It has to be here.    

I mean... there's no possible way he could have gotten rid of it without me knowing.    

Yes, I was blindfolded a majority of the last 48 hours, but still. You have a sixth sense about this sort of thing. If your cell phone is lost and gone forever... you just know. You can feel it. And that's exactly why I know it's still here somewhere.    

"What are you doing?" Justin sits up in his make-shift bed and looks around bleary eyed.    

I will say this much, for a total whack job, he is kind of cute. Especially now. Short curly hair matted and sticking up in a thousand different directions, dark blue eyes still half closed with sleep, pillow creases on his cheeks.    

Yes... he's a very pretty boy.    

But, I am so not the type to develop a case of Stockholm syndrome.    

"Looking for a toothbrush." I offer weakly. If I'm lucky, he's still comatose enough to buy it.    

"It's... it's..." He stops to yawn and shakes his head quickly. "Side pocket."    

"Got it." I smile as I turn to face him and jump nearly a foot in the air when the door bursts open and a blur of pink flies past me, straight into Justin's arms.    

"J!"    

Aw hell...eight am is way too early for this shit.    

"Jesus Maggie... chill." He laughs as the little girl settles into his lap before looking up at me curiously.    

"Who're you?" She cocks her head to the side and studies me intently.    

Ok, even I have to admit... she's adorable.    

I can name atleast a dozen women my age who would kill for her perfect platinum blonde hair, and she has those same big blue eyes that seem to be the most dominant physical trait of this family.    

As much as children creep me out, some of them can be pretty damn cute.    

"That's Ellie." Justin chuckles as his little sister continues to stare at me.    

As weird as it sounds, I almost feel like the kid's reading my mind or something. She's just so... focused on me. And it's just a tad unnerving.    

"J... I don't think she likes you very much."    

Holy shit... she is reading my mind!    

I'm telling you... this family is ten kinds of fucked up. Local celebrities, psychopaths, senile old men, and apparently mind reading juvenile's.     

I'm losing it. Completely and totally losing it.    

"Yeah well, most people aren't too fond of their kidnapper."    

"Damnit Ellie." Justin pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs loudly. "She's kidding, Maggie."    

The little girl ignores him completely and laughs. "He didn't kidnap you. You're not a kid. You were Ellie-napped."    

Well... she's a smart little shit, isn't she?

**************    

"You know... keeping me locked up in here all day probably isn't such a great idea. Looks a little odd, don't ya think?" Justin hums in response and I can't help but roll my eyes.    

This is punishment. I know it is.    

Once Maggie got the concept of kidnapping down, it was fairly obvious that Justin was scared shitless. Understandably so, I guess.     

Personally, I think brutal honesty is the only good trait children possess. They see or hear something, they repeat it. They don't sugarcoat it and they don't worry about hurting your feelings. They lay it all on the table, no questions asked.    

So, I can only assume that Justin's terrified the kid's gonna spill the beans to mom.     

Sure, I said I wouldn't tell her, but I'll be perfectly happy to sit back and watch the kid do the dirty work.    

I'm guessing that's why he's kept me locked in this god forsaken room all day. I was allowed to get a shower and change my clothes. Other than that, I've been sitting here staring at the fucking walls.     

"Even POW's get meals, ya know."    

He glances at the clock next to the bed and nods. "Mom's fixing lunch now. It should be ready in an hour or so."    

"Ok. So, here's a thought... if she's here playing Susie homemaker, who's doing the news?"    

"Not really sure." He shrugs, finally closing his book and looking over at me. "I think they rearrange stuff with the morning and afternoon crews. Her and dad both took the whole week off for the wedding." He continues to ramble about temporary news crews, and that's when it hits me.    

There's somewhat of a hole in his story.    

He claimed he kidnapped me because his family constantly rags on him for being single, yet I haven't heard even one person mention it. I mean, if they're so relationship conscious, shouldn't my presence be a bigger deal?    

In fact, the only strange thing I've noticed (with the exception of his douche bag brother and demented grandfather) was the waterworks display his mother put on yesterday.    

Like, I have no idea what the point was. Was she just that excited to see him? Had she been chopping onions?    

"Can I ask you something?"    

"Knock yourself out."    

"Why was your mother crying yesterday?"    

"Well..." He sighs and rolls his eyes. "I'm not even totally sure. But I think... see... she usually jumps my case about being alone. I honestly don't think I've ever brought a girl home. So, as far as my mom's concerned, you being here is right up there with me announcing that we're engaged or something."    

I'm in a fucking looney bin, I swear. And I need to get out of here in a big way. If I could just find my damn phone, I'd be set.    

Unless....    

"I have to pee." I announce suddenly, enjoying the annoyance on Justin's face.    

"Jesus woman... you're like a friggen cocker spaniel. You have to pee every five damn minutes. You haven't even had anything to drink!"    

"I have an over-active bladder." I shrug. "Sorry, guess I forgot to give you my medical history before you drugged me."    

"Whatever. If you're not back in five minutes, I'm coming to look for you." I wave him off before making my way out of the room.     

Clearly, the bathroom on the second floor isn't gonna do me any good. If this is going to work, I need something much closer to the ground.    

I jog down the stairs quietly, breathing a sigh of relief at the realization that there isn't a single person in sight. I practically tip toe to the bathroom and smile triumphantly when I spot the window above the toilet.    

I don't know why I didn't think about this before. It's almost too damn easy.    

I put the lid down and step onto it before unlocking the window and pushing it open. It's smaller than I expected, but I'm fairly certain I'll be able to wiggle my way through it. I hoist myself up, pulling my head and shoulders through the open window.    

I slide out easily until my torso is hanging completely out of the window, and suddenly, it's impossible to move. I push, I pull, I try to twist around on my side...nothing.    

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.    

I'm sure I look like fucking Winnie the Pooh, with his ass hanging out of the rabbit hole right now.    

I push again and grunt in frustration when I don't move an inch. Only me. This shit would only happen to me.    

Out of nowhere, the door creaks open and I hang my head as laughter rings throughout the small room.    

God damnit.    

"Umm... do I... uhh... do I even want to know?" A high, feminine voice that I don't recognize asks through her giggles.    

"Probably not. But, I can make it worth your while if you help me get out of here."    

"Oh really... how so?"

"Money... a car... I couldn't care less. Hell, I'll buy you a house if you want."    

"Well, I'm actually pretty good on those fronts." She chuckles softly. "So, how about you just explain?"    

"Alright, fine." I sigh and roll my eyes.    

This is just lovely. I'm being asked to explain this completely fucked up situation, while hanging out of a bathroom window. Something tells me Justin will probably end up looking like the sane one, but here goes nothing.    

"My name is Ellie Morgan. I'm a book publisher from the city. Two days ago, I was kidnapped, tied up and drugged. Then, I was brought here and told to pose as Justin's girlfriend. I have clients and friends, who I'm sure are freaking the fuck out right about now, and I really just want to get back to my life. I swear to Christ, if you help me get out of here, I won't press charges. I just want to go home."    

"See? Told ya she was funny."    

Son of a bitch!    

Guess my five minutes are up, huh?    

"Oh my god!" The woman laughs loudly and I can't help but roll my eyes. "Justin... she's hilarious! Dad's gonna love her!"    

"Tell me about it." He chuckles and if it was possible, I think I'd kick him in the balls right about now. "I'll take care of this. Mom said the caterer's on the phone for you."    

"Oh thank god! I've been waiting for them to call. You're sure you don't need any help?"    

"Nah. We're fine."    

The door shuts and I let out a small whimper of defeat. Freedom was so damn close!    

"So..." Justin begins, a hint of laughter in his voice. "This is an interesting little predicament you've gotten yourself into."    

"No shit, Sherlock." I mutter and shake my head. "You know... a proper kidnapper would be more angry than amused by this. I hear that whole attempting to escape thing is bad victim etiquette."    

"True. But, this is entirely too hilarious to be mad about. Number one... you've gotten yourself stuck in a fucking window. Two, my sister didn't buy the "I've been kidnapped" story, what so ever. Thirdly, you get all the way down here and instead of walking out the front door like a normal person would have done, you choose to climb out this little ass window? Even you have to see the humor in this."    

"No... not so much. So, get me the fuck out of here. Please."    

A minute or so passes before his arms circle my waist and with one quick tug, I'm back inside. Before he can catch himself, Justin falls backwards off of the toilet, landing on the floor with a hard thud.    

This would be an excellent time to kick him in the head and run like hell, but even I don't want the guy to be seriously injured.     

Ok yes, he's committed lord knows how many felonies, and more than violated my personal space, and probably fucked up everything I had going on at work, but all things considered, he's actually been... well... pretty nice to me.    

I still have all my limbs, he hasn't caused me physical pain in any way, and I'm being well taken care of. So yes... I can be sympathetic enough to not want him to bust his head open on the floor.     

I look down and can't help but laugh at the sight of him sprawled out on his back. "You alright?"    

"I wasn't the dipshit stuck in the window, so I'm fine." He hops to his feet quickly, blocking any chance I have of getting the hell out of here.     

I try to be nice and I'm repaid with sarcasm. How is that fair?    

Just as I was expecting, Justin hauls me back up to his lair of boredom and locks the door behind him.    

Honestly, I'm kind of looking forward to this big family lunch thing. For starters, I'm beginning to know exactly how those starving kids in Africa feel. And, I'll finally get the opportunity to have this whole nutty ass family together. Hopefully, I can convince them that one of their own is a fucking looney toon.     

A loud knock on the door is our signal that it's time to eat and worry quickly takes over Justin's features.    

I'm viewing this as a good thing. For me, anyway.    

If he's so worried, it's a pretty good bet that he knows atleast one person is this house is going to believe me, and do something about it.    

"Don't know about you, but I'm starving." I smirk and march toward the door.    

It takes a split second for Justin to grab my arm and jerk me back. "We're eating up here. I'll go get it."    

"Somehow I don't think your mother would be too happy about that. I mean-"

"Open the door dickhead! I did not drag my ass out of bed before three pm to come over here so you could spend all damn day in your room!"    

I haven't got a clue who's on the other side of that door, but the look of pure frustration on Justin's face tells me it's probably not good. He jerks the door open quickly and pulls a short, bewildered man inside.    

"What the hell man... are you not capable of a greeting anymore? And... holy shit... you brought a girl home?"    

"More or less." Justin frowns, rubbing his temples. "This is Ellie."    

"Not bad, my friend. Not bad at all." He looks me up and down slowly and my stomach turns.    

Yeah, real subtle jackass.     

"Look... Trace... I gotta tell you something man..."    

"Oh yeah... I'm good... thanks for asking." Trace rolls his eyes, a smirk planted firmly on his lips. "You could have fuckin called or something ya know... but oh no, I gotta hear from your mom that you're in town. What kinda shit is that? Further more..."    

"Trace... I kidnapped her." Justin shouts, his face turning a dark shade of red. "Like... grabbed her off the street, tied her up and brought her here, kidnapped her."    

Well holy shit... now that's interesting.     

Come to think of it, it's the first time he's actually fessed up to his crime. Which means, this little asshole probably isn't going to care. Hell, he looks skeezy enough to join in on Justin's fucked up idea of fun.    

"What. The. Fuck."    

"Just calm down man... I'm gonna straighten this out... I swear I am."    

"Have you completely lost your god damn mind?" Trace's voice goes up several octaves, his eyes growing wider by the second. "Your fucking brother is a cop man! And now you've made me an accomplice to this shit! I know we've gotten in trouble together, but I'm not going to fucking jail dude! No way man!"    

My ears perk up at the mention of Justin's brother. Funny... guess he forgot to mention that there's an officer of the law in the house.     

The two of them continue to bicker and I take their sudden distraction as my cue. I silently slide off of the bed and slip out of the room, completely unnoticed.