Mafia's Trap- Jaden

Chapter 7

    Katherine Pov

        I opened the door cautiously and peered out. Nothing. Just the normal dirty walls of the hallway and the stained dark reddish carpet on the floor. Stepping out, I again reminded myself to take all the things - basket with the kitten inside, my jacket, my bag and keys. I shut the door as quietly as I could, slid the key in and turned the lock. 

    "Sugar."

         I jumped, screaming. I turned around to see my neighbour, Big Bull standing at the door to his apartment. I am guessing it's not his real name but that's what everyone calls him. He's big, but not big like Mr. Woods from last night. No, Mr Woods was all muscle and scary, very scary.

        "Didn't mean to scare you, sugar." Big Bull says, breaking me from my thoughts, as he walked towards me. "You're out early,” he grinned, showing his yellow teeth. Ugh! It was so gross. I wanted to puke just by looking at his face.

        He's probably still up from last night. I can smell alcohol from his body. I cursed internally. I was trying to avoid meeting him. He gives me really creepy vibes and the more I am away from him the better. One of the reasons why I tell the girls to keep the door locked at all times. He stares a little long, but beyond that he hasn't done anything, yet and I intend to keep it that way.

 I don't understand why he always tries to get my attention and indulge in a conversation when I have clearly hinted that I am not the least bit interested.

        "Yeah, I'm going to get some work done." I tell him, slipping the keys into my bag. I turn to move towards the staircase but he blocks my way.

        "Who was the guy from last night?", he asked.

        I had to look up at him as I'm shorter than he is. I wanted to tell him to mind his own business but I held back. I didn’t want him to know about Peter coming here.

       "I really gotta go, I'm getting late, excuse me," I dodged his question. He moved out of my way but not enough. I had to brush past him. I glanced over my shoulder, and his eyes were on my ass. Pervert.

       I made my way down the stairs as  fast as I could. I pause at the door to leave the building. I shook my head and pushed through the door, trying to get the fear out of my mind. My eyes darted up and down the street. I glanced at the way I usually go and stopped short. Do I want to go back that way? I hesitated a bit but curiosity won in the end which my Nana used to tell me was going to get me in very big trouble someday. I shouldn't go poking my nose where it doesn’t belong but I couldn’t help it.

         I pulled my phone out and searched the nearest animal shelter. As soon as the map notified me of the location. I started walking towards the location. I couldn't help but glance over my shoulder again and again. I don't know why, but I get this feeling as if I'm being watched. Again.

  Was my mind playing tricks with me? 

    After some time, I came to the same path where I witnessed the murder. I stepped in the alley, trying to get a better look. However, there was not a single sign of murder. The alley looked perfectly normal. If I hadn’t met Mr. Woods yesterday, I would have been convinced that I had imagined the whole thing. Suddenly, I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and glanced over only to see a man standing in the corner. He was in all black and was looking straight at me. He looked quite older than me.

        My breath froze in my lungs. I should get out of this place but my body can't seem to budge. He's studying me and I'm damn sure he can hear my heartbeat even from this distance.

        Act normal, Act normal Kat, I tell myself. I gave him a short smile. A woman who saw someone being murdered shouldn't be going and smiling at others, right? Jesus I want to smack some sense unto myself. He didn’t say anything to me. He just kept staring at me.

       I turned and kept walking, picking up my steps and praying that he doesn't follow me. I felt the breath I was holding leave my lungs as I exited that alley. Maybe I will take a cab home while returning, because I'm never going to that alley ever again in my life.

         ~•~•~•

      I opened the door of my apartment while glancing over to Big Bull’s door, hoping he won't come to trouble me again. I quickly stepped inside, and walked over to the couch only to find Rose and Amelia eating pasta while watching TV. 

     "Hey, I thought there's no food at home. Can I have some? I'm starving" I said while crashing on the couch beside Rose.

     "No, we don't share."  Rose replied in a mock angry voice. 

     "Ohh my god, Katherine, Do you have any idea what you have done?” I could see Amelia was fuming with anger. “First you give the kitten away to some animal shelter, secondly you lock us in this godforsaken apartment." Amelia said without blinking. 

       "I know you're both mad at me right now but I did it for your safety. The kitten will be safe and well cared for in that animal shelter than with us." I stated the obvious.

      "What about your safety Kat, you were out there alone. What if something would have happened to you, and you just left a note on the fridge saying you will be back soon, and it's been over two hours." Rose said.

       "On top of it, you didn't even pick up your damn phone. Do you even realise how worried we were?" Amelia accused.

        "I'm so sorry my battery died while returning home." I replied meekly. Both looked at me angrily, still not ready to forgive me.

      "Well I'm here fully intact. Nothing can happen to me. I know you both are there to help me, especially Amelia, because you learnt some  pretty cool Kung Fu moves from the movie Kung Fu Panda you watched recently, right?" I wiggled my eyebrows and joked to lighten the mood. 

      "Yeah, yeah at the end of the day I know I'm gonna be the one who has to save your asses”, Amelia joked. Rose and I both giggled.

 "Now let me have some of your pasta", I took a bite from Rose's plate. “ Did you pack everything for college?” I asked Rose with a mouthful of pasta. “I am almost done packing. It will be finished by next week before I have to leave,” Rose replied.

“No, we are not putting it off till next week. You are leaving today. We’ll help you pack.” I stated. 

Rose's eyes widened “Today?” 

“Well there goes my idea of a relaxed weekend,” Amelia rolled her eyes.

“Why do I have to leave today?” She whined,” There is so much left to do. Also I don’t feel good leaving you in this situation. I want to stay and help.”

“This is the exact reason why I don’t want you to be here.” I said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Amelia concurred with me for once in my life.

“But I don’t think I can finish packing in a few hours,” Rose raised her concern.

“What are we here for then? Let’s get packing,” Amelia clapped her hands and started walking towards Rose’s room.

Both of us followed her, surprised by her sudden enthusiasm.

After a few hours we finally finished packing. I was tired as hell but I was glad we all three finished it on time.

“I’ll book a cab,” Ameila said as she put the last of Rose’s stuff in the boxes. 

“No,” I said, closing the zip of the suitcase. ” Call Peter, ask him to take us.” 

“Peter? Really? I thought you hated him,” Ameila laughed.

“I still do,” I added further,” but we need his help. After what happened yesterday, we cannot just trust anybody. He is the best option we’ve got.”

“I don’t want to go so early. I still want to spend some time with you guys,” Rose said morosely.

“I know dear, but this is the best for all of us that you stay away from all of this. Trust me I am doing this for your own good,” I reached out and put my hands around her shoulder to assure her.

“Peter will arrive in 15 minutes. Let’s bring the stuff down,” Amelia walked into the bedroom after calling Peter.

I looked at the watch, it was 4:15pm in the evening. We'll reach there and be back home by a reasonable time, I thought to myself.

After sometime we heard a car honking, Amelia peeked out the window to locate the source of the sound "Peter's here", she informed us while waving at him and gesturing to him to come upstairs. 

I opened the door to let Peter in and gave him a small smile. He nodded towards me and gave me a finger salute.

"Hey Pete, let's go inside, help us bring some of the boxes down," Amelia dragged him by the arm and into Rose's room.

I narrowed my eyes at them. I am still a bit skeptical about his friendship with Amelia. I am not sure what his intentions are. I hope they are only friends and nothing more or else I would have to have a long, not so pleasant talk with Amelia which I would be glad to avoid.

One by one we loaded all the boxes in Peter's car. I locked the door to the house as I was the last one to leave, went downstairs and got in the car. Peter started the car and we left for college.

~•~•~•~

 “This place is quite good. You’ll love it here.” I remarked while placing the last of her stuff on the bed in her dorm, ”It’ll be fun for you to decorate it the way you want to.” 

“Babe, I’m seriously so jealous of you right now. There were a couple of hot guys outside who caught my eyes. Have a bit of fun, you know. Attend parties, socialise. Don’t just sit in a corner poring over some stupid books and be a bore like Kat.” Amelia said grimly with mischievous glint in her eyes.

Peter started to laugh at Amelia and then immediately caught himself when he saw my expression.

“Don’t call me a bore, okay? I am a very fun loving person,” I said feeling defensive.

“Yeah right,” Ameila scoffed.

“Do you want me to hit you right now or after we reach home?” I warned her.

“I’ll miss you guys and your banter,” Rose whimpered, interrupting us.

“Aww.. honey we’ll miss you too,” I replied and pulled her and Amelia in for a group hug.

    We stood there hugging each other for sometime and after what felt like an eternity, we broke the hug.

             "Goodbye Rose, take care of yourself, don't forget to call us now and then," I patted her head.

              "Yes Kat."

              Rose accompanied us to the car. I got into the car with a heavy heart and waved at her from the window and smiled. She waved back smiling rather sadly. Peter started the car and we left.

~•~•~•~

While in the car, I thought about Rose. I’ll miss her a lot. Though we are not sisters by blood, I love her as much as I love Ameila. I hope she adjusts to her new lifestyle easily. She has never been away from home for a long period of time. I hope that she makes the most of her college life. Oh! What I wouldn't give to attend college. Seeing her campus and dorm room made me realise what I have been missing out on. I never got a chance to attend college. I started doing small jobs here and there as I had to pay Nana's hospital bills on top of taking care of my sisters. After Nana passed away, they became my responsibility. I was determined to give them the best life that I could possibly provide. I hope I succeed in doing that.