Third Person PoV
As the atmosphere was wrapped in heavy silence, Scarlett kept glancing at Helena's goons inside the car with her. She couldn't understand what she was feeling at the moment, but one thing was for sure, she was angry. It angered her to no end that they were smart enough to separate her and Olivia to different cars, making her unable to comfort the girl in this rough situation. But after all the emotions she was feeling, she was confused at how Violet dealt with the situation. It made her question how Sara meant for her. Knowing Violet, she was always level-headed when it came to dealing with the same situation, but now it was like she wasn't even thinking straight.
How could she do something like this?
Yes, Scarlett knew Helena had Sara and she was really worried for the girl, she would have done anything to save her if Violet had told her, or at least sent her a message , but Violet didn't, instead she jeopardized everything and Scarlett couldn't come up with an escape plan.
As Scarlett was so engrossed in her own thoughts, she suddenly felt a hand on her thigh, instantly snapping her out of her reverie and eventually glared at the guy sitting at her right side. Her blood had started boiling at the sudden contact but she clenched her jaw to control her anger.
She held the hand on her thigh and whisked it off.
Breathe Scarlett, she thought, as she couldn't lose control, knowing what was at stake, but when she saw the pervert's sadistic smirk, she completely lost it. Swiftly, she raised her arm and elbowed him on his nose causing him to yelp in pain. She then turned to her left and held the other guy's head before bashing it to the window, cracking the glass on the process, rendering the guy unconscious. Hearing a groan on her right, she promptly elbowed the guy who was clutching his bleeding nose, instantly putting him to sleep.
She turned to the front and abruptly snatched the pistol that was about to be pointed at her by the guy on the passenger seat and knocked him off with it. But as she turned to the driver, the car suddenly swerved, throwing her off balance and unintentionally released the gun from her grasp. When she recovered, she then felt a sudden pain on her cheek causing her to momentarily saw stars. The driver took the opportunity as he wrapped his hand around Scarlett's neck, squeezing it hard, while his other hand was on the wheel.
Even if the force was crushing her windpipe, Scarlett held the driver's hand, trying to pry it off her neck. When it was no use, she gathered her strength and hit the driver on his neck with the side of her hand, immediately letting her go. The sudden action caused the car to skew to the side, luckily Scarlett had a quick reflex and she managed to hold onto something before the car hit another vehicle. The sudden impact caused her body to jolt forward but it didn't do any major damage to her.
Groaning, she slowly sat up and briefly looked at the unconscious bodies around her. Good thing they didn't tie her up or she couldn't have teach the perverted guy a lesson, as well as the others.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the car door, only to find guns pointing at her direction.
"Great," she mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"Stand down, you idiots!" Violet shouted when she appeared, glaring at the guys, "We're in public, for fuck's sake!" she added strongly. A goon with high cheekbones sidled behind her and suddenly yanked her arm.
"You can't tell us what to do anymore, Violet," the guy said to her. He then motioned to two certain guys, "bring the girl to the car with Violet, now! And you, deal with this situation," he added assertively.
"On it, boss."
The boss' guy hauled Violet away and as instructed, two guys came near Scarlett and dragged her out of the car. As they walked, she heard soft clicks behind her and knew right away they had finished the guys she beat up earlier.
Feeling pissed off, she flicked the goons' filthy hands off her, "Back off, morons!" she hissed, "I can walk on my own." After glaring at them briefly, she strode off, lowering her head as few people were watching them in fear and panic.
When she reached the car, she eyed Olivia on the other car shortly, putting on a small but reassuring smile before taking off her wig and got in the car. She tossed the wig aside and sat beside Violet, ignoring the girl as she didn't want to deal with her at the moment.
"Try that same stunt again girlie, or I'll blow your fucking head off," the guy with high cheekbones threatened behind the two girls, pointing a gun on Scarlett's back at the same time. Scarlett just rolled her eyes even if she wanted to bust the guy's skull.
The car had started moving once again, but still Scarlett could feel Violet's gaze on her. Even though she was pissed, she still felt bad for ignoring the girl. Although she felt a little pissed, she couldn't blame Violet for Scarlett knew the girl didn't have much of a choice and she understood it. The thing that angered her the most was that she couldn't think of a way to get out of the mess. All of their lives were at stake now and she couldn't do anything about it.
"I'm sorry," Violet blurted, bringing Scarlett out of her thoughts, "I didn't mean to do this Scarlett, I didn't know what-..."
"I don't want to talk about it Violet," she responded coldly. She couldn't deal with her apologies right now for she was trying to think of a plan.
Hearing Scarlett's blatant response, Violet couldn't help but feel hurt. She couldn't blame Scarlett though for she deserved to be hated after what she had done. She just wished that Scarlett would hear her out, and even if she couldn't accept her explanation, atleast she had told her the reason.
As silence once took over, Violet thought back at that time when Red came in, dragging Sara with her. When she saw how frightened and bruised Sara looked, it instantly broke her heart. Apparently, Red had used Sara to taunt her, to get a reaction out of her and threatened she would kill her if she wouldn't bring Olivia back to Helena. Red had went too far to prove she was doublecrossing her mother.
"Talk to me Scar," Violet started once again, causing Scarlett to clench her jaw. Apparently, aside from anger bubbling inside her, curiosity was also eating her alive. She might be pissed at the moment but she was desperate to know something.
She gave in and turned to Violet.
"Why do this Violet? You could have told me about Sara, or at least send me a message. I would have done everything to help you save her."
Violet shook her head, recalling how they had hurt Sara. "They threatened to kill her if I don't deliver Olivia to Helena."
"Red?"
"Red and Elle. Red has been suspecting me from the start, trying to sabotage me, to prove to Helena that I'm double-crossing her...and now I can say she succeeded in doing so."
Scarlett stayed silent for a while as she watched Violet looking so distress. The calm and collected girl she knew was gone, of course, no one could act calm in the a situation they were in but the way Violet was acting, it made Scarlett think that there was more to it than she let on.
"Say, Violet...how much does Sara mean to you?"
"What?" The question caught Violet off guard as she didn't expect Scarlett would ask her that. She didn't want to talk about her feelings in their current situation, but since they would be stuck in the car for a while, there was no helping it.
"I care about her Scarlett. I-I, um...I'm in love with her."
Olivia
My gaze darted from Scarlett to Violet as we walked towards a small and abandoned building, few goons in tow. They seemed like they were communicating silently as they kept glancing at each other and normally, I would have asked them what was going on, but I decided not to as it wasn't as important as the situation we were in. I didn't know about those two, but I definitely wasn't ready to die because clearly, we were walking to our deaths right now and I didn't think there was something as important as getting out of here alive. I hoped that whatever Scarlett and Violet had kept, it involved us getting out of here.
"Are you okay?" Scarlett asked as she slowed her pace and walked beside me. She looked agitated but that was expected as I was feeling anxious myself.
"Yeah, but I would have preferred a hotel than this rubble," I answered jokingly, trying to distract myself from thinking too much.
She looked at me, deadpan, "Seriously?"
"No, can't you tell I'm joking?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head before looking ahead. Two guards who were already waiting by the door had opened it, causing me to suck in a breath. I couldn't believe I would be seeing The Mother this soon, and probably this time, she wouldn't go easy on me.
As the room was in full view, I instantly breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't see The Mother's figure. All I saw were Red and Elle waiting in the distance. Seeing them, I thought it was probably their idea to bring us here in this crappy place. If they were going to kill us here, this wasn't where I imagined my death.
As we got near them, I noticed Red and Elle's surprised faces when they saw Scarlett, and I would have laughed at them if the circumstances were different.
"Well, well, well...Look what the cat dragged in!" Red's delighted voice echoed throughout the room, making me roll my eyes. "Violet, I admit, you outdid yourself this time. I asked for Olivia and you brought me her...with her bodyguard," she said, shifting her gaze to Scarlett. "It was a nice move, faking your death...You really got us there."
"Why, thank you," Scarlett replied sarcastically.
"Okay Red, enough chitchat, where is Sara?" Violet queried angrily. With a smile, Red motioned to a guard and whispered something to him before he slipped out of the room through the backdoor behind Red and Elle.
"Gosh Violet, you're acting like lovesick puppy," Red spoke, shaking her head. I gazed at Violet and saw how she pursed her lips, glaring at Red, causing me to frown in confusion. She neither confirmed nor denied Red's comment, making me think that either she just didn't want to deal with Red's useless blabber or she really was in love with Sara. If it was the latter then it made sense how she always defended Sara over me.
Not that I need her on my side.
The backdoor suddenly burst open and came in the guard, dragging Sara with him. When Sara looked up, the look of recognition instantly dawned on her face. Now that I got a good look at her face, I noticed a bruise on her left cheekbones, a gash on her forehead and a busted lip with a small trickle of blood. I remembered Scarlett mentioning how she would pass out if she saw blood and if she would see herself right now, she would definitely be out cold, or she probably passed out a couple of times already.
"Scarlett!" she shrieked, her eyes instantly welled up with tears.
"Sara!" Scarlett and Violet called at the same time.
"Let her go Red, she has nothing to do with this," Scarlett hissed causing Red to snort in amusement. Even though I didn't like Sara, she didn't deserve any of this.
"Yeah, you already have us Red, let her go," I said seriously.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to have a good side Olivia," Elle spoke for the first time, smirking. As much as I wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off her face, I held back and ignored her as I didn't want to start an argument.
"I'm afraid I can't do that girls," Red said, grinning, "you see, The Mother specifically told me she wants to play a game when she gets here, and that your friend Sara, can make the game very interesting." I sucked in a deep breath when she mentioned The Mother's name. After all the things she has done and the things she had let me see, I felt like I had been traumatized.
"Oh speaking of the boss...she's here," Elle mentioned excitedly as she looked past us. I stiffened but I readied myself for our encounter. Even if my mind was telling me to keep calm, I could still feel my heart pounding and it was as if in rhythm with the quick clicks of The Mother's heels against the ground. And now that I thought about it, I knew she didn't come alone as I heard her conversing with someone.
Take a deep breath Olivia. She's nothing.
When she had reached in front of us, together with two other women, I let out a sudden breath when I instantly felt her intimidating aura. And as she roamed her gaze and it landed on Scarlett, my lips curled up into a small smile, because for once, I saw her intimidating and confident mask had slipped off.
"Scarlett? Y-You're alive?" she asked incredulously with a surprised expression written on her face, but it was shortlived when she quickly recovered and plastered a smile, "Well, this is a surprise. You managed to fool me, just for a short time though, but it was enough to amaze me...which is why, you deserve an applause." With that, she started clapping and her smile grew wide when her lackeys joined her moments after.
When their little show was finished, she composed herself and briefly eyed the two unfamiliar women beside her. Now that I thought about it, I barely realized the two women as I was too absorbed by The Mother's presence.
"Now, let's talk serious shall we? Allow me to introduce these two women with me...Scarlett and company, meet Victoria," she gestured to the beautiful woman with amber eyes, with full red lips and an auburn hair cascading to her shoulders.
"It's nice to finally meet Scarlett. The girl who took down Lucian," she said, flashing her perfect white teeth.
"...And this is Alex," The Mother continued, motioning to the pale woman with a black pixie cut hair. My eyes darted to the exposed skin on her upper body which was covered with tattoos as she was wearing a black sleeveless tee. Unlike Victory who looked sweet and sexy, she gave off a badass and dangerous vibe.
"I can't wait to kill you all," she remarked.
Yup, definitely dangerous.
"Can't say it's nice to meet them," Violet retorted, directing to her mother, making me frown momentarily as I was confused who was the hell was Helena, but then I remembered Scarlett told me The Mother's real name was Helena.
"Oh Violet...you really broke my heart sweetheart. I gave you a chance but instead you chose to betray me. I should have believed Red from the start, I should have known you'll only double-cross me."
"Well, it's not my fault you're easy to fool, and know this Helena... as long as you're The Mother...I would never come back to you."
Helena clenched her jaw briefly before faking a smile once again. "Suit yourself. I don't really need you...Now if you will let me continue my introduction, I bet you'll definitely wanna know these two ladies with me."
"What's so special about them?" I blurted out before I could stop myself causing Helena to shift her attention to me.
"Oh my dearest...you, all of you, are looking at the two ladies of the Triad."
"What?" I mumbled incredulously. As Scarlett had kept me up to date, she had mentioned they had been looking for the other two names of the Triad for a while now. This was totally unexpected as we were standing face to face with them now.
"I guess there's no need to hunt them down now," Scarlett said seriously, "What are they even doing here? Aren't you afraid that when we get out of here, we're going to go after them?"
Helena smirked, "Well, that is if you all can get out of here alive, darling. And to answer your question, I invited them to watch our little game and to... witness how I'm gonna kill you. All of you." Hearing her threat made me gulp down the lump on my throat while getting goosebumps all over me. "Now shall we start?" she added eagerly. I could tell she was enjoying this.
Taking in a deep breath, I looked at Scarlett beside me and noticed the slight panic in her expression. I knew she was thinking of a way out but I didn't think getting out of here was possible as we were surrounded.
We are definitely screwed.
As Helena had approached a guard, I slipped my hand on Scarlet's, giving it a squeeze. She did the same which somehow gave me courage and assurance. I was glad she was here with me right now, making our situation bearable.
Helena walked back to where she was standing moments ago, this time, she was carrying a gun. Smirking, she then aimed the gun to Scarlett, causing a stir on my other side as Violet struggled against the three men's grips. I, on the other hand, wanted to stand in front of Scarlett, to protect her as this scenario was like in my nightmare.
I tried to move but Scarlett stopped me by glancing at me briefly, before returning her gaze to Helena.
"Are you going to kill me now Helena?" Scarlett bravely asked.
"If you're going to tell me where the Coxs are, then maybe I won't consider killing you."
"Like hell I would tell you."
Helena clicked her tongue, "I'm asking nicely Scarlett. Tell me, where are the Coxs?"
Scarlett snorted, "For all I care, you can burn to hell with your crew Helena," she answered nonchalantly.
That's it babe, keep doing that.
Helena smiled although it was a little strained. "Wrong answer. The Coxs Scarlett?" she asked again, this time a little louder.
"Like I said, go to he--!"
Bang!
The sudden sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the room, causing me to jolt in surprise. It happened so fast, I didn't catch Helena pulled the trigger. But as I came to my bearing, I noticed the smoking barrel of the gun she was holding was pointed directly at me and then in an instant, I felt an excruciating burning sensation on my right thigh.
"Oh fuck!" I hissed in pain as I immediately put my hand on the oozing wound.
"Olivia!" Scarlett called in panic as she wrapped her arms around me when I lowered myself on the ground. She put her hand atop mine, putting on some pressure on my wound. Violet also sidled up beside me.
"Oh God, blood..." I heard Sara mumbled. Groaning, I looked up to her and saw she was looking away while sobbing.
"Why the fuck did you do that?" Scarlett shouted in anger as she stood up, glaring at Helena. I couldn't see her expression but by hearing her, I knew she was now fuming. When I looked at Helena, I could see her smiling triumphantly, even if my vision was unfocused. Hell, I couldn't concentrate on anything right now except the unbearable pain on my thigh. I could see the blood was seeping between my fingers.
"That's simple dear, you just answered me wrong. Now can we get back to our game?"
"Fuck you!" Scarlett hissed.
"Sorry dear, I only fuck men. Now tell me...where are the Coxs?" Unlike earlier, Scarlett remained silent as she clenched and unclenched her hand. I could tell she was considering telling the matter.
"No Scar, you...can't tell her," I managed to say despite the pain.
"Yes, you can tell me Scar ...or do you want me to put another bullet on your girlfriend? Which part do you like? The left thigh? Or both of her shoulders?...Come on Scar, time is running."
I looked up to Scarlett with an unsteady gaze once again. I was starting to sweat profusely and my breathing was labored, but after all, I managed to call her. Unfortunately, it seemed like it fell to deaf ears when she didn't look at me.
After a moment of waiting, I saw her let out a deep breath. "Fine, you win... I'll tell you where they're hiding."
"No, no, Scar...she'll kill them," I said in panic. She looked at me briefly and I saw something flashed in her eyes. I wasn't sure what it was, but I got the feeling it meant she was asking me to trust her.
And I do!
"Yes, finally! See? That wasn't so hard. Now, tell me the address," Helena said enthusiastically.
"No. Give me an iPad or something, I'll locate it for you. I don't want everybody hearing it." Helena thought about it for a while as she stared at Scarlett, but she gave in when Scarlett kept up with her serious expression. She motioned to a certain guard and the guard then promptly handed Scarlett an iPad.
Without delay, Scarlett started swiping on the gadget, and in less than a minute she handed back the gadget to the guard who then gave it to Helena.
"I hope this isn't a trap Scarlett or...Olivia will get what's coming for her."
"You can send your guards there now if you don't belive me."
"I will." Helena motioned to some of her guards and with haste, they obeyed their boss' order as they exited the room. "Okay, now that's settled, let's proceed to our last game. Oh this is what I like the most," she giggled as she walked to Sara's direction, forcing her to look at her. When Sara was acting stubborn, Helena signaled the guard that was holding Sara in place, and without delay, the guard did as instructed and pulled out his gun then aimed it at Sara's head.
"No, please," Sara pleaded as she sobbed.
"No! Let her go Helena," Scarlett shouted.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Violet warned hissingly causing Helena to snort.
"Who said I'm touching her?" Helena retorted mockingly, "In fact, I'll do the opposite," she added then handed Sara her gun, making me frown in confusion at what she was trying to do. "Take it darling, or else, I'll shoot you with it, if you don't."
Scared at the threat, Sara quiverly took the gun from Helena's grasp before looking up to her. "W-What am I gonna do with this?" she stuttered.
Helena smirked, "We'll play a game, and since you have the gun, you'll be the shooter. The rule is simple...you just have to shoot either Scarlett, Olivia or...Violet, and if you won't do it, then you'll be the one getting shot. Got it?"
"What?" Sara breathed.
Helena beamed, "Perfect! Now let's get started..."