Chapter 03

“Our boss ordered us to come and fetch you, miss,” the tallest of them said, with a serious and emotionless voice.

“Well, you did what he asked. You guys came all this way, haven’t you?” Lina replied. “But if he wants me to get in that car so much, he'd better come talk to me himself!”

The men didn't insist. Lina passed them and continued walking. Luckily, the bus was arriving, and she ran to it, getting in eagerly.

“My goodness, girl, calm down!” said the driver.

“Sorry, ma’am!” she apologized and looked behind the vehicle. The black car was no longer there. She let out the breath she was holding and collapsed onto one of the seats.

          During the entire journey, she kept looking out the window, but she didn't see any cars like that one along the way. Lina got off at the bus stop and looked around. Nothing. She bolted to her building and quickly ran up the stairs.

          Lina realized that she would have to stay hungry until her friend returned. They were out of food and Lina should have stopped by the small market they had on the corner of her street to buy supplies, however, how on earth would she leave the house if she was still afraid of running into those brutes?

          Sure, they didn't force her, but she knew that if their boss, whoever he was, determined that they should stick her in the car and kidnap her, they would have done it.

          ‘This shit looks like the mafia or something’, she thought to herself, while under the blankets. But then, she laughed to herself. The mafia would have no reason to mess with her, a poor literature student.

Lina took out her cell phone and looked at the time. It was past ten and Maddie hadn't returned yet. She sighed, sadly. Then a thought crossed her mind: what if they had caught Maddie?

          The rule was simple: only call if it was very urgent. Maddie hated being interrupted when she was working. Lina knew that this was definitely more than an emergency situation.

          Maddie didn't pick up the first time she called, and Lina's eyes filled with tears. She tried again, and after three rings, Maddie 's voice echoed on the other side of the line.

          “Lina… What happened?” She asked. Maddie seemed to be in a crowded place, and they weren't talking about theater, as Lina clearly heard someone nearby ordering fries.

          “Are you eating?” Lina asked.

          “Yes. People came to celebrate Carl's birthday. I'll bring you a portion of fries and sandwiches.”

          “I thought something had happened to you!” Lina said, exasperated. “I asked you not to be late, Maddie!”

          “Wow, okay! Calm down!” Maddie said. “I 'll be out of here in half an hour. By the way, shouldn't you be working?”

          “No... I asked for my day off today. I made an extra two weeks ago, remember?”

          “Ah, true,” Lina was grateful for having preferred to receive a break rather than the money. She was very tired, and, in the end, the break was providential. She couldn't leave the house with strangers chasing her. The next day she had to go to work, and she could only pray that the men wouldn't show up.

          “Okay. I'll leave here in a few minutes.”

          “Cool.”

          The two hung up the phone and Lina uncovered herself. She was going to drink water. Her throat was super dry.

          She opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. While drinking, the doorbell rang. Lina frowned. It couldn't be Maddie already. She put her hand on the doorknob, but then, she stopped.

‘No... It can't be’, she thought. Before opening the door, she decided to look through the peephole. There was no one there.

          Lina bit her lip, debating whether or not she should open the door and check.

          "Curiosity killed the cat". Excellent saying, in her opinion. Lina walked away from the door and went back to the room, to her ‘hut’, under the covers.

          “Hey...”

          “Huh ?” Lina asked, groggily. She had dozed off. As soon as her eyes focused, Maddie 's face appeared in front of her.

          “Wake up, sleepyhead. Your snack’s here.” The smell of the sandwich filled Lina's nostrils, and she sober up quickly and grabbed the bags with the food.

          “It looks like you have been starving,” Maddie commented as she took off her coat.

          “Ah... About that...” Lina said with a mouth full of potatoes. She swallowed them. “So... A very weird shit happened and then I ended up not going to the market.”

          Maddie stopped folding her coat and looked at Lina.

          “Do we have anything at home?”

          “There’s water…” Lina raised her shoulders.

          Maddie shook her head.

          “And what was so ‘weird’, that made you come home without supplies?”

          “Sit down and I'll tell you,” Lina swallowed another piece of one of the sandwiches. “I said goodbye to you at college and headed towards the bus stop. Girl, a black car blocked my path, and two huge crazy people came out of it! They told me to get in because their ‘boss’ ordered so.”

          “What? That’s ridiculous!” Maddie said and burst out laughing. Lina pursed her lips

          “That's not funny!” Lina said, offended. “I could have been kidnapped...”

          “It could have been a prank, Lina!” Maddie said, sitting on the bed. “I don't doubt at all that came from that crazy woman who is with Noah. She seems kind of... I don't know. Someone who has a few problems in the head.”

          Lina pondered about it. That was a possibility, indeed. Olivia Campbell had enough money for a ‘prank’ like that.

          “Forget about it. Don't get stressed over small things,” Maddie said, making a dismissive gesture with her hand, along with a muffled laugh.

          “You 're right. It must be just that girl's stupid prank. Or some assholes’.”

          “Now, young lady, you will wake up early and buy bread. Because I'm sooo tired and there’s no way I’m going to the grocery store tomorrow,” Maddie complained and went to the bathroom to take a hot shower.

          Lina let out a sigh. She didn't want to have to wake up early the next day. It was a Saturday! But... It wasn't fair for Maddie to have nothing to eat.

          When her friend got out of the shower, Lina was already asleep. Maddie went to where her friend was sleeping and covered her with the blanket, before going to the other room and getting under the covers of her own bed and sleeping soundly.

          The clock registered just over four in the morning when Lina woke up after hearing a noise. She looked around, still dazed, and paid attention. Silence. She lay back down and, again, there was a noise. And it seemed to be from the front door. Lina became alert immediately.

          ‘Oh , damn... What do I do?’, she thought. Had Maddie heard it too? She decided to wait a little and there were no more sounds. She couldn't go back to sleep, but she also didn't have the courage to go into the living room to see if she and Maddie had been robbed, after all.

          Finally the alarm went off when the clock showed six in the morning. Lina took a deep breath, threw the covers aside and changed her pajamas for a simple cotton dress with spaghetti straps. She did her personal hygiene and left the room. It was the moment of truth. She opened the bedroom door and walked down the short hallway of the apartment.

          At first glance, there was absolutely nothing different, however, as soon as she walked around the sofa, there was a small box there.

          Lina frowned and picked it up. There was no note. Before she could open the box, Maddie appeared, yawning. For some reason, Lina put the box in her dress pocket.

          “Ah, you woke up. I forgot to take off my alarm clock,” Maddie said.

          “Oh, I'm going to go buy bread and come back in a bit,” Lina said, trying to hide her nervousness and anxiety.

          “Okay. And if they have those breads with cheese on top... Bring them to me, please?” Maddie asked, batting her eyelashes.

          “Sure! If I see it, I'll bring to you,” Lina replied and left the apartment.

          She stopped at the emergency stairs and took the box out of her pocket. Lina bit her lips, before opening it. Then, she realized something: someone had, in fact, entered the apartment!

          She slapped herself on the forehead. She couldn't just hide this from Maddie. Did it have something to do with Olivia or Noah? Or would it be something darker? She looked at the little black box in her hand and didn't know if she should open it right away or wait to open it with Maddie.

          She returned the box to her pocket and went to the bakery. Before entering the apartment, she would have the answer as to what she should do.

          The bakery was full of elderly people. Lina had nothing against elderly people, but she hated going to places full of them, when she had to face a single line. They usually took a long time to pay, and she ended up standing still for much longer. She hated it, but what could she do? They were within their rights to be slower after a lifetime of work.

          She returned home and decided that she would talk to Maddie, first. It was unfair to hide something so important from her friend.

          “Finally!” Maddie said, throwing her hands in the air. “The coffee has already gotten cold... Where have you been?”

          “In line,” Lina replied, unhappy. She walked to their table and placed the loaf of bread there, then sat down on the chair.

          “Oh, that's true. The elderly, right?”

          Lina just nodded.

          Maddie placed the mug of latte in front of Lina and reached into the bag of bread, celebrating when she saw it was what she wanted.

          “We have to talk.”

          Lina said it simply. Maddie, who was biting her bread, made a bad face.

          “Can you wait until I finish eating or is it something very serious?”

          “It is serious,” Lina said, turning her mouth to the side.

          Maddie placed her bread back on her plate and leaned back in her chair, pouting.

          “Spill it out, then.”

          “Someone broke into our apartment.”

          Maddie looked at Lina, looking like she didn't understand.

          “Ah...”

          “I heard a noise early in the morning. I heard a door noise, but I didn't have the courage to leave the room. I waited and nothing happened. When I passed through the living room, in order to see if anything was wrong if we had been robbed, I don’t know, I saw this little box on the sofa,” Lina took the box out of her pocket and placed it on the table.

          Maddie reached out to touch the object and looked at Lina.

          “Are you telling me that someone came into the house to put this box on our couch?”

          “Exactly.”

          “And you heard the noise and didn't go and see what it was, or even try to text me or call me? The person could be a murderer, a rapist. He would have killed me while I slept, then went after you and kill you, and yet, you chose to remain silent?” Maddie asked, with a frown.

          “Sorry, I panicked! I couldn't react! I was... Paralyzed with fear,” Lina admitted.

          Maddie shook her head up and down as if she understood it.

          “And what's in there?”

          “No clue,” Lina shrugged. “I thought it would be better to open it with you.”

          “Thank you very much for your consideration,” Maddie said sarcastically and held the box. “On three, okay?”