CHAPTER 1
Downtown Vancouver, Canada - TIME - 11:00 PM
Vanessa was sitting comfortably in the backseat of a cab as it cruised past the city of Vancouver, her eyes gazed through the transparent glass window viewing the fine and glittering lights as it went by, her gaze beamed on the buildings and skylines of the city as she smiled, reminiscing about when she used to play with her childhood friends on the fields of the neighborhood in this same city she grew up in.
The drive from the office down to her home was the order of the moment as the cab driver carried out his duty of taking her abode. She couldn't wait to get home and read herself to sleep with a book she'd picked up a week ago. The book was filled with the stories and existence of human culture, the analysis of material culture, artifacts, and mythological creatures.
She watched closely as the cab mysteriously stopped. She sighed with an energetic flow in her. Vanessa's lids flickered, filled with curiosity that was setting channels in her system as she was eager to know why the cab had stopped midway through the journey.
“OH, NOT AGAIN… DAMN IT!!” The cab driver wailed. “I'm sorry ma'am, I think we have a problem,” he said, as he sighed with frustration written on his face.
“What is it, Bruno?” Vanessa asked, her senses alert as she was eager to know the reason why the cab had stopped.
“My engine has gone numb! I can't believe this is happening again after I had given it to my engineers and spent a couple of dollars to fix it.” He said in frustration.
“Damn… and it's late already, how do you pull through?” She asked showing a bit of concern.
“I don't know… I’m deeply sorry ma'am, I know I have disappointed you this time” Bruno said, as he popped up his head to look in her direction.
“Uhmm! Too bad… but there's no problem, you can pull over here, my home is just half a kilometer away” Vanessa replied, her soft feminine voice so precious it could warm up the cold night.
“Alright ma'am, have a nice weekend,” Bruno replied as he managed to pull over his damaged cab.
“Have a lovely weekend, Bruno.” She smiled with an innocent reveal of her dimples as she took the handle of the driver's backseat door and stepped out of the cab, she pushed it gently stepped out into the cold night, and walked off intending to head home.
Feeling exhausted from the day's activities, she gazed at her wristwatch, it was 11:45 PM, and the time was far gone as she walked through the quiet and lonely road of Granville Street, she was drowned in her thoughts wondering what could have eaten up her time the whole day. She chuckled, as she realized she had spent a huge chunk of her time arguing with her colleagues on work duties.
With a bag filled with documents in her hand, Vanessa strutted intensely on her high stiletto heels which clacked along the concrete floor as she walked off in the direction of her apartment.
The apartment she rented just to survive in the rough neighborhoods of Vancouver. The house looked weak, dusty, rusty, and unkept, the house looked as though it would collapse anytime from now. Although she plans on acquiring a new and better apartment she can afford when her savings are complete— a lie she tells herself just to disconnect from her uncomfortable reality.
However, her monthly income was only the minimum wage. She could only pay her immediate bills and also buy enough groceries that run till she received her next paycheck. Her heartbeat raced, the thought of her situation brought in a wave of depression that she tried to shrug off.
As she walked with intensity, she could sense the smell of a masculine cologne in the air which only made her tenser than she already was.
She waved the feeling off as she couldn't comprehend where it was coming from. But the smell became stronger as she walked further, making her hint that someone was close by, lurking around. This sent shivers down her spine as a thought popped up in her head, “Have I been followed? Or is this a coincidence?”
Unknown to her, a gunman had been lurking around the environs, waiting for her to arrive to exhibit a task he was assigned to do.
She tried to wave off the thought as she comported herself. But she was consumed with curiosity, which propelled her to look back to get a clear view and see if anyone was behind her. Her eyes glistened brightly with surprise, as she realized she was right, she had been followed.
She could see a huge figure approaching her direction, the figure of a man putting on a black suit, with the sounds of his footsteps filling the air, as she perceived trouble was looming. With the adrenaline rush pumping in her veins, she tried to shrug off the feeling of fright, hoping that what she was thinking was not going to be her reality.
She dropped her bag as the thought of running crossed her mind. But as she was about to dart off, the loud masculine voice of the figure velveted the air.
“STOP RIGHT THERE, MOTHERFUCKER!!! MOVING ANY FURTHER COULD BE THE WORST DECISION YOU COULD MAKE,” The man's commanding voice chimed from behind, followed by a gunshot as it chased away all doubts about his kind of personality.
Vanessa blinked, blank-faced, with her face powdered in sweat, consumed by fear, are senses whirled with panic, her muscles twitched with fright, anxiety gripping her heart as she could feel her legs shiver and tremble. She desperately thought of ideas that could help her get out of this situation she had found herself in.
Her body stiffened, as she was washed away with tugs of emotions, watching everything around turn into darkness. She could feel the pain coming from the side of her head as blood trickled down the side of it. Her head was smacked fiercely against the wall and her breath came in shallow gasps.
Slowly, her lids went into closeness as everything blacked out in front of her, and her sweat dripped down from her face to the floor. She prayed silently for a way out, for someone to come to her rescue.
“Somebody…. Anybody, please save me” she whispered.
But help was far from her.
