3. THE ABDUCTION

"So sorry ma'am. I didn't know.." Tania kept apologizing, and Grace continued to tell her,

"It's not your fault.. it's my favorite food, you could not have known that I would throw it up because of some stomach upset. Come on."

She sighed, cleaning up the last bit of the mess before apologizing again and heading out.

Grace went to wash her mouth, watching herself in the mirror for some minutes, before her gaze traveled to her stomach.

"Please baby, would you let mommy eat? You don't want me to keep anything down?" She questioned, then continued, "I have to run a test today, I have to keep something in my stomach.. I'm feeling really dizzy already.."

She smiled at the mirror. Maybe this was good. Grace knew it was too soon but she could not wait to hold her baby. Even if she had gotten pregnant on her very first sex and she still felt too young for the baby, she could not help the attachment for her unborn child which she was growing day by day.

She loved him or her so much already, and they had not even met. Was this what motherhood felt like? Like you finally had purpose?

A knock resounded on the door, jarring her thoughts. She washed her hands, splashed some water on her face, and when the second knock came, she responded,

"Coming."

She unlocked the door and pulled it open, revealing a guard on the other side.

She raised a brow. "Uh.. is there a problem?"

"None at all. The Boss asked us to get you so we can start the trip to the OB-GYN." He announced, which got Grace even more confused.

She went to pick up her cellphone to confirm the time. It was 10am. The appointment to the OB-GYN was scheduled for 2pm.

"He sent me a text. He said we would go there by 2pm. Why would he want to go do early all of a sudden?" Grace was confused. If there was anything she knew Vincent for, it was mostly for keeping to time.

Never too late, never too early. He was always perfectly punctual, which was why none of this made sense to her.

The guard looked almost as confused as she was.

"Did he not send you another text? He asked that the time should be changed. The appointment has been booked already."

"He didn't. Hold on, I'll call him." Grace suggested, dialing Vincent's number at once. Her expression dropped when he did not still answer on the third ring.

Bold of her to think that he cared enough to pick up her call after everything.

She looked back up at the guard, trying not to die of embarrassment. "I, uh… I'll go change now. I'll meet you downstairs."

He simply nodded and left the door, allowing her to shut it and rest her back against it, trying not to cry. Funny how she used to be almost emotionally unavailable, but now she would cry for every little thing.

She took deep breaths, then leaned off the door and went to change her clothes.

Soon, she was in the car and they were on their way to the OB-GYN. She had just put on her seatbelt at the back, trying to keep Vincent's voice off her head while at it,

"Put on your seatbelt, Grace. I would prefer you getting to the event in one piece." He would say.

Those were the moments that deceived her into thinking that he actually cared. How stupid of her…

The car began to go faster than she would like, and she was getting dizzy, so she requested, "Can you slow down, please? I feel like I might throw up with this speed."

Maybe it was her ears, she thought, but she heard a scoff, and the car was not slowing down at all. Far from that. She blinked slowly, not understanding why they had acted like they had not heard her; both the driver and the guard.

"Um.. hello? I asked to reduce the speed? Why… Why are you guys, ah—" Her head had started to throb now, she was developing a headache from how fast they were going.

She held the seat in front of her, immediately deciphering that something was utterly wrong. She tried to look at the guard properly, and discovered that she had never really seen that face around.. and the driver was not her regular driver either.

Oh God… what was this? How could she be so stupid?

"Please, please, I do not know what this is all about but I am pregnant. Whatever this is, just leave me out of it, I'm begging you." She started, but the guard just turned to her in a sharp move, causing her to jolt back in fear.

"Shut up. Do you hear me? Shut your mouth and let us get this over with. You will be dead in no time, I will get paid, and this will be over. Now be a good girl and shut up." He barked at Grace, who was now shivering from fear.

"No…" She cried, "No please, I'll do anything. I'll pay you double, my husband is a billionaire, he'll give you whatever amount you want, just name your price… please, please just don't kill me."

"Ugh, fuck. I thought you guys said she was a quiet one. Don't need her nagging into my ears throughout this ride man. Do something about it." The driver requested, and then he slowed down a little so the guard could get off his chair and face her at the back. Before she could understand what exactly was going on, the material had already been pressed to her nose, and she struggled and struggled, until she couldn't anymore.

Grace woke up to a sharp pain on her side, and the chill of what seemed like rock underneath her. Her eyes peeled open to approaching darkness, and a couple of streetlights were the only source of lighting in the street.

Grace had not finished looking around when she spotted her, and her jaw dropped slowly. She was here, dressed in high boots, a leather jacket and her favorite red lipstain. She recognized her perfectly, even in the darkness.

"Whit… Whitney?"

Whitney grinned, "Hello there, babes! I would say it's lovely to see your face but then I would be lying. Thankfully though, this would be the last time I would be seeing your face, so I guess it works for me."

"What… Oh my God. You stripped me of my clothes? How did I not notice that at first? Why would you do that in public? In the middle of a street?" Grace questioned, trying to cover up herself as she noticed a group of men standing at one corner. She was only in her bra and panties. Mismatched, to make things even worse.

"Well luckily for you, this street is technically abandoned, so nobody gets to see your unattractive body. If you ask me, I would say good for them. Luckily for me, though, I get to kill you, and no one would be able to save you." She ended her rant with a kick to Grace's shin, causing her to fall back on the ground, the back of her head slamming against the asphalt.

Tears gathered in her eyes, and she moved back a bit, her lips shaking as she tried to plead, "Please. Please, Whitney.. tomorrow is the last day of the ultimatum, and I promise you, I will leave. You will never see me again, just spare my life.. I'm pregnant and I—"

"Oh I know." She interrupted Grace's rant with a sinister smile. "You are really slow, else you would have figured out that it is exactly why I brought you out here. Overheard your chitchat with my man, and sincerely I have to say you are one desperate little fool. You cannot just stay away, can you? Well, I'll have to keep you away forever."

"No.. No, please." Grace scrambled to her feet and began to back up, then took off running after a few steps.

"Get her!"

The silence in the street had been broken successfully by her hurried footsteps and labored breathing. The said street was lined with derelict buildings, their windows shattered and doors hanging on rusted hinges. No one lived here, no one could save her here, Grace thought fearfully, as tears poured down her cheeks. She realized as well that she was hungry, she had not eaten since that morning and she was so hungry, her stomach twisted in pain.

The moon barely shone through the thick clouds above, casting an eerie glow on the cracked pavement, and it did not help matters. It was so dark, she barely knew where she was running to.

The men were getting closer, their shouts echoing through the abandoned structures.

Whitney watched from a distance, hidden by the shadow of a crumbling building. Her face was illuminated only by the dim glow of her phone screen as she watched the scene unfold with a mix of anticipation and satisfaction.

A glance behind told Grace they were still closing in, their forms menacing in the half-light. She was about to take a desperate turn down an alley, hoping against hope that it would lead her to safety, but she had either been too slow, or they were too fast.

Arms wrapped around her and threw her over their shoulder, kicking and screaming. The moment they got to where Whitney stood, she ordered with a sickenly sweet smile,

"Finish off the child first, would you?"

So they threw her off their shoulder but kept her on her feet. Grace began to struggle almost immediately but a sharp pain in her abdomen stopped her at once. A panicked look revealed a small, bloodstained knife in the hand of one of the men.

And then she fell.

Grace held her side whilst struggling to breathe on the floor, her heart racing with so many thoughts as she tried to stop the blood from flowing out too much.

Her ringtone suddenly resounded and she managed to look up, seeing Whitney with the device, her face turning pale momentarily before she picked up, then bent and dropped the phone on the tarred ground.

"Grace?"

Grace gasped when she heard Vincent's voice, and she immediately dashed towards the phone before a kick to her wounded side had her stopping in her tracks once again.

Vincent was still saying some things, but for that moment, Grace’s mind could only focus on the pain…