Aislynn

Aislynn was smiling as she left the restaurant, her bag thrown over her shoulder. Her father could almost always make her laugh. She turned to the parking lot and hit a wall and fell back, gasping.

"Excuse me, ma'am," the wall said, it's voice deep.

Aislynn looked up, blinking as she tried to pick up her bag and it's contents. The man was large, tall and broad and... incredibly intense looking. Terrifying. Her father's age, perhaps older, it looked like he had never smiled in his entire life as he scowled down at her.

He helped her up, looking down at her with a frown, but despite his facade and face, he was very polite to her as he handed her things. She mumbled a quick, embarrassed apology and fled. He watched her go to her car, the men he was with ignoring her as they headed inside to see Mr Carmichael. He followed, casting the girl a quick, troubled glance before going in.

Aislynn was shaking her head as she started her car, going through her bag for her phone. It wasn't there. She looked again, then again, but it was gone. She must have left it with her father or dropped it. With a sigh, she turned off her car and hurried back into her father's restaurant, watching the ground for her phone.

Ironically, she came close to running into the exact same man as he came out and she was searching the ground. This time, he caught her arms and looked down at her, still scowling with his intense, piercing gaze. He said nothing as he stared down at her, his companions storming away angrily. He let her go and followed them.

Aislynn felt a small tremor of fear ripple through her as she watched the men. She knew that they had gone in to see her father, they were the sorts of men he did business with. The intense man was muscle. She had seen the type before, if not him. He turned before rounding the corner, looking at her again.

She hurried inside and her father looked pissed, his face red. "Daddy?" she called, hurrying over to him.

"Ace! I thought you left!"

"Forgot my phone," she shrugged, picking up the phone sitting on the bar next to him. "Everything ok?"

"Just fine, sweetheart, don't you worry about it."

"Who were those men?"

"They say something to you?" he asked, suddenly alarmed.

"No... Just saw them come in and leave was all. They look a little scarier than your usual business associates."

"They are scarier," he scowled.

"I hope you aren't..."

"Ace, sweetheart, why don't you go on home? You said you had to work on your thesis, why don't you do that and not worry about any of my mess."

"Ok daddy... but..."

"No buts," he smiled, then kissed her head. "Go on. I'll see you at home."

Aislynn sighed and left, worrying about her father as she headed back to her car. She slowed and paused as she got closer. The man, the intense one, he was pacing near her car looking a little stressed. He looked like he was rehearsing something, practicing what to say. For a moment, she considered going back in and asking Garrett to walk her to her car. He was her dad's muscle. She didn't want to alarm her father though, not if it was nothing. The man didn't seem to be threatening, just... distracted.

She moved as quietly as she could to her car, but he saw her right away when she got close. He stood up straight and closed the distance quickly, making her panic as she backed against the side of the building in surprise.

"What's your name?" he demanded, looking uncertain.

"I... excuse me, please, that's my car, I..."

"I'm Cutter," he rushed on, still looking stressed.

"Oh..." she managed, looking around for people.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he scowled, moving closer.

Aislynn panicked then, looking around in fear, looking for help.

"I said I won't hurt you!" he repeated, moving closer. "Not if you don't make me. I don't want to hurt you. I would never hurt a girl or anyone unless I was supposed to. What's your name?"

Aislynn eased down the wall, pressing against the wrought iron fence now. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" she screamed, turning away from him and grabbing the fence.

His massive hand closed around her mouth and the other reached around her waist, hoisting her off the ground. "Why would you scream?" he hissed angrily. "I said I didn't want to hurt you!" he growled, yanking her to an older, vintage monte carlo and shoving her in. He pushed her down to the passenger floorboard as he yanked a knife out of the sheath on his waistband. "Not another sound!" he growled, pressing the flat of the blade to her face. She whimpered, but went quiet and still. He pulled out quickly, looking around. He looked stressed and upset.

Aislynn wondered if maybe he wasn't all there. She stayed still, looking around her. She looked at the door and the old handle and the lock, wondering if she could open it and roll out.

"Please," she began in a whisper, "let me go! Daddy will pay you!"

"I just wanted to know your god damn name! Ask you to dinner! You had to make a scene! Why did you do that?"

"Please! Daddy has money, you know he does!"

"How would I know what your dad has, girl? I just wanted to talk to you!"

Aislynn went still. He didn't know who she was. "I... I'm Aislynn Carmichael. Harrison Carmichael is my father. The man you all went in to see?"

He looked at her again, his look stunned this time. He shook his head. "Shit!" He looked pissed now and the car sped up as he got on the highway.

Aislynn eased her phone down to dial 911 where he couldn't see it. After a moment, she spoke again, more loudly. "Please! Let me go! Daddy will pay you! Just pull over and let me go, please?"

"Aislynn," he scowled. "Never heard that name. Why didn't you just say your name?" he demanded. "All I wanted was to ask you to dinner! It wasn't about your dad!"

"Ok. Ok, that's fine! I... I thought it was. You know why I got scared. Please... I know it was a mistake, so just let me go? Please? Put the knife away and..."

"I said I wouldn't hurt you if you don't make me!" he snapped. "Don't worry about the knife. You behave and it won't be an issue. What is that? Give me that goddamn phone!" he yelled, leaning across and snatching it. He looked at it, then snarled in rage and threw it out the window.

Aislynn huddled away from him as far as she could on the floor and cowered there, crying.

"Stop that! There's no reason for that! Just... don't," he told her, stressed. His hands were gripping the steering wheel, rolling and twisting as if he were stressed.

What was wrong with him? What had she gotten herself into? "Please... I'm sorry! Please let me go? I will go on a date with you! We can try again, you understand why I was afraid?"

"Stop talking!" he demanded, looking confused and upset. "Just stay there, stay still and stop talking! Be quiet. Stay quiet."

Aislynn hugged herself and laid her head on the seat, curled up on the floorboard of the old car. After a while, she began feeling nauseated. "Please," she whispered, "may I sit in the seat? I get motion sick. I won't do anything or..."

"Wear your seatbelt," he demanded without looking at her.

She got up in the seat and pulled the belt on quickly as she looked around. She tried to breathe deeply, but she had waited too long. "I am going to be sick," she panted.

He didn't even look at her or hardly move. He reached to the back seat calmly and pulled a used styrofoam cup up, handing it to her without a word. She vomited, her head between her knees, miserable and sick and now with a headache.

She groaned as she sat back up and laid her head back.

He handed her a bottle of water. She hadn't seen where he had gotten it from, but she didn't care. She cracked it open and took a sip, rinsing her mouth out and spitting it into the cup. She sipped the water and held her head in her other hand.

"Sorry," she finally managed, still trying to breathe.

He said nothing, just kept watching the road, concentrating.

She swallowed hard and stared at the horizon, trying to keep from throwing up again. It didn't work. The old car had horrible suspension and it bounced and made her nauseated until she threw up again and then again.

He finally pulled over at a gas station and opened her door, helping her out of the car and inside. She didn't even think about trying to ask for help, she was so sick and miserable. He took her straight back to the restroom, washed her face with a cool cloth, then helped her back out front and got her some crackers and a 7-UP. He sat her on the walk to nibble a cracker while he cleaned out the passenger seat of the cups. He physically lifted her when he finished, setting her in the seat and fastening her belt for her, then got in the trunk of his car. When he got in, he turned to her looking a little upset.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he told her, his tone still emotionless. "But I have to do this for your own good."

Panic flared up, but she had no time to react at all as he stabbed a needle into her thigh and depressed the plunger. It burned slightly and she looked at him in fear, but he didn't look angry. He looked a little sad if anything.

Sleep rolled her.

Aislynns head throbbed and she winced as she stretched. She rolled and realized she wasn't in her own bed. She sat up quickly as she opened her eyes and looked around.

She was in a huge room, vast even. It was weirdly rounded and long... like an airplane hangar. There were no windows at all, but it was bright. The walls were white and the lights a bright white that made her wince.

She stood up as she looked around and looked down at the giant white t-shirt she was wearing. A man's t-shirt. Motion made her turn and the man stood off of a chair at a desk. The entire room was all open, an office area, a living room area, a kitchen area... it was massive. It was a ridiculous amount of space for one person.

"Feel better?" the man asked, but it sounded almost like a demand. She WOULD be better.

"I... yeah. Sorry," she whispered, her throat raw.

He pointed quietly at the bottle of water on the nightstand.

She picked it up and sipped it, then looked back at him as she hugged herself. "Where am I?"

"My place," he answered, looking away, around at the space.

"What is this place?"

"Bunker," he shrugged.

"Like... underground?"

He nodded, watching her face.

"It's huge."

"It was meant for a lot of people originally," he told her, moving closer as he looked her over.

Aislynn stepped back, her thighs hitting the bed as she watched him warily. "Can I have my clothes?" she asked, hugging herself more tightly.

His face reddened slightly and he looked down. "They are ruined."

She nodded and looked around again. Her eyes caught in a certain flag hanging above his desk. She felt sick again as she looked back at him. His eyes went to the flag, then back to her and the nervousness left his face completely. He looked... maddeningly intense and... fervorous. She swallowed hard. What was her father getting mixed up in that there were white nationalists involved?!?

He was staring at her as if daring her to say something about it.

She knew better. There was no trying to reason with a man like him who ate, slept and breathed hate. Instead, she turned away from him and looked across the other side of the bunker. "What are you going to do with me?" she asked softly.

"Don't know," he answered, and she could hear the truth of that in the way he said it. "I... have never wanted a girl before. Never looked at a girl that way, not once. I grew up wanting something else. Not a girl, never a girl. I've spent my life focused on my goals. On the goals of my people. I've never... been on a date or... talked to a girl. I've dealt with them. John says rough one up, I rough her up, he says rape her, I rape her, he says kill her, I kill her. That's it. I don't even know how to talk to a girl to... just talk. To want a date... or... more."

Aislynn gaped at him in horror. He was a sociopath! A complete psychopath! With... with a crush! On her!

"I said I didn't want to hurt you and I don't. I don't want to have to hurt you, but you went against what I said. You screamed and made a scene and tried to call the police. I don't know how to handle that," he told her, genuinely confused. "You need punished... but I don't want to have to do it."

Aislynn swallowed hard, her eyes welling with tears. "I... I'm sorry! I was afraid! I am afraid... I told you, I thought you were coming after me because of my father... please..."

"I don't like the crying and begging!" he snapped.

Aislynn flinched. "Ok... ok... I'm sorry. I... have been punished though, haven't I? As sick as I was, I promise you, I paid dearly. I..."

"Be quiet," he demanded, then started pacing. After a moment, he crossed the room and pulled out his phone. "John? I need the weekend off... No, get Abel to do it... in twenty years this is the first I have asked for a weekend... No, it's... it's a girl... Yes, a real girl. I need to know something though, how do you make a girl mind and do as you say without beating them up or hurting them too bad? No, I don't want to kill her after! I... I want to keep her... Yes forever, like a girlfriend. A wife. Whatever... But what if she keeps trying to get away? She tried to call the cops after I told her no... I don't know, twenty something? Real short. Little... I don't think she could take that, she's too small... If I can't do that, then how am I supposed to make her be my girlfriend? How do you make Lydia stay put and be your wife? Really? I don't know, I've never wanted to before, it never mattered... Shut up! Just tell me how to make her mind me without hurting her! And make her stop crying and begging so much... Then what? How am I supposed to do that? All the time?!? No, I said I want to keep her! Make her be a wife... Maybe? I don't know... She's Carmichaels daughter, the girl who fell... Yeah, her! No, she isn't too small, she's twenty something... I can tell, she has a woman's body even if she is tiny and she had college books in her car... Does that matter? So what do I do? All the time? What if she says no? How many times? That seems like a lot of trouble. Can't I just threaten her? No, I don't want to follow through, but it will scare her, right? Like, how hard? They do? How do you find out if they like it? I don't know if I could do that... No, I told you! I really don't want to hurt her! In my bunker up in the mountain... No, she can't get out, don't worry. I have it under control... Are you sure that will work? What movies? Isn't there some short youtube video I could watch instead? Damn. Fine. I will figure it out," he snapped, then hit end call.

He turned back to Aislynn and walked back across the bunker and she wondered if he knew she could hear everything he had said, even from that far. She didn't think he did. He seemed pretty clueless about some things, not just women.

He looked her over with a scowl and crossed his arms. She knew he was trying to think of what to say, so she waited patiently, not speaking or upsetting him. She didn't want to set him off.

His scowl deepened and he looked around miserably. "Stay here and don't go messing with shit!" he snapped, then turned and left.

Aislynn watched him walk out the only door, perplexed. What was that all about?

She made her way to the door slowly, ambling a bit, wondering if he were going to come right back in. When she got close, she tried the knob, but it was locked. She knew it would be. She turned and started looking around, then paused in the kitchen.

When he came back in the door, she was at the sink doing dishes, standing up on a large metal ammo crate. He strode militantly across the room and thrust a plastic bag at her, his face red.

She stepped down and took the bag gingerly and peeked into it. There was a little brown teddy bear with a red bow inside. She blinked at it, confused. She looked up at him warily and he was staring back at her expectantly. Obviously whoever was on the phone told him to get her a gift to make her like him. She pulled it out and looked at it.

"Thank you," she told him softly, unsure what she was supposed to do with the thing. "He will look sweet on my bed with my pillows."

"Your bed is here now," he said quickly, heading off her asking to go home.

Aislynn looked over her shoulder at the single bed. "I see. I... can I at least go and pack my things? Get my clothes? Leave a note for my father and let him..."

"No. No, You won't be able to leave here. Not till I can trust you."

Aislynn gave him another small nod. "Ok. I understand," she said calmly, though her heart was hammering in her chest. She needed to find a way out of here! She looked again at the toy in her hand. "Thank you for this," she said softly. "Where should I put him?"

He looked confused then as he looked around. He hadn't thought that far ahead.

Aislynn moved across the room and set the little toy on the nightstand next to the water, then turned back to him. "I'm sorry... I know you said your name, but I wasn't paying attention at the time," she prompted.

"Cutter."

"Your parents must've had a premonition," she said lightly, swallowing hard.

"No. It was my mom's maiden name. They fought over what name I should have, so I got both. Least that's what my grandad told me. Aislynn. What is that from?"

"I don't know. My mother just liked it, I guess. Everyone just calls me Ace. Since I was old enough to remember anyway. I hear my whole name and I feel like I am in trouble," she smiled, but it was forced. She wasn't good at faking and pretending. She was terrified and she wanted to get away, but she was afraid of setting him off.

"Ace. It's easier. Less... girly. I will call you that. You finished there?" he asked, nodding his head towards the sink and the dishes.

"Almost," she answered breathlessly. She hurried to the sink and finished, casting him wary glances as he stood and watched her. He looked completely confused over what he should be doing. She could tell he didn't spend much time here and when he did, he had something specific to be doing. He wasn't a man used to idle time or spending time with someone else. Especially not with someone who he wasn't working with or dealing with. He wasn't the sort who did idle things, his life revolved around his mission. His beliefs. His boss.

Aislynn shivered slightly at that thought and peeked at him again. He looked angry, but she felt like that was just his normal face. He always looked that way. Angry and intense. She finished and stepped down, then turned to him anxiously.

"I will get you something to stand on," he announced, nodding at the ammo box she had been using.

"Thanks."

"You cook."

She wasn't sure if it was a question or an order and she looked up at him, trying to read him. "I... uhhh... yeah. Of course. Daddy owns like 9 restaurants and I grew up in kitchens."

"But they are all fronts," he announced, confused.

"Yes... I know. I know what sorts of business my daddy was involved in... that's why I was afraid, remember? Still, when you are a criminal and an only father, what do you do with your daughter while you conduct business? You send her to the kitchen and let the chefs and cooks show her how to make things. Keep her occupied while you do all of the unsavory things you don't want her to see. So I learned to cook."

"He should have sent you with your mother," he scowled, "Not let you be close and in danger."

"Well, maybe if she had stuck around, he would have."

"Then a babysitter or girlfriend!"

"Well... he did the best he could. Back then he was less... hands on. Basically just did a lot of money laundering before he got into bigger things. It was a lot less dangerous. Umm... so what is it you do exactly? I know who you work for, your... 'organization'," she said, giving the flag a disdainful glance, "but what do you do? That has you..."