The mailbox hinge squeaks open as I dig inside. Bumping his head against my hip, my dog Thunder gets tangled up in his leash. He's still fired up after his afternoon walk, snuffling around for interesting scents.
"Let's see...Bills, bills, junk mail...Oh!"
A large postcard stands out among the rest of the usual, addresses to me. I head inside and lock the door behind me. Tossing everything else aside, I take a closer look at the postcard.
"Aw, look, Thunder! It's from Mom and Dad."
I bend down and show my dog. He sniffs it curiously before sneezing.
"Dear Camila. Having loads of fun on our vacation. Hope you stay safe, and remember to always keep your chin up!"
"Hmm?" I check the back of the postcard. "That's it?"
Well, if I were on vacation, I wouldn't put too much effort into writing either. Putting the postcard in my pocket, I hum tunelessly to myself and start making dinner. For the rest of the few days, I've been house-sitting for my parents while they're away.
"any requests, Thunder?" he yawns once and curls up in his favorite spot under the kitchen table. "All right, pasta it is."
---
It's far to quiet here by myself, so I flick on the TV and set the volume on full blast. One of my favorite talk shows is on. Today it looks like they have a quest from the FBI.
"So Mr. Estrada—" the interviewer says.
"Please, call me Mateo." He gives the interviewer a winning smile, and he laughs. (I don't blame her. I wonder if all feds are this handsome?)
"So Mateo, could you please tell us more about the situation with the gangs in our city?" The interviewer asks the quest.
"Gang activity has been on the rise lately, but the authorities are doing everything they can do to keep everyone safe." Mateo tells the interviewer "The best thing for our lovely viewers to remember is to be aware of their surroundings." He adds.
"I'm sure our viewers are relieved to know that we have people like you protecting us!"
"I'm more than happy to be of service."
(yikes, gang activity! I can't even imagine how terrifying that might be to get caught up in all that!) as the interviewer starts to ask more questions, I hear the water begin to boil on the stove. And glass, shattering in the living room!
Startled, I turn off the TV and freeze in place, listening for anything else. Something heavy drops onto the carpet. Footsteps. (oh my god!)
"Sweep the house. Leave no stone unturned" I hear an unknown voice say.
Am I being robbed?! Blind in panic, I turn to try and escape out of the back door only to see it wide open, and a man standing squarely in the center of the frame.
"Ahhh!" I yell
"Hey, don't move!" he unholders a gun, pointing it directly at me. "Boss, we found somebody over here!"
There's a steady drumbeat of footsteps, multiple people filling into the kitchen.
"The daughter looks like. She might know something." The leader says.
Know something? About what? My mouth is dry, my whole body trembling. But if I don't find a way out of this, I'm dead meat. if I know what they're after, maybe we can negotiate?
"I...I don't know what's going on." I stutter "m-maybe if we all calmed down..."
The man with the gun shouts me down "shut up! We're the ones asking the questions."
The leader kneels down in front of me. I can see his eyes, twinkling with mirth. "Tell us where your parents are."
My throat tightens. "Wh...What?"
"That's all we need to know. Easy, right?"
Not saying anything, I bite a scream when the man touches my face, roughly jerking my chin up so I'm forced to look into his eyes.
"Wreck the place." At his order, I hear a heavy grunt accompanied by shattered glass.
The men start overturning furniture, destruction through the whole house. Under the table, Thunder looks just as scared as I am. The second someone overturns the whole wooden frame, he's out like a shot, running out the back door and far away. (some guard dog!!)
"Now, let's try again. Your parents?" the man with the gun asked me again, still holding the gun at me.
"I swear, I don't know where they are!"
"you're making me very angry, little girl. Don't make me-"
A sharp pop roar, nearly deafening me. Recoiling back, the masked man shouts in pain, clutching his hand to his chest.
"Arghh!"
Who is it?!
"Nobody move!" A new voice says
I freeze just as I turn to see who is standing at the doorway. I expected to see a squadron of policemen in uniform coming to my rescue. Instead, a man walks in, pistol outstretched, impeccably dressed, beautiful, and at ease amidst the chaos. He turns to me.
"Stay still if you don't want the next in your skull."
Pilling out his gun, the masked leader backs away cautiously towards the kitchen. "Chris Valentine! I should have known it would be you, you son of a-!!"
Another man comes barreling through the doorway like a bat straight out of hell.
"I got this one, Chris!" He moves almost quicker than I can see, hand whipping out to grab the masked leader by his wrist and aim the gun away.
"Zayn, watch it!"
Tree shots fired in the air before the fairly young man brings his knees to the gang leader's stomach.
"Waving that gun around makes you feel like a real man, huh?" The guy named Zayn tells the masked leader.
Once the masked man bent over in pain, Zayn draws out a solid steel blade, slamming the blunt edge down on the back of the man's head, knocking him out. Who carries around a sword?!
"You can't even take a punch!" Zayn throws the man down onto the floor like he's discarding a piece of trash.
"Zayn. I told you to take care of the others." The man named Chris scowls deeply, but in response, the other man just shrugs.
"I already did. And then got bored. Besides... you gotta get up close and personal to make sure the job is done."
"oh yeah?"
His partner dusts himself off before showing off his sword. "I have this!"
"This again. And you call me lucky, it's literally a miracle somebody hasn't shot you yet."
"It's a miracle nobody's smacked the smartass out of you yet." Zayn mimics then gives me a once-over, before a sudden grin lights up his face. "Hey, don't look so scared. Isn't this an exciting way to end the party?"
Stammering, I'm torn between gratitude and renewed fear. "I don't understand what's happening."
"you don't need to understand. Just stay quiet unless spoken to, and keep out of my way. No sudden moves unless you want to end up like him." Chris gestures to the masked man, lying prone on the floor.
Sheathing his sword, Zayn shrugs again. "Hey, easy, Chris. She might be able to help us if we're a little friendlier." Zayn strides towards me with an easy grin on his lips. "After all, this is the girl in the picture with our targets," reaching into his wallet, he unfolds one of my family photos.
To my alarm, I see my parent's faces, circled in red.
"Their daughter?"
"Let's take her and get out of here before their backup arrives." Zayn says.
Chris grabs me by my upper arm, attempting to drag me along without another word.
"N...no, I just house sit! They're on vacation and I'm walking the dog!" I say scared.
"Yeah, right." Chris mumbles.
(He didn't buy it...!)
"Just come with us."
"I'm telling you, you've got the wrong girl!"
"even if that's true, you're not gonna get any mercy from the people who'll come after us." Chris says "I'm offering you protection."
"From what?"
"These guys." He gestures again to the man on the floor. "They tore up your house to make your attempted kidnapping look like a robbery gone wrong."
I stay quiet for a second "Just..." I shake myself free of his grasp. "Just...stop touching me,"
"Fine. Follow me."
Swallowing nervously, I do as he says. Zayn walks behind me as we escape through the ruins of the front door. Two unfamiliar cars are parked outside my house. One I can only assume belongs to the first intruders, and the other...
"Hey Shawn, thanks for the backup in there, huh?" Zayn says to someone new.
A man stands in front of a sleek black car, bending down to pet Thunder. My dog wags his entire body at the attention, threatening to ruin the man's tailored suit with his slobber.
The guy's eyes glance at me, disinterested. Quick as a whip, his hand darts down to draw a pistol with a long silencer to the end.
"Ah! Don't" I scream scared.
The shot is muted, a small pop, and behind me, I hear a cry of pain.
"...looks like you missed one." The man named Shawn says with a grin.
The tree of us whirls around to see the last of the intruders sprawled out on my front lawn.
"oh my god." (I-is he...?)
"That's what we pay you for." Zayn says.
"I guess someone has to clean up your stragglers." Shawn says back.
Zayn opens the backseat door for me. Thinking he's going for a trip, Thunder hops right inside.
"Thunder, get out of there!"
Shawn turns to me. "Your dog's well-trained. Is he coming along?"
I stand stock-still, refusing to enter. "Will you... promise to explain what's going on?"
"Well, I" Zayn starts.
And then I notice a group of heavily armed men approaching the back of the house.
"Looks like they had more backup than initially expected!" Zayn says.
Uttering a growl of frustration, Chris kicks out the back of my knees and sends me sprawling into the backseat.
"Hey!!"
"We don't have time to coddle her." Chris tells the others.
"Agreed! Let's go, Shawn!"
Shawn starts up the car as Zayn leaps into the passenger side, Chris gets into the backseat with me. His cold eyes pierce me right down to my soul. (definitely no angel.)
Twisting in his seat. Zayn grins, a wicked glint in his eyes. "Aren't you glad you come with us, now?"
Those men... I hope the don't tear up the place too much more. "I don't know if 'glad' is the right word." I say.
Minutes of tense silence pass us by, Chris all but ignores me in favor of staring out the window. In the glass reflection, I can see his forehead pinching in deep thoughts . his lips. Expressive even when angry, from a tense line.
"So...who are you guys?" I start, ending the awkward silence. Chris doesn't turn to face me.
"Go on. Take a guess." Zayn says "Who in this town could get away with the things you just saw?"
Oh, no. I don't believe this... "You're...you're with a gang. And the men who attacked my house..."
"Paid the cops to turn a blind eye." Zayn finish.
"Zayn..." Shawn sounds cautious, looking like a dog with his hackles up.
"What, you want me to lie to the girl?"
"You're making her a witness."
"I won't say anything about this to anyone if that's what you're implying!" I can see Shawn's grip tighten on the steering wheel, but he stays quiet. "But can someone please, please just tell me what's going on?"
"Here's the long and short of it." Chris says "Your parents have made some powerful enemies."
"Mom and dad?! But they're not anybody important! There's no way you have the right people!"
"I'm sure that's what they wanted you to think." Shawn response.
"They left you to save their own skin." Zayn says.
Chris deigns me with a single once-over, eyes scanning me like a jeweler with a new piece. "You're the only link to them. So that makes you the next viable target."
I'm stunned into silence. That's impossible... I don't know what to say, what to think. Thunder rests his head on my lap, tail waving slightly. Frightening back tears, I hold him to my chest and bury into his fur for the rest of the ride.
"Oh great. I hate is when girls cry." Zayn says.
--
Hours later, we arrive at a side of town I'd only seen in gossip rags and in movies. I guess crime does pay.
After we pass through several gates, we arrive at a sprawling estate. The private road rolls over green hills big enough to build a golf course on, or graze cattle, maybe. We pull up to the front of an opulent mansion, all the lights on and the main doors already open.
"Did one of you leave the doors unlocked again?" Shawn asks the other guys.
"Must've been Lauren." Zayn says back. "With how tight she holds on to her money, you'd think she'd be more careful."
"Is Lauren your boss?" I ask bluntly.
A few chuckles ripple through the air.
"No." Chris leans over me, his face uncomfortably close as he unlocks the back door. "No one is the boss of me." A light grin on his lips.
Wanting to get away from his, I exit as quick as I can. Thunder leaps out as well, weaving around the front lawn with his tail whipping so hard it might fall off.
"Keep that huge flea bale away from me." Chris tells me.
"Thunder is not a flea bale!" he's a German Sheppard
"I'm on it, don't worry" Shawn gives a sharp whistle and, to my shock, Thunder lopes right over to him and sits at his side.
I want to protest, but... he doesn't seem to be in danger. Taking in my surroundings, I became aware of just how isolated and vast this place is. He's probably safer than I am.
The mansion looms over me. It gets even bigger as Zayn leads me through the front doors, and into one of the inner rooms. It looks like a private casino and bar, fully stocked, and completely empty.
"Oh, nice! Lauren finally restocked the bar." Zayn says and spreads out, relaxing and letting some of the tension in their shoulders. Everyone but Chris.
Home sweet home, I guess. Do they all live here?
"So what now?" Zayn asks
"Wait for the others. Then we can figure out how to deal with her." Chris says.
"Chris! Home already?" a raspy voice draws my attention to one of the doorways. A woman enters the private room, her suit just as sharp and perfectly tailored as Chris'.
"You left the front door wide open again, Lauren." Shawn says to the woman who rolls her eyes at him.
"Who cares?"
"I care."
"Okay. Let's assume some intrepid thief makes it all the way here... Without knowing who this belongs to." Her lips pout, for just a moment, before a sliver of ice works its way into her voice. "And then this talented, lucky individual walks right into our den..." she opens her jacket briefly enough for my eyes to glimpse what looks like a shoulder holster... Lauren catches my eyes, the warmth returning to her voice. "Oh don't worry, darling, looking is free."
Flustered, I avert my gaze. Well, someone has a high opinion of herself!
"Lauren, paws off this one." Chris informs her.
"You always say that."
"I mean it this time."
"You keep talking, but all I hear is a challenge." She smirks at him.
"I...I'm standing right here, you know." I remind them.
That makes Lauren stand a little closer, her palm resting reassuringly on my shoulder.
"Of course, dear. I'm just teasing. My name's Lauren. But if we're going to be friends, you can call me Lo for short." She smiles at me. "And you are?"
Suddenly, the door opens again and I blink a few times to make sure I'm not dreaming... as Liam Payne, a celebrity lawyer who's always on TV, enters the room. "She's Cabello's daughter."
Lauren's eyes widen a fraction, and she looks me over with renewed interest.
"I'm right, aren't I? You're Camila Cabello?" he asks me.
Is this guy in their pocket? I thought he worked with celebrities, not... criminals! Hesitantly, I nob and Liam laughs.
"Excellent. I'm Liam Payne, but I'm sure you've heard of me."
Lauren's eyes linger on me, but in a different way than before. "How interesting. I thought she was just Zayn's new toy that I could borrow."
"Nope. She's valuable. So keep your idle hands busy before they get you into trouble." Liam tells Lauren sternly.
Lauren just sighs her lower lip thrust out in a pout. "Of course the lawyer is the one with the compelling counter-argument..."
"Hey, it's what I do."
"Or if you stopped stealing my girlfriends..." Zayn steps into the conversation between the two.
"Let Lauren have her girls." Shawn says, directed to Zayn.
"The point is we have her here now. So now we need to figure out what to do with Cabello's kid," Chris joins in.
Urgh, I have a freaking name use is "I have a name!" I direct it to all these people who had come into my life and yanked the rug from right out under me. "It's Camila Cabello!"
Standing by the bar, Shawn pours himself a drink. Dark, honey brown bourbon spills into his glass as he idly pets Thunder with one hand.
"This one's gonna be a wild card." Shawn says.
"I certainly hope so." Lauren smirks.
Sighing, Chris leans over one of the pool tables, pressing his palms against the green. "Listen."
I cross my arms to hide how bad they are trembling.
"until things settle down, you're gonna be under our protection." Chris tells me. "That means you need to keep quiet and do what we say."
"...Or else?" I challenge him.
"Or else we decide you're not worth the trouble, and we let our rivals take you." Liam answered.
"She's just a slip of a girl. How much trouble could she be?" Lauren slips in.
I allow myself a small glimmer of hope, glad to know the only other woman in the room seems to be in my corner.
Until that thread of pure, sweet ice hits her voice again and she regards me with a thin smile. "Besides, we could just chain her up in the basement if she misbehaves."
Of course. Nobody who works in this gang would be as nice as they seem.
"All of you quiet." Chris speaks a little louder to get everyone's attention again. "We want her cooperative, true, but we can't let her have free reign or she'll take off." The leader of the gang stares me down, calculations running in his head. "One of us has to watch over her. It's as simple as that."
"babysitting? Really?" Liam looks annoyed.
"We can't trust anybody on the outside, not with this."
Zayn hums in thought, but he nods in agreement. "Chris is right. It has to be one of us."
"So which one of us should it be?" Lauren asks the rest.
"Count me out. Unlike the rest of you, I have a real job to consider." Liam says, still kinda annoyed to the fact they have to babysit me.
"But it might be good for you to be seen with a woman now and again, Payne." Lauren says with a playful voice.
"So the tabloids have even more reason to dig into my life? Not a chance."
Shawn opens his mouth to say something but shut it down again, he pauses to consider his words before looking straight at me. "we'll need her alive."
"You're just saying that because she's cute." Lauren says.
"Like you weren't the one eyeing her since the second she walked in." Zayn teases Lauren.
"Do I get a say in this all?" I ask.
"No." Chris looks at me sternly while... Zayn in the other hand says "yes." At the same time. They regard each other... and Chris relents.
"That's probably more fair." Chris gives in. "If I don't pick, none of you can accuse me of trying to punish you."
Lauren laughs, the sound rich and dark. "or of favoritism."
From the bar, Shawn mumbles over the rim of his bourbon glass. "...Choose."
Choose a gangster?! But who could I possibly choose? I'm stuck in a den of devils, and no matter which one watches over me, I'm trapped here until they decide to let me go! Maybe, if I play along, I'll be able to escape... fooling one person is easier than running from a whole pack of dangerous, armed mobsters. And maybe I can find out what's really going on with my parents. Taking a deep breath, I decide.
A.N.
Hey, peeps. I decided to write a new story. I never finished Love on rails because I had no inspiration for chapter 2 at all, so I unpublished that one chapter I had. Maybe after I finish this story I'll republish but I'll see what I'm gonna do with it.
hope you liked my story, for now, this was just a prologue and have the next chapter already ready for soon.
also if you liked the story don't forget to rate it ;).
IG: Dutch.Camren_Girl, Twitter: Dutch.Camren_Girl (Shararzz)