"It's enough, Donovan. I am tired of this drama happening every. Other. day. Get over with it, now. " The little girl heard her mother scream in the main lounge.
She was now habitual to this daily fights between her parents but today it was rather aggravated.
Her small hand reached for the lamp on her nightstand, pulling on the string and letting the orange light illuminate the dark surrounding of the room.
One after another, beads of tears rolled down her chubby cheeks. With her big brown eyes fixated on the bedroom door, she pulled on the duvet so that only her head was out.
She hated these fights between her parents. Nothing was the same. No matter how much they try to assure her ' They were still the same loveable family they once used to be ' their late-night arguments told a different story.
But today was different, she could feel it. She never heard her mother shouting, it had always been her father.
"You are forcing me to leave this house, aren't you?" Her voice cracked as it came out more calm than before. "you want to leave me for this..." Her features scrunched up as her gaze lingered over the woman next to her husband, distrustfully. "-For this SHELL OF A WOMAN-" " ENOUGH!" Donovan cut her off, moving across the table to where she stood, rooted to her spot.
" I am warning you, Eva, you better control your mouth when you talk of my sister." he hissed, pointing the index finger to her face. The low tone of his voice proved to be more scary then if he would have been shouting at her. Fear crept up to the pit of her stomach but she decided not to express it.
" -And about you leaving... SO YES, I want you to get the bloody hell away from my house and my family " the pitch of his voice increased as each venom laced word rolled off his tongue in a go.
With tears in her eyes, the woman watched her husband with disbelieve. " Donovan, how can yo- did you forget all the promises you made to me ? " she tried to put sense in him, tried to bring back the man she knew before.
A laugh erupted his mouth, simultaneously as the last words got uttered from her mouth. " Don't make me laugh, Eva-" His face, once again held the stern expression as he continued to shatter her dreams. "- what promise do you talk of huh? The one I made on the day of our wedding? -" He inquired, mocking her.
" - Those were before I knew your filthy intentions. Now, if you call my sister a shell of a Woman then I honestly don't know what to call you." His vicious mockery hit her hard. Her lips sealed. She knew any further argument was just going to waste energy and nothing more.
What can she expect from a man who broke all promises that keep the two people bonded in their tie of marriage?
" Let me be very simple with you, Eva. You are one greedy woman who can scoop to any level just to get her hands warmed with wealth- " He paused, taking in all that her face expressed. "- And I am never going to let that happen... you can deceive anyone but not me. I know how to read people and you... you Eva are open book " Donovan completed, slapping her hard with a reality check.
Finally, everything was clear between them. She saw how her husband slips away from her hands. She saw in what light does the man she claimed to love, sees her.
Taking in the situation that befell upon her, Eva could not see any possible nice end to this. Her eyes dried up. Not even a single tear escaped. She could see where this conversation was heading to and she feared it. She knew this will happen but not too soon.
It was time for her to get a hold of herself. Time for her to strengthen herself. It was the time to not lose to her fate.
With a new determination to her tone, she stood firm in front of her husband.
"Now What? "
***
Little Dinah gulped down hard as silence befell in the corridor leading to the main lounge. It was as if no soul lived there. No one could guess that people were screaming into each other face just a second ago.
Grasping the cover tightly in her fists, she waited for what was to come next. Time ticked on and her eyes wide opened, were fixated on the door that stood amidst the darkness.
Her visibly shaking hand went for the sting to turn off the lamp just as she heard footsteps of probably more then one person advancing towards her room.
Hurridly, she turned it off and jumped back into her sleeping position, covering her body in a way that only her head was out.
Darkness engulfed the surrounding. She saw how the light peeping through the small gap under the door got blocked as the footsteps advanced further to her room.
The screams and shouts erupted once again in the corridor but Dinah could hardly make out the words.
Scared, she put the duvet over her head just as she heard the knob click.
She shut her eyelids tightly, waiting for what was about to come.
Everything was over.
The family she once used to live happily in was now at the verge of ending.
It was now either her father or her mother.
The lust for money overpowered relations...
*****
"Abigail, come downstairs, hurry. " The man called for his wife as soon as he stepped inside the house. Throwing the briefcase on the couch, he waited anxiously for her to come down.
" Why do you look so worked out? Is everything fine?" She questioned just as she stood right in front of him, watching him through her curious gaze.
The man glanced his wristwatch once before panic took over him. " Quickly, grab the basic stuff and get the children, we are leaving " He let out, hardly making eye contact with her since all his focus was on glancing out of the window, probably looking out for someone.
Analysing the confusion on her face, Alfred decided to go slow. He held her shoulders as worry coupled with guilt plastered on his features. For a moment he felt speechless. He knew what he had to say but the words wouldn't form a sense. He couldn't quite put them in an order to make out a sentence.
" Abigail, my love, you need to understand me, alright ?" He asked her, looking directly into her eyes. " I didn't want this for us-" he continued. By now Abigail had guessed something was off with the situation they were in.
" Be clear " she asked, politely. Alfred let out a sigh he didn't know he had been keeping in him.
" I didn't wish any of this... just ... just trust me " He whispered, his shoulder slumped and head bowed.
It did take him a brief moment to take in his surrounding. He had no time to waste.
Things can turn bloody any moment.
" Where are the kids ?" He questioned, almost panicking. " one is at the university and other is upstairs in her room-"
" Why is he still in university? It's already evening. Is he out of his mind-" before he could complete Abigail cut in.
" What's wrong with you today? He did inform you last night that he would be taking a few extra classes for his upcoming examination. And besides, he just talked to Sami on phone. He will be coming in an hour to take her for a ride." She completed.
Sweat formed on his forehead. To his surprise, Abigail noticed his hands visibly shaking under the pressure he was carrying.
He was more than petrified, not for himself but for his beautiful family.
The world around him started to spin. He tried hard not to lose his sanity and scream at the top of his lungs. Things have gotten way to messed up now and only chance of surviving was to fly away without an eye-catching them.
" Alfred, now you are scaring the daylights out of me. Just spill out the problem."
He had already sown the seeds of fear in her just when he stepped into the house but by now, it had started to grow into pure panic.
Alfred looked into her eyes before gulping down hard. This confession was going to be difficult, really hard for him.
" Abigail I... I... Last year I was given a project of one million dollars -" he started. Her eyes widened as the words touched her ears. She knew such a big amount of money always calls for trouble and that's what she was waiting for him to spill.
" I thought maybe we could come out of this little home or even shift abroad" he continued, confused more than ever. " Come to the main point Alfred. what did it ask for in return? " she asked, daring her fate to hear more.
" I had to leak information about BHs. " Her eyes widened at the mention of BH. No one knew much about it but everyone had it clear in their minds to never mess with them.
" Messing with them is just begging for the dome to knock at your door and here you are confessing that you crossed paths with the BLACK HAWKS? " words, laced with disbelief, rolled off slow and smooth from her tongue.
Silence engulfed the couple. Her grip on his coat collar loosened as her eyes refused to divert from one area they had been staring.
" Please tell me you did not get caught " she whispered, mainly to herself. She could feel the blood draining away from her face. It felt like things moved in slow motion. Her ears heard the news but her mind could not quite process it very well.
Slowly, he lifted her head to look into his eyes, dreading to hear his reply.
" I am sorry " he replied, his voice cracking in the end.
***
Finding no other option, the family decided to flee in the darkness of the night before their men come knocking on their door.
With one suitcase clutched in his hand, Alfred lifted his daughter in his other arm and rushed to the door, with his wife trailing behind him.
It felt as if life got taken away from their body as they opened the door.
There, dressed in all black stood five men, with their hands folded in front of them without any expression.
And then through the right came into view another man, muscular and huge. Though his dress code matched the men standing behind him, he appeared different.
He had rough tentacle type short white beard that makes one want to feel it. His ocean blue eyes studied the man standing right in front with him as he chewed upon the edge of a small stick, protruding out of his mouth.
A smug smile played across his lips just as his eyes wandered off to the girl that the man held in his arms, proactively and then to the woman behind him.
He sank his hand into his pockets as he threw away the stick.
" I suppose we came at the wrong time lads-" He turned at his waist to face the men that stood behind after giving a glance at the suitcase Alfred held, "- didn't we?" He returned his attention back to him.
" Heading somewhere ?" He mocked, knowing the answer very well. Alfred stood still even when his wife clutched his arm out of pure fear.
" Take her and go to the room " He whispered to Eva without sparing a glance at her.
Hurriedly, Eva collected the girl from his arms but before she could even take a step, the man stopped her.
" Ah ah ah... you are not going anywhere-" he started. " Won't you like to accompany me?" He asked, sarcasm dripping through each word.
Without giving a thought over it twice, Eva, quickly, put the girl down and asked her to run to her room and lock it.
The girl ran up the stairs but before she could reach her room, the man had already signalled one of the men to trail behind her.
" Run Emma" Her mother shouted.
" An obedient one you got, Alfred-" " DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY DAUGHTER. YOUR WORK IS WITH ME NOT WITH MY FAMILY, LEAVE THEM ALONE " Alfred shouted to his face but all went in vain as the man seemed unaffected.
His expression changed from mocking to stern as he uttered what made Alfred's knees go weak.
" Won't you invite me in, my friend ?"