ANISHA'S POV
I started to feel sick. She drank the juice! What was in the juice? I regretted not pouring it down the drain. I should have just thrown it away! What if...what if the poison in the juice was dangerous enough to cause death? I did not want Lisa's death on my hands….I had only kept that juice because I planned to find a way of sneaking it out of the house, and then having it tested. I badly needed to know what was in it. Did someone want me dead? Who? Was it Lisa on her own? Or both Lisa and Carter? Or …were they just the faces, acting on behalf of someone who was hiding behind the screens? My thoughts ran wild, trying to figure out what was happening…who was targeting me…
"You look very troubled", Lisa commented, looking at me.
"I just have a slight headache," I forced a smile.
Again, I did not miss the look that the two exchanged, and I knew that their plan, according to them, was unfolding well.
"Finish up your juice, and we can dig in," Lisa encouraged me.
I stared at the glass and again forced a smile. Lisa and Carter both believed that I had taken the poisoned juice. Although I knew with no doubt that the juice in front of me was clean, for I had poured it myself, I still feared to take it. I had to come up with a plan…
"Carter, may I have my car keys. I need to check for pain killers in my car."
"We do have pain killers in this house," Lisa sneered.
Her tone had suddenly changed, from the sweet person to someone speaking with a voice laced with hatred. Her usual voice, the one that I had always known her to use, was the one that I heard at that moment. She then asked her sons to go and play in their bedroom.
In surprise, I looked up at her, and she laughed, "you've already taken more than enough! You took a drug that will make you sleepy, and we're going to make you confess that you and Carter are lovers, and you're with Dylan just for his money. This is how it works, darling. Carter is going to say a lot of things about the two of you being in love, and like a little child, you're going to agree and repeat it all. He will record all the parts when you speak, and the video shall be promptly sent to the man that you think you love. Carter here will talk about your love at Olga. We will make it so bad that the de Milo guy shall never want to lay his eyes on you ever again!"
Oh no! Not again! Drugged again! Oh…thank God, I had not taken that juice. But they both thought I had taken it. What now? What should I do? If they realised that I had not taken it, there was a chance that they were going to force me. Lisa was very much capable of it.
"No-one will believe you were drugged to say what you are going to say. Everyone knows your history with Carter. Your childhood sweetheart from Olga, isn't he? He taught you how to play the piano, guitar, violin, trumpet…whatever it is that he taught you. And you two have been in love for a long time!" Lisa mocked in a thick, low voice.
Was it Carter who told Lisa that him and I were childhood sweethearts? I had never known that his obsession over me was going o drive him into lying and doing such things.
Oh no! No no no! What was I supposed to do? I had to find my way out, and at that moment, Carter was holding my car keys? Dylan, oh Dylan, I should have listened to you! I shouldn't have visited on my own! I prayed in my heart for Dylan to come looking for me…wait…did he even know the address to Gareth's house? What about…oh,….could he find me? I saw darkness surrounding me but I pulled myself together and told myself no, Anisha, you are stronger than this. At one point Logan would have raped you, but you fought him, even though you were drugged. Today you are not drugged. Do all you can. I silently prayed to God to protect me, promising Him in my heart that once this passed, I would never ever go to places alone again.
"You didn't have to drug me, I already like Carter," I smiled.
They looked at each other and Carter roared out with laughter, "that's a good one! I almost believed you! Liar! Didn't you call up security guards on me, and chased me off from your car? You're in love with that billionaire, but I assure you, Anisha, that man wants to use you. If only you had listened to me earlier on, we wouldn't be here now."
He stood from his chair and came to stand behind my chair.
"I'll leave you to it, then. Is the dining room OK? You would use a couch." Lisa smiled.
"What do you mean, Lisa? I could use a couch for what?" Carter looked confused.
"To have some fun with her." She raised her shoulders with a smile. "Can't you see that the drug is already working? She said she likes you. We both know that she never liked you in that way; but now she is already confessing her undying love for you."
"I will start recording, then. But I…I wont make my face show. I don't want to…to show in the video," Carter stammered.
"You have to, Carter! Remember what that man said! He said you must appear as lifetime lovers. Don't you dare forget what he said. He will kill us if we don't comply!" Lisa threatened.
"Ok, I will try my best for the video to meet the requirements," Carter said.
Since they both believed that the drug had taken effect on me, I had to act sleep. I faced down and did not move, seemingly losing energy.
"Guess what? I added something to her juice. I added something that will sort of, raise her libido." She stated proudly.
"You did what? You want me to rape her? I would never do that, Lisa! Besides for my own conscience, the instruction was repeated over and over again, that rape is a no go area. You should not have done that!"
Lisa spoke in an angry voice, "Come on Carter! You're in love with the girl. You've loved her for a long time, so this is the only chance you have to make her yours."
"Not in this state, Lisa! I love her too much to want to hurt her in such a way! I could do anything to have her accept my love, but not to rape her. This was not the deal we signed for, Lisa!"
"Ok, coward! Just get her to confess, then!" Lisa started walking away in disappointment.
"The camera is set!" Carter called to Lisa. "It will start recording in…six minutes," he said.
"Yes! Make sure that her confession plays live on Facebook and all those other channels which you young people use!" Lisa roared into laughter.
He walked towards the lounge, and I took my phone and slipped it into my jean trousers. I knew that if he saw me with the phone, he would definitely make sure to take it away from me.
What do I do? What do I do? I stood up and looked around. I could easily get a knife from the kitchen, but then it was impossible for me to run to the kitchen before Carter caught up with me. I also was not sure where to find the knives; and there was no extra time to do the searching. The last thing I wanted was to alert him of my plans to run away. Playing along seemed the only possible plan for me to escape from his dirty claws. There was nothing for me to use. My own hands…I doubted if my hands could give strong enough punches. Kicks? No. I was not good at that.
I looked around and….oh, maybe my answer was right there on the dining table. That seemed to be the only answer to my problems. A long slim clay vase. That had to be it. That just had to be it. I moved closer to it and stood in front of it. Carter was busy placing the camera in the right place. I moved the vase closer to me. Dear vase, you cannot let me down!
"I was hired to make you confess your love for me on camera. Apparently someone badly wants you to leave that de Milo doctor alone. Trust me, I also would be happy if him and you broke up, but I think the person behind it all is cruel. I know that you will never love me, but what I am about to do was never part of my plan. I was, sort of….forced…I guess I can use that word."
"Oh my head! My head is cracking!" I screamed in pain, but I was not telling the truth.
I was trying to avoid getting into the lounge, for I could not afford appearing in some live video. The times I had appeared on social media were enough, I had no intention of adding to that.
"Headache?" Carter looked sorry, but he rooted to his spot, and I added drama to my cries, "my head! My head!!!!"
Alarmed, he came closer to me. I was bending down, so he also bent to take a closer look at me. He was in the perfect position, so I used all my might to shove the pointy top of the vase into his private parts. The man growled like an animal, and I shoved it again. His knees kissed as he hissed in pain, and his body was curled up. I could not waste the chance. I hit him with the vase on his back, just to make sure. I wanted to give him one more hitting, but I decided against it, threw the vase down and ran out. The door keys were on the door, so I pulled them out, locked the door from outside, and without even removing the keys from the door, I ran for my life.
My car keys!! My car keys!! Oh no, that man Carter took them. What should I do? Going back for my keys was not an option, I just had to run for my life. I came to a corner down the street, and I followed it. There was an area full of beautiful flowers and shrubs...it looked like someone's yard...no, it was a preschool. I could see a sign post right at the front, and next to the post, a security guard was seated on a chair, dozing off. I tiptoed towards the shrubs which were used to decorate outside the yard of the preschool. There was one very big bush, well-trimmed and beautiful, and also big enough to hide my body. I crouched behind it, keeping my eyes on the security guard. He was not too far, but I believed if I whispered low enough, I was going to be able to make short a call to Dylan. I quickly unlocked my phone. Battery power was at twenty-seven percent, and that was good enough for me.
"Oh Lord…why am I always a victim?" I cried softly to myself.
The call was answered immediately, "Dylan! Help me! Lisa; Lisa wanted me to make some weird confession. Apparently someone paid her to help break us up. I escaped. I'm hiding! Come please!"
"What! Where are you? Are you able to send your location?" he said.
"I'm sending it right away," I sent the location and remained curled up behind the shrub.
Where was Carter? What if he followed me? I looked at the security guard. It seemed like he was not dosing anymore, but had finally fallen asleep. His head hung low, with the button stick fallen in between his wide spread legs. Good for me; the more he slept, the better for me. I could not afford to have him seeing me. I dreaded to imagine what would happen to me if that man saw me and started asking questions. His first instinct would probably tell him that I was a thief, and then I would have to narrate a long painful story of how my brother's wife tried to drug me?
Cars continued to go up and down the busy road, and I saw their lights flashing in all directions as I hid. I had told myself that even if a car stopped near me, I was not going to get out of my hiding place. For how was I going to know the person who was looking for me? It could be Carter. It could be Lisa. Or; who knew if they had other men helping them to achieve their evil deeds? I was only going to come out if I was one hundred percent sure that it was Dylan. I crouched even further, burying myself behind the bush. The smell of the flower pierced right through my nostrils, and although there was an urgent need for me to sneeze, I just had to hold it in. As difficult as it was, I managed. I could not afford to sneeze. I could not afford to cough or make any sound. All I could afford to do was wait for my man to come and rescue me.