It wasn't really too awful, this kidnaped life. I had a wonderful little home. Stephan allowed me to keep it all to myself, while he and Sasha and a few others stayed at a different home next to mine. They would constantly come over though, and just hang with me in the living room, while I cooked something up.
I had only gone to that one party on the first day of my kidnaped life and I learned what it means to be a wallflower.
I stood at the wall and wouldn't budge until Stephan took my arm and showed me around to some of the guests. But I very quickly retreated back to the wall and soon we left.
He'd allowed me to settle in before taking me to any other social gatherings. I was thankful.
I'd been praying a lot too. It was definitely because this was my first, and hopefully the last kidnapping, and I had no idea what might happen. Stephan was kind to me so far, but who knew how long this would last? And so I just kept praying whenever I had a free moment, for me, my baby, and my Alexander.
"Maria!"
I looked up from the pot of soup that I was cooking. It was mushroom soup, a Russian classic, and I knew that Stephan loved it. And I actually loved it very much as well.
'So did Alexander.' A thought in the back of my mind reminded me.
'No. So does Alexander. He's not dead.' I told myself.
"Maria, are you deaf?"
I shook myself away from my thoughts and mumbled, "No. What is it?"
"After we eat, I'm taking you somewhere. You've been cooped up here long enough. Makes sense?"
I nodded.
"Perfect. When's the soup ready?" Stephan asked, very ready to eat.
"In just a few minutes now."
"Great. I'll call the crew and you can set the table. 5 of us, not including you."
I nodded.
While Stephan went out to 'call the crew' I reached over into the cupboard and took out the beautiful plates lined with silver and blue flowers. They were so adorable.
I quickly set the table and poured the soup and sat in my favorite spot. I waited for 'the crew' to arrive. They soon did. Stephan, most powerful who was obviously the leader; Shurik, he seemed to be good at fiddling with his fingers and opening locks and playing with wires; Eugene, he honestly didn't do much, just sat around with a very gruff look that never changed. I almost thought that it was carved into his face, and he was incapable of changing his expression. And Mikael, but all of us called him Misha, he was the joker of the crew and constantly pulled pranks, but he was a strong, buff man with a scar running up his arm and another scar on the back of his neck that made you question his nice, joking manner. Last was Sasha, who was simply a blonde maid who didn't talk and that was all I knew about her.
We sat, Stephan mumbled a quick prayer blessing the food, and we ate. I was the first one done, followed by Sasha since we were the ones who kept silent the entire time.
I stood up to leave but Stephan stopped me.
"Dear, please clean up. And then get ready for the stroll we're taking. An outfit will be given to you."
He waved his fingers to Sasha who nodded and went to my room to prepare the outfit. I slid down in my chair and sighed.
These guys weren't that bad.
Stephan was quiet for the most part, but he would utter a few sentences every now and then. His voice reminded me of my father-in-laws' voice. Powerful but quiet, with a heavy accent and lots of command. As I said, you could clearly notice that he was the alpha, and not just from his voice. His tall, big, and muscular physique also made him look the largest and the way he always sat the front or walked up front gave it away.
I closed my eyes for just a moment, and already I heard a shout, a very distinctive laugh echoing and a few curse words muttered with a very deep, angry breath.
I opened my eyes. Misha was at it again.
He was definitely the most fun to be around. Actually, no, he was the most fun to watch. If he ever played one of his pranks on me, I would not like it at all. I stayed clear of him, though, because he was also quite dangerous. He was blunt and had a smirk plastered on his face, always cautioning you. He had red eyes, that always seemed to light on fire and that's when you knew another wild idea popped into his head. I saw him handle a gun though, and he was once in a 'friendly knife fight' as they called it, with Eugene, and let me tell you, that man should be stayed away from.
Ah, Eugene, I actually felt quite sorry for the lad. He was the victim of many Misha's pranks and suffered a great deal. It was funny because Eugene seemed like the type you would not want to mess with. He was larger than Stephan and constantly had a knife in his hand. He would polish it, or just mess around with it, and that scared me. But other than that, he really wasn't scary. His looks were, but he never did anything that would make me very scared or think he was a danger. He had that gruff look on his face, and not once did I see him smile, laugh, whine, or express any other emotion other than that cold, silent stare. I enjoyed his company, though, because he never talked and only once in a while muttered a curse word or two.
Now, Shurik was also quite a lot of fun because he also liked to sit silently. Actually, let me rephrase. He didn't socialize but he wasn't silent. He would constantly be mumbling some weird gibberish and fiddling with some wires and gadgets in his fingers. At the end of each night, however; he would show us the new device he had constructed. He was thin and feeble, but his mind was definitely top-notch on this entire block. He sometimes had mathematics and physics books near him and would attempt to explain to me the equation of Newton, or was it Newton's law, or... I forgot, but the point is his brain was definitely a bright one. He also had a bottle with him almost every time, and I think that was the fuel he needed to construct all of his extraordinary little contrivances that earned him lots of praise from the crew.
I sat back in my chair after observing each member. With such an intersting crew, it was quite miraculous how they were able to be so threatening and get work done. This definitely wasn't a bad kidnapping situation; it could have been way much worse.
"Maria... your cooking was splendid as per usual." Misha sat back in his chair, rubbed his stomach and gave me a wink.
I smiled back. I never quite knew how to respond to him.
Eugue simply nodded and got up, while Shurik absentmindedly also stood up and followed Eugene, muttering something with a frown. He didn't finish his meal, but that was quite common since he was working and just forgot that eating is an important part of staying alive.
I cleaned up after everybody and then went to my room to get changed.
I didn't really like the outfits that they would force me to wear. They weren't awful, just not my style. I guess that's why I had to do it; so I would be harder to spot.
I quickly got dressed into the strange patterned pale blue, beige, white and black pants with a greyish top, that had a very uncomfortably low cut, and then stood at the door, waiting for one of the boys to walk me to the car. I had on a pair of dangly, strangely shaped black earrings, grey stilettos with a metallic heel, and a matching pale beige, or was it pink, Michael Kors purse.
"Darling, you look magnificent."
I rolled my eyes. Once again, I had no idea how to respond to Misha's joking, flirtatious comment.
He bowed before me, and then stretched out his hand. I gave him my hand, and he bent down to give me a light kiss before tucking my arm in his and then walking to the car, head held high. He could really put on a theatrical show when he wanted to.
I climbed into the car. Strangely, only Stephan and Misha accompanied me to... I didn't quite know where we were headed. Finally, the car pulled to a stop, and I was offered out of the car.
"We're taking a stroll through the city," Stephan told me.
I nodded. I still didn't know what city I was in, even though I had been held captive here almost two weeks. Although, I wasn't allowed to go outside alone, and there was no TV or phone for me to look at.
"While we walk, I wanted to give you a little more... update on your situation."
I nodded. Oh, I loved hearing about my situation. The way it was so ingeniously crafted and every single detail played such a big role astonished me.
Misha took my hand, and when I stared at him, he simply replied with a wink. Oh, he was a joy.
Stephan provided much more help when he explained, "Misha will be your... boyfriend, I guess is the word."
I widened my eyes. "Oh. Okay."
I didn't dare ask why, though, and honestly, I didn't even want to know. Misha was a handsome man, devilish, but handsome and so I wouldn't mind an awful lot to have him fake my boyfriend. He was also quite younger than the rest of the group, and so it made sense. If Stephan was my fake father, Misha had to be significantly younger.
"We are in San Diego, by the way."
I smiled. "It's good to finally know that."
I loved San Diego. I went once as a child and then once as a teenager, and I fell in love with the city. I was glad that of all the places they chose this one.
"Now, let me give light to your situation..." Stephan trailed off.
I had learned by now that he loved to do that. He would trail off all the time and sit in silence for a good many minutes before restarting his thoughts and sentences. The entire time he was silent, no one would speak. I had learned to do the same and just waited with anticipation.
"Your husband is... searching for you. As I said, I have men in all the corners of the earth, in every building and they know how to stop what your husband is doing. He's working hard, but I have many fellows who are working way harder."
I didn't know what to think. I was glad that Alexander was looking for me, but I knew that I was stuck here for a while longer. It wasn't that I didn't have hope, I just knew that these guys were excellent at their jobs, and the way they were treating me told me that I would stay here a while.
"He has attempted to give pictures of you to the social media sources, but so far, he has not succeeded. Thank God, because that would make our jobs much harder..."
I looked at the city and at the ocean while Misha tugged me along and Stephan silently followed behind us.
"You should also be thankful, Maria, because if your picture gets out, you will no longer be able to walk around like this and will be stuck cooped in the house like a prisoner. Alexander doesn't know, but he could potentially cause you harm by giving out information about you."
I knew I should have been crying, or begging these men to release me or at least let me talk to Alexander, but I was surprisingly very cool about the situation. They weren't harming me, and it was quite... relaxing here.
I felt like an awful person, feeling so relaxed while Alexander was going nuts, but...I couldn't help it. Of course, I missed him terribly and wanted to feel him again, but I wasn't worried anymore.
"We need you with us as long as possible, and in good condition, as long as possible and so we are trying our best to keep your information away from the world. You should know, that your husband's parents are also trying to help to find you and we have been successful at stopping them as well."
Misha's arm slithered around my waist and I shot him a dirty look but he just winked and then, like a speedster, placed a kiss on my cheek before I had time to react.
I wasn't worried, though. He did not like me any sort of way, just simply wanted to mess with me.
Stephan continued his little story while I tried to squirm out of Misha's tight hold. "We haven't contacted your husband directly, yet, because we need something more from you than just to act as a hostage."
I was only half-listening because, at this point, Misha knelt down and picked me up, bridal style. I groaned, but a laugh I couldn't suppress escaped.
"So, next week, we're traveling to Spain."
I wisped my head around to look at Stephan.
"What?"
"We're going to Spain, love!" Misha sang as he danced off into the streets, with a horrified expression on my face.