"It's you and me. Together," he says. "Us against the world."
*****
All my life, I've never trusted men. The image of them planted in my head is the figure of my abusive stepfather who has made my mother and I live in hell.
But then, an encounter w...
Honks from other cars echo in my ears, but I care not.
I'm crazy. What am I doing? Where am I going?
But I can't stay. I need her.
I need to see her, even though I know that it's not going to happen.
My tears and the rain blur my vision. All I can think about is the promises I've made to her.
I've promised her that I wouldn't let her get hurt again, that I wouldn't let Tuck get anywhere near her.
I said to her that she didn't have to face everything all alone, that it's us against the world. But then, even until her last breath, she was there all alone inside the cold and dark room, being tortured.
Even so, the last thing she said to me was that she loved me.
How could you leave me like that, Lais? I haven't even said the words back.
I choke in tears, and the sound of my phone ringing on the car dashboard startles me. I look at the caller.
Melanie
My vision is getting blurrier and the rain falls even harder that I have to abruptly stop the car. I haven't even realized that I was pulling into an empty street.
My hand shaking, I answer the call, putting the phone on my ear.
"Jake," Melanie's voice breaks.
My tear falls while I stare blankly at the rain pouring down onto the windshield in front of me.
"I've heard about Lais," she pauses before her sobs break. "I'm so sorry," she rasps.
She starts crying at the same time the tears from my eyes fall harder onto my cheeks. It hurts like hell, to the point that I feel like losing my mind.
I can't really hear what Melanie is saying -- it's something about her wanting to come back here, about her wanting to be here for me.
"Jake," she whispers brokenly. "Do you hear me? Are you still there?"
I swallow hard, still staring at the nothingness ahead of me. A soft cry escapes from my lips as I hang up the call without waiting for her to say more.
I can't even speak to her. I'm shutting everybody off.
I bury my face into the steering wheel, letting out all my cries for the girl I love. I died when she did.
The agony that I'm feeling inside consumes me that I don't realize another car stopping beside me. It's when the owner knocks the window of my car that I jerk up.
I open it, only to find a man wearing shades handing me a cellphone. Before I can comprehend what he's trying to do, his car resumes the journey, leaving me stunned.
Slowly, I put the new phone on my ear, just like being hypnotized.
"One more chance, lover boy."
My heart thuds. It's the same cold voice that used to threaten me, and I don't need to wonder who it is anymore.
It's Tuck.
"Speechless, huh?" he asks, but there's no amusement in his voice like before. It's clear that he's pissed.
And I'm too shocked to respond.
But maybe if he stands right before me, I would storm at him and kill him right away. No. In fact, I will make his death slow and painful.
If it isn't for the fact that there's still hope, I would be careless to break the phone just by how hard I grip it. My rage is burning inside me.
"Speak," he commands, but not to me. My heart thuds louder -- it almost bursts.
There are noises from the other side of the line which tell me that another person is being forcefully dragged closer to Tuck, and my mind is immediately on alert.
"Jake." The voice that I hear makes me let out another soft cry, all the nerves in my body awakening as blood rushes to my veins. "Don't come." It's filled with fear.
It's Lais.
She survived.
She's alive.
"Oh, God," I cry, my voice shaking uncontrollably, my lips trembling nervously.
"He will come," Tuck speaks to Lais in a low voice, and she sobs.
"No, please," she chokes. "Please, I beg you, Tuck--"
"I'm giving you another task, Shiny Boyfriend," Tuck says to me, ignoring Lais. "You will still bring your money to me. And this time, you will make sure that no cops are involved. You don't want the tragedy to repeat itself, do you?" he hisses.
I second that.
"This time, I want five hundred thousand," Tuck says the last three words very slowly and clearly. "You will follow the instructions given and come to my place. Alone."
There's no way that I can get back the money stored inside the suitcase back home, since the police are guarding it, so he'll definitely make me collect the new money from the bank.
And I wouldn't think twice of doing it.
I will not lose her again. It still feels surreal that she survived, and I'm praying that this isn't just a fucking dream. That this is the real thing.
"But first of all, you might want to throw the other phone, your phone, into the trash can outside," he orders.
Just like he knows that I would follow every single thing he says.
In a heartbeat.
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