April's POV

2 hours later

My tummy was rumbling loudly and felt strangely numb from the lack of food. I had to go down and get some food into me - I just hoped no-one was there. Thankfully, there wasn't. Yet. I flung open the fridge and peered into it, assessing my options. In the end I decided on noodles. 20 minutes and 2 burns later I had a bowl of steaming vegetable noodles.

What a strange situation, I thought to myself. Being able to cook, clean and roam around a house I was trapped in.

I began chomping them down, glancing every now and then at the doorway. After 7 minutes (yes, I timed how long it took for me to eat it,) my bowl was licked clean and I sat back, satisfied.

Eventually, after cleaning my dishes, I walked out of the kitchen into the empty hallway. The faint sounds of laughing sounded from upstairs and I frowned, wondering who it was. Silently making my way up, hand lightly trailing the banister, my mouth nearly fell open when I saw Diego, Nina and Aiden outside my door.

"What are you doing, Ni." I broke in awkwardly.

Nina turned to me in surprise, before smiling. "Hey, Ap. Come on, join us. Diego's just telling me about this new Netflix show I think you'll love." She grinned at me - I frowned. Nina never usually reverted into her inner nerd in front of just anyone - only her close friends and family.

Glancing at Diego, I frowned again, suspicious. I guess having Diego flirt with her was better than Aiden - well, to be fair, anyone was better than Aiden bloody Knight. And truthfully, Diego and Nina looked surprisingly sweet together. But it would still be weird, right?

"Great." I muttered. "Can't wait."

Nina's eyebrows furrowed at me, trying to work out the source of my frustration.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Aiden's voice cut the imperceptible tension. "You guys are going back home today, right? I'm guessing you have school on Monday?" He said, pretending to act concerned. He's not letting us go home. There's a catch. There's always a catch.

"Well, yeah. We do have school tomorrow and April has missed way more than she usually allows," Nina said. "Are you dropping us there?"

Aiden nodded, his eyes ablaze.

"Yeah yeah, thanks for inviting us, we'll leave first thing tomorrow. See you." I said brightly, dragging Nina behind me up the stairs. It's kind of hard pulling someone when they're constantly dragging their feet and not helping. I turned back, frustrated, to find that Aiden had grabbed hold of Nina's other hand. Fine. He wants to play tug-o-war? It's on. I narrowed my eyes at him and pulled Nina towards me. He then yanked her back again. I glared at him as I dragged her back my way, but the game was broken by Nina yelling.

"Stop pulling me." She snapped - she glared at Aiden but with one smile, her anger vanished. With me, on the other hand, a smile didn't cut it.

"Well done Aiden." I scowled, turning on my heel to walk away – it was the ultimate dramatic exit. But Aiden ruined it at the last minute.

He grabbed hold of my shoulder and yanked me back so I was facing him. Even though he was smiling at me charmingly, his eyes were still an inky black and surprisingly, the bruise had faded away on his jaw. Is that even possible? I don't think it is possible for a bruise to fade so fast. Judging by his face, I wondered how I'd even thought he was relatively human – he's really not.

He leaned down, very close to my ear and whispered. "You're not getting off that easily. You can go home, go to school, do whatever it is that losers do – but don't worry, I'll be there making your life hell," he breathed.

I took a deep breath, willing myself to stop shaking in anger. I wanted to punch him so badly - and I usually wasn't the violent one - that was Nina. "Do you even hear yourself, Aiden? Everything that comes out of your mouth is toxic. No wonder you're all rotten inside. I don't need you giving me another bloody warning - you're a kidnapper, not a damn school teacher. So shut up, okay? I get it. If I make one wrong move, I'm dead, or my friends are dead, or my home will be burnt down. Bla bla bla. Get over yourself."

He stared at me, expressionlessly, before laughing -a surprisingly boyish sound. "You're good, April Evans, really, you are. I never thought you'd be able to insult me well, but you did. Well done." He clapped at me sarcastically and I felt myself glowering. "And thank you - I needed the kidnapping advice. Should I be meaner? Provide extra blankets? More food?"

I scowled.

"Shut up, Aiden."

"You shut up."

"No!"

"Do you really want to keep arguing with me? Or start packing to go 'home?'

"I'd much rather be packing."

"Then go."

"Fine."

And so I went upstairs in a daze, desperately trying to forget everything and replacing it with images of the beautiful, beautiful normality of my life before he ruined it.