Liezel sat in the booth by the large window where she could see people passing by from inside. She stared at the steam slowly wafting into the air from the white cup that sat before a middle-aged woman on the polished wooden table. Her attention was suddenly interrupted when a group of women opened the door and leisurely strolled inside, engrossed in whatever conversation they were having before coming in. For a moment, she felt calm as she continued to watch the group laughing and talking.
When Liezel came to work that Friday morning, she only had one thing in her mind—to quit. She had enough. She was no quitter, but the thing with Sinclair was a lost cause. Storming toward her boss’ private office, she gathered every strength and confidence
The mind governed by the flesh is death…Lust—“What does a consci
“…but how can you be so sure that he won’t press charges after what you did?”“I’ll go and speak to him tomorrow.” Wearing nothing but his grey sweatpants, Will closed the door behind him.It was already almost midnight when they decided to climb to Una’s bed after finishing a tub of ice cream and a Chaplin movie. It had been a long and exhausting day for both of them, but most especially for Will
Will woke up on a couch in a corner with a mild headache, his hands shackled together while his feet were chained to the floor by his left ankle. He blinked and realized where he was―a concrete room that smelled of bleach, which was too familiar for him.
Liezel half-opened her eyes with a heavy pounding and a few stinging sensations up and down her body from being stretched out for several hours. When she gained full consciousness, she felt her heart leap out of her chest when her eyes landed on the fire burning hungrily inside the cremation chamber. Her breath shook with fear.
Una opened her eyes and shot up into a sitting position on the bed. She blinked, taking in the unknown surroundings, eyes glazed in momentary disorientation. The intense pounding of her heart echoed through the stillness of the room as her mind began to fight the terrifying realization of her situation.Sweat trickled d
Una never thought she’d end up being held captiveagainand by someone she trusted and learned to actually care for this time. She stared at the ceiling, wondering how long Will had intended to keep her. She sighed and shut her eyes close.It had been more than a week since she learned about Wil
The following day, Una woke up midday with an initial relief that was quickly weighed down by panic and desperation. She was curled up on the side of the bed. The pillow was wet and her eyes were swollen and dry.As days went on, her bruises and the rest of her injuries had considerably gotten better. But the mental str
THREE MONTHS LATER
Una gasped, unable to make a move as her eyes watched in terror at the spray of blood gushing from Billi’s neck like a fountain.The gurgling sound filled the air for a moment before Billy finally collapsed on the floor, choking on his own blood which was already flooding the carpeted floor.
The night had gone chilly as Will’s old black Audi roared down the highway. In the passenger seat next to his was Una, curled up in her own little corner.As Will continued to drive silently, Una thought back in time and how her life had changed again. It had been more than a month since she left her old life. Wha
Will groaned as he stretched his legs in the driver’s seat at a red light. They had been on the road for some time, and he could feel his entire body throbbing from being in the same position for several hours.Una saw a sign on the side of the road and realized that they were already in Baltimore. Will had told h
Una was on her chair, tying the laces of the sneakers she requested from Will when the door suddenly opened.“You mentioned a lake near where we are,” she said to him before Will could even have the chance to ask her why she was wearing shoes.
Today, Una decided to take control. It had been three days since she had revealed her secrets to Will and for days, Will had kept on trying to win her trust over by telling her over and over again that he could still be someone better than who he was in the past.Slowly, Una had allowed herself to talk gently with him,
Jeffrey Sullivan was a crack dealer who was also a screwed-up addict. The guy was pretty much still gorked when Will shared with him his own kind of addiction. He thought Will was referring to the kind of drugs he had allowed to slowly ruin his relationship with his family and his life. Even when Will was leisurely pulling out his teeth, he still couldn’t figure out that Will’s addiction was way different than his.
Una had been awake and listening to her stomach growl for hours. With her enclosed windows, she had already lost a sense of time. The chirping birds she heard weren’t helping either. They could be chirping for something else and not the time.But do birds tell you the time by chirping?A light knock
Will had woken up earlier than usual. It was one of those cold mornings which he had slowly grown accustomed to, but beads of sweat covered his forehead. He sat up on the couch where he’d been sleeping for the past month. He sat there for a minute to allow himself to shake away the horrors of dreaming his own death.