Chapter 6: A Dead End

The two girls had just arrived at Maya's apartment, and before they could even sigh in relief, Lani's phone rang. The shrill ringtone echoed through the small space, startling both of them. Lani hesitated for a moment before picking up the phone. An unfamiliar number appeared on the screen, giving her a bad feeling.

"Lani Miller, do you recognize my voice?" A deep, grating voice came through the other end, dripping with sarcasm and menace.

"Who are you? How did you get my number?" Lani gripped the phone tightly, trying to stay calm.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What you need to care about is your little brother, John Miller, who is now in our hands." The voice cut through her like a knife.

"What?!" Lani screamed, her hands trembling.

Maya looked at Lani with concern and quickly moved closer, trying to hear what the man on the other end was saying. Lani held the phone close to her ear, the man's voice still mocking and triumphant.

"We know you’ve been hiding the kid at the boarding school. But unfortunately, your information wasn’t thorough enough. If you want him to stay alive, get ready to hand over $100,000. Don’t try anything stupid."

"Wh-what... what do you want from me? I don't have any money!" Lani choked, tears streaming down her face.

"No money? Then figure something out. You have 48 hours. If not, don't blame us." The man said before abruptly hanging up.

Lani let the phone slip from her hand, her whole body freezing. Her mind spun, and images of her younger brother flashed before her eyes. John was all she had, and now he was in the hands of criminals. What was she supposed to do?

"Lani, what's going on? What did they say?" Maya asked, her voice urgent.

Lani didn't respond right away. She took a deep breath, but the tears kept falling. After a moment, she choked out, "John... my little brother... he’s been kidnapped. They want me to pay $100,000 to get him back."

Maya was stunned. "John's been kidnapped? How did they find him? You said you were hiding him so well."

"I don't know either. John’s always at the boarding school, I’ve never mentioned him to anyone. How could they possibly know?" Lani buried her face in her hands, the feelings of helplessness and fear tightening around her chest.

Maya sat down beside Lani, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Lani, calm down. We’ll figure something out. Do you still have their number? I’ll call the police."

"No! Maya, they said if I go to the police, they’ll kill John!" Lani screamed, her red eyes locked on her friend.

Maya fell silent. The situation was incredibly dangerous. She wanted to help, but she knew that one wrong move could cost John his life.

Lani collapsed onto the floor, her mind blank. $100,000? That amount of money felt like an unreachable, impossible sum. She thought of everything she could do – sell her assets, borrow money, or maybe... she thought of the man from the other day, Dante.

No! Lani shook her head. She couldn’t do that. But the image of her brother in the hands of those criminals kept flashing in her mind, driving her to the brink of madness. Lani bit her lip, tasting the salty blood.

"Lani, is there anyone you can call? Anyone who could help?" Maya asked, but they both knew the answer.

Lani had no one. She had no one to rely on, except for that terrifying man.

Lani looked at Maya, her eyes filled with despair.

"Maya... what am I supposed to do?" she choked out.

Maya tightened her grip on her friend's hand, saying nothing. Deep down, she knew that Lani would have to make a difficult decision. And that decision would change her life forever.

Lani clutched the phone tightly in her hand, each ring echoing in her mind like a knife digging deeper into her thoughts. On the other end, the cold voice of the kidnapper resounded, clear and undeniable.

"Lani, can you hear me?" His voice was deep and commanding. "The ransom is now $200,000, double what it was before."

Lani tried to take a deep breath, but the panic rising in her chest was unbearable. She had thought she could manage when they only asked for $100,000. She had believed that with the help of a few friends, she could scrape together that amount. But now, everything had crumbled before her eyes.

"What?" Lani choked, her hands trembling. "200,000 dollars? Why has it suddenly doubled like that? Just yesterday, it was only 100,000!"

The kidnapper scoffed, his voice as sharp as a razor. "You think we're playing with you? That's the price if you want your brother to stay alive. We don't have time to play games. If you don't come up with the money, he won't have another chance."

Lani collapsed into the chair, her heart feeling as though it was being squeezed. She didn’t have a single cent to her name. The thought of losing John—her only brother—was something she couldn’t even begin to fathom. The boy she had promised to protect for life was now in the hands of cruel men, being tortured mercilessly. She couldn’t even see his face in the videos they sent. The scene was too grotesque, too painful.

The voice came again, like a knife stabbing into her heart. "You have 12 hours to deliver the full ransom. If not, no one will be able to save your brother."

The sharp sound of the phone hanging up left her dazed. Lani sat there, her vision blurry with tears, staring at the now-blank screen, feeling a deep sense of hopelessness flooding every fiber of her being.

What did she have left? $500 in her bank account—this pitiful amount wasn’t even enough to buy a shred of hope. She called every close friend she had, the ones she thought would always be there for her, but all she received in return was silence. No one could help. Every call brought a painful response. Everyone was too busy with their own lives to reach out and pull her from this abyss.

She called her boss to ask for an advance on her salary, but there was nothing but a refusal. "Lani, we can't do anything. The company doesn't have a policy for this."

She called Maya, her last remaining friend, but even Maya could only offer words of comfort. She didn’t have any money either, and there was nothing she could do in this situation. Maya wanted to help, but all she could offer was to ask if Lani wanted to stay a few more days.

Lani slumped over the desk, tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t let her brother die. She just couldn’t. Although everything seemed hopeless, in that moment of despair, a thought suddenly flashed into her mind.