A man sat languidly on the sofa, one of his legs resting on the other. The smoke from the cigar in his mouth had engulfed the room like the fog of a forest.
He took one whiff. Then another. Calmly as ever, the man savoured the high-quality cigar, eyes closed. Just then, the door to the room burst open, breaking his peace instantly. His eyes shot open at the noise.
Two men were dragging a whimpering, battered and bruised man inside. The man who was already on his knees, bowed deeper,
"M-master, please, master, p-please, forgive me. I-I" Begging so, he looked quite worthy of forgiveness.
The man who had been referred to as Master suddenly stood up. He paced his way towards the sobbing man, as lazily as he could, fiddling his cigar in between his long fingers.
Seeing him approach himself, the whimpering man halted his begging, his blood running cold at the mere sight of his master closing in.
"You acknowledge your mistakes?" The master brought his face close to his subordinate's.
"Y-YES! Y-YES! Master, I'm sorry, I couldn't complete the mission." For the subordinate, being interrogated was better than facing his master's true wrath. And so, he quickly answered.
"Hmm? That's all? This much is worth forgiving, Miles" The master's voice was as languid as his demeanour. He turned around to walk back to his seat.
Hearing this, the subordinate, Miles' eyes regained hope.
Maybe he did have a chance at being forgiven for his mistake. At staying alive.
However, this hope was quickly shattered by a sudden kick to his chest.
That kick was so strong, it not only forced him to spit out blood, but also the delusion of being excused for his mistake.
"FUCKING! HELL! You bastard! You thought you could be forgiven? Do you realise the fucking mistake you made?!" the master who previously seemed relaxed, calm and even a little kind was currently kicking anything and everything in front of him, "AAAAA! DAMNED! IDIOT!"
He walked in quick steps towards Miles who was now at his wit's end after seeing his master's 180 regarding the situation.
His master grabbed him by the collar and shook him, "What in the world were you, fucking, thinking?!"
"M-master, I, I was almost successful, I was about to- AHHHHGGGGGG!!!" Miles' explanation was interrupted by a searing pain on his tongue, His master had thrusted his still-lit cigar into Miles' mouth.
"Shut the fuck up." He left Miles screaming in pain, as he sat back down on his seat.
"You had one job! To get me the girl! THE DAMN GIRL!" the man's voice rang through the ears of the one lying on the floor.
Already covered in blood, the man on the floor could do nothing but wriggle in pain. Despite that, he crawled towards his angered master, and rubbed his nose at his foot, in measly efforts to calm his master down.
However, the master was far from pleased. Looking at the writhing man was enough to remind the master of his subordinate's grave mistake.
"All you had to do, was drag the girl outside and BRING. HER. TO. ME!" he started with gritted teeth before screaming at the kneeling man.
Groaning in pain the latter tried getting up but failed miserably. "Ma-mas-master" his voice hoarse. He was practically quivering under the hissing of his master, like a mere rat under the predating eyes of a King Cobra.
Yet, he held onto his stomach and tried standing again, succeeding this time. Clutching onto the leg of a fallen stool beside him, he stood straight with all the remaining strength in him. Miles desperately wanted to clear his name.
"Mas-master... she... I got her out... But Vin-Vincent noticed and fired to-wards us." He managed to speak with the metallic taste of blood on his tongue.
SMACK!
The poor man once again fell to the ground with a loud thud. He felt like all his bones were shattered into pieces bit by bit.
"DON'T YOU DARE" shaking the black and blued man by his neck, "GIVE ME EXCUSES!" He growled under his gritted teeth.
The man threw the died-down cigar from his hand and crushed it under his foot,
"Get rid of him. If I see this piece of shit around alive, I'll bury you motherfuckers as well."
***
'The dimly lit passageway gave Annabelle goose bumps. Her heart raced as if it would jump out of her chest any minute. She took tiny steps down the huge staircase holding onto the railing as if her life depended on it.
Tip-toeing her way down, she finally came across a black gate. Pushing the door with full force, the tiny woman tried opening it.
"I think I need a key.. maybe," she thought to herself and walked away in search of the key.
Trying her best not to make too much noise, Annabelle searched thoroughly the entire area. But with no luck whatsoever, she returned to the huge gate leaning onto it with her entire weight.
Suddenly, as if the heavens were on her side, the door creaked open. And once it did, like hope incarnate, the sharp ray of light that dilated her pupils became a sign for her. A sign that she did it!
Finally, breaking through the thick walls, Annabelle was now free! Every happiness comes with a price. Annabelle was aware of this more than anyone else. Just as the thought crossed her mind. Her body froze as if she were struck by lightning.
The sky rumbled and roared. The once clear sky was now covered in thick black clouds, that poured down heavily.
"I warned you! DIDN'T I" The dark voice of a man resonated. His aura was so calm, it looked as if he was waiting for his prey to catch the bait.
Annabelle on the other hand could feel all the fear creep in on her. Her body refused to move and her mind went blank. "I – no-plea-please" None of her words made sense.
All her sentences were just as jumbled up as her mind. She wasn't sure what she wanted in that minute.
"I have had enough of you! Goodbye darling!" he smirked through his hood.
Walking closer to the prey in sight he lazily pointed his gun towards her heart. "You leave me no choice!" he shrugged.
"N-o- n-no pl-please" Annabelle's whole body trembled. Was this the end of her?
Is this how she dies...
She just wanted to be free...
She wanted to go back to her friends and family.
She wanted her peace back... was it too much to ask for.
At that very minute, Annabelle could swear she saw the silhouette of her mother. Smiling towards her with arms wide open, welcoming her. Annabelle closed her eyes and the next second she heard a loud bang as her body hit the ground. Her eyes jolted open as her body was covered in cold sweat.
"Nightmare again? Morning by the way!" Luciana smiled towards Annabelle who was nothing but confused.
"Here have some water" She handed Annabelle a glass of water and sat down on the bed cross-legged.
Annabelle took the glass carefully from the girl's hand and contemplated whether to drink or not.
"If he wanted to kill you, he wouldn't bother poisoning you. He can simply shoot you. You know" Luciana casually said munching on the dry fruits from the side table. "He means no harm" she continued.
"Who... Who are you?" Annabelle finally asked with the remaining strength in her. Her voice came out so small that she herself was shocked.
"Oh, my bad! The name is Luciana. I work here." Luciana smiled after giving a formal introduction to the confused soul.
"Work?? What work?"
"Um... you can say I help remove dirt from the city" she grinned ear to ear. At that moment Luciana looked like a normal woman. Someone who had no idea about daggers and knives. Someone who loved making friends and enjoyed eating.
"Ohh..." was all Annabelle could say before her eyes started wandering around.
Following her sight, Luciana interrupted, "You are in the medical room, nothing serious."
She explained and Annabelle simply nodded her head understanding.
"How about we wash you up before dinner? You might like some cleaning" Luciana suggested before helping the fragile girl off the bed and towards the bathroom.
"I will wait here in case you need anything," Luciana said closing the door for maintaining the girl's privacy.
After about half an hour Annabelle knocked on the door letting Luciana know she was done. Both the ladies walked down the stairs towards the dining room. The more she walked closer the faster her heartbeat raced.
It's okay... just a normal dinner... it will be alright...
She tried calming her mind and maintaining her cool.
Reaching at the door Annabelle took in a deep breath as Luciana opened the door. They both made their way inside as the aroma of deliciousness filled Annabelle's nostrils.
Just as she was about to settle down, her ocean-blue eyes landed on the brown ones. She for a second forgot about her surroundings and the memories of her dream came flashing back. The loud bang was still clear in her ears and the pool of blood was still fresh.
"Sit!" was all she heard from the cold voice and her body obliged.
Albert looked at her smirking at how she complied with his words. Feeling dominant he looked at the girl playing with the utensils and not daring to take a bite of anything at all.
"The food won't make its way down your throat itself. You need to pick it up and eat" he spoke again in his alpha voice.
The others around the table found it amusing as their leader never spoke during dinner. But having a new guest, Albert knew well how to keep everyone entertained. Poor Annabelle picked up her fork and bit down on the meat softly.
For Annabelle, it felt like her predators were feeding her well before a good sacrifice.