I got You

Chapter 2

Marinela

Two weeks passed by and I kept my promise. I never called the number, and everything went smoothly. I kept getting rejected by every company I applied to work for and that was getting awkward. I mean I was not the most qualified person there ever was, but I hoped I could get in some of those companies.

Could he be behind this? Could he be doing this to make me agree to work for him? It was possible. He did stuff no one could do, like creating a new contact number in my phone without touching it.

I didn’t think then, but thinking about it now, he could probably be in some kind of a group doing illegal business. Yeah, his attitude was a perfect one for that line of work.

But I didn’t care, it wasn’t like he was a boss of a mob or something to have such a power over other companies, he was the manager of a coffee shop that was probably more of a meeting place for actual mobsters. That is what I thought, until I found out he was the freaking owner of it, and his name was indeed the one I thought it was, all thanks to LinkedIn.

I wasn’t going to call him, someone was going to hire me, someone had to. If no one did, there were other available options. I could try and find a job in another city or even in another country.

I didn’t mind living abroad, I have already done that a few times before when I was broke. It wasn’t easy, but my family needed money fast. As I said, this is Skopje, the wages are pretty bad here compared to the standard. In fact, I have already looked on Google for some jobs in London. Ah… London. I have always wanted to live there.

I was at home, lying on my bed, trying to sleep and thinking about London. It was way past midnight, and I had another job interview early in the morning. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t, my mind wasn’t at ease. I know I said everything went fine after that day I met him, but I couldn’t stop thinking about his words. He threatened me with my life if I said no, but I never said no. I didn’t call the number either, but I didn’t say no.

Wait a minute, I actually did. How could I forget about that? I jumped out of my bed and started pacing. I could definitely forget about my sleep. This was more important. “If you don’t call, I will take that as a no,” he said. I started talking aloud, “How could I forget about that? Was he really going to come after me? Was he about to come for my mother and sister as well?” The air suddenly became hot, I started sweating and I couldn’t breathe, my life was going to be over soon.

No…no, that couldn’t be.

Nah, if he wanted to do that, he would have done it by then. He said I had a week to call the number, but two weeks have passed by since he said that, since that day I met him.

I stopped pacing. I took a deep breath and took a seat on my bed. Yeah, I was going to be fine, he must have forgotten about me by now. I smiled. I had an interview I had to attend in the morning, I had to calm down and go to sleep.

I inhaled and exhaled. I did that a few more times but I didn’t seem to get more air. I actually felt like I was suffocating. My vision started to get blurry too. I blinked a few times, but it didn’t help. Tears started rolling down my face and I started to cough. What was going on with me? I got up, opened the door of my room and there was nothing. I couldn’t see anything.

There was nothing in front of me, but smoke. I tried calling out for my mother and sister, but I just couldn’t. The cough was only getting worse. All I could do was to find them myself.

I started walking towards my sister’s room when the wall on my left collapsed. I instinctively jumped aside to avoid getting hit by it. But something else hit me. It made me cover my eyes with my hand and back up a little.

Unbearable heat and light came out of the site where the wall collapsed. I couldn’t breathe and I was getting dizzy. I folded forward and tried to hold onto something, but I couldn’t find anything to lean onto, and I fell. I fell hard on the floor in the corridor leading to my sister’s room. I was sweaty and my head was spinning. I made myself open my eyes and that was the moment when I saw the terror happening around me.

I was surrounded by fire. There was nothing else but fire and smoke.

“I’m going to die right here, this is how it all ends” I thought. “I am sorry Martha, I am sorry mum,” I murmured. “I am sorry, I love you so much,” I said.

Just before I closed my eyes to accept Death’s grip, I was shaken. I told myself “Get up!” My sister and my mother needed my help. Everything hurt, and I couldn’t move, but I had to find the strength to get up. I had to help them. They were my everything, my reason for existing. So, I did it. I struggled to get up a few times and I failed.

“Martha! Mum!” I shouted. “Martha, can you hear me?” there was no answer. I tried calling out to them a few more times but it was of no use. Tears started rolling down my face. I couldn’t believe what was happening. It felt like time had stopped and I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I knew that feeling. I was familiar with it. I felt it 12 years ago when I found out about my father’s death. I was 9 and part of me left with him that day. This time I knew no part of me was going to be left. The air I breathed could no longer provide enough oxygen to fuel my body and I had no strength to fight anymore. I had no reason to fight the inevitable. I wanted to die.

But that didn’t happen. I suddenly found myself lying on some grass, on some f*****g cold grass. None of the hot floor and dry and heavy air was present. I opened my eyes and saw a figure hovering over me. My vision was blurry but that much I could see.

“Are you alright?” the figure asked in a rushed manly voice. The figure was a man, and he didn’t speak in Macedonian, he spoke in English. I wanted to answer but my throat was so dry, all I could do was nod. I closed and opened my eyes to check if I was dreaming or if it was a real nightmare. Was I really saved? Saved by this figure, this man? I guessed I was, so I sat up to thank him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Where was he? How could he disappear without a trace?

I looked around and I could see I was sitting on the grass covering the front yard of our house. But that was the only thing left of it. The fire was gone along with the house. Along with… along with… I didn’t want to finish that sentence in my head. They were gone. Gone with the fire.

But I wasn’t. And I knew who took them. It was him. Sergei Boranovich took them away from me. He did this. He wanted me dead, but I didn’t die. He could only be wishing that I did.

I was burning. I was burning like hell even though the fire didn’t touch me at all. I wish it did, I wish I was dead because there was only one way to extinguish this fire.

I got up, ignoring the pain in my eyes and throat, and tried to find something. Anything that will help me burn that motherfucker. And then I noticed it. On the other side of the street, next to a huge pile of leaves was a half empty bottle of gasoline. It must have been left by those starting the fire, I thought.

I ran to it and grabbed it. A lighter was lying next to it. I didn’t hesitate to pick it up and put it inside the right pocket of my hoodie. I felt so much rage growing inside me, and it made we walk like a mad person. Because I was. As I was walking further away from my house, I gave one last glance towards it and I vowed to not stop until I kill him. I didn’t know where to find him. It was early in the morning and I had no way of finding where he was. So, I headed towards the one place I knew he might come if I gave him a reason to.

I kept walking and I spotted something that was going to help me do what I intended to do. Inside a car, the most beautiful baseball bat was waiting for me. I could never understand how Harley Quinn, another comic book character, could find a bat to be her ultimate weapon until now. I broke the car window using the bottle of gasoline, and the beautiful bat was in my hands. The bat was mine. And I was going to use it well.

A baseball bat in one hand, gasoline in the other and a lighter in my hoodie pocket. “This is it” I thought. I am going to erase his existence from the face of planet Earth. He erased my reason for existing, now I’ve got nothing left, but a fire inside me.

A fire he ignited.