Type of work: Chapters of Yesterday to Tomorrow
Genre: Romance, fan fiction
Title: Yesterday to Tomorrow: Chapter Fourteen, Precious
Author: dreamsinfiction
Fandom: Chris Cornell of Audioslave
Rating: R
Warning: violence, language


Links to Previous Chapters:
Chapter One, Ice Cream
Chapter Two, Waves
Chapter Three, A Breath Away
Chapter Four, Completely platonically
Chapter Five, Don't leave bed
Chapter Six, Not a rebound
Chapter Seven, Kaleidoscope of feelings
Chapter Eight, Shadows of memories
Chapter Nine, Ripe circumstances
Chapter Ten, Domus
Chapter Eleven, Where it all began
Chapter Twelve, A blessing
Chapter Thirteen, Just a quick deposit




Red and blue filled the lobby, reflecting off the ceiling and dancing on the floor. For a moment, Alyssa thought about how pretty it was, before snapping back to reality. She was locked in a bank, sitting on the cold floor, hoping no one would get hurt, hoping she would be in Chris's arms once more. That was all she wanted. To be safe in his arms once more.

And then she heard it. His ring tone echoing off the sides of the trash can. Oh love, so not a good idea.

"Whose phone is ringing!?" a Martha demanded.

No one said a thing.

"Whose phone is fucking ringing!?" he shouted again, brandishing his gun towards the huddled mass.

"Mine," Alyssa admitted.

"Answer it," he commanded, motiong towards the trash can with the gun. "Now."

She scrambled towards the trash can. It stopped ringing. On her knees she looked back to the Martha, not knowing what she should do. And then it beeped with a voice message.

He motioned at the bin again, "Take care of it."

Not understanding why he was so insistent upon it but not about to argue, Alyssa shuffled through the small electronics until she found her pearly white cell phone. Flipping it open she dialed into the voicemail, her fingers shaking as she entered her code and waited to hear his voice.

"Lyssa, baby. I need you to call me if you get this. The cops say that the phone lines in and out of the bank have been severed. They need to talk to someone to get you out of there without anyone getting hurt. Baby, please."

"Who was it?"

"My f-f-fiancee," she replied, not looking up to the masked man.

"What did he want?"

"He said... He said I need to call him back... So the police can talk to someone in here," she responded.

"Boss! We've got our line!" he shouted.

The tallest Martha returned to the vestibule, "Who?"

"Precious," he pointed to Alyssa.

The head Martha stalked over to, pulling her to her feet, "What's your name, Precious?"

"A-a-alyssa," she replied, wide eyes on his.

"Precious Alyssa," he stated. "You are going to be our spokeswoman."

"I... I..." she left her words unsaid, not wanting to tell him no, nor agree.

"Who were you talking to earlier?" he asked.

"M-my fiancee," Alyssa responded.

He looked at her finger, the one that was still red from his pulling the ring off, "Get her ring. The diamond soltaire."

"But Boss—"

"You heard me!" he shouted at the burly Martha.

"Yessir."

"Now, Precious, I want you to call your fiancee and tell him you are all right. Understand?"

She nodded.

"But nothing else. You are not to tell him anything else about what is going on in here. Understand?"

She nodded again.

The burly Martha returned, holding a ring in his hand. The lead Martha accepted it, holding it in front of Alyssa.

"Is this the one?"

A third nod, her eyes focused on it for a moment.

"If you do as I say, exactly as I say, I will return the ring. Understand?"

Another nod.

"Good. Call your man."

He closed his hand over the ring, folding his arms over his chest. She could feel his dark eyes on her as she hit Chris's speed-dial. Her hand trembled as she raised the phone to her ear. It rang twice.

"Baby! Are you all right? What's going on in there?" he instantly questioned.

"I'm... I'm okay, Chris. Everyone is okay," she replied softly.

"Baby, the police want to talk to someone in there. Do they know you're on the phone?"

"Yes. They know I'm on the phone. I was told to call you," she replied, explaining more than she normally would, just so the head Martha would know what Chris had asked.

"Okay. Baby, we're going to get you out of there, but you're going to have to help us. I want you to give your phone to one of them," he instructed.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can, Lyss. Really. I won't even be the one talking to them. It will be the sargeant," Chris said.

"I can't, Chris. I'm only allowed to talk to you, to let you know I'm okay," Alyssa explained. "That's all."

"Hang up the phone," the gruff voice commanded.

"Chris, I'm okay. I love you. I have to go now."

"Lyssa, please don't hang up, baby. Please."

"I have to," she replied and hung up the phone.

"Very good, Precious," he held out the ring for her. "If he calls back, you are not to answer until I say you can. Understand?"

"Yessir," she replied, quickly pushing the ring onto her finger.

"Actually, give me the phone. I will hold onto it until the time comes," he held out his hand.

Shaking she held out the phone for him, just as it started to ring again. Her eyes went to the display, only confirming it was in fact Chris calling her back. She silenced the call before releasing her phone.

"Go sit down," he instructed.


Silently the group of hostages huddled together, their backs against the teller wall. None had ventured to speak at all yet. Alyssa's eyes went to the clock and she wondered how long they would be held inside the makeshift prison, how long until they were told of the robbers' intentions. Afterall if they only wanted the money, they would have left by then, right?

Just when her nerves were beginning to subside, a gunshot rang through the bank. The blood drained from her face and she began to tremble again. A man next to her, grasped her hand and squeezed it gently, the first gesture of anything she had from her fellow captives as of yet.

The tallest Martha returned to the vestibule. Behind him two more Marthas dragged.... the lifeless form of the bank manager. His blood spotted the marble tiles, marking a path to the desk where they dumped him. Alyssa's hand covered her mouth just as her phone started to ring in the head Martha's pocket. He whipped around to glare at her.

"Precious, come here!" he demanded.

She hesitated.

"Now! Or I will start shooting the others!" he shouted.

She was on her feet the next instant, hurrying over to him. The phone had stopped ringing. A beep a moment later indicating a message.

"Is anyone here involved in computers?" he demanded, looking around at the crowd.

They all shook their heads, terror in their eyes.

"How about you, Precious?" he looked at her.

"N-no, s-s-sir," she replied. "Only b-b-basic."

"Fuck," he muttered, turning his back to her for a moment. "Forty-seven, you'll have to figure out some other way into that safe! Blow it off its hinges for all I care!"

He turned back to face Alyssa, "Call your fiancee. Inform him that one has been killed for not obeying my orders. If the SWAT team attempts to enter the property, I will start killing the other hostages one by one, making you watch. In twenty-seven minutes, he is to call back and then we will begin hostage negotiations. Understood?"

Looking at the cell phone that he held out to her, she nodded slowly.

"Good."

The phone only rang once before his voice filled her ear, "Alyssa, is everyone all right? We heard a gunshot."

"They... they shot the bank manager," she replied, he voice wavering slightly.

"Oh god, baby. You all right?"

"S-so f-far. Chris, he says they will start k-killing us if anyone t-tries to enter the b-bank. And-d h-he'll m-make m-me watch," Alyssa explained.

She heard a sharp intake of breath, "What does he want? Hell, I'll personally give him all the money he wants if he'll let you go."

"He says you need to call back in twenty seven minutes and then he'll talk about that," she replied. "Twenty-seven minutes."

"We'll get you out of there, baby. I promise.