Chapter Six

Brenda was grateful in her mind that she was no longer going to be tortured every day anymore as Damien had said – not that she was in haste to believe him and anything else he says, but she was wondering why he would say something like that to her. He doesn’t like women? What sort of a man is he anyway? She was bothered that he just refused to let her leave even though he believed her, so she began to imagine just how much danger she was in falling into the hands of these dangerous people. Well aware of how dangerous mafias are, and now finding herself held captive by one of them, a new wave of fear hit her.

Still seating on the dining table, Brenda tried to shake off the fear that gripped her, she looked down at her plate once more which had now been served. She had not touched the food even though she was starving, her gut told her she could not trust Damien. He just sat across her silently enjoying his meal while occasionally send gazes at her. Her stare shifted from the plate to the cutleries arranged by her side. She thought of sneaking the knife under her dress but was too scared to go for it.

Brenda’s mind then drifted to the thought of how she could get out of the house to go get her money so she could run away with Ralia and leave all this mess behind, which had been made possible by her father’s actions. The house was a fortress, It was practically impossible for her to escape out of it, guards lurked around everywhere with their eyes never leaving Brenda, not until she was inside her new room. Still, she was determined to find a way to escape even though she doubted she would even succeed, if she tried and got caught she might never return to her family again. She knew she had to be careful so she decided to be patient.

The thought of leaving her sister behind suddenly hit her and it troubled her, she wondered how safe Ralia would be with their irresponsible father. Brenda knew Carla would take care of her while she was away but with the sort of people her father engaged himself with, she was scared for Ralia’s safety. Worse, they knew where their house was, which meant they could come back anytime. She wondered what action he might have taken after realizing that she was gone, he probably would not suspect she was in danger but would think that she had ran off after their fight a few days ago, which was true. He would try to reach her she knew, not because he cared about her but because he wanted to save his ass by giving her away to a mafia lord as payment for his debt.

At the thought of her father, Brenda felt a pang of anger towards him once more. How could he be so careless about their lives by gambling away everything they had and expects her to marry a man twice her age for that? There was no way she was going to let that happen, ‘no absolute way!’ she thought.

“What?” Damien voiced from the other end of the table, his voice filling her head and jerking her from her thoughts.

“What?” she replied raising her eyes to meet his.

“You said something just now, I didn’t catch what it was.”

Brenda suddenly realized that she had been thinking deeply that she had actually thought out loud and not notice, now Damien thinks she mentioned something to him.

“Oh, its nothing.” She finally said, hoping he would not ask about it again.

Damien looked at her plate and observed for the first time that she had not yet touched her food. With a frown on his face, “what are you thinking about? Have some food, we both know you need it,” he said.

Brenda looked at Damien, still not sure she could trust him, “I’m not hungry.” She then said to him.

“That’s impossible but knock yourself out.”

“Can I go back to the room now please?” Brenda then asked him.

“Yes you may go if you wish that.”

She stood up and started to walk away with her hands around her arm hugging herself, she had still not recovered from the tortures, her body hurt and she was also scared to death. She walked pass Damien imagining he would try to hurt her like all his men did but he just ignored her and went on with his meal. She walked back to the room and then discovered that her belongings from the night she ran had been returned to her.

She rushed to search for her phone among the items placed on the bed for her and when she found it, she realized that she had several missed calls on it. Of course everyone had been calling her phone for days, especially Carla. Her dad had also called a few times, some friends had tried to reach her and other concerned persons who the news of her running off had eventually gotten to. She scrolled the screen of the device confused on who to call first but not contemplating long, she tapped the dialer on Carla’s number and the call immediately went through.

“Hello Brenda Is that you? Oh my God are you okay?” Carla called out from the other end of the phone after a few seconds of silence.

“Carla, hey.” Brenda softly spoke into the receiver forcing her breath.

“Oh my God where have you been? Ralia, your father and I have been worried about you for days?

“I know, I know, I’m fine now…”

“Are you sure you’re really okay Brenda? You sound tired, what’s the matter?” Carla said cutting her off.

Brenda thought of telling Carla all she had gone through the past days but she held herself back from narrating how she ended up in the house of a mafia lord, the same kind of people that had made her think of running in the first place. She had no idea where she was, she had woken up on a couch after falling asleep in the trunk that night and so could not even guess where she was. She thought of calling the police but remembered Damien had told her not to bother calling the police or anyone else for help, he said the police worked for him so it would be useless to do so and no one would find them if he didn’t wished it.

“I’m fine Carla, you’re right I’m just tired. Sorry I didn’t give you a call back, how is Ralia doing?” she asked changing the topic.

“Well, she is doing alright, I’m watching over her but she’s sick worried about you Brenda. I know you are probably trying to run away like you planned to do but she can’t keep up with your father you know, you have to come back to her or at least tell me where you are. I could bring Ralia to you, she really misses you.”

“No don’t bother about it Carla, I’m fine I just…I just went away for some time, I’ll be back to get her soon.”

“Okay then, but are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine I promise.” Brenda lied.

After she went off the phone with Carla, she immediately decided to find a way to escape from this massive house. She had to act fast so she could get back to Ralia before something terrible happened to her under her father’s watch. Thinking of a plan, she dropped the phone and peeped out the window to scan outside the house. It was impossible for her to see outside the entire compound from her window so she came out of the room.

Brenda wanted to get a good view of the house to see if there was any way of making an escape. The house swam of guards and everywhere she went, they followed her with their eyes, they were obviously watching her which suggested to her that they didn’t want her escaping. When she was outside, she walked around the compound exploring the house, even though impressed by the mansion’s beauty, she stared around with every intention of getting out of it. When she came past a guard who looked at her with devouring eyes, she bent her head down a little away from his gaze so not to raise any suspicion but the man walked towards her.

“Stop!” the guard called out and Brenda froze. “What are you doing outside the house by yourself?” he questioned her when he came to meet her.

“Nothing I…I was just uh…”

“You should not be outside by yourself!” he screamed.

“Sorry I got hungry and wanted to find the kitchen.” She said quivering with fear.

The guard stared at her for a moment and then gestured with his head for her to go back inside. Brenda obeyed him and walked as fast as her legs could carry her that minute. As she returned to her room, she thought of how impossible it would be for her to make an escape, the house was fortified with cameras, alarms and guards stationed everywhere. There was no way she could make it out of here, she would be caught and that could be even worse.