Captured

Alexander “Xander” POV Pure. Innocent. Seductive. Alluring. Loner. All synonyms for the woman I’ve been watching for the past two months. She had to be at least 18, maybe even 19 years of age. Khalid will be pleased with this one. I was ahead of schedule. In my line of work perfection is prime opportunity. Unfortunately, with the generation these days, it’s hard to find someone untouched; someone pure. I take a look at the notebook that I’ve been scribbling on for the past two months.  7:10 am, she’ll be stepping out of the apartment soon. 7:15 am – Steps out of apartment building. Puts on headphones and puts her hood over her head. Looks both ways, crosses street. 7:20 am – Waits for bus #4. Perfect timing as always, my little one, I think to myself. Watching her for the past two months has given me quite an intimate look at her. She’s relatively tiny compared to those around her. She’s 5’2”, petite frame, roughly about 110 pounds. She has gorgeous untouched black hair that cascades down her back ending at her tiny waist. Her dark brown eyes hold a certain, tainted darkness in them. Although, she may appear pure and innocent, her eyes tell you she’s simply broken. She has naturally red pouty lips with a small mouth. She had the type of lips that just begged for men to handle them. Those lips that many a man may even die for. It was difficult to understand why she kept herself hidden from the world using clothes that were twice her size. I close my eyes as I imagine how entertaining it will be for me to train her properly as a smile eases my lips. I open my eyes as I’m getting distracted from my purpose. She puts on her headphones before she looks both ways to cross the street to take bus 4 to her destination. Just like clockwork, I think to myself. The bus arrives and she gets on. I see her take a seat on the opposite side giving me a clear look at this girl. As the bus takes off, I follow closely behind it. 7:50 am – She’ll arrive at Pendleton University. As she gets off the bus, she’ll readjust herself to make herself look scarce in a sea of people. 8:00 am – I won’t see her until about noon before she heads to work at a local diner. As I follow the bus closely, I look at the time, 7:50 am. The bus comes to a halt and I see her get off the bus, adjusting herself to blend in with the crowd. She looks around making sure she’s unnoticed before she continues walking to her class. Oh, little one, if only you knew how truly beautiful you are and how your life is about to change, I thought to myself once again. After a few hours of waiting, I see her petite frame walking across the street to the bus stop. I notice a young man following her, more like trying to catch up to her. “Amara! Wait up!” he says. Amara what a fitting name for such an exquisite girl. She looks up to see who’s calling her name but clearly ignores him once she realizes who it is. “Amara!” he yells again from across the street. She looks up at the boy again, but he quickly disappears from her sight as the bus pulls up. “f**k!” he yells as he’s kicking the air. Child, I laugh to myself. I am rather curious though as to who that boy was and what his business with her was. I follow the bus again to her workplace. She usually works until about 10:00 pm. I watch her work away serving people their drinks and food. Soon, little one, you’ll be servicing people in a whole different way, I think to myself again. My phone rings, Khalid is the name that pops onto my screen.  “Hello Khalid,” I say in an annoyed tone.  “Has it been done Xander?” he asks impatiently.  “Patience Khalid, you must have patience,” I reassure him.  “Yes, Xander but remember procrastination is a b***h,” he reminds me.  “You have 24 hours to pick the flower, otherwise my dear Xander you will not like the consequences,” he said before hanging up. “f**k me,” I mumbled to myself as I watched the girl intently. You have no idea what awaits you, my little one. Your life is about to change, I say to myself again. I decided while I wait for her to get off work, I’ll just take a little nap. It’s going to be one hell of a night if it goes down tonight. I set my alarm for 9:45 pm, 15 minutes before her shift ends. _XANDER'S DREAM_ “Cailean, I do hate when you disobey me,” she purred into my ear as she tightened the rope around my wrists. I close my eyes as I know what’s about to follow. “But I do love when you cry and beg for me, Cailean. Will you beg for me Cailean? Will you cry for me Cailean?” She asks mockingly as she licks my cheeks that have been stained with tears. “Why must you do the things you do Cailean?” she asked again as she got the pokers ready. “A dog is supposed to remain loyal to its master Cailean. Why must you run from your master?” She asks me again. I remain silent as I keep my eyes close hoping her punishments will be quick. “Now Cailean, you will remember with whom you belong to. I will give you a permanent reminder of where you will ALWAYS come home,” she said right before she prodded me with the poker bearing her initials “MK” on them. I close my eyes tighter as the poker begins to melt away the first and second layers of my skin. Unable to withstand the pain any longer, I scream in pain as my right deltoid burns with 100 fires. It’s only a few minutes before the darkness engulfs me, finally bringing me peace. _DREAM ENDS_ I woke up to my phone vibrating on my lap 9:45 pm. I dismiss the alarm that has saved me from yet another recurring nightmare. My given name, Cailean, a variant of Callum; diminutive of Caleb which meant whelp; young dog. That’s exactly what I was to my different owners, just a dog. Each and every one of them bearing their marks onto my skin. It was Khalid who freed me and gave me the name Alexander Cortez. He became somewhat a father figure to me as he trained me to be what I am today. He became my mentor, my savior, he’s helping me become the man I aspire to be. It was 9:50 pm, she would be off work soon. I waited patiently for her to leave the shop. I watched as she put her hood over her head again and plugged her earphones in. I saw a man follow behind her, “Hey sweet cheeks!” he said slurring his words. Drunk fool I thought. “Hey! I just…I just want to talk to you,” he repeated stumbling as he followed her. She walked hurriedly to gain distance, but he picked up his pace as well. I got out of my vehicle and crossed the street walking towards them. She jumped at the opportunity as she saw me. Before I could say anything, her tiny arms wrapped around me. “Please…please play along,” she begged in a whisper. I did as I was told, I wrapped my arms around her and buried my head in her shoulders. God, her tropical coconut scent was intoxicating. I looked at the man that was following her and he quickly retreated. I can be very intimidating standing at 6’3” and it came in handy for instances like these. “He’s gone,” I whispered in her ear as I started to release her.  She looked up at me and said thank you before she hurried off.  “Hey, wait, what’s your name?” I asked her as I started to follow her, getting the syringe out of my pocket.  She stops, “Amara, Amara Sinclair,” she answered as she held out her hand.  “Xander, always a pleasure,” I said taking her hand and turning her around, so I was now behind her injecting her with an Opioid Etorphine. It wasn’t enough to kill her since these were used on animals rather than humans, but I did use enough to render her unconscious. “This really isn’t personal Amara. I apologize in advance for what will happen from here on out,” I said to her already unconscious body before placing her into the vehicle. Before I drive off, I call Khalid. “The flower’s been picked,” I said before hanging up on him.