Chapter Nine- Who Gave You Permission to Shower?

(Tristan)

"Tristan! Tristan!" I heard someone calling my name insistently and I groaned, rolling over and shoving the pillow over my head. It was one of those brats again, Hope. I ignored her at first, but she got louder and louder until I snapped at her.

"What could you possibly want right now?" I snarled. She looked at me for a while.

"Ooh. Someone is grumpy this morning," she said.

"What was so important that you had to wake me up?" I asked her, running a hand over my face and glaring at her where she was slumped in the corner, still tied up.

"Oh. Right. I have to go potty!" she chirped. I groaned. I thought about leaving her there and letting her pee her own pants, but then I realized that I'd have to clean it up later. So I rolled out of bed and yanked her up by the rope binding her hands and led her to the bathroom before shoving her in.

"But how am I supposed to use the toilet with my hands all tied up and stuff?" she whined.

"Figure it out," I snapped. I stalked back to bed and slept for another couple of hours, leaving Hope stuck in the bathroom. When I eventually woke up again, I found her sitting inside the bathtub with both legs slung over the side.

"I made an oopsie," she told me by way of explanation. I snorted and left her there while I shaved and brushed my teeth. I hauled her out when I was done with that, and stuck her back in her corner.

"Are you one of those people who needs their morning coffee to wake up properly?" she asked me. "You seem grumpy. Would you like me to sing to you? Are you feeling better than you were last night? Did you sleep well? Cause I didn't."

"I will re-duct tape your mouth if you do not shut up right now," I told her mildly, ignoring her questions. I am the kind of person who needs coffee to wake up. I left the room and considered going back down to the basement to wake Shay up, but I decided that she deserved to wake up in the same manner that I had. So I pulled Hope up from her position and pulled her to the door to the basement.

"Here's what you're going to do. You are going to wake Shay up in the most obnoxious way possible, like you did to me," I told her.

"You know that's a really bad idea, right?" she asked me. "And why do you want me to do that? Are you trying to die or something? Because a cranky Shay means an unhappy everyone else."

"Did I ask for your opinion? I just want her to have the hospitable experience of living with me," I told her. In fact, I wanted her to be as uncomfortable and annoyed as possible so I could get her to do anything to leave. I shoved Hope down the stairs and stopped her at the base of the stairs, flicking the lights on and watching as Shay curled into a ball in her corner, hiding her face. I nodded at Hope and she opened her mouth hesitantly.

"Goooood morning, Sunshine!" she chirped brightly. I wondered at whether or not she'd had acting training, because it didn't sound forced at all. Shay moaned from the corner.

"Go away, Hope," she groaned.

"Wakie wakie, Shay! It's a beautiful day to be alive!" Hope hollered. I smirked at that one.

"No. Leave me alone," Shay mumbled.

"Lookie who I brought with me, Shay, dearest!" Hope was still churning out the chirpy cheeriness, only this time, she directed it at me.

"A headache? Food? Coffee? If it's coffee, I will love you forever," Shay said, sitting up and looking around a bit. Her gaze found and settled on me.

"Oh. I see," she said, her expression hardening. "Hope, is there a reason you had to bring him along?" She didn't take her eyes off me.

"Because I asked her to," I said smoothly.

"Spiffy. Now leave," she said, still glaring at me.

"Nope. I'm enjoying this," I told her, grinning. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"You two really are a lot alike," Hope cut in. Shay turned her gaze over to Hope, who still had her hands tied together.

"Hope. Talk to him. Tell him just what I'm like in the morning and then convince him to leave me alone. And bring me coffee too," she said. Hope shook her head.

"Already tried that, sister," she said. "Wait...you do have coffee here, don't you?" she asked me as an afterthought.

"Of course I do," I said. "I couldn't live without it." It looked like we really were as alike as Hope said we are.

"Oh geez. It looks like we really are a lot alike," Shay groaned, still glaring at me from her corner. "How the heck am I supposed to live with that?"

"The same way I've been living with you," I replied easily.

"Yeah, but, you know, you can just kill me at any time," she shot.

"What exactly makes you think I would do that?" I asked. I had already told her that I wouldn't kill her!

"Well, there's the fact that I know you can lie at the drop of a hat. And, you know, there's that whole killing Misha escapade. Remember that? So why wouldn't you kill me?" she retorted.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I won't kill you? I did, after all, already tell you this," I reminded her.

"So? For all I know, that could have just been another lie. Why should I trust anything you say? You did kidnap us, after all. Or did you forget?" she narrowed her eyes again.

"Erm...I'm just gonna go get that coffee now..." Hope muttered nervously. I grabbed her arm.

"And how exactly do you plan to do that with your hands tied like that? Do you even know where the kitchen is?" I asked her. "Sit. You aren't going anywhere."

"Don't tell her what to do. I'm sure she could have figured something out! She can get coffee if she wants to," Shay snapped at me. I pulled Hope's arm until she was sitting on the steps in front of me.

"I don't think you're in a position to tell me what to do, Shay," I said calmly.

"Whatever. I'm so sick of you already," she said tiredly.

"Same here, Shay," I responded.

"Then why not get rid of us already? It's not like we're going to tell anyone. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly a model citizen. I'm not going to go crying to the police," she said.

"You know why I can't do that, Shay!" I yelled at her.

"No! No, I really don't!" she yelled back.

"Have you already forgotten your threat? You know, making me regret ever being born? I can't trust you two out alone. More specifically, I can't trust you, Shay, because of that exact threat. It means the difference of life and death of me, because I'm sure that by now they know it was me and they're after me right now. And I can't let you jeopardize that," I told her. I had no doubt that she would make good on her threat.

"You think I need the help of the police to make you wish you were dead? Ha!" she laughed. "I can do that without those pathetic attempts at law-keepers. Please."

"Either way, I can't let you out." I sighed, silently adding as much as I would like to.

"So why can't you let Hope go? I'm sure she wouldn't tell anyone anything. She can actually keep her mouth shut about important things like that," Shay said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't ever tell anyone what I saw. I really don't want to get involved with the police again. I swear. I won't ever tell," Hope said. She was serious for once, I noticed. I didn't doubt her.

"I know you wouldn't," I said to Hope. "I just don't know if I can take that chance."

"Then why not let her go? I know it's highly unlikely that you'll let me go, but she's still young and she still has so much going for her. Why can't you let her go? I care more about what happens to her than what happens to me. If she ever says anything about this to anyone, you can kill me or do whatever you need to do to me. Just let her go," Shay said. Her disturbing eyes were trained on my face and she was being honest, letting me see that she really meant what she said to me. She was telling the truth; she would let me do whatever I had to do to her in order to save Hope.

"Shay, seriously? I can't leave here without you; I don't know what I'd do!" Hope exclaimed. Shay turned her eyes to look into Hope's eyes.

"Seriously, Hope. I'll live and eventually I'll get out of here, provided that you don't ever tell anyone about this," Shay said softly. Hope got up and gave her an awkward side-hug before coming back over and sitting in front of me again.

"Fine," I said, after thinking it through for a while. "Hope can go, after we go over a few things."

"I want to be there while you're talking to her. Please," Shay said. She said please. I was shocked.

"Wow, Princess even said please. Okay, fine. You can be there. I'm going to get coffee now," I said. I stood up and pulled Hope to her feet.

"Bring me coffee too," Shay said.

"No. Hope, you come with me," I said. I wasn't going to waste my coffee on her. I led Hope to the bathroom so she could shower. I wasn't going to let her go back to town looking like she did, someone would notice her and ask questions.

"Don't leave a mess. I don't feel like cleaning it up, so it'd just be more work for your friend down there," I said, after untying her hands so she could shower.

(Shay)

After Hope and Tristan left, I uncurled myself from my position, my calves and sore leg screaming in protest. I limped around the basement, looking for something to do. I found an unlocked door and looked inside, finding the bathroom. You wouldn't even believe how excited I was. I mean, I had been sitting in a disgusting old basement for the past three or so days. My hair was a tangled mess from not washing it in so long and my face and body were grimy from the corner.

I found the shower and turned the water up high. I figured I might as well use maximum water heat while I wasn't the one who had to pay the bills. I stood in the hot water for as long as I felt comfortable and let all the grime and gross junk wash away before stepping out and toweling off. It was then that I realized that I didn't have any clean clothes and I really didn't want to wear those old clothes anymore. So I searched around for a little while in the various cabinets before coming up with a pair of low slung jeans and a tight little t-shirt that showed off my green belly button ring. Which was definitely not the type of thing that I'd normally wear. I couldn't imagine why Tristan would have such clothes in his bathroom, much less why they would fit me. But I decided not to worry about it. Instead, I focused on actually getting a brush through my hair without it snapping. It took me at least fifteen minutes to get to the point where it was slightly less tangle-y.

Finally getting my hair all straight and smooth the way I like it, I walked back out and sat on the steps in the basement and waited for Tristan to come get me again. At least he had left the light on for me. I heard two showers going upstairs, which I assumed meant that Tristan was letting Hope shower as well. Which was nice. But I was bored. So I looked around for something to do, and, upon not finding anything to do, I decided to practice my dance a little more. I didn't want to get out of shape just because I was stuck in a basement for a while. I needed to work that ankle again anyway, so I limped back to the bathroom and changed into a pair of sweatpants and another shirt.

Then I limped back out to stretch and move my ankle. It hurt at first, but I worked on it some and it felt better. I think it was just kinked up from sitting like that for so long after hurting it. I managed to pull myself into a couple of splits before attempting handstands and other break-dancing moves. I practiced for a while before doing a turning jump and seeing Tristan sitting on the steps, watching me. I blushed a little and came out of the jump easily, walking back to change into the jeans and shirt on again. I've always hated people watching me dance when I'm practicing. I walked back out and Tristan smirked at me. He looked surprised that I knew were the bathroom was, so I smirked right back at him.

"So you're a little dancer chick, are you?" he asked

"No, I am not. I'm a little break-dancing chick. There's a difference, idiot," I told him.

"Sure there is. So, tell me, who gave you permission to shower, hmm?" he asked.

"So I need permission to shower now, huh?" I retorted.

"Yeah. You do. Don't go sneaking around, little dancer chick," he said. Before he could move, I had knocked his head into the railing on the stairs.

"What was that for?" he asked me, rubbing his hand on the back of his head.

"Don't insult me. You'll live longer," I told him. He stood up and raised his hand as if he was going to slap me. I stared into his eyes and didn't flinch. He thought better of what he was going to do and clamped his hand on my wrist and pulled me up the stairs into the kitchen and sat me down in one of the chairs. Hope walked in then with wet hair and sat down in another one, across from me.

"Even think about moving from those chairs and both of you will be

chained to separate walls in the basement, covered in bruises. Got it?" Tristan asked. I smirked.

"I wouldn't dream of it, darling," I drawled. He growled at me. Hope looked terrified. Tristan turned to her and she shrank back in her chair.

"Relax. Hope, you can if and only if you follow these rules. If you don't, your friend here will suffer the consequences," he said to her. She swallowed and nodded.

"Good. Now, you are going to tell anyone about me. You will not tell anyone where you were. You will not even speak of this to your closest friends or family. Got it?" he asked. Again, Hope nodded. I watched closely. "I don't care what sort of story you make up as long as it has nothing to do with the truth. Do not tell anyone where Shay is, what I did, who I am, nothing. I hear one word leak back to me, and believe me, I have eyes and ears all over the state, I will hear about it, and Shay here will be in a very bad state."

"Okay," Hope said, nodding and swallowing again.

"Okay. I'm going to put a blindfold on you and take you back to the alley where you found me. Then I will leave the alley, but I'll be watching you. Count to thirty before taking the blindfold off and leaving. If you take it off any sooner, you may never see Shay again," Tristan threatened.

"Oh, come on. She gets it already. Lay off the threats, Tristan, really. You're overdoing it a bit there, buddy," I told him. He turned to me, looking angry.

"One more outburst from you and she won't be going at all," he threatened me.

"One more thing. Where exactly will I be during all this?" I asked.

"You will be in the basement, of course," he answered smoothly.

"Well, if I have to be down there, then at least clean it up a bit. It's absolutely disgusting down there. I would expect that even you would keep a room cleaner than that," I told him. I was pushing my luck, I knew, but I didn't stop. Pushing luck is something I do for a living, you know.

"If you want it clean, clean it yourself. I'm sure you can find them," he said, grabbing my arm and dragging me down to the basement again. I elbowed his chest and it was like elbowing stone. I found myself appreciating all that muscle, even though it was being used against me at that moment, and made myself stop. He pushed me into the basement again and locked the door. I pounded on it for a while.

"Sorry Princess, there's no way out of there," I heard him call through the door, followed by a somewhat nasty laugh. I sat down on the top step and curled my arms around my knees. I heard another pounding on the door. It was Hope.

"Thank you so much, Shay. I promise, I will find a way to get you out of here too. I'll come back for you!" And then she was gone too. I was completely alone.

I considered going down and cleaning the basement like Tristan had suggested, but I figured that since it was his house, he could clean it up himself. So I looked around a little more and found an old punching back in one corner of the room. It looked really old and beaten up, but I took a swing at it anyway. When it didn't crumble into a pile of dust, I started to take my frustration out on it.

I didn't use any gloves or anything. Who needs those, anyway? My hands were pretty tough to begin with. I thought to myself that if Tristan were to walk in again and see me practicing, well, maybe he'd think twice about getting me mad because I was beating that bag so much. Dust was flying everywhere. I guessed that the bag hadn't been used in a few years if it had that much dust accumulated in it.

I stopped about fifteen minutes later to put my hair up, and while I was taking a break, I listened for any sign that Tristan was back. There were none. So, I went back to killing that poor bag. I worked at it until my arms and legs were so sore that I could hardly lift them, and then I let my hair back down and sat back on the steps until Tristan came back again.

I wondered what Hope would tell Sebastian and Tyler. I didn't know whether they had heard anything about us. I also didn't know what they would think when they heard what had really happened to us.

I heard the door open above me, and I limped up the stairs slowly. My ankle was hurting again, and it hurt to walk. I got the feeling that I probably shouldn't have worked out so hard. But whatever. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I banged on the door and hollered at Tristan.

"Tristan, I know you're out there! Let me out of this basement right now!" I screamed.

He opened the door.