The next morning Jeff is awoken by a knock on his door, he opens his eyes and looks around, the teen takes a few minutes to get his bearings, at first he is confused, not recognizing the room, but then he remembers where he is. “Man,” Jeff says, sitting up in bed, “and I thought it has all been a crazy dream,” he then hears a second knock and a familiar deep voice call his name, “come in,” Jeff says.
The door opens and Jeff is greeted by the smiling face of his kidnapper, Darren, “morning, Jeff,” he says, “have you slept well?”
Jeff smiles and nods, “I slept wonderful,” he says, “I never slept so good before, this bed is so comfy.”
Darren chuckles, “glad to hear,” he says, “why don’t you get dressed and meet me in the hall, we’ll head down to the kitchen and have some breakfast. After that, I’ll give you the tour, sounds good?”
Jeff nods, “sure,” he says, Darren smiles and leaves the room, closing the door behind him. The teen takes a minute, ‘even though Darren kidnapped me,’ he thinks to himself, ‘I can’t help but feeling relaxed and safe in his presence. I somehow trust him, he is a cool dude, he’d never harm me.’ Jeff gets out of bed and quickly puts on his clothes, “man, I wish I had some clothes, these are starting to stink.”
When Jeff opens the door to his room, he sees Darren leaning against the wall, “there he is,” the man says with a smile, “come, let’s get something in our stomachs,” with that both head down the stairs.
As they make their way into the kitchen, Darren points out various stuff, from portraits and weapons which cover the walls, telling a story of each item.
Jeff is overwhelmed, he was so tired the night before, that he didn’t realize how big the house was, “man, this house is huge,” the teen says, “so many rooms and stuff.”
Darren chuckles, “yeah, and most of the rooms I don’t even use,” he says.
Jeff looks at Darren, “where are the people who take care of this mansion and the Ranch?”
Darren grins, “I am those people,” he says.
“Say what,” Jeff says, “but… isn’t that to much for you? I mean, you are a spy, you have to do your main job, having helping hands would take away most of the stress.”
“It would,” Darren agrees, “but, as I said the night before: I prefer to be alone than to risk other people’s lives.”
“Oh,” Jeff says, “but then why kidnap me?”
Darren shrugs, “I guess it is because I don’t need a lose end,” he says, “not that I don’t trust you to tell on me. I just feel more secure when I have you under my control.”
Jeff tilts his head, “I guess I would have done the same,” he says.
They soon arrive at in the kitchen, “why don’t you set the table, while I make us some breakfast,” Darren says, “you can find plates in that cabinet, cutlery is in that drawer by the sink.”
Jeff nods, “sure,” he says and gets to work, soon both are sitting opposite each other at the table. Jeff is just wolfing down his food, “man, this tastes so amazing,” he says, “you are really talented,” he adds.
Darren smiles, “thanks, Jeff,” he says, “I do take pride in being able to do so many stuff.”
Jeff finishes his forth plate, he then pushes his plate away and leans back, letting out a groan, “man, I am stuffed!”
Darren chuckles, “sorry about that,” he says.
Jeff grins, “he… all good, Darren,” he says, the teen the turns his head and looks out the window.
Darren notices Jeff getting a thoughtful expression, “what are you thinking about Jeff?”
Jeff turns his head to look at Darren, “oh, just wondering if my parents are missing me already,” he says.
Darren shrugs, “I haven’t heard anything on the news,” he says, “besides, while watching over you, I noticed that you have run away on multiple occasions or stayed at a friend’s house for a while. I guess your parents might be assuming that you are just at a friend’s house and won’t be worried about you.”
“Yeah,” Jeff says, “you might be right.”
“Try not to think about your family to much,” Darren says, “try to enjoy your “freedom” here on my Ranch.”
Jeff looks at Darren, he then smiles, “I already like it here,” Jeff says, “it feels so welcoming, plus you seem to be a good guy, even though you kidnapped me, I don’t feel the urge to want to escape.”
Darren smiles, “it is nice to know you trust me,” he says, “trust goes a long way. I will not hold you against your will, you have the freedom of exploring the Ranch and nearby area on your own.”
Jeff’s eyes widen, “y-you mean… if I wanted to… I could return home and you won’t stop me?”
Darren nods, “yes, but I am hoping that you’ll decide to stay a while,” he says, sounding a little sad, “it feels nice to have some company.”
Jeff thinks for a while, he then smiles, “I guess I can stay for a while,” he says, “I really don’t care about school anyway, maybe I could do some jobs on your Ranch?”
Darren smiles, “I’d appreciate that,” he says, “I guess we are ready to do the tour. First let me show you around my mansion, then we’ll head outside and I’ll show you the rest of the Ranch.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jeff says.
After cleaning up the kitchen, Darren leads Jeff through the house, showing the teen the gaming room, private cinema, the huge garden with the huge pool, and lots more, before leading Jeff out the front door.
Darren leads Jeff to the stables, Jeff is confused, “where are all the animals,” he asks.
“I just don’t have time to care for animals,” Darren says, “it would be nice to have at least some Horses and maybe a dog or two.”
“Hmm… I guess being a spy comes with lots of sacrifices,” Jeff says.
“Yeah,” Darren says.
“So, how big is your property,” Jeff asks.
Darren grins, “as you can tell,” he says, “we are in a valley, surrounded by the canyon. The stone walls of the canyon is the border of my property.”
Jeff’s eyes widen, “holy… shit,” he says, looking around, “it’s massive, you even got your own forest, and… is that a waterfall I hear in the distance?”
Darren nods, “yeah,” he says, “I can take you there at some point,” he says.
“I’d love that,” Jeff replies.
“By the way,” Darren says, “the next city is 200 miles away, there is not one living soul nearby, and no one knows about this Ranch. So, even if I’d keep you here against your will: no one would ever find you and if you’d want to escape, there is nothing for miles, plus, we are surrounded by not only the canyon but also a massive desert.”
“Good thing then I decided to stay with you out of my free will,” Jeff says, “as I said: I have no reason to want to try and escape, I actually really like it here, it’s so beautiful.”
Darren smiles, “thanks,” he says, “also, since we are in a semi tropical area, the forest you see is actually a jungle.”
Jeff’s eyes widen, “you mean, there could be tigers, snakes, lizards and other jungle creatures out there?”
Darren nods, “there most defiantly are,” he says, “I have seen Tigers, Snakes, Lizards, Monkeys and many other animals walking around my property. They tend to stay near the jungle, they rarely venture over here.”
“Good to know,” Jeff says, “but I’d still not want to be stuck outside when it is dark.”
Darren chuckles, “I wouldn’t either,” he says.
The two continue the tour, Jeff is overwhelmed, the more he sees, the more he does not want to leave this paradise, “man, can’t wait to see the jungle,” he says.
Darren chuckles, “we’ll do that some other time,” he says, “I got to do some… “work” in my study.”
“Oh, okay,” Jeff says, “what am I supposed to do?”
“Why don’t you head to the gaming room or the cinema,” Darren suggests.
“Hmm… yeah,” Jeff says, “that’s a good idea,” with that both head back in the house, Jeff heads straight down into the basement, where the gaming room and cinema are located, while Darren heads to his study.
As he walks to his study, Darren grins to himself, “I have the feeling, that Jeff will never want to leave,” he says to himself, “I’ll make sure of that!”