ARABELLA'S POV
"What?" I angrily asked on the phone.
"Hello 'princess', now that I know you're alone and away from your frantic looking family, let's talk about some serious business!!" The caller responded, but his voice was distorted and sounded computerised.
"Who's this and how do you know that I'm alone and not with my family right now?" I asked shocked, while staring at Kyson who mouthed me to put the call on speaker which I quickly did.
"That's not important, but what is important is the fact that your grandfather is in the hospital bed, on the verge of death. Isn't that right?" The caller said.
This instantly made my eyes widened in shock, as I looked at Kyson whose now cold ones that were glaring at the phone in my hand.
He motioned me to reply but didn't say anything himself.
"How do you know that? Who are you?" I asked, trying to sound calm and collected.
"I'm the person who has your grandfather's life grasped in my hand. Now do you want to save your grandfather's life or not?" The caller sounded as if he was taunting me.
But I was desperate.
"How– what?—YES!!." I responded right away.
Kyson's glare at the phone had now intensified, and he looked like he was ready to beat the person who was behind all this.
"I'm sure your family is still on the lookout for an antidote as of now, which I can give you, but I'd like something in return." The voice said.
This is not going to end well–
"What is it that you want? We'll give you any amount of money you would like, we just need the antidote as soon as possible." I exclaimed in panic, not thinking at all because I wanted the antidote at any cost.
"I don't need the money 'dear princess', what I want is far more valuable than money." The voice answered mockingly.
"What exactly is it that you want?" I asked, getting frustrated.
"You 'Princess'!! I want you in exchange for the antidote." The voice replied, leaving me shocked and a look of anger contorted on Kyson's face.
Before he could say anything, I gestured to him to be quiet.
"All right, but I need the antidote first." I reasoned, my grandpa's life is far more valuable than mine.
Kyson was about to object when I quickly placed my hand on his mouth and mouthed him to 'trust me' as he glared back but complied with my request.
"Good, that's exactly what I was hoping your answer would be. But what you don't realise is that I'm the only one who holds any leverage here. Even so, I give you my word, the moment you come to me— I'll have my men send the antidote to the lab where your brothers have been working their tails off, they can test it to be sure before using it on your grandfather to save his pathetic life." The voice answered.
"But how would I know if you actually have the antidote or the fact that you'll m hold your end of the bargain?" I questioned angrily.
"Well princess, you've got to give me the benefit of doubt here, and it's ot like you've much of a choice in this situation. Your grandfather will be dead in a matter of a couple hours, if he doesn't receive the antidote. So now his life's in your hands." The automated voice cackled.
"Okay, I'll come. I'll do what you say, but please save my grandpa's life." I pleaded, sighing in defeat.
Kyson has now turned his glare at me, violently shaking his head while completely disregarding the entire conversation.
His eyes told me that he wanted me to say no.
"Right decision 'princess'. Now that you've agreed, you walk out of that hospital and make your way to the right towards the end of the road, where a red mazda car will be waiting for you. Once you get in the car, the driver will bring you to me. Do you understand?" The voice instructed me on what I had to do.
"Yes, but I'm guessing after I come to you, I won't meet my family again. So please give me 20 minutes with my family so I can spend some last time with them." I said solemnly on the phone.
Kyson was about to reach for my phone but I quickly held his hand back, again gesturing to him to be quiet.
"You amuse me princess, your grandfather is on his deathbed and you still want time that you don't have. But fine, spend your 20 minutes with your family, it will be the last time you'll see them anyway. But trust me, if you tell anyone of them or did any funny business then there will be one more person in your family dead along with your soon to be dead grandfather." The voice threatened, causing me to gulp in fear.
The mention of death in my family instilled an unwarranted feeling of fear inside of me.
"Okay, I won't tell anyone, but you keep your end of the deal as well." I replied wanting this conversation to end soon.
"You've got a deal, I'll see you soon then." With that the phone got disconnected as I stared at it, trying to process the entire conversation.
I turned to face Kyson who was glaring at me with his narrowed blue eyes. His fists and jaw were both clenched.
He was gritting his teeth angrily and looked like he wanted to slap some sense into me but a lot of things were going on in my mind, that I didn't have any time for his tantrums.
"Are you out of your fucking mind, you're not fucking going anywhere. I swear to god, I will tie you to me if that's the only way to keep you safe." Kyson sneered at me.
I was still lost in my thoughts not really paying attention to him.
"You do realise it could be a bust for all we know. What if they don't have shit and they just want you using this situation for their advantage." He still sounded furious, causing me to sigh.
"What if they're actually in possession of it? I can't see grandpa die, if we could've saved him. I could never live with that." I replied protesting.
"No you don't understand. I can't let you go Arabella, you came into my life when I was on the verge of giving up. You, my sister, have brought a light into the darkness that I had been living in for years. I can't lose you, neither of us can." Kyson pleaded desperately, as a tear rolled down his eyes.
You too, brother,
You all have become my anchor but I had to do this,
But I had to save Gramps.
"Remember that you showed me something that you and Dominic have been working on, yesterday?" I asked.
"What about it?" He asked suspiciously.
"Go home and get it quickly, and act as if we weren't together. If that person was aware that I was alone then there must be someone here who's been helping them. He knew that I ran away and you guys were looking for me." I said as I stood up to leave, having him follow me as he still looked at me, wary of the entire situation.
20 minutes later.
Walking towards the red Mazda, I knocked on the black tinted window of the driver's seat.
The door opened and a person came out.
Once I looked at him my eyes widened in shock.
"YOU?" I asked in disbelief.
Hell no!
"Yes, me, now get in the car. I don't have time for your nonsense."
"How dare you? You've been working with the enemies. Did you also poison my grandfather?" I asked angrily.
"Yes, I did. It's actually comical, they would have never guessed it was me– who's been working against them the whole time." He burst out laughing.
I moved to punch him when he held my arm and twisted it back pushing me against the car.
"Now, princess, I have been ordered to not hurt you. But I won't hold back on roughing you up if you keep this up." He whispered in my ear, kissing the back of my ear, causing me to shiver in disgust.
"Don't touch me." I cried trying to get away from him.
"Whatever, put this over your head and hand me your fucking phone as well as any of your jewellery you're wearing. We don't want anyone following us around, do we?" He said harshly, while pushing me away as he handed me a black plastic back.
I nodded my head and handed him my phone and jewellery that I had on.
He took them and put them in another bag, before tossing it into a nearby garbage can. Then he pushed me to the car again as his hands roamed all over my body.
"I told you not to touch me." I said as I tried to push his hands away from me.
"Get over yourself, I'm just checking to see if you have any weapons on you, now get in the car." He said, while shoving me into the backseat.
After that he handcuffed my right hand to the handle above the window. I tried to fight it but he was faster and stronger.
I cried in pain but once he was done, he slammed the door shut, while sitting in the driver's seat and speeding away.
I turned around to look back at the hospital, as tears flowed down my eyes.
Did I make a mistake?
✏️ Word Count: 1612
•