Danger’s hymn
1810 Words
Ines
Since that day, I have been plunged into this void that made me feel empty.
I thought that Lucas betraying me was just it all but I had no idea that this was just the beginning of my misery.
Rolling my eyes at Maya who walked past me after throwing sneaky remarks at me, I couldn’t help but wish that I could wrap my hands around her neck and snap the life out of her.
As much as I wanted her dead, I also wanted to bawl my eyes out.
Things were happening too fast and I hated it.
I mean, it felt like a nightmare, a nightmare that threw me into the darkest abyss, a nightmare that I didn’t wake up from, no matter how much I tried.
“This isn’t your end, Ines. You would bounce back stronger and happier,” I wiped off the tears that streamed down my cheeks in an attempt to answer the customer but my heart almost jumped out of my chest when the three men that I feared in my life, more like the men I have avoided in my life, walked in with their hands slipped down their pockets.
“Not now please” My heart raced rapidly in my chest.
Before I could even understand what was happening, one of the men named, Pedro, sent a kick flying across the table, spilling soup on the customer sitting in a way that a scream echoed through the whole place.
“What is happening here?” Miss Kim, the manager of the restaurant, rushed out.
She yelled at them. “What is the meaning of all this?
I bit the corner of my lower lips in pain, regret, and hatred— hatred for no one other than Lucas because if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this situation right now.
“These Loan sharks!”
The man who stood like a gargoyle, snapped back at Miss Kim. “Keep your mouth shut woman! We aren’t here for you but we are here for this debtor”
With a smile creeping at the corner of his lips, that revealed his gold tooth, he leaned by his side. “Where is the money that you owe us, Ines? It has been over nine months now…..” His words trailed off, scrutinizing the whole place.
I began to fiddle with my fingers that trembled and the only thing I wanted to do at that moment was to turn back the hands of time.
Miss Kim snarled back at him. “How dare you this uncouth tout talk to me like that….” She eyed him before darting her eyes back to me, staring daggers at me.
Emphasizing each word that she uttered, she said. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE”
I swallowed the heavy lump that formed beneath my throat as tears pressed at the back of my eyelids.
Lucas was the reason for all this mess. If only I hadn’t lent him that money— if only.
“Answer me now!” She snapped as cold shudders ran down my spine.
No matter how much I tried to respond to her words, I couldn’t because I was at a loss for words to say.
It just didn’t make any sense. Now that I thought about it, I guessed that my mum was right when she called me a fool.
Because if she wasn’t right, then why in the world would I have sought the help of Loan Sharks just because I wanted to lend Lucas money?
The annoying thing about everything that was happening was that Lucas told me that he needed the money for his mother’s deteriorating health, just for me to find out that he had squandered the money on gambling!
How could I have been so dumb to have never seen this side of him?
To worsen it all, he had no plans of paying me back.
Mustering the last bit of courage in me, I nodded, before ducking my head in shame. “Yes,” I gulped.
Miss Kim scoffed. “How much are we talking about in total?”
Pedro turned to look at her with that smug smile still on his face while he gesticulated. “Five million dollars!”
Mrs Kim gasped and I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me that she was dumbfounded.
“What!” She exclaimed.
I fought back the tears threatening to fall while Pedro had a sinister smile on his face. “I would be giving you three days to pay me back but if that doesn’t happen? Then you know….”
I stared intently at him. “What?”
He ran his hands through his hair. “Do I have to spell this out for you? Gabriella….” He paused and at that very moment, everything inside of me froze.
“No please” I shook my head, slowly, trying to wrap my head around things because how did he even get to know about her?
“Please don’t kill her” I fell on my knees to the ground, with my hands clasped.
All of a sudden, he burst into a peal of hysterical laughter. “Who said that I was going to kill her?”
He crouched before me, his stinky breath clouding my nostrils as he trailed his hands underneath my jaws and gripped me by the jaw ferociously.
A wince escaped my lips, as I came in contact with his bloodshot eyes. “I am going to ship her to Mexico, where she is going to be used as a s*x worker!”
At that very moment, my heart slammed against my ribcage.
“Please…….” My words trailed off.
Tightening his grip around my jaw, he smirked. “Don’t forget that your sister’s fate is in your hands. Bring back my money or suffer the consequences!”.
*
Not only was my world crumbling before my very eyes but I was also fired by Mrs Kim.
I was at a crossroads and I had no idea about what to do to save Gabriella.
Damn it! She had her whole life ahead of her.
Why would she have to suffer for the consequences of my actions? I didn’t dare to speak to her and tell her about the danger at hand!
What have I gotten myself into? How did I end up here?
Downing another glass of alcohol, I couldn’t control the tears that streamed down my cheeks.
I wanted to murder Lucas with my bare hands! I wanted him to pay for everything that he had done to me! I wanted to go to the far ends of the earth to make sure that I brought him to his knees.
But how? How would I be able to accomplish any of that when I had a huge debt hung on my neck?
I reached my hands for my phone, not being able to take my eyes off the picture of Gabriella and me.
I shook my head, vehemently. “No, I would never allow this to happen. I would never be the reason why her life would be turned upside down”
My eyesight was beginning to get fuzzy, and with the thoughts that flooded my head, everything around me began spinning.
I wanted to bawl out my eyes and scream out loud. I just wanted something to take my pain away.
In an attempt to down another glass of alcohol, I gripped my glass clumsily, pursing my lips slightly in a bid to hold back my tears.
At that very moment, something kind of alerted my senses in a way that made me pause midway with the glass of whiskey in my hands.
The annoying sound of the scrape of the barstool against the wooden floorboards triggered my senses.
Slowly, I tilted my head in the direction that the voice emanated, and at that very moment, the glass of whiskey that I gripped, dropped abruptly onto the table.
Staring into those blue eyes that gleamed underneath the dimly lit light, made me wish that I could drown inside of them.
Like it never happened in the first place, all the thoughts that filled my head seemed to disappear as I stared into those eyes that were like a beacon of solace.
The sound in the background faded as we both stared at each other in silence.
Why was my heart beating fast? Why did it feel like not only was my heart about to explode but every part of me was about to?
How could his eyes be stunning and manic at the same time?
With a bright smile on his face that accentuated his high cheekbones, he leaned forward in a way that my heart almost leaped into my throat.
“You called and I answered”
I blinked my eyes a couple of times, his words jolting me from my reverie. “What!” I exclaimed.
“Who….ar…are….you,” I stuttered.
He tilted his head to the left, his hands finding its way to its breast pocket. “Dashiell Vanderbilt''
He slid his business card to me. “I have an offer for you”
“What!” I exclaimed.
With a smile curled at his upper lips. “This is the only chance that you have to change things”
Arching a brow, my eyes landed on the business card before darting my eyes back to him. “I have no idea about what you are talking about”
“Fio…. I mean, Ines…..” Before he could complete his statement, I jumped to my feet in fright.
“How do you know my name?”
“That doesn’t matter Ines. What matters is that you make good use of this offer and marry me”
For a second, I had no idea about what he meant until his words repeated in my head.
I agreed that I was smitten by his extraordinary beauty, I agreed that I wanted to run my hands through his curly hair but I wasn’t a fool!
I wanted to yell at him but only ended up bursting into a peal of hysterical laughter. “You must think so highly of yourself!”
He rose to his feet, towering over me.
Wait, he was this tall? How come I never noticed that?
All of a sudden, his hands found their way to my face while I jerked my head backward.
“What are you trying to do?” My eyes twitched.
He bent slightly, leaning forward with a smile that I couldn’t decipher creeping through his face.
“I am giving you a chance to save your sister”
Wait, what?
“Marry me and save your sister from the danger that is about to befall your family.”
- Writer
