Chapter 8- The package
1580 Words
Angelica’s point of view
I knew something was wrong the moment the gates didn’t open.
They always open.
The mansion is quiet, but it’s a powerful kind of quiet. The kind that feels controlled. Planned. Safe in a scary way.
But today it felt different.
Still.
Like the house was holding its breath.
I was in the living room pretending to read when one of the security men rushed past the door. He didn’t look at me. They never do. But this time his walk was faster.
Urgent.
My stomach started twisting.
When you live somewhere you didn’t choose, you learn how to read tiny changes. A door closing too hard. A whisper stopping when you enter a room. Footsteps that don’t match the usual rhythm.
Something was wrong.
Ten minutes later, Leon walked in.
He didn’t slam the door.
He didn’t look angry.
He looked calm.
And that scared me more.
“Angelica,” he said softly.
I hate when he says my name like that. Like he owns it.
“Come over here.”
I didn’t move at first.
He tilted his head slightly.
That was enough.
I stood up and walked toward him. My legs felt weak but I didn’t let him see that. I’ve learned that showing fear makes him quieter. And when Leon is quiet, it’s worse.
“There’s something you need to see,” he said.
“I don’t want to, I don’t need to,” I answered.
“You do.”
I shook my head.
He stepped closer. Not touching me. Just close enough for me to feel the warmth of him.
“This,” he said calmly, “is why you don’t get to decide what you want.”
My throat tightened.
He led me toward the security room.
He told me it was to make me feel safe.
It didn’t.
There are too many screens. Too many angles. Too many eyes.
Today, there was a box sitting on the table in the middle of the room.
It was small. Brown. Plain.
It looked normal.
That made it worse.
I stopped walking.
“No.”
Leon didn’t force me forward. He never forces. He guides. Pushes without touching.
“One of the twenty-three,” he said.
My chest felt like it dropped to my feet.
Twenty-three.
The number of men who think they own me.
Creditors.
Buyers.
Monsters.
“Which one?” I whispered.
He shrugged slightly. “Does it matter?”
Yes.
It mattered.
Because that meant one of them knew where I was.
One of them knew I wasn’t delivered.
One of them was angry.
Leon moved to the box and slid it toward him.
My hands started shaking.
“Relax,” he said calmly. “If it were meant to explode, we would not be standing here.”
That did not help.
He opened the lid slowly.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Look at it,” he said.
I didn’t want to.
“Angelica.”
His voice wasn’t loud.
It didn’t have to be.
I opened my eyes.
Inside the box was a phone.
Just a phone.
Black.
Cheap.
My heartbeat was so loud I could barely hear anything else.
Leon picked it up. “It arrived active.”
My throat went dry. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” he said calmly, “they want you to see something.”
He pressed the screen.
A video opened.
I didn’t want to look.
But I looked.
It was a room.
Dark. Small.
A chair.
And tied to that chair was…
I gasped.
It was Chloe.
My best friend.
Her mouth was covered with tape.
Her eyes were wide and scared.
But she wasn’t hurt.
She was just sitting there.
Alive.
Tears filled my eyes so fast I couldn’t stop them.
“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no…”
The video lasted only ten seconds.
Then the screen went black.
A message appeared.
“You owe us.”
That was all.
My knees gave out.
I would have fallen if Leon hadn’t caught my arm.
He didn’t hold me gently.
He held me firmly.
Steady.
“Breathe,” he said.
I couldn’t.
Chloe.
They had Chloe.
This was my fault.
If I had just stayed quiet.
If I had just obeyed.
If I had just…
“They won’t hurt her,” Leon said calmly.
I looked up at him with tears streaming down my face.
“How do you know?!”
“Because she is leverage.”
I hated how calm he sounded.
“She is bait,” he continued. “They want you afraid. They want you desperate. They want you to run.”
“I need to go to her,” I said immediately. “We have to save her.”
He studied my face.
And then he smiled slightly.
That small, controlled smile.
“This,” he said softly, “is exactly why you need me. And this is exactly what they want.”
I felt something cold crawl up my spine.
“What do you mean?”
“You think you can protect her?” he asked gently. “You can’t even protect yourself.”
That hurt.
But it was true.
I am here because I couldn’t protect myself.
“They sent this,” he continued, lifting the phone, “to remind you what the world outside this house looks like.”
I shook my head. “This house isn’t safe.”
He leaned closer.
“It is the only safe place left for you.”
I wanted to scream at him.
This place feels like a prison.
The doors are locked.
The gates are high.
There are guards everywhere.
“How is this safe?” I cried.
“Because,” he said quietly, “no one touches what is mine.”
The words hit me like ice water.
Mine.
“I am not yours,” I whispered.
His eyes darkened slightly.
“You were sold,” he said calmly. “To twenty-three men who see you as an investment.”
My stomach twisted.
“I am the only one,” he continued, “who sees you as something worth protecting.”
Protecting.
Is that what this is?
Is that why I can’t leave?
“Then let me go,” I whispered. “Let me go save Chloe.”
He studied me for a long moment.
“If you step outside those gates alone,” he said softly, “they will not just take you.”
My breathing stopped.
“They will take pieces.”
I covered my ears.
“Stop.”
“I am not your enemy, Angelica.”
It didn’t feel that way.
It felt like I was trapped between wolves and the only one offering shelter was another wolf.
“What do you want?” I asked.
He stepped back slightly.
“Commitment.”
My heart pounded.
“To be under my protection fully,” he continued. “No more fighting me. No more trying to escape. No more secrets.”
“And Chloe?” I whispered.
“I will handle it.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
He held my gaze steadily.
“Because if I wanted you harmed,” he said calmly, “I would have delivered you already.”
The truth of that made me feel sick.
He’s right.
He could have.
He didn’t.
The room felt too small.
Too cold.
“What do you need from me?” I asked quietly.
His expression softened just a little.
“Trust.”
I almost laughed.
Trust.
After everything?
But then I saw Chloe’s scared eyes in my head again.
I can’t save her alone.
I can’t fight twenty-three monsters.
And I don’t even know where she is.
Leon stepped closer, slower this time.
“If you belong to me,” he said quietly, “no one else can claim you.”
Belong.
The word made my chest hurt.
But the fear was bigger.
Fear for Chloe.
Fear for myself.
Fear of the unknown.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said.
That sentence felt heavy.
Because it meant other people would.
I wiped my tears slowly.
“If I agree,” I said carefully, “you bring her back.”
“Yes.”
“Safe.”
“Yes.”
“And they never touch her again.”
“They won’t.”
I searched his face.
He wasn’t smiling now.
He was serious.
Cold.
Controlled.
But serious.
I felt like I was standing on the edge of something.
If I say yes, I lose something.
If I say no, I lose everything.
“Say it,” he murmured.
My voice felt small.
“I… will stay.”
His eyes changed.
Not soft.
Not warm.
Just satisfied.
“Good,” he said quietly.
He picked up the phone again and handed it to one of the security men.
“Track it.”
Then he looked back at me.
“You see now,” he said gently, “why you need to be mine.”
I didn’t answer.
Because deep down, I wasn’t sure if I had just chosen safety…
Or just chosen a different cage.
And as Leon walked me out of the security room, his hand resting lightly at the small of my back, I realized something that made my stomach twist again.
The world outside the gates is full of monsters.
But inside the gates?
I live with one who smiles.
- Writer
