Visionaries

seventeen

"Steven, what are you doing?" I start. I need to make conversation so that Darius can hear what's happening. He has missed the whole incident in Pete's house.

"May, he has you?" he whispers.

"Be quiet," Steven scolds. "We're almost there." He doesn't even look in his rearview mirror to look at me.

"May, you need to stand your ground with him. Don't let him control you. I'm here. I'm with you and I will be every step of the way. You are not alone. You can fight him."

I sigh in relief trying to reassure him that he did make me feel better.

Steven then suddenly turns a corner on our right and stops in an abandoned parking lot.

He puts the car in park, but leaves the engine on. He gets out and opens my door right behind his. He drags me down aggressively and makes me fall on the floor of the car. He must see the fear in my eyes because he grins.

His grin throws me off guard and that's probably what he wanted. So, he could surprise me once again with the slap that sends jolts of pain through my face. My left hand quickly go up to my cheek.

"WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR MIC?"

I mumble incoherently, my whole body shaking, and this must have angered him.

"What-what are you sayi-"

"I raised my sons. They're exactly like me. You now know that I'm working with Pete so I should also know if my own son was working with him, the supposed enemy, to overthrow me with my other son's little girlfriend.

"If Cyrus was working with Pete that means he is not loyal to me and loyal to you, so again, WHERE ARE YOUR GADGETS?"

"Mics, cameras," he continues. "A wire, perhaps. Do you need me to recall every type of spying devices?

I take a deep breath. I'm ready.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I mumble through gritted teeth. I try to channel the strength Darius has brewed inside me. I try to feed of the energy of his presence.

But the strength I used to stand my ground suddenly manifests itself into another slap to my face.

I hear a groan and I assume it was Darius still listening on to me for my safety.

This slap was nothing like the other one. The vibration sends chills all across my face and down my neck. In pain, I turn to my side and clutch the same cheek with both hands. In doing so, my hair falls in front of my face and I am kind of glad it does, covering my cowering look.

Then Steven's hand suddenly travels up my neck to my jaw and then to my ear sending all kind of alarms to my brain, but his tornado keeps me from moving also. It's when he digs into my ear and pulls out the ear piece that I know why he was so slow and gentle.

He throws the piece on the ground and crushes it with his foot. He spends a fee more seconds looking at me and I wonder if he suspects the camera earrings too. He tilts his head eyeing me still fallen back. I take my hands off my face and I push myself up from the floorboard.

He then jumps towards me and pulls my earrings out and crushes them once again with the same foot. With the strength he used to take it out and the pain, he has probably torn my ears apart. I lift my hands up to my ears with tears streaming down my face and once they meet, they both are covered in blood.