*trigger warning. read at your own risk*
Gently, my consciousness enclosed itself into reality. It was a pleasant feeling to be under vast darkness but a great force was trying to pull me out as the sting grew all over my physical existence.
Blinking my eyes a few times, I tried to get my vision back as the pain in my head burst like a firework. And eventually, all the recent events spread like a wildfire in my head, alarming my whole awareness. The wooden ceiling welcomed my eyes and there was this smell of newly-made leather furniture. I could feel the texture of the carpet on my palm as I tried to get myself up while holding my head with my other hand.
I blinked again to see a wall-sized dark art painting of a gothic woman staring down at me with her unforgiving eyes. Hilary would love this art. Although it was a creepy work, every detail was painted raw which upholds great authenticity.
"Uggh!" I groaned as my headache intensified and I just realized that I had a fresh bandage around my head.
"Finally! I thought you're not going to wake up," I heard my sister say and I immediately followed her voice.
Quinn stood up from the floor and my frown deepened when I saw Arisa beside her with a worried expression on her face.
She seemed to feel my confusion but didn't give any answer nonetheless. Arisa just trailed behind Quinn cautiously.
"Hey, are you okay?" Quinn asked, helping me up.
I made sure to check on her. My sister had a scratch on her right arm but she seemed to be fine. But I had to double-check that she wasn't bleeding inside or anywhere because any little movement could jeopardize her state. Her lack of sense was very risky because she was ignorant of all the kinds of physical pain.
"Are you?"
"She's okay. I already scanned all vital parts of her body if there's a wound or any bruises, " Arisa answered me with a nod, assuring me.
However, I was still confused about why she was here. "What happened? Where are we?"
"I don't know," Quinn answered with a deep frown. "After you fainted, I was trying to wake you up but those men went out of the Jeep and forced their way into the car. They made me inhale some drugs and then I was out."
My eyes turned to Arisa. "And how did you—"
"I followed you, guys," Arisa cut me off. "I witnessed all of it and I know it sounds stupid but I tried to stop them. But before that, I had managed to call the police."
"But why did you follow us?" I almost yelled because she shouldn't be here in the first place. Sh it! Everything was going to be my fault. Hilary wouldn't like it if she finds out that I have gotten Arisa involved with my own problem.
To my surprise, Arisa didn't retaliate as she sighed as if she was trying to calm herself down. "Because it's ridiculous that Quinn keeps on taking your side even though you're wrong in so many ways. And I couldn't believe that she broke up with me just like that. So there must be something going on which brought me to investigate what you were up to."
"For your information, you broke up with me," Quinn countered at her girlfriend. Technically, they were still together because it was just a childish fight of two immature people in a relationship.
Arisa gasped in disbelief. "You're the one who made a choice."
"You didn't give me any option."
"There were two options," Arisa said back as she gestured her hand to point her statement. "Come with me or else, I'll break up with you."
Quinn shrugged. "Yeah, there was only one option."
"Didn't you hear what I just said? Are you deaf?"
Damn! We were kidnapped and yet they were still being childish.
"I'm not deaf! I'm just‑-"
"Can you both shut up?!" I winced at the sound of my own voice. "Jeez, you're making my head spin. And Arisa, Quinn didn't have a choice. She was just trying to protect you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Arisa's blue eyes held concern as she stared at Quinn in confusion as well.
"Didn't you explain it to her while I was out?"
Quinn shrugged again. "We just woke up before you did. I'm guessing that we slept the whole night. The sun is already up."
Once Quinn stated the obvious, I observed the surrounding. We were inside a medieval-like room with a timeworn patterned carpet design, old bricked walls and stained glass windows which I think would be hard to break. They wouldn't throw us in here if it was anyway. But there was this arch door leading to the exit and I bet it was guarded.
"Where's my jacket? The GPS phone is in there."
"They must have taken it," Quinn answered. "They took all of our accessories from us."
"Dammit!" Of course, they took it and now what?! Ugghh, I was hoping that Quinn's private security already tracked it and they were already looking for us. Damn! That GPS phone would be our only last resort. I hoped that they didn't get rid of it somewhere far from our location.
"Wait," Arisa interrupted our dilemma. "Can you please explain what's going on right now? Why do I need protection and why are we imprisoned here? Who are those men?"
My sister sighed and she embraced Arisa on her side to comfort her. She was starting to feel Arisa's fear. We were all scared and everything was starting to sink in. The danger, the possibility of our death and all the consequences in between.
"This all started when Jet threatened me. He wanted me to break up with Hilary because he's claiming that he owns my life by saving me from the accident two years ago. So he wants to control me. This is my fault, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. He's a controlling freak," Quinn scolded me as she caressed her girlfriend's arms.
"Y-You were forced to break up with Ry," Arisa stated as she finally realized the depth of my actions towards her best friend. "Was it the only option you have? To hurt her?"
I hung my head low in shame. "I'm sorry."
Quinn released a tired breath. "Arisa, you don't understand. We don't have a choice. At first, it was just a death threat towards us and Hilary but we found out that this is just more than a bastard whose obsessed with my sister. They gave us a list of names—their targets and you're one of the targets so we were being cautious and we tried to detach ourselves from all of you."
"Why you didn't call the police?" Arisa argued, her frown deepened as she gazed at Quinn in puzzlement.
"We have a suspicion that some part of the authorities was corrupted because we might be dealing with a notorious gang so Quinn hired private security instead."
"But it backfired and now we're here," my sister said almost in a whisper. And then she sat up straight and groaned in anger. "I had speculation at first but it's all coming down into my head. What if – what if this is all connected?"
Quinn questioned alarmed me furthermore. "What do you mean connected?"
"What if this is the cause of something that had happened in the past? It's not making sense that Malum were friends with our Dad, right? What if this is an act of revenge?"
"Oh yes yes yes! What a great mind," a man's voice suddenly boomed into the room and we instantly held each other. We didn't realize that someone had already invaded the room with armed men tagging along behind. They were at least four goons equipped with large guns as if we were a severe threat to them.
A tall man with a chiseled brown hair approached us with a dark smile. He had a strong presence as he stood in confidence, his obscure gaze towering us. I noticed a teardrop tattoo underneath his left eye which I heard was a symbol of a convicted murderer.
I held onto my sister tighter when he walked closer to us.
"Don't be afraid, ladies," he said with an infuriating smirk on his squared-face. "I'm Elliot. But they often call me Skinner. I've come to invite you to breakfast. We don't want our princesses to feel neglected during their stay in this manor, do we?"
"Why are you doing this?!" I hissed, causing him to turn to his armed goons and they all chuckled in response to my question.
"We? Oh no, our boss is the one who needs something from you."
"Malum!" Quinn said his name with so much venom. "Tell him to free her," she hugged Arisa tighter to her side. "She has nothing to do with this."
Elliot raised his arms and shrugged nonchalantly. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"
Pulling his maroon suit, he gestured the men to take us and we knew that there was no point to struggle. We didn't want to risk each other to death so we reluctantly followed them. As we walked to our unclear destination, I observed that every corner was being guarded and there was no chance to escape at all. Of course, we were in their territory. Escaping would be impossible for us. I just hoped that they find us before something terrible happens to us.
They brought us into a spacious hall with a long wooden dining table in the middle. The sun outside overcast the room through the wall-sized stained glass at the end of the hall. The room was heavily guarded and they made us sit in front of so many foods. It was like a feast in the morning. Elliot stood behind our chairs and I tried to be aware of his presence. Quinn was on my left while Arisa was on hers and we were placed on the same side of the table. There were two chairs on the other side of the table and I jumped when I heard a repeated loud clap.
Glaring in resentment, I watched as two men entered the hall. Obviously, the older guy was Malum and Jet was with him. He stared at me in amusement and I never hated a person before just as much I hated him right now.
"Welcome! Welcome to my humble home. At last, we've finally met. And it's a pleasure to meet the daughters of my precious friends," Malum exclaimed happily as if he was celebrating.
We stayed silence, especially Quinn. She would likely retaliate but Arisa was with us so she was more cautious of her tongue. Not to mention, she must have been scared of the last shootout.
Turning my attention to Malum, I studied his movement and features. He was taller than his son and he had a slender athletic body. Unlike Jet, his thick hair was blond and he had mustache connected through his thick beard on his jaw. He stroked it with pleasure in his blue eyes and he looked beyond the fifties in age. Jet didn't look like him at all.
They sat in front of us and Malum motioned his hand. "Don't be shy. I didn't put any poison in the food because clearly, I wasn't the one who cooked them."
"So you told them to put poison to not make your own hands dirty," I accused bravely.
Malum laughed so loud and he tapped his son's shoulder repeatedly. "I wondered why you like her, son. Now I know why! She's like your late mother—fearless with a loudmouth."
Jet didn't speak but he was staring so hard at me. I was friends with this as$hole?! How stupid of me.
"Don't worry. Though my hands are already dirty, I didn't ask anyone to put anything on that food. It's not going to be convenient to kill you like that. I have plans for all of you. It would be a waste that my boys had to go to that extent to bring you here, right? So eat up," Malum offered to us again but when we didn't move, he shifted his eyes to Elliot behind us who cocked his gun and pointed it at Arisa.
Quinn was the one who moved first as she held onto the silverware. Arisa, although her hands were trembling, took the spoon and I eventually submitted to his demand.
The two bastards started to eat, too. My mind was blank or rather in a rushed wave of thoughts. I was sure that they would use us as ransom before they kill us. Everyone was quiet and the food tasted like woods. It was unpleasant on my taste bud and I wanted to puke my guts out.
"What my father had done to you?" Quinn suddenly blurted out which halted Malum from eating his food. The silence became a dangerous game.
The drug lord stared at Quinn, the pleasure had finally gone in his eyes. His presence shifted suddenly and I gulped when he put down his spoon on the side and held his hand together.
"Ah, of course. Ignorance is bliss," Malum responded, mocking us. "But ignorance is also a dangerous thing. So I'm gonna give you a piece of knowledge beyond your understanding. You see, your father—Aston Blackburn was a liberator. He freed the town from people like us. How heroic, right? We, on the other side, run this place in the dark. We support the politician and our money gave this town a chance to prosper through their endeavor. Our money, don't you see?"
"Illegal money," I said bluntly.
"Yes, yes, yes! What a smart girl!" Malum went on as he pointed at me, "This place is nothing without us so I wonder why the people came to support his stupid beliefs. My father was the one who helped them thrive. We were the foothold of this town but since your father came into the picture and exposed that there were people scheming underground, we defended our family and lay low which triggered the other gang to obliterate us. And it caused us lives. My wife and my brother died because of your father."
"He didn't kill them. Don't blame him for that! What a sick mind you—" Quinn shouted but was interrupted when Malum suddenly trashed all the food and tableware aside violently. We all jumped as the sound of shattered plates and silvers echoed through the hall.
"But he's the root of our suffering!!!!" Malum stood up and hit the chaotic table with his fist. "We were on the top, boundless wealth kept us at peace and no one tried to stumble us. Because they feared us. Except for your father! He planted an idea to the people of this town that we were the monster of this society. He indirectly fed our enemies' minds that we're not invincible in the first place. That we're getting weaker day by day so they planned to take us out. So don't you f ucking tell me that your father didn't kill my family because he's the one who's responsible for everything."
"So you decided to f uck us up?!" Arisa was the one who speak despite the danger she was in.
Malum seemed to calm down for some reason and he sat back on his chair. He turned his eyes to Arisa and chuckled. "Oh, how lovely you are -- Nathaniel's daughter. He is quite a genius. He almost learned about our identities so my father had no choice but take the administration of this town to cover up our businesses and to manipulate the minds of the people. It was also the reason why I joined the group that Aston established with that nerd. To stir the path of their stupid commitments, I pretended to be their friends and influenced the people inside. The NAME born. And my father and I succeeded and reborn again. They thought that they had won their battle," Malum frantically laughed but rapidly altered to a treacherous man again when he turned to Quinn. "But it wasn't enough. Aston took lives from us so we swore over the grave of my brother and my beloved wife that his blood is going to suffer forever. So I used Elric's hate against him. I made him murder your father and his wife as proof of his alliance. Quinn Blackburn, you were not supposed to survive that car crash."
"You're a f ucking evil!!!" Quinn screamed and was about to lunge forward but I managed to pull her wrist as Elliot pointed his gun at the back of her head.
"Yes, I'm a goddamn evil," Malum said confidently. "You're lucky that you're the heiress of one of the richest families in this country. We need money after your father's heroism left huge damage to our financial state so I asked Krause to earn the trust of your family for years. So that in due time, I would be able to rob what he owes from me. Do you really think Elric was able to accomplish all of his goals without any protection? Where did he get his men? It was from me. Lo and behold, I was that protection. He wasn't suicidal. But reckless, he was, yes! Because of his hatred, he acted unwisely and underestimated your maturity, Quinn. You're like your father, so smart but at the same time ignorant. That ignorance is so damn annoying! It destroyed my business and plans without you realizing it."
"And once Krause was killed, I put my trust to one of my greatest men—to Robert Hartley, while I was scheming all of your end in the dark. He was my client negotiator. He had a lot of influence underground because he's talented at dealing. But all of you got involved once again, causing him to be detained by the authorities I don't own. All my transactions ceased and frozen to safeguard our business and my men inside the administration are being apprehended one by one."
Dammit! That's the reason why Bailey got involved too. Because she was also the cause of Tiana's father's imprisonment.
Everything was making sense because of his revelation.
To stop his brassy mouth, I chuckled blithely. "And now you're itching the wounds by capturing us. You're gonna use us for ransom and once you get the money, you're going to kill us and then what? You're gonna run away all your life for killing the heiress of one of the most influential families in this fvcking universe. You're digging yourself into a deep hole, stupid ass!"
In madness, Malum took his own gun from his waist and aimed it at me. I jumped from fear but I was more surprised when Jet held his father's arm to stop him.
Malum turned to his son, rage in his eyes. "Son, you're going to save this girl again?! For what? Isn't your punishment not enough? Tell me a good reason why I have to keep this girl alive. She doesn't have any money in her head. The only reason she's here is because she's the daughter of our mortal enemy. We only need two bodies to get what we want."
Jet carefully pushed down his father's arm and then offered his hand out. "I'll do it. I'll kill her but before that, I need to have her body. She's my property."
Malum cackled at his son's statement and I felt disgusted, causing a crawling sensation throughout my body. The way he talks about me was so sickening and revolting. I couldn't imagine being in this situation. It seemed that this was going to be my end.
"Of course, of course, Son! You can have her all you want," Malum allowed it as he looked at me with a psychotic smile.
"I swear if you ever lay your hands on my sister, I'll burn you alive!!!" Quinn started to scream and Elliot had her locked as she lunged forward violently. Arisa was so scared on the corner, tears were already falling from her eyes. She had all the right to be fearful because I was also terrified for our lives. At that moment, I entered the blank state, knowing I was going to be soiled and die in the process. And I wasn't going to be able to protect all the people I love from whatever comes after. How would my mother go on after I die? How about my friends?
And Hilary. Damn... I wished I could see her smile again. I wished I could embrace her in my arms even just for a moment. I knew that they were too much to ask at this moment but regret consumed my entire thoughts. I wished I could turn back the time and cherish all the seconds we had. I wished that I'd been more open about my feelings for her. This was so unfair!
Dammit! I'm so in love with her. And I would do anything to make it up to her. For all the mistakes and the pain I had caused her. If only I could survive after this. If only there was a chance to alter this tragic reality, I would do my best to make her happy.
"No! Let me go! Khloe! Khloe! Jet, don't do this! I fvkcing swear, if I die in this place, I'll make sure to follow you to the depths of the hell!" Quinn's voice pulled me out of the trance, realizing that Malum's men had already seized them away from me. Arisa was also thrashing around while crying, her hands were out to reach for me.
I finally stood up from my chair but Elliot immediately restricted me, forcing myself into a defensive state. Pulling his forearm fast, I hit his chin with all the power I had in my fist and once I was out of his restriction, I ran towards Quinn and Arisa. However, two men stopped me and held both of my arms strongly despite my violent lashing. I still could hear the faint shouts of my sister and the loud cries of Arisa but they were no longer in the field of my sight as Malum's men dragged them out of the hall.
"Get your hands off me!!"
I heard Malum laughed out loud. "Oh Elliot, she got him. She got him! Is he dead?"
"He's just knocked out. She knows aikido," Jet said and then he approached me. He motioned the gun Malum gave him, giving a signal to the men who were holding me.
Once they freed me, I wasn't able to predict Jet's movement as he punched me on my upper abdomen, causing me to bend on my knees and wriggle in pain. My body weakened at the impact and my vision failed me.
I felt strong arms carried my frail body and I have never prayed this much for my life. I have never regretted everything this much. I kept on praying and praying that I would survive after this.
However, all the pain struck me into reality. It hit me to the deepest core and extinguished the remaining fire of hope inside me.
Knowing that I would die terribly, I just wished that second life is real. I didn't want to end things like this. Yeah, not like this—so unfair and tragic.
I wanted to be reincarnated as a person who will love Hilary Damien in a parallel universe and we will be happy for the rest of our lives.
If a second life exists, then promise I would.
I would fall in love with her all over again.
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A/N: The next chapter will be the last chapter of this stupid and terrible sequence. Enjoy!