Chapter One
1606 Words
~Astrid~
The
moment his hands connected with her cheeks, Astrid fell on impact. The side of
her head hitting the old cupboard beside her before she got to the floor. Warm
liquid trickled down the spot and into her eyes. Astrid recoiled, covering her
face with her arms, expecting him to kick her like this always goes—on her
stomach, her hands, and then the punches come in. She had to protect her face,
or else people would ask questions. She saw an opening on her left, but the
moment she tried to run, he blocked her.
"C'MERE,
YOU B**CH!”
He
pulled her back by her hair, flung her across the room, and she went stumbling
against the centre table. The vase fell to the ground and shattered, and she
landed on a couple of them. She moaned in pain as he climbed on top of her, punching
and slapping her. So much for protecting her face. Astrid made no noise; she
was used to this, and yelling and screaming for help would only make things
worse.
For
one, the men Mama brought home hated people knowing what went on and pretending
to be oblivious to the fact that the whole community probably knows at this
point. The other reason was that the screams urge them to go further.
“I’ll
ask you one more time, where is the money?”
It
was common sense that Mama got all her men thinking Astrid had loads of money
to get her to release some since Mama could never do it without Astrid’s
consent. Plus, all of Mama’s men saw her go to work. He pulled her hair back,
causing her to look at him. His face was too close for comfort and his breath
smelled like something had died inside. Inhaling it was worse than the pain she
was feeling.
“I
am not giving it to you.”
SLAP!
And
then a couple more, and Astrid was bleeding from her mouth now. She tried to
spit it out, but he wouldn't let her; he made her swallow it.
I just need to persevere for a while, and
then I can crash over at Ro’s for a couple of days.
“You
little piece of sh*t.” He said as he held her by the neck and banged her head
on the floor hard. Astrid could feel herself fading; she’d pass out very soon,
and by the time she’d wake up, it’d be way worse than now. His hands tightened
on her neck.
No, no, no.
She
had to think fast; her hands instinctively reached for his hands, grabbing and
pulling, trying to get him to release her, but he didn’t budge. She kicked her
legs aimlessly, and she gurgled from lack of oxygen. As her right hand fell to
the ground, she felt something sharp—a shard of the broken vase laid beside
her. She took hold of it cautiously; this may be her only chance of escape, and
the last thing she wanted was for him to see her weapon; he’d probably use it
against her instead.
“What
do you think Dillon is going to do when she comes home to find your
unconscious, bloodied body on her sitting room floor?”
Astrid
glared at him, and he smiled cynically. Her eyes were rolling back now. She’d
lose consciousness soon, and Dillon wouldn’t care.
“I’m
sure you already know the answer to that. If only you had been a good girl.” He
purred as he came close to her face. Her grip on the glass shard tightened; his
guard was down, and this was her chance. He came close enough to kiss her when
she went straight for his eye, burying in deep and he wailed in pain. Blood
splashed on her face, clothes, and neck. He scrambled away from her quickly as
his eye gushed out blood.
Astrid
gasped and retched, but she didn’t have time to get herself together; she
needed to run before he got over the pain and decided to come back for her or
before Mama came home.
The
front door flung open, revealing a tall man in a suit with blonde hair and
striking blue eyes that scanned the room. Anger and confusion were evident in
his features. He looked to the ground, where Astrid sat, shaking in fear.
“Are
you Dillon?”
Astrid
shook her head to say no as she stood up.
I wonder what she did this time.
“Where
can I find her?”
He
looked to the right to see Dante, blood oozing out of his eye as he pulled the
glass shard out, groaning in pain. Astrid watched as the blonde finally noticed
Dante; confusion and a hint of fear shone in his eyes.
Astrid
stumbled, pushing him out of the way so she could leave. He was either blind or
plain stupid, and he had a death wish to walk into a scene like this so
casually. If he wanted to die, she couldn’t care less. She had barely walked
past him when he held her back. She ripped her hand out of his hold; she
swayed, but he held her again before she could fall; her vision was a bit
blurred and her head was woozy from lack of oxygen; and her heart was beating
like it was about to rip out her chest.
“Let
go.” The blonde guy looked at her, then at Dante, and back at her again.
“YOU
C**T! WHERE ARE YOU?!” Dante roared.
“Look,
I don’t know where the f*ck she went, okay? I need to leave, so move!”
The
sound of a trigger was what caused Astrid to go still in fear as Dante shot
aimlessly, unable to see.
“SH*T!
GET DOWN!” The blonde whispered a yell, pulling Astrid down with him. He slowly
turned and opened the door. He motioned for her to follow his lead. Astrid
rolled her eyes. He was the reason they were in this mess in the first place.
A
bullet flew over her head, and her heart flew to her throat as she ducked in
case another bullet was coming.
“Move
faster!”
The
moment they were out the door, Astrid sprinted towards the backroads. She
needed to avoid Mama or anyone who could point Dante in the direction she may
have taken, and the backroads were the best for that since no one hung out
there. Astrid turned around, but there was no sight of Dante, which was perfect
and the blonde was nowhere to be found.
Should I go back? He’s probably fine; Dante
probably didn’t see him anyway.
Splash, splash, splash.
Astrid’s
legs were caked with mud. It had been raining like crazy for a couple of weeks
now, so there were puddles in every five steps; there were no street lights;
and it didn’t help that she had no shoes on. She hadn’t had time to put them
on. Her chest burned from how fast she’d run; people paid no heed to her. It
probably wasn’t the first time they’d seen someone running for their lives and
going on with their business. They were probably too stoned to help anyway.
Astrid stopped running; she was a good distance from her house now, and no one
could find her. She used the wall to support herself as she forced herself to
catch her breath.
Astrid
walked out to the road to hail a cab when a Lamborghini drove in front of her,
still moving slowly. The window wound down, revealing the blonde from earlier.
Good thing he didn’t die. She didn’t need a stranger’s death on her conscience;
she already had a lot on her plate.
“Get
in.”
“Piss
off," Astrid said as she walked away, but the blonde followed her.
“I
do not like repeating myself.”
“Too
bad. Look, in case you didn’t notice, I’m quite busy.”
“You
have two options. Get in, and I save your life, or don't, and I do everything
in my power to ensure that the guy on the ground finds you and finishes what he
started.”
Astrid’s
eyes widened, and fear flooded her. His scowl turned to a smirk, and Astrid
boiled because he knew he had her.
Who the heck is he?
“What
makes you so sure he won’t blow your brains out?”
“Not
if I’m accompanied by a bag of cash; he won’t.”
F*ck.
Astrid
finally stopped; she had no choice. She looked back in frustration; if Dante
was still looking for her, he may be getting close by. Going with him seemed to
be the better option, and maybe she could steal some things from this guy while
she was at it. Astrid barely had any money after all.
“Fine.”
She gritted out.
He
pushed a button, and the passenger seat door opened. Astrid couldn’t help but
roll her eyes. What kind of bozo comes to this kind of area with a car like
this? He is lucky he was able to find it still. She got in.
“Good
choice, Astrid.” She stilled.
“How
do you know my name?”
“You
were in Dillon’s house, and in case you didn’t notice, you are a striking
replica of her, so I put two and two together.” Astrid clenched her fist in
anger; the universe didn’t just leave it at her being Dillon’s child; she had
to look like the darn devil too.
- Writer
