Kidnap

The sun was up early this morning, shining brightly on the earth and lending the atmosphere a lively and hopeful feeling. It was in great contrast to the weather of a few days before, Michael mused. He got up early, because the sun woke him up, and went about his daily business, first doing as many push-ups as he could without the time going too much, not that he had much to do today, but he liked to keep his schedule each day the same as much as possible. He could see the bright rays as they glinted off the windows of his house and took a moment to thank the moon goddess for the fact that he was not a vampire. It would be such a shame to miss all this glorious beauty on mornings like this, he reckoned.

He did as many workouts as he could in the time limit he had, then got up, brushed his teeth, took his bath, and made some toast, which he ate in a few bites, as he wasn’t really hungry. After that, he took out his lawnmower and walked out of the house to mow his lawn, hoping that he would be able to do so in peace today. He started the mower and began to cut the grass, appreciating the smell of the freshly cut grass. Unlike many other people, he actually looked forward to cutting his grass. It was an activity that gave him much pleasure.

Within minutes, however, he knew his hope that he would be able to do this in peace had been futile. Before she even appeared, he heard her coming and had to plaster a fake smile on his face in preparation for her appearance. She did not disappoint. A few seconds later, the door of the house across from his opened, and he heard the sound of feet sashaying in his direction, something that a regular human would never have heard over the sound of the lawnmower, but he was no regular human. She opened the small gate of his white picket fence and came over to where he was still mowing the grass and pretending that he did not know that someone was approaching. He did not get to pretend for long. A hand tapped insistently at his shoulder, and with a small groan, Michael turned off the mower and turned to face his neighbor.

“Morning, Michael dear. I must say you’re looking quite dashing this morning.” Audrey sang, all warmth and sunshine, her blond and shiny hair seeming to reflect the sun’s light. The sun glinted off the bright pink hairclips that she had in her hair. Audrey punctuated this compliment with a not-so-subtle caress of his broad chest, her fingers lingering there far longer than he would have liked.

“Morning, Audrey. How are you doing today?” He asked politely, nonetheless, feigning surprise at seeing her there.

“I wasn’t doing so good before, but now that I’ve seen you, I’m much better,” Audrey replied, giggling loudly and causing Michael to wince inwardly. Giggling was not a trait he really liked.

“I’m glad you feel that way.” He told her, removing her hand gently from his chest and causing her to pout in a way he was sure most guys would find attractive. However, to him, it was merely irritating.

“You’re so formal and such a gentleman, Michael.” Audrey continued, placing her hand right back on his chest and giggling some more. Michael fought the urge to groan out loud and instead, spoke.

“I’m busy, Audrey.”

“Of course, I know that. I’m not stupid.”

“Okay. So will you please let me work in peace?” He asked as politely as he could when all he wanted to do was to tell her off.

“Aww, come on. Don’t be like that, Michael. Don’t worry. I’ll not disturb you, okay? I’ll just sit right over there and watch you do your thing. I like to watch your muscles as you work. They’re so sexy.” She informed him, without waiting for a reply or consent from him, sashayed over to sit down on the front steps of his house. Her roommate, a redhead, called out a greeting from the front of their house, Michael replied to the greeting, wishing that Audrey could be like her and just be polite without being flirty. He was not in the least bit interested in her, but she did not seem to want to understand that.

“Maybe she would understand it if you told her with words instead of expecting her to read your mind.” A voice in his head told him, but he shrugged it off, turned on the mower again, and continued what he was doing. He could feel her penetrating stare as he made quick work of mowing the lawn so he could escape her gaze. It was funny in a way. A big, bad wolf like him, was running away from a teeny tiny human female.

All of a sudden, his senses went on high alert, and he stiffened, pausing his mowing for a millisecond. He could feel a penetrating stare…and it was not Audrey’s. Someone else was staring at him, someone who was not in his clear view, but was hidden somewhere close by. As surreptitiously as he could, he scanned the area but did not see anybody, yet he could not shake the feeling that someone was out there…watching him intently. He knew as surely as he knew his own name that whoever it was, was not human, either. It was some sort of other creature, probably a werewolf like him.

He finished up with his mowing, which was not difficult to do anyway, as he always cut the grass before it overgrew. As soon as he turned off the mower, Audrey got up from where she was sitting and sidled up to him.

“Michael, I was thinking that we should go out to dinner this…” She began.

“Not now, Audrey. I have something important to do.” Michael cut her short brusquely, pushing past her and moving rapidly into his house, leaving his mower outside, along with a surprised Aubrey, whose mouth was left hanging open. Once inside the house, he changed his clothes, took a quick shower, got into clean clothes, and headed outside again. He did not know anybody in this neighborhood and had kept to himself ever since his stay at the last human settlement had turned into a big disaster. So, why was someone monitoring him so closely? That was exactly what he intended to find out. There was no sign of Audrey or any other person in the neighborhood, but as Michael strode across the lawn, he suddenly paused in his tracks. Right there in front of him, were obvious signs of a struggle, as though two people had fought there. Pausing, he bent down to inspect the small patch of earth more closely.

Yes, there was no mistaking it. Two people had struggled here, and it was after he had gone into the house, because he had not seen these signs earlier on, plus they looked quite fresh. Even before he saw one of the pink hair clips that had been on Audrey’s hair earlier, he knew that she had been somehow involved in this. The hair clip was lying not too far away from the area in which the scuffle had taken place. A little distance away was a button from the shirt she had been wearing when he had talked to her. It was very obvious what had happened. 

Someone had kidnapped Audrey right here from his front lawn, and he would bet his bottom dollar that it was whoever had been watching him. Maybe it wasn’t even him that they had been watching, but rather, Audrey. However, even as the thought came to his mind, he dismissed it immediately. He was the one they were watching. He was certain of that fact. So now, he had to go find them, rescue poor Audrey who had no business with whatever they wanted from him, and find out what the hell they wanted from him. As he made to open his picket gate, he saw that a white note was attached to it. It read,

You’ll find me deep in the nearby woods. Refuse to come, and I will kill the girl as slowly and painfully as possible.