Every part of her body ached. Liana rubbed her eyes, wondering how she'd been able to sleep in such a formidable condition. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable tightness of the ropes used to tie her onto the icy metallic chair. Instead, she focused on the dilapidated room. It was bare, the only furniture being the chair. The wooden floor was littered with waste composed of cigarette butts, empty soda cans, torn clothing and food wrappers. It surprised her that it didn't smell as bad as it looked.
A splitting headache assaulted her when she tried to remember how she got in the room. One thing was clear, she'd been drugged and kidnapped. But why? She yearned for a bed, to lay her head on a soft pillow and drift off to sleep. She had never felt this uncomfortable.
A man came into the room, wearing a black mask. He was tall and had lean muscles. He wore all black clothing and carried a stool. Liana watched him put the stool down and close the door. Picking it up, he went placed it in front of Liana then sat on it, facing her. Liana figured his heart was dark as his eyes. There was a certain familiarity with those eyes but she couldn't remember where exactly she might have seen them. She wanted to ask who he was but the gag wouldn't let her. In any case, he probably wouldn't reveal his identity unless he wanted to so there was no point in asking.
"Oh wait!" He said, standing up. "I forgot something."
He left the room and came back a minute later holding a batch of keys in his hands. Gina's keys. He sat down and placed them on the ground.
"You're probably wondering who I am," he said. "And why you're here. I won't tell you who I am but I'll tell you what I am. A person who'll stop at nothing to get revenge."
He pulled out a gun from the pocket of his jacket. He turned off the safety and cocked it, pointing it at Liana whose whole body was shaking. "I want to ask you a question and I expect you to be honest. I've been watching you and your best friend for a while. I have to admit I was shocked when I realized you just steal keys for the sake of it. You don't use them. You just wanna mess with people's lives, huh? Do you know how that affects them. You may think it's just keys but losing a batch of keys can ruin a person's life but you don't care about that, do you?"
Liana looked away. She'd always warned Gina that her obsession would cause them trouble. Gina's love for keys was normal in the beginning. She bought and collected them and it was fun. Then one day, Gina had seen a woman holding a very unique and beautiful set of keys. She'd admired them so much and ended up stealing them. From that day, Gina did all possible things to get keys and had turned to some kind of key freak. Liana was the only person Gina had told this. Gina was suffering from cagophilia.
The man lowered the gun. "Tell me, did you steal keys from the Corian hospital last November?"
Liana remembered how hard it had been to get those keys. They'd gone to the hospital in a nearby town for five days, having a different excuse each day. Finally, one the fifth day, they'd managed to get into the head nurse's office and sneak out with the keys unnoticed. Most of them were identical so they'd taken only two from the bunch. Liana had convinced Gina to return the rest since the hospital was a sensitive place. The keys probably opened important rooms. Liana didn't want to be the cause of anyone's death.
"Come on," Gina had said. "The head nurse can't possibly have very important keys. Besides, they have other copies."
In the end, Gina had changed her mind. She'd returned the keys and remained with only one. She was still human, after all.
"Answer me," the man said.
Liana nodded.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't want to punish the wrong person. I have a heart, unlike you and Gina."
Liana nodded again, looking at the man's eyes. They seemed to have become even darker and they had some sort of shine to them. She had never seen eyes like that.
He turned on the gun's safety and put it back into his pocket.
"My girlfriend and child died that day," He said, his eyes getting wet. "It all happened because of you. That story is for another day, though. What you need to know is my wife would be alive if you hadn't taken that key. My child would be three years old now.
I've spent three years looking for the person who took them away from me. I'd never have found you if someone hadn't mentioned that he knew a cagophilist in this town. A thief willing to do anything just to get her hands on key."
Liana wondered if he'd also kidnapped Gina. She sighed. If she hadn't been a reckless thrill seeker, she'd be at school with her friends. She wondered if anyone was looking for her. She'd only been helping her best friend and having some fun. Would he kill her?
She desperately wanted to tell him she was sorry, that it'd all be okay. She knew nothing would take away his pain. Her eyes became watery as she looked at him staring at the keys. He looked up abruptly.
"Don't pity me you idiot," he slapped her across the cheek. She winced, turning away. "You should feel pity for yourself because I'm going to make you suffer until your last breath."
Liana froze. She tried to talk in vain and looked at him, silently pleading. She noticed that the veins in his arms had just become more prominent but they reverted to normal size as soon as he noticed her staring. First his eyes had changed and something had happened to his arms. What kind of man was she stuck with?
"Just so you know, your friend is free and she's been telling people you went to see your parents,” he informed her, mockingly. “She doesn't care about you. I know that'll kill you before I do."
Liana's eyes widened. She shook her head. It wasn't fair that she was paying for Gina's misdeeds while Gina was out there acting like nothing had happened.
"That really got you worked up, didn't it? Don't worry, we can make a deal for your freedom. Are you in or not?"
Liana thought about it. Gina hadn't even bothered to look for her. It made her furious.
She nodded.
Gina sat on top of the hill, breathing hard from the climb. She smiled, enjoying the feel of the wind against her face. She was finally at peace. People had not stopped asking about Liana since morning. It had began with her mother who inquired when she came to wake her up. Gina had lied, saying Liana had gone to see her parents and resolved to tell that to anyone who asked. Liana had been living with Gina's family since her parents opened up their medical practice in a remote area that didn't have a college. She regretted having gone to college that day. She'd lied to so many people including her friends and teachers. What if Liana turned up dead? She'd be the first suspect.She shook her head, not wanting to think of that possibility. Liana was alive, probably kept captive somewhere. In the small town where she knew everybody, she didn't know where to start or who to suspect. Everyone behaved normally. Her head was killing her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of
The dim lamp cast a small glow allover the dark room. Liana ate slowly, occasionally looking at the gun in the man's hand. He let her eat in peace provided she didn't scream. She obeyed, knowing that one wrong move could end her life. She had so much to live for and did not want to die because of Gina's stupid hobby or whatever disorder it was."I talked to your friend, today." He said, playing with his gun. It seemed he had used it for to many times he wasn't scared of it. "I offered to get you back home. All she needs to do is kill Cole Miller. Easy right?"Liana gasped. "Easy for a psycho like you. How dare you tell my friend to do something like that?""You and I had a deal.""You haven't told me the particulars so it's not a deal yet," she insisted. He couldn't just decide they had a dealer when she had no idea what it was about."I thought it was clear," he said. "We both unite in revenge against our common enemy.""Gina is not my enem
Gina held the sharp knife in front of her face, thinking of the moment she'd have to plunge it into Cole's chest. Hellen, a friend of hers walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard, pulling out a box of biscuits which she proceeded to open."Don't do it, Gina." Hellen said, eating a biscuit. She was the only person Gina had confided in. Now she was beginning to realize it may have been a mistake to confide in her."I either kill Cole or Liana dies and I'll go to jail," Gina said, putting the knife back on the rack. "I don't want to go to jail. Who knows how many years they'll keep me imprisoned? I have a life to live and I'll not give it up because of Cole. Besides, that man is going to kill him, anyway."Hellen shook her head."I know you, Gina. You're not a murderer and will never be able to live with it."Gina knew Hellen was right but she was scared. She had to save Liana by all means. And if the police ever found out about all the keys she'd obt
"Rip Cole" was everywhere. The man had shown her everything using his phone. Liana was still to believe that Gina had gone ahead and killed Cole. She'd known Gina since she was a child and they'd always been so close, like peas in a pod. There was no way Gina had turned into murderer overnight."You know I've always thought she was just a common thief," The man said, looking at Liana. He was seated on a chair placed right in front of her. He had removed his mask but she didn't recognize him. He was not a native of her little town. "I can't believe she'd kill someone who'd never done anything wrong to her. She's one cold hearted girl."Liana wanted to tell him to shut up but he'd put duct tape over her lips. It was all his fault therefore he had no right to judge Gina. He had pushed her against the wall. What did he expect her to do when he was keeping her best friend hostage. Gina had chosen to save her over Cole. It didn't make her happy that a man had been murdered t
I'm telling you I didn't do it," Gina said. Hellen stood up and went to the window."Then who did?" She asked, smoothing the dark maroon curtain."I don't know. I think it's that guy. He set me up and now he's not answering my calls. I don't know what to do."Hellen came and sat next to Gina on the bed. She snaked her left arm around Gina. "You should go to the police. Tell them everything so they can catch this guy before he destroys your life.""You know I can't do that," Gina said, wiping her tears with a blue t-shirt. Her head was aching so much from confusion and excessive worrying. Besides that, she hadn't been getting enough sleep. "It could cause a lot of complications, for instance me being a suspect. I just wish that moron could just let Liana go like he promised. We had a deal but he has refused to honor it.""This guy is very dangerous. You have to report him, unless you're the one who actually killed Cole. If you're innocen
The town was quite small and the three siblings were outside the biggest supermarket in it. They were in a car coming up with a plan as they had been watching the supermarket for three days and they'd mastered the workers' routines. The only problem so far was the skinny girl and her friend who were always patrolling the supermarket. It seemed they were after something in particular and the siblings hadn't figured it out yet."How doesn't anyone in this town notice that these girls are acting weird?" The girl, Kyla asked her brothers."They're quite pretty with innocent faces," Ned, the eldest said from the driver's seat. "If they weren't half as good looking, everyone would think they're creepy. They're also very average in terms of dressing and everything.""I'm going to see what they're up to," Mark said when the girls went inside the supermarket. He got out of the back seat and followed the girls.On entering, he saw the skinny one removing keys
Liana was tired of staring at the walls. It had been so long since she'd been outside. How she wished she could breath in fresh air and not the damp murky air in the room? She'd not wanted to dwell on the fact that her dilemma was mostly Gina's fault but now it was impossible to ignore it. She thought about Gina all the time and regretted doing so many things with her. She'd cursed the day they met countless times even though it didn't make her feel better. Liana's mother had came into the room when she was unpacking. "We have to go now," she said. "You'll finish unpacking later." Liana had relunctantly followed her mother and her father drove them to meet the Breya family. Liana's parents had been friends with The Breyas for a long time. After hearing about Gina Breya and how amazing she was, Liana had been curious to meet her though she did not feel in the mood for making friends. She just had to meet her and move on her life. She needed to make
It was already dark when Gina and the officer who'd introduced himself as Barnes reached the police station. Most of the officers had left so there were only two cars parked outside. As Gina got out of the car, she saw a boy called Rory standing outside the court building which was opposite the police station. He smiled and Gina turned away. Everything about him had annoyed her. He was in sophomore year in another college and claimed to be in love with her. Even though she'd turned him down countless times, he still kept talking about how she was all he wanted. It seemed like turning him down made her more desirable to him. She was tired of having to tell him the same things over and over again.Detective Barnes led the way up the outdoor stairs into the station. At the door, Gina turned to see Rory who was now typing on his phone. She was becoming a little bit suspicious of him."Have a seat, Miss Breya." Barnes indicated a couch and went to one of the inner off