The drive back to the house was better than the one we had this morning. We didn't speak too much but there wasn't any awkward silence.There was light traffic and beside our car, was a red SUV filled with teens shouting their lungs in attempt to follow the lyrics to a song. When their eyes caught Gabriel's car, they all whipped out their phones and started recording. We reached the house. The first person I sighted was Merritt holding a small sack over her shoulder like a hunter. She looked over at our car and she hurried inside. Gabriel pulled up in the driveway and climbed out to open the door of the car for me. “Go in, I'd like to speak to someone." He said with a ghost of a smile." I'd like to devour the fruits soon, so be quick, I feel like I might be loosing my appetite." He laughed genuinely and I left him.I entered into the living room and out of curiosity, I walked to the side of the window and listened to his conversation.He was talking to a private security guard an
CRISTELAThe man that stood in the living room had long dark hair that was tied in a ponytail. He had a scar that ran across his left eyebrow and chin.He stood in the living room, looking up at the ceiling, probably wondering how builders had done those designs up there, how they had made a a ceiling so high.“Good evening." I greeted, trying to get his attention.His head snapped to me and he froze, his lips were slowly parted and the amazed look he had when he was surveying the living room was still on his face as he stared at meIt was not the first time someone froze just staring at me and everytime it happened I felt too seen and naked.“You must be the security guard, would you like to have something to drink?."He was in no way ugly. He had features that were highly appealing, like his intense brown eyes and his strong jaw. “Water." He simply said.I nodded and went to get a glass of water for him.When I returned, Regalia was sitting on the couch talking to the man. He had a
As the person in the car saw us approaching, he opened the door and marched out. It was a potbellied man. With a reclining hairline and beady eyes.He licked his lips as he saw me coming and he opened the passenger seat of the car.“I thought the picture was photoshopped, my my." The man spoke, his breath smelled like something nasty.He reached forward to touch me and I jerked my head away. The younger man held my head in place and the fat man smiled and reached forward again.I couldn't turn my head away, the man's fat fingers grazed my chin and then my collarbone. I felt my soul recoil into the deepest parts of my being.I almost puked.The man laughed and said something in a language I didn't understand.“No, I take her first. " The younger man stated.The potbellied man studied me and he shook his head.“I should take her first,"“What rights do you have?." The younger man asked angrily.“Her mother owes me more. Three hundred and fifty five thousand. Yours is merely just one hun
I saw that stubborness that Cristela carried, that kind that could drive you mad if you insist on doing the opposite. I knew better than to stand there and argue with her as blood leaked out of me.“Fine." I told her and I went to take my seat in the passenger side, she got in the driver's seat.Slowly, she started to get the hang of it.I directed her to the hospital I had taken Dariel.“You'll be fine, you'll be fine." She said as we reached the hospital.***The younger man's grip on my neck finally fell off as the automatic gun was pointing at him.My legs started trembling and I took the opportunity to run away from them.“He has a gun." I told Josef as I ran behind him, not caring that he was also a threat.I knew, deep inside me that those men were the bigger threats, I better deal with them first and I would find out how to escape from the snares of Josef.Or what if I just run now.The younger man raised his gun and before he could pull the trigger, Josef put a bullet in his
“You can't go home." Elise said, the doctor's face was grave and he was concerned.“Please, you need to rest, I had to restitch—"I groaned and the man stopped talking.“It's not the first time I've gotten shot and it's not the first time I had to restitch the bullet wound. I'm going home." I stood up from the hospital bed.I couldn't get the security guard off my mind. I should have checked his ID. I should have seen proof that he was working with the security company. What if he was one of Josef's goons and I granted him access into the house. What I did was chaotic. I couldn't get the thought off my head, I felt as if I forgot an empty pot on the burner and I needed to get home before the entire house went up in flames.I fucked up real bad.“You should have just stayed..."“Shut the fuck up, I can't hear any more words from you. Shut up."Elise gasped, her eyes were begining to water.“You've never spoken to me like that. What did I do wrong, was it because I tried to touch you e
I was sore all over.When I reached home, it was almost nine pm. I grabbed my phone and shoved it into my pocket. “Welcome back, sir." The young valet said.“Thank you." I told him and handed him the keys to park the car in the garage.“Uhh... Sir?."I turned to look at him.“There was a man here, he said he was the security that you hired...."My heart starting pounding in my chest.“He had black hair and he wore a black leather jacket, I spoke with him."The valet shook his head.“No sir, he had brown hair and he was wearing a grey suit."I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned it on, I had left it in the car while I went to the hospital to stop the bleeding. There were multiple missed calls from the security company.I ran inside, my mum and dad were in the living room watching TV.“Gabriel, you're back." I heard my mum say but i was already up the stairs. I ran to Cristela's room, it was empty.I went to Kylee's room, it was empty.I ran to my bedroom, it was empty and in th
He gave a slight nod and turned to Josef.“You say your girlfriend fell down the stairs."Josef nodded and a look of sadness befell his handsome features. He was a great actor. “Yes, I found her laying on the floor when I got back home. Is our baby alright?."My breath caught in my throat.The doctor looked at me, it was obvious that he was disturbed.“No, the fetus is fine. She doesn't have any issues with her body, just the side of her head."“Fine. That's great, so I've paid the bills, I can take my girlfriend home now, right?."“No sir, she needs to rest."“Are there any complications."“She is really lucky to have survived that fall, as you can see we tried all we could go revive her. You can't just take her home under zero supervision."Josef shifted in his seat, he turned to look at me and I tried to hide my fear. “Once in a while the nurse will check up on you." The doctor said to meI wanted to call him back, to send him a secret message. He knew me and Gabriel, he was the
GABRIELI ended the call with Kylee, she was returning home because there was nothing leading to Cristela's whereabouts. I had tried to follow the tracks in the woods, I had learnt to do it in boarding school but whoever had taken her was great at covering their tracks. It led to a dead end. “Eat something, please." My mum said.She pushed the plate towards me once again.“I'm not hungry." I told her.“It's almost four in the evening and you've been frantic. You haven't even had a sip of water."“I don't know where she is, I don't know what she's feeling right now and my mind can't stop flashing images of her suffering. Right now I can't even afford to breathe properly mum. "“You're doing your best to find her. The police are doing their job, everybody is helping...."“It's my fault. It's all my fault, I failed to protect her."My mum sighed and sat back on her chair.“Elise hasn't showed up since yesterday, I think she knows something is up." My mother said and I felt a sting.The