CHAPTER SIX

The secret destination that Mercedes had just arrived at was a house on the outskirts of the city of Los Angeles, and what she had stashed away in this house was her little sister, Daniella, whose birthday was today.

Daniella and Mercedes had been born to the same parents, with Mercedes being the older one, due to being born 14 years earlier. They had both had to witness the abject poverty in their family which had led to their father taking a loan from Aleksandr Matiç, the same loan which their father had been unable to repay, and which had subsequently forced them into to a life of servitude, dependence and oppression by the ruthless Serbian. 

Mercedes, however, had hidden Daniella from Aleksandr's knowledge and radar, going to extreme lengths such as, locking her away from the world in a room which she was prohibited from leaving, not letting her even go to school, to prevent her being kidnapped, paying the room's rent through snaky means because Aleksandr kept eyes on her finances and coming to see her only twice every month because she was very terrified of what the brute would do to her if he found her; perhaps turn her into a stripper as well, traffick her for money or use her in some way that would ruin the little girl's innocence and set her on a dark path from which she would never be able to return; and Mercedes had told herself a long time ago that, come what may, fire or sword, she was not going to lose her sister to Aleksandr, after losing everything that mattered to him: her parents, her independence, her joy and her… 

No, the other thing she'd lost to Aleksandr was something she didn't even want to think about now, because it would only open a well of pain that she'd kept locked for years.

"Hey, Dannie, happy birthday," She said as she rushed to the bed, sat on it and hugged her little sister tightly. There was a chill in the air, but the hug was so warm that neither of them noticed it, at least for the moment. It was a massive shame that Daniella's birthdays always had to be celebrated in secret, with hushed tones, silence and the constant action of looking over their shoulders, but, this was the price that they both had to pay to keep Daniella away from the ever perambulating monitors of Aleksandr Matiç, who had men scattered all across the city. 

".. I thought you wouldn't come," Daniella said, with tears welling up in her eyes as she held her sister tightly.

"Hey, hey.. Don't say that.. It's your birthday! I wasn't going to miss it for the world! I'm always going to come for you.. Always, Dannie.."

Mercedes eventually released her from the hug and pulled out a small box she'd hidden in her cloak all along. "Here.. I got you something.."

Excitement replaced the pain in Daniella's eyes, for the moment, as she was thrilled by the prospect of receiving a gift from her sister. "What is it?"

"Well, it's your present.. Why don't you find out?" Mercedes said with as much cheer and joy in her voice as she could muster. She would have loved nothing more than to take Daniella wherever she wanted; DisneyLand, the theater, a basketball game, hell, she wouldn't even mind if Dannie had wanted to go to Haiti, but the situation at hand had not only tied her hands, but had given her no other choice but such a boring, dull concession of an occasion.

Daniella opened the box and saw, lying elegantly in it, a beautifully crafted necklace with a pendant in the shape of a 'D', to represent the first letter of her name, 'Daniella'.

Daniella smiled for a moment and even began to chuckle lightly, but then, her underlying emotions which she had tried hard to suppress soon overrode her slight happiness and she suddenly burst into tears. Mercedes was taken aback, because she didn't know what to make of it. 

"What.. What's wrong, Dannie? You don't like it? I swear, I'll take it back to the jeweler and get another one, Dannie.."

Daniella cried all the more before blurting out, ".. It's not about the necklace! I just want a normal life, Mercedes!! I'm sick of lame birthdays! I'm sick of not going to school! I'm sick of hiding away like unwanted property! I'm sick of seeing you only twice every month! I'm sick of not being able to leave this house!! I want a life!!"

Every one of Daniella's words stabbed Mercedes like a blade. Daniella had begun to feel the frustration, and her innocence was being ripped apart slowly. She wished she could give the girl freedom, joy and an actual childhood and everything she'd demanded, which were her rights, but how was she to explain to her that she couldn't? As she began to speak, she could feel a quake in her soul.

"Dannie.. Trust me.. I know.. And, I wish, to God, that I could let you have all these things.. You think I want you to celebrate your birthday in a house with the blinds dropped, with no birthday cake or flowers or food? You think I like the hide and seek I play with people trailing me every time that I have to come here? No, Dannie.."

She felt a lump rising in her throat, but she kept on speaking, though she had to dig deep to find the will to say the words she'd need to. Daniella kept looking at her with pleading eyes.

"I would love nothing more than to give you the free, normal life I know you deserve.. But, Dannie.. You know I can't.. If that man were to find you.." Her voice trailed off, and she could feel hot, prickly tears tugging at her eyes.

".. But, can't we go plead with him? Ask nicely?" 

Daniella knew the answers to these questions, because she'd asked them countless times before, and she knew what Mercedes always had as a response, but she was just willing it to be different this time.

"Dannie.. It's not that simple.."

Upon hearing this, Daniella broke down into tears once more, and Mercedes grabbed her, holding her tightly, as she burst into tears herself.

She sincerely wished she could snap her fingers and right all that was wrong in her and Daniella's lives, but, when you owed a debt of millions of dollars to an unforgiving, unforgetting Mafia boss like Aleksandr Matiç, things were never that simple.

As she comforted Daniella, Mercedes was startled by the sound of rapid knocks on the door. She stopped and listened, thinking that, perhaps, it could just be her mind playing games with her.

But, as she listened, she heard the knocks again.

Instantly, all the hairs on her neck stood upright, her brain's processing speed tripled and her heartbeat increased significantly.

Could it be that someone had discovered this safehouse?