Chapter Text
“This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
-Hamlet (Act 1, Scene 3)
***
Louis glances up to the old dusty clock hanging on the wall. “Alright class, as riveting as I know this lecture has been. Unfortunately, it’s time to wrap up. Remember your papers on your own modern interpretation of one of the great works of Shakespeare are due next Tuesday. Now, go and enjoy your Friday night, but don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
He winks, earning a few snickers from the class as the sound of bags zipping up and feet shuffling out fill the lecture hall. Louis is gathering his own things when two of his students approach his desk. He’s still trying to learn everyone’s names, seeing as the semester has only just begun.
He smiles at the two girls. “Hello ladies, please remind me your names and then what can I help you with?”
The curly brunette speaks up first. “Hi professor Tomlinson. I’m Annabelle.” She gestures to the redhead beside her, “and this is Claire.” Claire gives him a bit of a shy wave as Annabelle continues. “We’re first years and both planning to major in Theatre. We were wondering if you had suggestions of monologues we should memorize for auditions?”
Louis raises his brows. “Ah yes, it’s always good to have audition pieces prepared and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Is there any genre in particular that interests you?”
Annabelle nods enthusiastically. “Yes! I love musicals.”
Louis nods. “Well a good ballad is always a solid way to go. For Good from Wicked is a classic. Or Come What May from Moulin Rouge. But I would also suggest having something fun and a little unexpected in your arsenal. Perhaps You Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray.”
Annabelle nods, beaming. “Those are all great suggestions, thank you professor.”
Louis smiles. “Of course.” He turns to Claire then. “And what about you? What are you interested in?”
Claire seems to hesitate for a moment, biting her lip. “Promise you won’t laugh?”
Louis’ face softens. “Of course not. Theatre is a very personal thing. I would never laugh at something as sacred as that.”
That seems to placate her a bit, and she takes a big breath. “I really love tragedies.”
Louis raises a brow. “Tragedies are absolutely magnificent, and usually provide us with fantastic monologues. Personally, I have a soft spot for Hamlet. I would suggest Ophelia’s soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1. ‘O what a noble mind is here o’erthrown.”
He pauses then to check in that the girls are following, and has to suppress a smile when he sees them both staring up at him, enraptured.
“The thing about tragedies is they dig deep into our souls and make us feel the kinds of emotions we would prefer to avoid. They make us face our most uncomfortable truths. It can be hard for an actor sometimes to let themselves go to a place that dark. But if you can well and truly nail it, then any director would be an idiot not to hire you.”
Claire nods, breathing out in awe. “Thank you professor. I’ll start working on that piece right away.”
Louis grins. “Good.” He drops his voice to a stage whisper then. “And just for the record, tragedies are my favorite too.”
Claire beams at him, and Louis chuckles. “Alright now, enough of my blabbing, you two go off and enjoy your weekend.”
Both girls giggle and wish him a good weekend as well, before practically skipping out of the lecture hall.
Louis is still grinning as he gathers his things into his bag before slinging it over his shoulder. A lot of his colleagues grumble about having to teach the first year introduction to theatre classes. Most of the students only taking it to fulfill their general education requirements.
But personally, Louis always loves teaching those courses. And it’s because of students like Annabelle and Claire. First years are always so wide eyed and hopeful. It reminds Louis of why he fell in love with reading plays like Hamlet in the first place. He loves watching even the most resigned students, finish out the semester with a new found love for a particular play or author.
The theatre is for everyone, as Louis always says.
As he steps out into the now abandoned hallway, Louis starts thinking about his own evening plans. Maybe he’ll reward himself with a Dominos, seeing as he’s officially made it through the first full week of the semester.
His mind is still wrapped up in pizza toppings as he locks the door to the lecture hall, which is probably why he doesn’t notice that he’s no longer alone in the hallway.
Not until it’s too late.
Suddenly a strong arm wraps around his waist and just when he’s about to scream, his assailant puts their other hand against his mouth, filling it with what seems to be a wad of cloth.
Louis barely registers himself feeling a bit woozy, when suddenly everything goes black.
***
The first thing that Louis notices as he comes back to consciousness, is that his head is throbbing with pain. Almost as if someone had taken a hammer to it.
The second thing he notices, is that he’s sat on an uncomfortable metal chair without the use of any of his limbs. His annkles are tied to the metal front legs of the chair with a thick, rough rope. And his arms are tied together behind him, forcing them into an awkward position and making his shoulders ache. He also can’t speak, thanks to the duct tape placed securely over his lips.
The third thing Louis notices is that he has no idea where the fuck he is.
He thinks he might be in someone’s flat, or perhaps one of those seedy motels that are rent by the hour?
His chair is placed in the corner of the room. Off to his left is a broken down old sofa that looks like it’s seen better days, and across from it a TV that could easily be from the 80’s is softly playing some old black and white movie.
In front of him Louis can see a little kitchenette with appliances that may possibly be older than he is, and an old beat up, wooden dining room table with several mismatched wooden kitchen chairs gathered around it.
Louis also spots a doorway, that likely leads to a bedroom. There’s no one else in the room with him.
He shifts a bit in his chair, checking to see if the rope has any give. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t.
Louis knows he’s in shock. His entire body feeling numb. At first he’d thought maybe this was some sort of a student’s prank gone wrong. But he has a sinking feeling it is likely much worse than that.
This seems far too elaborate for a random mugging though. And although a small handful of students or parents have been unhappy with him about a grade here or there over the years, he can’t think of any that would be pissed off enough to orchestrate his kidnapping.
Louis doesn’t have enemies. Or so he thought.
His racing thoughts are halted then, when two men enter from the mystery doorway Louis had noticed earlier.
The first one is tall and lanky, but it’s clear even under the black jacket he’s wearing that he’s fit. His cheeks are a bit ruddy, perhaps from the chill in the room. There’s an uneven reddish-brown beard stretching across his chin that looks like it’s only just graduated from a few day’s stubble.
Most notably though, is the sneer on his face that’s menacing enough to make Louis’ stomach drop.
The bald headed man trailing behind him is much shorter, but what he lacks in height he certainly makes up for in muscle. He looks like he could benchpress Louis without breaking a sweat, one-handed. His expression is also much harder to read, but his beady black eyes stay trained firmly on Louis, barely even blinking.
It’s incredibly unnerving.
The first man grins then, but there isn’t anything friendly about it. He steps forward and unceremoniously rips the duct tape from Louis’ mouth, leaving the skin that was underneath it smarting.
“Good morning professor Tomlinson. I hope you had a pleasant nap.”
Louis rolls his lips together, biting back a snarky reply. He still doesn’t know what’s going on here, but escalating things likely won’t help his cause.
So he keeps his tone as calm and understanding as he can manage. “Look fellas, I think there’s been a misunderstanding here. I don’t have a lot of money to my name. Lord knows teachers don’t get paid enough for that. I’m willing to offer you what I have in my savings though.”
The first man’s grin only grows wider then, much to Louis’ dismay.
“There’s been no misunderstanding professor. We didn’t bring you here for your money. We actually need your help.”
Louis raises a brow. “My help? You boys interested in studying Shakespeare?”
The thin man cackles, while the big one stays blank faced. The first one speaks again. “No, no we’re not much for the arts I’m afraid. Rather, we need you to help us get someone’s attention.”
He pauses then, probably for dramatic effect. “Your husband’s to be exact.”
Fuck.
Louis actually feels his blood run cold. He always thought that was a ridiculous and overused expression in literature, but it turns out he’d just never been scared enough to experience it. Until now.
There’s a little voice in the back of Louis’ head screaming that he’d known all along that that’s what this was probably about.
Louis ignores it though. He needs to try to salvage this. If he wants to live, that is.
“Well, that’s the thing gentlemen. I think your intel is bad. I’ve been divorced for over two years now.”
The thin man’s smirk doesn’t falter. “Well let’s hope he still cares about you enough to pay your ransom.” He snorts out a laugh. “For our sake, and especially for yours.”
Louis fights the irrational urge to roll his eyes.
He’s not going to hold his breath.