A/N: I am so sorry for the late update. I hope this one will make it up. Hopefully.
"I didn't know that the key card was broken," she drove this car into the drive thru of a fast food restaurant. "Thanks Goodness, nothing happened to you." I was hugging my legs and burying my face on my knees. I was still reeling from the fresh horror that had just happened a few hours ago.
I have informed her the sequence of events that I witnessed in as much detail and clarity as possible (I was sniffling at every words uttered). She was also shocked to hear that. "I'd like a pack of Big Mac and Mc Flurry ice cream," she spoke to the microphone and turned to me, "and what do you want to order?" to which I answered by shaking my head which was still buried on both knees, not feeling any appetite at all even though the sun began to set and I haven't eaten anything today. "We will have two big mac packs and two mc flurry ice creams, thank you." After she settled the payment, we went over to the food collection window.
She was still waiting for our food while tapping her fingers to the steering wheel. "Jane, is it possible to resign from this job?" I finally opened my mouth. This is the second time I have seen people—real human beings—died while on duty, it really made me sick because I actually can't stand gore things. Maybe I can stand it in the movies, but not in the real world. And I have to witness it firsthand thanks to that person. Everything has changed to a hundred and eighty degrees ever since I met Stef. He pulled me forcefully into this crime way of life. I want to go back to Indonesia. I am tired of living this lifestyle.
"Trust me, there are many who also wanted to quit, me included. But it's impossible to find the slightest gap that would help you out as if he's everywhere!" she exclaimed, frustrated. "Many people have tried. None succeed. A lot deceased, and a tons just gave up. That's when I realized, there's nothing I can do except accepting my fate."
She lowered her head and shook her head. "Besides... it's not like the outside is any better for me." Her voice was low but quite audible in my ears, she already gave up. In contrast to me who saw two policemen who had just parked their car and went to the entrance of this fast food restaurant. An idea popped in my mind. Those two people can be a way out for us. Yes, they can. "The only way to escape is—"
"This is our chance, Jane!" I cut her off as I took off my seat belt and ran outside. I heard her voice calling me from behind but I didn't heed her at all. This freedom is more important, I thought as I ran as fast as I could. Our freedom depends solely on this, so I have to succeed in convincing the two of them to help us. No, they will definitely help us. They are polices, it is in their job description to help people in need, right?
I stopped them midway and begged, "Please help us, sir! My sister and I were kidnapped by a drug dealer and now he's enslaving us. I beg you, please save us! Please, please." Their face was painted with shock as a result of being suddenly intercepted by a crying little girl in the Mc Donalds parking lot. Please believe me, you are my only hope!
Today is the day I am finally free. I can feel it in my veins. Jane and I will be finally free from that damned house. Most likely it will be raided and sealed by cops. Stef is going to jail and won't be able to bother me anymore. I can go back to Indonesia, and I'll take Jane there! And we will live normal life—
"Good Evening, Officers."
My body stiffened upon hearing his voice. The creeping fear paralyzed my movements. I wasn't even able to turn around to look at the owner of the voice that was right behind since there was no need to look back. I knew very well who spoke.
"Is my niece bothering you?" he spoke again. Dread now took over me completely, I wasn't aware of sweats that already wet my forehead. The spirit of hope I felt earlier slowly turned into layers of panic. How could he be here? Fast food restaurants are definitely not the kind of restaurant that suits his taste. Was he following us? But he never followed his slaves to work.
I tightened my grip on his arm. I looked at both of them while shaking my head, hoping they would pick up on the distress signal I exuded and then help Jane and me. I mouthed, 'Please help us. Please.'
"No. Not at all, Mr. Morelli," said one of them with a contrived smile.
My hope is completely torn. These cops paid no heed to my overflowing tears and chose to side with Stef. One of them was clearly hiding his fear.
"My niece loves to create prank contents and make them go viral on social media. But sometimes she couldn't filter her ideas and often went too far. I'm sorry this child has bothered you." I felt his hand land on my shoulder and grip it very tightly, making me groan. They also ignored my moan, although they clearly saw my painful expression.
"Oh I see," he replied with artificial little laugh. "No worries! This is just something we regularly deal with. That's just kids nowadays for you."
"I'll make sure this kid won't bother you anymore, sir." His tone was very calm yet poisonous. I stared at the paved ground beneath me, there were tear spots on it.
"We shall take our leave then. Have a nice day, officers."
I looked up to them both with tears flowing down my cheeks and shaking my head. But none of them did anything despite seeing my state. He is very good at playing the role of a good and innocent, law abiding citizen. He yanked my shoulder and pull me away from the two policemen who continued walking into the restaurant. I saw Jane running towards us, yet Stef didn't pay her any attention.
"Please pardon my negligence, Stef. I will immediately bring her home."
"Don't bother!" he said sharply and turn his head to her, "you failed to do such a simple task." He brought his face closer to hers until just few inches apart and whispered something which was audible enough for me to hear, "I'll see you in my office."
"Now then," he finally looked at me. His gripped my shoulder was even tighter, making me groan louder. "I think I need to have some family bonding time with with my cute little niece," I can sense threats emanating from his words. "Besides, it's been a while since we last talked, has it?" He took me away with his hard grip that did not come off my shoulder and left her. I looked back at her and she stood there watching us getting further away until we arrived at his black BMW.
Stef opened his car door and pushed me violently into the backseat. He sat beside me and slammed the car door. "S-Stef, I-I—" I stuttered.
He covered my mouth with his palm which he slammed into my lips with quite speed and it hurt because my inner lips collided with my teeth. "Save it," he glared at me. My excessive tears flowed down the back of his hand. He pulled his hand and wiped the back of his hand against my shirt. The driver stepped on the gas immediately without his order and went home with a speed above average.
-
"Get up," he ordered while cracking his knuckles.
He grabbed my collar and lifted me up easily and brought my face closer to his. "I can understand you for not liking me because you are basically such an ungrateful little brat. Then you straight up pay back my benevolence by making shit up to the police? How low can you be?" He kicked me in the stomach with his knee, and release my collar which made me fall to his feet.
"Stand up," he ordered again. I couldn't obey his words because my body was unable to stand up due to today's 'lesson'. He knelt down and grabbed my hair to meet his cold eyes. "Please, Stef, I can't afford to do this anymore. Please spare me, I'm—"
"Sorry?! After what you've done to me?!"
I looked into his eyes which filled with wrath. "How am I supposed to forgive you? How many times have I forgiven you, yet you kept on making mistake that were many times worse than your previous ones? How many times you did something which you promised not to do and asked for my mercy afterwards?" he then hammered my head against the wall again. I don't know for how many times today. "Why do you never learn, Alessandra? After all I gave to you, after everything I did for you, is it that hard to pay me some respect even just a little? Tell me. Is it that hard?!" he snapped again. I shook my head. "Or... you did all this on purpose?" he tightened his clutch.
My scalp felt like it was about to come off. "I-It hurts, Stef."
This had absolutely no effect on him. His fists in my hair make me dizzy. "Then what about me? Don't you think about how I feel? After you, my own family, betrayed me?" he asked with contempt.
He finally let go of my head. He walked over to his desk and poured alcohol into the small glass on it. "You've taken Maria from me," he said before drinking, turning his back to me and stared at the window above his desk. "If only she had stayed with me, she would still be alive now." He slammed the glass down, his back trembling as he firmly gripped the end of the table. He sniffled and let out little sobs that he tried so hard to supress. He was crying? People like him is still able to feel emotion? and what did he mean by saying I had taken mama from him? Did she had a relationship with someone like him? isn't he dating Elena?"
"And now, you intended to hand me over to the police. Aren't you satisfied that you already broke me enough all this time?"
"I don't understand what you meant—"
"Of course you do! Stop pretending to be innocent!" he slammed his glass onto the floor, smashing it to pieces. "You are the one who caused this, you have taken everything from me! What the hell do you not understand?!" He continued slamming everything from the table: a pile of documents, a laptop, stationery, and a vodka bottle that had now broken on the floor. The contents of the bottle soaked the paper strewn underneath.
He turned around and began approach me who stayed still on the floor and still unable to moved even a finger. He looked at me from above, and all I saw is he's not himself. The man who stood before me is a completely broken man, who has been stripped from everything. His everything.
"What should I do to you?" he asked, then sighed. His eyes were puffy and red, there's also a trail of tears on his cheeks.
He crouched down and grabbed my hair to bring my face closer to his. "S-stef, please..." I groaned painfully. He already turned back to his usual self now. "Stop this—"
"Am I not good enough for you?" a tear ecaped his eye.
"What should I do for you to finally learn?" he asked regardless of my current condition. "As an ordinary human being, I also have feelings. But you seemed to pay no mind to it as you always belittled me."
"I-I don't belittle you. Not at all."
"Then why cant you respect me?!" he snapped. "You didn't even hesitate to stab me in the back by reporting me to the police and accusing me of nonsense! You said that I enslave you, while in fact I only asked for your help to do a simplest thing and you called it slavery, after I accepted you with open arms?!" He interpreted the whole situation from his own point of view which resulted to a conclusion far from what actually happened. He took into account only one thing in this case: himself–and brushed away other aspects.
"You belittled my patience." His grip on my hair began to loosen, tears fell from his puffy eyes. He was hurt by the results of his own thoughts. "You looked down on me. Just like them." His grip on my hair began to tighten again.
"What should I do to you?" his jaw clenched. His face redden. Is there any tiny piece of humanity left in him?
"Maybe this can." Before I could react anything, he rattled my head against the wall, causing me to lose consciousness in an instant.
-
My eyes slowly opened due to a light pat on my right cheek. "Hey brat, wake up," he spoke. Stef sat on a wooden chair playing with a butterfly knife in front of me. The man who woke me up stood next to him. Stef turned his head to him. "Leave us," he ordered and so he left.
"Sweet dream?" he asked, still playing with his knife. I shook my head, my whole body was covered with sweats. This room is so hot and only one dim light was on above our heads. It was hard to look in the distance to know what was at the end of this room.
I can still see Stef because he's so close front of me. He threw his opened butterfly knife to the side and caught it with the other hand. The knife was already closed in his grasp. "You like this knife? do you want it?" he asked, holding it out to me. I shook my head again.
"I cant hear—"
"No, I don't want it," I answered spontaneously. I forgot that he despised nonverbal answer.
He shook his head. "You can't even perform one small rule." He got up from his chair and knelt in front of the chair I sat on, our heads were parallel to each other. "When will you learn to respect me as your uncle?"
"I-I—"
"I'm not done talking yet," he said coldly. "What you did yesterday was outrageous. You hurt me, Alessandra. Really hurt me. Do you know that betrayal is an inexcusable sin in this family?" I looked into his eyes and the lack of humanity therein.
"Hopefully this will make you to finally learn your lesson." My heart jumped out upon hearing this, I panicked and my head got dizzier. What is he planning to do with me? he snapped his fingers and at once all the lights in the room came on.
He pointed his finger to the left and I saw a brunette haired woman tied to a small wooden chair like me. She did not move at all and her chest was rising and falling, indicating that she's still alive. Her face was covered by a black sack. She wore tank top and shorts. Her entire body was covered in red and blue bruises. "Her face isn't worth to see anymore so I covered it," he said.
My body tensed realizing who it was.
"Is-is that Jane? W-what did you do to her Stef?" I asked in a trembling tone.
"It's not what I did to her, but what I'm going to do to her," he said and stood up. "Just watch." He walked over to Jane and stood directly behind her. He pulled her head back, revealing her neck. Stef immediately took out his knife, making my whole body stiffen at the sight. "Say goodbye to your partner."
"Stef! Wait!" I screamed. "Don't do this to her. Just do it to me, please do it to me!" I jumped in my seat, as I was trying to reach him and fell with my chair in the process. "Please do it to me! it's my fault! I beg you don't hurt her! just kill me! she is innocent! it's not her fault! I was the one who betrayed you not her!" I bursted into tears. I moved my hands and feet to get out of the rope, but it didn't work. "Stef! Please don't do it, I'll do whatever you ask me to, I swear! Please spare her life!" I shouted. I was grossly crying like a baby. My tears are already unruly, my voice filled the entire room.
"Unfortunately I can't keep on being lenient to you all the time. It wont teach you lesson. But this one certainly will." He throws the knife over, it opened in the air and he caught the hilt. And then what happened was, the worst nightmare in my life. Or I wished it was merely just a nightmare. But what was happening before my eyes was not a dream, but a reality as I screamed her name hysterically at the horror that was happening right before my eyes.
"Nooooo! No no no no Janeeeee! Not her please I beg you don't take her away!"
I kept roaring the name of the only person who made this place bearable enough for me. She didn't deserve this. Any of this. I am the one who should have sat there, not her. This is all purely my fault. I screamed and screamed as my whole body submerged in incredibly enormous guilt. Dasar goblok! Goblok! Goblok! I cursed myself silently while knocking my own head to the cemented floor. The little world I built here is now completely destroyed. Stef destroyed it, and it's purely my fault.
"Remember that you killed her. Instill it in your tiny brain that this is purely your fault." He pushed her body to the floor. He took a handkerchief and wiped his fingers.
Her lifeless body laid on the floor. Fresh blood kept pouring out of her neck. I cried out with sobs, "Do that to me! do that to me too, Stef! Take my life! Take my life too!" it would be unfair for her to had to bear the consequences of my mistake and endure it by herself while I myself can still breathe here.
He walked and stopped right beside me. This is it. It only hurts for a moment, I thought to convince myself. I'm sorry, Jane. This is all my fault.
I closed my eyes, my whole life then flashed before me. I smiled as the footage appeared on the big screen and watched it without blinking. A journey of my whole life was being played on a big screen. This film is oscar worthy, I thought as I took a handful of popcorn and popping it all at once in my mouth. It only hurts for a second, once this film ends it will all be over. I said to myself while waiting for death to come.
"If I wanted you to die, I would've done it a long time ago."
My eyes shot wide open. I turned to see his face, he smiled faintly. "But I didn't, because I dont want you to die. Not yet. Besides, you are still young. You still have a lot to learn," he continued with the creepiest smile I've ever seen in my life. He didn't do anything to take my life. His breath touched my ear as he uttered an ultimatum:
"Remember my words: if you do something stupid again, then the next person to be there..." he pointed at her body then continued:
"...is your beloved Melisha."