I was running so fast that I could hear my heavy heart pounding rapidly, as my knees began to weaken. I was shot on my left arm, and the blood continuously ran down to the back of my hand. The piercing sound of gunfire echoed loudly in this place, as darkness covered the surroundings, making it easy to lose your way out.
When I heard some heavy footsteps, running towards my direction, I suddenly stopped and hid behind the bar. My breath became heavier, as I thought about what I had gotten myself into. It wasn't supposed to end like this. It got beyond what was planned, I whined to myself.
Suddenly, a silhouette of a masculine man started approaching, so I covered my mouth to hush my unstable breathing. I couldn't move, and I froze to where I was hiding. Then I started roaming my eyes in front to search for a weapon but unfortunately, I saw nothing but shards of alcohol bottles.
I should've known this would happen. Because before this could even get worse, I was at ease negotiating with these bastards, but I never thought this wouldn't end well. So they tried to kill me, as I ran from them and hid like a total idiot.
I sensed a sudden movement beside me and felt a warm grip wrapped around my right arm. My breath hitched and my body began to tremble. For a second there, I thought I was screwed, so I just looked at the person beside me. Meeting the person's concerned eyes, I noticed some beads of sweat forming on his forehead as it glistened in the darkness. He pursed his lips before muttering to keep quiet and held my hand, as he got me out of the bar. I wasn't sure I had seen this person before, nor did I know he was working with William.
It was still dark; the kind of dark that only the moon outside was the source of light, as it peeked through the broken cement and ceiling. My wound continued to bleed and the pain blocked my mind from doing anything. I was wincing in torment, the blood ran down from the wound down to my forearm. I tried to get my free hand to grasp the agonizing wound, hoping it would lessen the bleeding but it didn't help. All I gotta do was run to get out of here. I couldn't even fathom why this person even tried to save me.
We suddenly stopped in a parking lot, filled with a bunch of cars. There was finally a light, and a breath of relief rushed out of my mouth. The pain got worse, while the bullet dug deeper into my skin, making me grimace in pain. The guy noticed my misery, as he scanned my wound and ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt.
"Sorry for their bad behavior that put you in this suffering," he spoke, tying the cloth around my wounded arm.
I finally had a glimpse of him. I had never seen him before but he must've been involved in this. He looked like he was about my age.
"What is this for?" I asked in confusion.
When he was done tying the cloth, he then looked at me and said, "Girls always have to be protected. But it doesn't matter if I saved you because I'll be leaving without an introduction anyways. I need to be enclose, so be safe and hope we'll see each other again."
~*~
Two years later
It was as if I was counting almost forever during these months I'd felt so alone. I was forced to be someone I shouldn't, and I finally convinced myself to stop. Fifteen was too young to start this, and I wouldn't miss the privilege of being free. I spent almost two years of my life working for my freedom, so I guess I earned it after all.
A new morning came and it had to be over. I was heading to William's office to end my not-so-expired contract. To be specific, I was ordered to kill a bunch of people-- a horrible way to start my life as an independent teenager. Since my mom got disappointed in certain things I did, she thought disowning me was a solution. I was so lost I couldn't deal with my expenses. So my uncle, William, gave me a job so I could earn money that I could actually call mine.
Thing was, I had so many things to prove in this cruel world before it started plotting my life to death. To stop my wrong and illegal doings, I finally decided to use my savings in my bank account to start over: get a scholarship, pay rent, and try to live normal.
I was in front of William's office with my feet glued to the ground, as my fingers fidget uncontrollably. Hesitating to knock, I repeated my resignation speech in my head over again. Before my knuckles could even touch the door, someone opened it for me, revealing William who sat on his office chair with a stoic face.
I gathered all my confidence to take a foot inside and approached him in front of his desk. My heart thumped faster than before, and my hands became sweaty. I wasn't sure what word to utter, but I was certain he read my anxious face. I gulped for a split second before speaking.
"I'm done," was the dumbest thing I'd came up with to start a resignation. He raised his eyebrows in confusion and scoffed softly under his breath. I rolled my eyes in annoyance, noticing the slight sarcasm in his tone.
"I don't have any idea on what you're trying to say," he responded, amused.
"I was in a major reflection lately, on the things I shouldn't have involved myself into. I'm sure I've done my job sufficiently and I think you owe me my freedom," I said, trying to look confident.
He gave me a skeptical look, while he rubbed his thumb on his chin. I could tell by his expression that he wasn't happy about it. So he abruptly stood from his office chair and moved across the desk.
"As much as I want to regret involving you in this business, when you leave this behind, everything will just get worse," he spoke as he approached me. It was an unexpected response. "In fact, I don't owe you anything. You owe me your life," he added, giving me that intense eyes that hinted disappointment.
I was astonished by his confidence of telling me this which caused me to scoff and roll my eyes in annoyance.
"Have you forgotten anything? You were the one who made me sign up in this crap, took advantage of my rebellion against my family, and made me turn into a monster. My life wasn't in danger, not until you came and destroyed everything," I whined, frowning at him problematically. He was taken aback and did his remarkable scoff. It wasn't as if he was amused by the things I said, but the fact that he was going to throw all my indebtedness against me.
He leaned on his desk, legs crossed atop of each other while rubbing his left thumb on his chin.
"You shouldn't know anything, as your father ordered me. So if it's freedom you want, then I should bring you back to your home where you could lay safe," he responded.
I hated the fact that he knew how to push my buttons; he hit me with my own fragility. Then I would suddenly snap and realized that if I go back, they would point out all my shortcomings, making me perceive how worthless I was. They weaken me to the point where I had to self-loathe every time my brother met their expectations. And I hated how wretched I was back then.
"You don't need to do that. I can take care of myself and have a normal life. That's what my father wants me to do after all," I explained, my heart thumped fast from anger.
The expression he gave me was infuriating. It seemed like he would aim his gun to my stubborn head every time I tried to explain. He was predictable, that was the reason why I got so irritated.
"In contrary Lala, your father wants you to be with your family and he cleared to me that he didn't want you in this business," he explained, clasping his hands together.
"Then why did you make me sign up in this?" I questioned and furrowed my eyebrows confusedly.
"Lala, you don't have any idea why your mother kicked you out of your home," he said with a smirk, emphasizing the word your. "She's afraid to face the truth what power you have against them."
Then he handed me a newspaper. The headline of the article was shocking. I crumpled it like it was a piece of junk before tossing it to William. He laughed at my sudden reaction, seemingly amused by my anger.
"I think that just meant we're back in business." He chuckled victoriously, smirk crept across his smug face.
I parked my newly bought car in front of our house. I got out of it and confidently moved my way to the massive gate, greeted by the two guards in their uniform. I was wearing sunglasses which made them hardly recognize me, so they examined my presence, studying me from head to toe. "Do you have any appointment with Sir Jones?" the bald guard asked, standing right in front of me with the humungous gate laying in between us. I slowly removed my sunglasses and raised my eyebrows to them. "As a matter of fact I live here, and my appointment is clearly to continue living here." The look on their faces was amusing. They weren't happy; rather they were shocked and anxious. They felt rushed and quickly pressed the button for the gate of Jones' Mansion to open. I went back to my car and started the engine. Driving along the cemented driveway, I admired every bit of the exterior while my eyes lingered around. The lush orchids and landscapes were welco
Acceptance in a family was inevitable, no matter how wrong your choices in life were. That's just how it worked.But not for us.In our family, we didn't need anyone getting in our way to success because we had it all. But not for long. Once my father's hard work was put in the hands of the traitor, everything would fall apart. The new CEO would be Mom's biggest advantage now that my father was gone. But still, she wasn't assured that Hansel's loyalty would forever give her benefit, now that I was here to sabotage her evil alliance with Jones' enemies.Yesterday, we had champagnes for the celebration of Hansel's success. They introduced me as the youngest member of the company— another lie they had to tell, so paparazzi would not suspect anything to put Jones' reputation at risk. Some officers thought I was a celebrity which I found absurd. They didn't even recognize that I was the long lost daughter. Fortunately, I had only been in the company twice when
"Oh hi um— actually. . . " I stuttered and struggled to speak properly. "I forgot my pen." I ran my hand at the back of my neck sheepishly.He chuckled, tugging a smile. I took the pen out of his hand and mouthed thank you."Have we met before?" he asked, eyebrows drawn together. He had a thick and rough accent which undeniably sounded nice."Not quite sure but thanks for this." I smiled, raising the pen in gratitude.I heaved a sigh of relief, and I couldn't help but curl my lips into a smile."I think I'm having a deja vu." He chuckled and ran his hand through his curls. "What's your name?"He smiled again, flashing his pearly white teeth. He seemed bright though, as crinkles started to form by his eyes."Lala. Lala Preston." I extended my hand forward for a handshake and sheepishly smiled in return.He clasped my hand with his large, warm one, and I couldn't help the tingles starting to form in my stomach
The room was dusty, dark, and tight. Hansel ushered me to a storage filled with a lot of folders. The light flickered and the dust tingled my nose, causing me to sneeze uncontrollably. Did he forget I had allergic rhinitis? I was starting to hate him for this.I rolled my eyes in frustration and kicked the crate with too much force than I intended. Heaving a sigh, I looked down on the scraps scattered on the floor. The crate was opened, papers spilling out of it. How was I the one to fix this? Was he even serious?I crouched in front of the pile of papers and started picking everything up. From my curiosity, my eyes began to trail on the texts, reading every detail of what seemed like a research. There was even a newspaper hidden with these papers. With my nosiness, I read it."Jack Houston's murder case had been compromised," I read through the headline, mumbling to myself. What was the newspaper doing with these folders?
It was as if yesterday didn't happen. William convinced me to forestall our plan of finding my father because the path we got to take was dangerous, and we needed to prepare more.I worked to William in his little scheme. He illegaly distributed weapons and drugs to treacherous people, something I didn't quite understand. When they caused conflict, my job was to depart lives so William's business wouldn't be put at risk. That was the reason why I wanted to quit. Because I couldn't let myself killing people.Now we had to stick to the plan. I needed to keep on going while I wait for William's mark.It was the next day of school, and I was with my considered friend, Nick. He chose to assist me around, and he was the only person who was willing to make friends with me. As we walked down the hall, students were throwing us confused glances. I darted my eyes to Nick but he just seemed eased."People are weird," I muttered, a bit confused. Nick glanced
The three girls stood behind me-- the ones I followed to the lounge yesterday. Were these the mean girls from fiction movies? Weren't they supposed to have a platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes?The one in the middle had evenly glowing tanned skin, a radiant hazel eyes with thick lashes, a slim but fit figure, and a healthy volumized brown hair. She was a goddess to be exact, and her vanilla scent smelled sophisticated. She was about my height, but a few inches taller because of her heels. I stood five foot eight, but she made me feel little.She looked at me with her bedazzling eyes and shot me a curious stare."Am I getting to your way?" I asked, moving to the side. Her eyes trailed on me and the two girls beside her started whispering." 'you new here?" she asked. S
I crouched behind the stack of crates and continued shooting at those armed men. The only audible sound in this scenario were gunshots firing in every area of the place. They were shooting beside me, as I dodged every bullet that hit the ground. I was breathing heavily, peeking through the crate that was blocking them from seeing me.My phone vibrated inside the pocket of my skirt, and I quickly pulled it out with my free hand."How's my niece doing?" William's voice on the other side of the phone seemed amused.I couldn't even fathom why he was trying to get me killed by checking on me while in the middle of a hide-n-seek with a bunch of armed men."What the fuck, William?" I said through gritted teeth in frustration, toning down my voice. "You just ordered me to steal some money to these infuriated dogs and nearly getting me killed, and you're asking me how am I doing?""Easy there, munc
Miguel was having a chat with the guy in the counter, while I was preventing myself to look at them. Finally, my clothes were done that took almost forever. After I pulled out my clothes, I quickly went to a secluded spot and changed my outfit.My uniform that was once stained with blood and dirt was now freshly cleaned up by that washer. Wasn't it just great? Now my only problem was how to get out of here without Miguel recognizing me in this fucked up state. Probably because I had a band-aid beside my right eye and a growing bruise on my cheek. I didn't want to face him in this state.Hesitating, I stepped my foot outside and left the shirt and jeans inside and tried to walk slowly towards the door. Unfortunately, my stupid knee suddenly hit a basket of an old woman, making her clothes scattered on the ground. Shit."Watch it, kid!" the old woman exclaimed, wobbling. She slowly stood up her seat and pic