Chapter4
1283 Words
Chapter Four
Joel popped open a bottle of whiskey, and poured some into a whiskey glass.
He took the glass in his hand and walked towards the overview glass in the penthouse. He watched the view of the city as he sipped the whiskey.
He opened the balcony door and as he stepped out, the breeze of the summer night hit his face. And the summer air brought back memories. Dark memories.
It was almost the anniversary of that day.
The day he lost every reason to smile.
The day his world became dark.
The day that marked the beginning of his nightmares and panic attacks episodes.
The day he lost everything.
He gulped the rest of the whiskey in the cup and stepped back into the house.
He hated reminiscing about that day. No, scratch that. He dreaded it. Most times, it always ended with panic attacks.
He had tried several therapies but they didn't work. He wasn't sure if that was because the therapists were not really good at their jobs or because he didn't want the therapies to work, after all he would rather choose feeling the pain than being numb.
Joel's breaths started to shorten and his body began to shake slightly.
He quickly grabbed his car keys to go on a drive, because he was a few moments from bursting into a full panic attack.
Zara's eyes opened slowly and she blinked hard as the bright light in the room hit her eyes. When her eyes had fully adjusted to the luminosity of the room,she opened them fully to take in her surroundings.
Then the scene flashed back. She remembered she just returned from work and was about to flick on the switch,when something hit her hard behind her head.
She quickly looked around the room she was in. It was an abandoned building, which looked like a junkyard. There was cobwebs and dust everywhere. She could literally taste the dust in her mouth.
She tried moving only to realize she had been tied to the chair.
She became alarmed. She had been kidnapped.
Then she remembered it was probably very late by that time and Ruby would be waiting for her. That was when panic set in.
Zara started moving violently, trying to free herself from the rope used to tie her.
She had no clue who would kidnap her but that was the least concern at the moment. Ruby would be worried and all alone,this scared her the most.
"Somebody help!" Zara shouted, hoping somebody somewhere would hear her and come to her rescue.
"Help! Help!" She screamed as loud as she could,while still trying desperately to free herself from the thick ropes.
"Well oh well. Looks like somebody's finally awake." A gruff voice said from the inner compartment of the room.
Then a short, rough looking man came into sight. His hair was slightly shaved, almost bald. He had a black leather jacket on. And inside one of the pockets of the jacket, Zara sighted a knife.
"Boss, the b***h is finally awake!" He then said to someone,who seemed to be inside.
"Why are you doing this to me? Who are you?!" Zara shouted.
Almost-bald-head ignored her and started whispering an unknown song. Then a figure appeared from the dark,and a huge muscular man came into view. He had tattoos all over his body, including some parts of his face. He looked much more scary then almost-bald-head.
"I said who are you guys??!" Zara screamed this time,in frustration coupled with fear. The appearance of the tattoo guy increased her panic. She tried recalling when and where she had any altercation with gangsters, but of course her head came blank,she definitely had nothing to do with them.
"Hmmm. I like them feisty." The huge guy spoke.
He walked closer to her,and held her jaw tightly, making Zara whimper. "Feisty, just like her mother." He said, smirking.
Zara's eyes widened at his statement.
"What?" Her voice came out cracked.
"Well, you might not know us, pretty girl,but we definitely know a lot about you. Yeah, and your daughter too. Mary, that b***h, told us quite a lot. A f*****g talkative, that one."
"How....how...do you know my daughter?? Leave my daughter out of this! I don't know who Mary is!" Zara screamed.
A fist grabbed her hair, pulling her backwards,causing her to whimper in pain.
"Shut the f**k up! I can take any bullshit but I hate lies. You f*****g know who Mary is, because she's your mother!" The tattooed guy grunted loudly,his face red with rage.
"Now listen..." He continued. "Your mother owes us money, a whole lot of money. That b***h bought drugs and she refused to pay. I was going to sell her ass off to potential buyers and then she told us she has a rich daughter who works at The Watson Hotels, which is a jackpot obviously. So we're here to collect the money your mother owes."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She thought she had cut all ties with Mary Andrews, who was unfortunately her mother. Mary is all shades of bad. A bad mother, a bad daughter, a bad human. But she didn't ever imagine that she would give her and her daughter out to drug dealers.
"I...I have not been in touch with Mary for over five years now. She's like a stranger to me, so I can't help you. So go back to her and tell her I said I don't have any money to give to you." Zara said, scowling.
"This..." The tattooed guy raised his hand to hit her but was interrupted by the vibration of his mobile phone.
He let go of her hair,and fished out his phone.
"Jack, it's my boss. I'll go in and take the call. Watch her very closely."
The short guy responded with a nod, puffing out smoke from his cigarette.
Zara lets out a shaky breath.
She couldn't believe her situation. How could her own mother give her out to drug dealers she was owing? Putting her and her daughter's life at risk.
And she thought the woman might have turned a new leaf and might, just a little bit, might even miss her.
Her heart squeezed in pain.
"Jack, come over here. The goods are not complete!"
The tattooed guy called out to the almost-bald-head guy from inside the room.
"Make sure she's tied properly before coming here!" He added.
"Okay boss. Coming!"
The almost-bald-head guy came over to where Zara was tied, checked the ropes and left.
Zara thought of Ruby again, and tears welled in her eyes again as she bent her head in defeat. Then her eyes caught something shiny in front of her.
The knife which was in almost-bald-head's pocket.
Her heart began to race fast.
Adrenaline rushed in her bloodstream.
She stretched her legs forward and tried to use them to drag the knife towards her. When her attempt was successful, Zara almost cried tears of joy.
Running through the bushes as fast as her legs could carry her, she was determined to get away.
After she was certain that she had gone quite far from her kidnappers, she stopped for a while to catch her breath. Then she sighted a road ahead of her, she heaved a sigh of relief and continued running.
Just as she was about to cross the road to the other side, she sighted a car she didn't notice coming, coming on with full speed. She tried to move but the shock stuck her feet to the
ground.
The last thing she saw before losing consciousness for the second time in a day, was a blurry figure… very blurry.
- Writer
