They already knew which one of us they needed and which one was just along for the ride. “You stalked us?! For how long?”

“Forget you heard that,” he hissed.

“What exactly are you telling him, James?” Vicki questioned, pushing the door open. Her arms were folded across her chest, face set in a challenging scowl, shoulder leaning in to the door frame.

Once again they were glaring at each other. I wanted to leave the room…go sit with Jasper and wait for the money drop and our release, but James’ grip on my good wrist tightened painfully. I didn’t bother with hiding my pain this time and let a pained hiss escape my lips. James tore his attention from Vicki, still glaring at the door, and looked down at where his hand held my wrist. The skin of my wrist was red and my hand was turning a pale shade of purple. He didn’t loosen his grip. Instead he turned his attention back to Vicki.

“Leave us alone,” he snarled, giving my arm a sharp jerk. I fell flat against the bed. Pain from my wounded shoulder re-emerged in a vicious wave of heat down my arm. I cried out and tried to yank my right hand from James’. James growled and pulled me closer to him. My wrist ached where he held me. My left shoulder burned hotter than the first day, and the movement James was forcing me to make was only making it worse. The red line from his hand encircling my wrist grew as I pulled against him.

He let go of my wrist as more of my arm was within reach of his iron grip. I cried out in pain again as his fingers locked around my elbow. His grip was tight, finger tips digging in to the cloth of my sleeve. At the same time James pulled me forward to him, thin fingers were wrapped around my ankles. Within seconds I was being pulled in two directions at the same time. This time the cry of pain was more of a scream, the edges of my vision going a brilliant white before dulling to grey.

The last thing I remember hearing was two voices saying the exact same thing, “now look what you did.”

Fingers stroking through my hair was the first thing that I became aware of as the blackness of unconsciousness began to fade in to consciousness. They weren’t James’ fingers, of that I was certain. The hands were gentler and more careful not to touch the skin of my face. Pain radiating in dull pounding waves was the next thing that my mind registered. My right wrist ached in smaller waves of pain than my shoulder.

Denim scraped against my cheek as I moved my head. I froze. I was partially in someone’s lap. I was afraid to look and see who the lap belonged to.

“Edward?” a familiar, lightly accented voice asked quietly.

“Jazz?” I questioned, still too afraid to move.

“Yeah,” he said, hands stopping their soft raking through my hair…so much more like mom used to do than anything James had done.

“Where are we?”

“The bed room James took you to,” he said softly. “I thought they killed you by the shouting and then you started screaming.”

“Thought that they were going to rip me in two,” I said moving to sit up.

Jasper’s hands were instantly there helping me to move so that I was leaning against the headboard of the bed I’d passed out on. My shoulder didn’t hurt any less than before Vicki and James had decided to play tug of war with me, but it wasn’t burning down my arm anymore. Cautiously I raised my right hand up to examine the damage James had done to my wrist. It was no longer red where he’d held on tightly. Spots of blue and purple dotted lines around my wrist were the dark red had been. I felt sick.

“Where’d they go?”

The door to the room was wide open and I couldn’t see anyone in the room beyond the one we were in. The living room area was brighter than when James had dragged me in the bedroom. How long had I been out?

“I don’t know. Your phone rang…next thing I know Vicki’s untying me and forcing me in here. She told me not to leave and him to stay out…she actually threatened to kill him if he came in here. Then she left. He hasn’t left the window since she left.”

“Must’ve been my dad with the money,” I guessed. It was almost over. We were either almost home or almost dead. I wasn’t sure which one I preferred.

“How long was I out?”

“All night.”

“Good boy, James,” Vicki said in the other room, dropping something hard to the floor. Moments later she stood in the doorway much the same as she had when it was James and I on the bed. “You’ll be back with your families by tonight. Your father follows directions well, Edward.”

“You’re really going to just let us go?” Jasper asked, in disbelief.

“We have your addresses, if you ever tell anyone what we look like we’ll know who spilled the beans and come back for you…and whoever else might be home.” We both swallowed hard against her threat. In muted silence we nodded. We didn’t have to speak to one another about it to know that neither of us would ever tell what happened this week. “Good boys.”

“Can I say goodbye?” James asked from behind Vicki. She nodded and bowed out of the doorway. “I’m sorry,” he murmured coming to sit beside me on the bed.

I couldn’t help but tense up as he sat down. Beside me Jasper froze too. I couldn’t be sure what he was going to do.

“For what? Kidnapping me or jamming my shoulder up worse than a break?” I spat at him.

“That you got hurt,” he said moving closer to me. Gentler than any touch he’d ever laid on me, James picked up my right hand and examined the bruise going around my wrist. Against my slight resistance, he brought my wrist to his lips and pressed a kiss to the bruise. Equally as careful James placed my wounded wrist back down to my lap. “I really didn’t mean…You’re so beautiful.” His eyes moved from my hand to my face. Before I could lean out of the way or say anything to stop him, James pressed his rough, dried lips to mine. His tongue licked at my lips. I pressed my lips together harder. After what felt like an eternity he pulled away from me. Unconsciously I wiped the sleeve of my shirt across my lips, removing the wet traces of his kiss. “Maybe I’ll come see you,” he whispered as he moved away from the bed.

After I was certain that James and Vicki had gone I allowed the shivers of fear that I had held at bay for a week to flow freely. Jasper rubbed my back, but offered no comforting words—merely allowed me to push through what had happened on my own. He probably knew exactly what to say. Despite knowing that, I also knew that he wouldn’t say anything to me with the state that I was in.

“I…” I began, unsure of what I really wanted to say.

“We don’t have to tell anyone,” Jasper said quietly, still rubbing gentle circles with his finger tips on my back.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Edward?!” my father’s voice sounded in the other room. We both jumped. I hissed in pain lightly. Jasper moved away from me by a fraction of an inch, taking his body heat and the intimacy of our moment with him.

“In here,” Jasper called out just as my father appeared in the doorway.

“Are you guys all right?” Dad asked in a rush as he moved to my side.
“We’re good,” I said through my teeth, doing a horrible job of hiding any of the pain I was in.

“You are not all right,” Dad declared, concern written over his face. “What happened?”

“One of them shoved him to the floor while his hands were tied behind him. He hit his shoulder pretty hard. And they did something to his other wrist,” Jasper said, leaving out any details of why James had done those things. “They didn’t give him any pain killers.”

“Why’d they pick on you so much, Edward?”

“Couldn’t keep my mouth shut…I guess,” I said, hoping that he bought it.

“Are my parents with you?” Jasper asked, changing the subject. Dad turned to look at Jasper and I mouthed him a thank you.

“They’re outside,” he said quickly. “I convinced them to let me see what condition you boys were in before they came in. Go ahead and go to them, I can get Edward.”

“No,” Jasper said sounding defiant, “I’ll help you get Edward outside.”

Together my father and best friend helped me from the bed and from the room. I should have put more weight on my father, but I just couldn’t help myself from leaning more against Jasper. He was warm…and had survived something with me that I had never dreamed would happen. Something that I hope never happens to us again. I hoped that we’d seen the last of Vicki and James.

Fin
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This Christmas