Surviving Gangster's Love

Failed Attempt to Escape #1

The problem with good looking men is that, one, they are good looking, and two, they f*****g know it. The moment he bent on his knees and looked me in the eyes, threatening me to take responsibility for Austin's mess, my heart leaped into a frenzy of increased heart rate. Which was rare. I was scared, but there was something else mixed in there as well. His "Mrs Sera Clements" kept ringing in my ears. Why was it so different from his mouth? His phoenix eyes and high cheek bones plus that jaw line. It reminded me of the description of a young master from some Xianxia novel. Maybe because of his Asian features, I felt a sense of familiarity even when I was in such a hostile situation. In this part of the country, you do not see many Asian faces.

It was the first time since he had entered my house that I got to see his face clearly. He smirked disdainfully after holding my gaze for a few seconds. I must be looking funny in a pathetic sort of way with dried blood on my face, tissues in my nostrils and disheveld hair.

I was slumped on the bloodied floor of my apartment, with a broken nose, surrounded by four large-bodied thugs plus their dangerous leader. My five-month-long husband was absconding after pulling some serious s**t and amidst all that, I was getting conscious of my appearance because of a single smirk from that man. How do I even describe how ridiculous the situation was? I hated the way my mind was reacting towards him. His presence did something to my brain. Up until then, I thought I was a very sorted, serious and sane person.

The next thing I remember was that I was examined by a doctor who had no problems with thugs taking a woman hostage in her own house after breaking both the door and her nose. I tried to ask for help. I whispered it to him, to which he sighed and told me, "It is no use, darling. I am with these guys. Don't worry though, since I have been called, that means you are not on their kill list." On hearing it, the rest of them laughed along with the Doctor. They had taken over my living area, two of them were sprawled on the couch and one was lying on the bean bag. These guys were getting so comfortable in my house, as if they had no plans of leaving anytime soon.

"It's a fracture most probably. We need to scan it to know for sure. So brutal your men are, Mr. Xi, I tell you. She could have disfigured her nose." the Doctor said, in a mock concern to the Leader, and that's how I got his name. Mr. Xi.

"Get it scanned then. You two, go along." Mr. Xi said in a commanding tone. The one with a bird tattoo on his wrist and the baldie hauled me up and almost lifted me to the elevator in the corridor. My steps were not even reaching the ground, I was practically walking on air. It was so embarrassing that I had to tell them that I could walk perfectly well. Thank you. The Doctor joined us in the elevator and chimed, "You will get fresh air dear, rejoice." I could not figure who was worse, those thugs, or this Doctor.

They stuffed me in a black van with tinted windows. On the way, I imagined a small, shady clinic with off-beat doctors taking care of their criminal activities. But they took me to one of the biggest hospitals in the city. It was just that we took an elevator I never knew existed in the parking area. The whole of the ninth floor seemed to be their zone. The scary part was that no one on the staff seemed to be bothered by a woman being manhandled by two men in broad daylight. They were ignoring me as I passed by, as if I was not even there. I was bought into a ward and a doctor was already waiting there. I recognized him. He was the famous orthopedic of the city. I had tried so hard to get his appointment for Papa's knee surgery and here he was, waiting to diagnose a hair line fracture. He asked the nurse to get my x-ray, thoroughly avoiding any eye contact with me. I felt like a puppet. It was very disturbing.

It was then that I started to grasp the depth of my situation. It was getting scarier. I was at the mercy of those people. I had no contact with my family or friends. By that time, I had already been held for six hours and no one even knew about my situation. Earlier, contacting my family or getting to the police by any means was my first priority, but looking at the scale at which these people were operating, they were not normal thugs. I realized I was dealing with a much larger force and I had no idea how to get myself out of that mess. I was worried about involving my parents or Katy. Although we don't talk daily, they do contact me every few days. They would panic if they couldn't reach me and might even try to stop by my place. I had to inform them to stay away from my house. It was my first priority at that point.

I had incurred a hair-line fracture in my nasal bone and they put a little cast on my nose. The Doctor wasn't being funny when he said I could have disfigured my nose. It really was a possibility. They gave me some pain killers but I made sure not to swallow them. The last thing I needed was to sleep. I pretended to feel drowsy and waited for an opportunity to make a run for it and soon enough I got one.

The traffic was slow near the busiest square of the city and the traffic signal ahead was red. I was pretending to be asleep and waited till there were two seconds left for the light to go green. I remember feeling the tips of my fingers turning cold with nervousness. Baldie was sitting across me in the back seat. I tried aiming for his crotch. I don't know where I kicked. I just remember sliding through the door of the van and running for my dear life. I took to the first alley and kept running in random directions, never turning back. I heard a few voices at the beginning, but after a while it was just the sound of my heavy breathing and pain that was shooting up in my nose. I remember hiding in the hedges of some random park. I sat there crouched, maybe for a few minutes, maybe for hours.

It was dark when I came out of hiding and walked to the nearest convience store. First thing I did was to ask for the attendant's phone to make a call. I called Papa. Fortunately, they were at our Aunt's place. I told him that Austin and I were planning to join them there, and managed to convince him to stay there as we would join them the next week. He sounded worried by the end of the call but did not ask many questions and, for once, I was glad about his hesitance towards me.

Next, I called Katy. I told her that I was screwed. That I was tangled with some gangster sorta people because of that bastard Austin and that I was trying to run away and that she should hide as well. I had no time to explain anything further and told her to send some money to the attendee's number and make sure to go incognito. With a few hundred dollars, I started off for the nearest subway.

I remember feeling relieved for a moment. I really thought I would be able to escape.

I remember I had just taken the last turn, and the subway underpass was right ahead of me. I wanted to rush towards it, but the next moment, I stopped. Baldie was standing right next to the stairs going down to the station. He was looking straight into my eyes with a grave expression. The next thing I remember is turning around in haste only to bump into Mr Xi and a severe pain in my nose because of the impact. I felt his hand on my waist, steadying me, and then the palm of his other hand cupping my nose tenderly. He was so gentle, his gaze so tender that I froze for a few seconds, only realizing too late that there was a cloth with a strange smell in his palm.