Ever since the barbeque day, Vinnie glued on Tobias as long as he could whenever Tobias was with Mavis. He would walk with Tobias to his college and wait for him so he could leave together with him, and whenever Tobias was with Mavis outside the college, he would follow them. It was as if he was protecting Tobias from a venomous snake. Even though Mavis didn't mind it, Tobias was having headaches. He didn't know what was going on with his friend. When he asked, Vinnie would just shrug and say he was looking out for him but it only made him confused. It wasn't possible for Mavis to be a threat; she was so shy and quiet, what could she even do?
Nevertheless, Tobias gave up and just let him be. Besides, he thought it was a good idea, maybe Vinnie would hate women less once he spends more time with Mavis. Even if it was just a tiny bit.
Mavis had gone to buy drinks for them and Tobias was now sitting alone with Vinnie at the park.
"Vinnie, what do you think about Mavis? Isn't she cute? She's very shy, more than I first thought. But she's a good girl, even if she's lacking academically," Tobias spoke. He wanted to know his close friend's thoughts.
Vinnie responded honestly, "I don't like her a bit. She can't be with you. You have already so much on your plate. Having her by your side, she will surely wear you out and I can't let that happen."
Although Tobias didn't exactly understand how Vinnie perceives Mavis, he laughed and said, "So you don't hate her?"
Vinnie frowned and corrected him, "She hasn't done anything to you yet. But once she has, I will hate her."
'This fella and his tongue…' Tobias felt helpless. On one hand, he was happy that Vinnie cared for him, and on the other hand, Vinnie's impression of Mavis was bad and he didn't know how to react to it. Vinnie probably thought in that way because of his antagonism towards women in general. In that aspect, there wasn't much he could do about it. He only patted his head. Vinnie closed his eyes in response.
While they had their moment, Mavis was currently facing something serious. At some point, the unknown men had stood outside the café, and there were a couple of armed men inside. The leader, Mavis presumed the man in the middle was, leisurely walked around while the innocent people froze on their spot in fear and confusion.
"Which one of you is Young Lady Alvera?" the leader finally spoke.
'Young Lady Alvera? What is this, a real-life drama?' Mavis calmly observed the situation.
Seeing that no one responded to him, the leader didn't mind and laughed. "All right, I see how it is. Well, if Young Lady Alvera doesn't come forward, we will shoot an innocent person. You wouldn't want that to happen, right?"
His voice was light and carefree, opposite of the words that came out of his mouth. Everyone was scared and wanted to escape but they didn't dare to make a sound. Mavis subtly eyed the surroundings and noticed a certain girl sitting not so far from her.
Her hair was blonde and she wore a cute pink beanie. What caught her eye was that she refused to look at the men, only staring down at her shaking hands on the table. There wasn't anything special about her that made her stand out and she wasn't the only one who didn't dare to look at the dangerous men. But still, Mavis thought she was more affected.
'Oh, maybe she's the young lady? She looks young…'
No one came forward but the leader wasn't in a rush. "A runaway young lady who changed her appearance to avoid trouble. What would your family think once they know that not only did you run away from home out of spite but also caused someone's death? You're so young yet you are causing so much misery." He smiled and continued, "Then how about this? If you don't show up, someone will be killed every five minutes. This time, I'm serious."
Some people gasped at his words and most of them trembled in fear; they didn't want to die. Mavis looked at the beanie girl and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in understanding when she saw how the girl reacted heavily. She had shut her eyes and held her hand with the other to stop the shaking.
'I bet that girl is the one that they want! Who wants to bet with me?' It was a pity nobody could hear her thoughts and join the bet.
Perhaps it was because Mavis moved her eyes too much and her action was suspicious, the leader looked at her before signalling one of the men to stand beside her. The leader walked up to her with a smile.
"Young Lady Alvera? I must say, you're quite stubborn. But fortunately, we got you before five minutes has passed."
Mavis only stared at him blankly. It felt like it took several minutes for her to process those words. She was beyond speechless at her current situation. What in the world made them think she was the one they wanted? Look at how confident they look! But clearly they have mistaken and were wrong.
She opened her mouth to correct them but then she paused and thought: 'Isn't this good? They probably want to take Young Lady Alvera as a hostage to demand money from her family and once they find out they got the wrong person, they will kill me. Then, won't my wish finally come true?'
Upon hearing those words from the leader, the girl with the beanie immediately looked up with wide eyes. Although she was afraid and didn't want to be captured, she didn't want someone to suffer in her place. Just as she mustered up her courage to stand up and yield, she saw the girl the men had mistaken for her got up from the chair.
"Okay, I will follow you."
The girl with the beanie was shocked and panicky, she didn't know what the wrong girl was thinking. How could she be so calm and be willing to follow him even though she knew she wasn't the one they were looking for? This was absolutely insane!
The truth was: Mavis wanted to pee her pants. She didn't fear death but it didn't mean she was a courageous person. She was scared shitless; the men were tall and strong, even armed, they looked intimidating. However, she didn't have the guts to pee her pants so she could only act calm and collected.
'Hurry up and kill me, you guys look scary when you're so close to me,' she complained inwardly. Even after all her talk about wanting to be taken for ransom, it was easier said than done. The process was a bit frightening. She only wanted the end result, which was getting killed.
Then something dawned upon her.
'They won't... torture me, right…?'
Ah, it was too risky, she shouldn't have opened her mouth. She still had other options available to choose to achieve her goal, and this one was the riskiest. Whatever, she would just make them give her a quick death if it was necessary.
And so, she was silently taken away by the unknown people and left the café to an unknown place without making a fuss. The true target only stared at the front door with complicated feelings, not moving from her spot.
Not long after, two people entered the café.