Ransom

Now. Don't get me wrong. This is Earth. Magic doesn't exist. Except in fairy tails. So, I pose this question to you.

After I went to sleep in my bed, in my college dorm - how did I... wake up...

Uh.

...how did I wake up in Emmett Ransom's penthouse?

No.

I mean yes.

I hadn't opened my eyes, I hadn't moved my body... but... the softness of the mattress and the silk of the sheets told me mystical things were possible.

I had either time travelled.

Teleported.

Or...

Chloroform.

You know, when psycho billionaire violinists kidnap you.

Ok, so that part of me that thought Emmett Ransom was a shithead and jokingly a psycho... uh, I might have been underestimating he's extent of crazy.

I'm not freaking out just yet because I'm trying to convince myself I'm the one that's crazy. Or that magic is real.

But, when I move my head an inch on the pillow, I feel something move on my throat.

The leather red collar with the cherry shaped hoop.

This is real. This is fucking real.

Time to panic, Cheryl, time to panic!

I open my eyes to black silk sheets, in a dim amber room with...

Oh.

My.

God.

I sit up, looking left, right and all around me. Literally a room of black pain.

Not just black silk sheets, but a black iron cage around the bed... with the name Cherry on it - seriously. It was custom built. The room? Sex-dungeon. No seriously... I make myself breathe faster and I end up sneezing; loud.

The sound echoes. Oh, no.

Oh, no.

I stand up and I take in the crazy...

Oh.

My.

God.

Torture devices? What the fuck?

This - this - this -

Fuck.

I need to keep it together.

At least two things comfort me.

I'm somehow wearing the loose pink pajama pants, my panties, and my matching pajama top. And there is a box of tissues next to me.

How... how thoughtful?

I want to sob, which would be appropriate. Were the tissues here because I was sick, or because I was expected to cry and beg and Emmett didn't want a mess?

I pick up a tissue or two and I blow my nose. I crumple it up... possible arsenal.

Although I wasn't sure if right now was a good time to be throwing more stuff around, or breaking stuff, or provoking this psycho.

Ah, ahhh, shit, what do I call out? - "...hello?" I ask, quietly, into the dim darkness. I test out my resolve not to break down like a wild animal. Because what if he enjoyed that.

Oh, god, act human, Cheryl. What a silly thought.

I reach for my neck and claw at the leather, but I find a lock on the back, keeping it in place. Shit.