“What did you say?” Nico asked from behind.
Kevin bowed his head as he closed his eyes. “She is gone.”“She is gone?” Nico asked then rushed past Kevin into the room. He looked frantically around the room and then rushed toward the window.“She is gone,” Nico said as if he was trying to convince himself.He leaned over the window and looked down. “Wow, she is quite something. How did she get down two floors?”“Nico stop looking, she will be gone by now.”Nico turned and looked at Kevin stunned. “She has been shot in both shoulders and her leg. How can she possibly climb down?”Nico looked around the room. He walked to the bed and looked underneath.“We need to get her back. They will kill her if they get her again.” Kevin said,After Kevin had found Alice, he sent word out to his men to keep tabs on her. Kevin had received word that two groups were sent to kill her. He still was not sure who, but when he received the information, he dropped everything and flew directly to London. His chest tightened when he thought back,***He was too far away to take the shot, so he hurried towards them. Everything in that moment stopped when he heard the popping sound echoing through the air for the second time. He watched her body jerk back as the bullet went through her flesh. The image made his blood turn cold. He watched her shirt turn red. He knew right then, if he did not reach her in time, he would lose her forever.***“Nico, go and get me the information about Khan, I will take Rikki with me, now hurry.”Nico nodded then walked out of the door.When the room fell silent, she waited a few minutes before she climbed out of the closet. Alice had grabbed her phone from the bedside table before she climbed into the closet. She looked at her shoulders and then down to her leg. The blood was starting to bleed through the bandages. Alice pulled the jacket on that she had taken from the closet. Someone had dressed her in man boxers, and the pants in the closet were too big for her so it had to do until she found her clothes. Her eyes searched through the room looking for her clothes, but they were nowhere. She limped to the door and pressed her ear against it. No sound could be heard from the other side, but Alice knew she would not be so lucky for the house to be empty. She knew some of his men would be in the house. Alice slowly turned the doorknob and limped out of the room. With no pain meds in her system, she could feel the pain shooting through her with every step she took. The burning feeling was the worse. Alice gripped the railing of the stairs when she felt her surroundings spinning. She closed her eyes to stabilize herself. When the worst dizziness stopped, she limped down the stairs while she gritted her teeth to bear the pain. She kept her ears open for any movement or voices. “Oh please, please let me get out of here,” She prayedAs Alice came to the end of the stairs, she saw the front door on the other side. As she wanted to take a step forward, she stopped when she heard voices approaching. She instantly froze. Her breath caught in her throat. Alice looked around for a place to hide but she was trapped between the staircase and two walls. With the intense pain, her instincts were affected. She knew they were coming but not from which side. She was left with only one option, to wait, and see what will happen.“What did your wife say about tonight!” The one guy asked as they neared the staircase“Oh shit,” He suddenly felt his pocket. “Good thing you mentioned tonight, I almost forgot to let her know,”“What are you searching for?”“I forgot my phone in the living room.”They stopped just around the corner of the staircase.“You go first, I will meet you at the car.”“Nah, I will come with you.”Alice heard both turning. She closed her eyes and release the breath she was holding. As she limped out of the house she tried to stay near the walls and fencing of each house she past not to get noticed. She still needed to figure out who wanted her dead so for the time being she was not going to trust anyone except Khan. Her father's words echoed through her mind as she walked, “It depends if she can pass all the tests.”Alice quickly walked into an ally and called a taxi. After ten minutes she saw the taxi stopping at the corner of the address she gave him. She limped toward the taxi and quickly got in. The driver turned around. His eyes widened when he saw her,“Are you okay lady? You do not look too good. Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”“No. Please take me to the Diamond hotel.”The driver looked at her leg and noticed blood running down it.“Are you sure…”“Please. Just take me to the hotel” Alice said,She laid her head back and closed her eyes as her surrounding started spinning again.“Okay, if you say so. Just don't die in my cab, okay?”, He turned around and started driving toward the hotel.As they arrived, he turned around and looked at her. He felt anxious when he saw her white complexion. If he did not see her chest going up and down, he surely would have thought she was dead.“Lady we are here.” He called out.Alice slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She looked out the window and saw the hotel in front of her. She looked toward the driver,“Thank you. I can pay with my phone, right?” She asked“Yes, you can.”She showed him her phone and he scanned it.“Take this,” He held out a handkerchief, “I think you want to wipe that blood from your leg before you climb out.”Alice looked down towards her leg seeing the blood had run onto the seat. She took it from him and wiped the blood from her leg and tried to clean most of the blood off the seat. She looked up at him apologetically when she could not get the red stain out.“Don’t worry. I will take care of it. This is not something new. When you do this kind of work I do, you have seen it all. A little blood is nothing. Once a lady gave birth in the back seat. Now that was something else.”Alice thanked him and climbed out of the car.“Hey, Tess,”“Maisie? Please tell me you are back.”“I am back!!!” Maisie sang over the phone.“AHHHHHH!” Tess screamed which made Maisie hold the phone away from her ear.“You want to go to Club La Vita tonight?” Maisie asked.“Hell yeah! I am down on getting smashed tonight!”“Yeah! Will you inform the rest of the girls? Oh, and should I come and pick you up?”“Yes, I will let them know. They are going to be thrilled, and yes, please. I think it is best. I don’t want to total my car tonight. My dad will kill me.”“Then it’s settled. How late should I come and pick you up?”“How about past ten?”“Okay, I will see you then. Bye.” Maisie ended the call.The girls were a total of six. Tess walked in front swaying her hips. The black mini dress barely covered her bum.Tess trailed her finger around the bouncer.“Hello Ivan, have you missed me?”Ivan smiled at Tess as she was circling him.“Always,”He opened the red rope.“Ladies” Ivan motioned with his hand for them to enter.Maisie was
The hotel was not as busy as Alice thought it would be. As she walked up toward the entrance, she noticed a suitcase standing unattended. The owner was having an intense conversation over the phone and was looking into the distance. Alice monitored her surroundings. As she noticed no one was paying attention to it or her, she made use of the chance and walked toward the suitcase and casually dragged it away. Inside the hotel she spotted the bathroom and limped towards it, ignoring the stares she received. As she entered the bathroom she walked into a stall and closed the door behind her. She closed the lid of the toilet and placed the suitcase on top“Oh, thank goodness. Some little bit of luck,” she said when she saw women's clothes inside.Alice quickly changed. She hid her hair underneath a sunhat and put the glasses she found in the suitcase on. She left the suite case inside the stall and walked out.“Good day, how can I help you?” The lady at the reception asked“Hello, I booked
Alice heard a knock on the hotel door. She stood sideways against it and called out.“Yes, who is it?”“Lenzo. Open up.”Alice unlocked the door and slightly cracked the door open. She looked through the crack.Lenzo grinned at her and gave a small wave with his hand. Alice opened the door and stood to the side. Lenzo walked in. He glanced around the room and looked back at Alice“You look like shit,” Lenzo commented“Yeah, I know. Thanks.”Alice turned around and limped to the bed. She put the sunhat and the sunglasses on and limped back to Lenzo. He held his arm out for her. She reached for his arm and held unto it.Shall we go?” He asked.“Where are the others?” Alice asked“Federico and Dario are waiting downstairs. I thought it would look less suspicious if I come up alone.”“Yeah, you are right. Let’s go.” Alice said.They walked past the guy standing in front of room 205. The guy only glanced at them and looked the other way not suspecting anything suspicious.As they entered t
Alice looked confused at her surroundings. She could hear the voices of children but could not see them.“Tag your it.” The Children's voices echoed through the hallway. Alice looked down at her clothes. “This can’t be…” Alice jerked her head up and noticed her surroundings had changed. She looked around and noticed she was in her old room in the orphanage. She looked at the full body-length mirror against the wall and slowly walked up to it. Two big young eyes stared back at her. Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders. Alice reached for her hair and twirled it around her finger. She stared astonished at her younger self in the mirror. Her younger self suddenly smiled back at her. Alice reached for the mirror. Her younger self reflects her action. Alice's fingers pressed against the mirror. She jerked her head to the door as she heard children screaming. She looked terrified back at her younger self. Her younger self stared back with tears running down her cheeks. It was like the pa
Fifteen Years AgoBeing an orphan, you do not get to decide what happens to you. You do not get to decide where you will go or with whom. One can stay in the orphanage until one turns eighteen and then go out living on your own or, one can get adopted by a family who one did not choose. You do not know what they are like until you’re in their home. You must adapt to their surroundings and their rules. Unfortunately, Alice and Kevin were one of those kids.They found Alice at the steps of the orphanage on a cold night only wrapped in a thin blanket. Luckily one of the caretakers went out for a smoke and found her. Kevin’s parents died in a car crash when he was about two years old. No relatives came and claimed him. He use to stand behind the caretakers and watch how they changed, bath, and took care of Alice. He thought this small person was very fascinating. From the first time he laid his eyes on her, he felt protective over her. Time went by and they grew extremely close. Kevin and
Alice walked out with her suitcase toward the man standing in the middle of the lobby. She stopped next to the director.“Alice. This is Mr. Adriano Bernardi. You will go with him.”The director could not bear to look Alice in her eyes. She felt a lump in her throat. She could not bear sending Alice with this man, but she had no choice.Alice watch as the director walked and enter her office closing the door behind her and leaving Alice alone with this man. She looked at Adriano who was looking her up and down. He turned around and walked out without uttering a word. Alice had to hold back the tears that wanted to escape. As she exited the building she noticed strange men, standing outside. She almost bumped into Adriano when he stopped next to a man. Adriano glared back at her and then looked sternly at the man,“Get rid of all her information. Make sure there is nothing left and nothing to trace.” Adriano said, then walked toward the car.Alice frowned as she heard his words. She wa
Two days after the shooting, Khan wheeled Alice into the meeting room. Alice was on pain meds but still struggled with the pain in her leg and shoulders. Khan could only arrange for a two-day’s extension. He wheeled her toward the point of the table and took his seat.Alice looked around the table at all the shareholders, who were looking at her with shocked expressions.“Good morning, I am sorry I missed our appointment but like you all can see I had a little accident.”“It seems like a big one by the looks of you. Why did you not inform us of this?” One man said out loud what the others were thinking.Alice narrowed her eyes at him.“I am still alive. If I died, then it's big deal. This is only a minor incident. So, let's stop with the unnecessary talk and let’s talk business. I will not waste anyone’s time. We are all busy people.” They all nodded in agreement. “So, you have requested this meeting. Is there something wrong with the deal we previously discussed?”Mark Sanderson spok
Maisie threw her clothes one after the other on her bed. Tess was sitting on the bed feeling fed up with Maisie.“Everything you have tried on is beautiful. I do not get why you are making such a fuss about this dinner”Maisie stopped and glared at Tess for a second then looked back at the mirror looking at the dress she held in front of her body.“I don’t know,” Maisie said devastated, and sank with the dress to the floor.Clothes were laying scattered all over the floor.“Hey! Hey! “Tess called out as she climbed down the bed and crouched next to Maisie. “You can wear a plastic bag and you will still look gorgeous.”Maisie stared into Tess's eyes.“You're not helping you know,” Maisie said disheartened“Do you like him?” Tess askedMaisie looked confused at Tess then fell backward on the floor as she yelled out, “I don't know.” She sighed “We have been texting this whole week. He kept asking me to dinner and I kept declining him. Then he used the owed card on me…”“Okay, I am confus