The Collateral

Chapter One

The Collateral

"You will have to go with them Leanda, you just have to go," Natasha, Leanda's stepmom said to her, "They are right outside, and we will all be in problem if you don't go with them," she went on.

Leanda shook her head, she also knew that she would have no other choice than to go with the rogues whom her stepmom borrowed a huge money from, she was aware of that, but she wanted to fight that at all cost.

She turned to face her Stepmom, her younger sister held her hand tightly and wouldn't let go, "I am not going to leave," she shouted, "I won't go with anyone, you borrowed the money, you should be the one to pay for it, not me," Leanda yelled.

Her stepmom smiled faintly, "I borrowed the money for your dad's treatment, you did nothing when he was sick, and now it's time to help the family but you don't want to."

Leanda shook her head again, she tried as much as she could to pull back her tears, she didn't want to scare her younger sister who was holding on to her hand tightly, "And what has been the improvement since dad has been sick?," she asked, "You took the money and spent it with Avi, you did nothing with it, and now you want me to pay for it, I won't do that," she shouted.

"Don't you dare mention my name," Avi retorted from the corner she was hiding, "You should just leave with them, you are the eldest child in this family, you should take responsibility for things like this," she added.

The loud bang came at the door again, "Open this door now or I pull it down," a loud and manly voice came from outside, "Open it now," he shouted again and kept on banging on the door, and this time, it seemed like the whole house was going to tear down.

"I'm scared," little Sarah murmured, she wrapped her hands around Leanda, "I'm scared Leanda," she shook in fear.

Leanda was as scared as she was, she could only tell what was happening at that minute, she didn't know what was going to happen in the next, these men would want to take her away, she was used as a collateral by her step mom, she wasn't so surprised.

Her stepmom, Natasha has been so bad to her since she came into that house. Most times, Leanda would blame her dad who got married again just few months after her mother's death, he was to be blamed for whatever way Leanda had been treated.

Leanda was just three years old when Natasha came into their family, she gave birth to Avi a year after that, then Sarah who was just five years old.

Avi and Natasha made Leanda life a living hell, they made it so obvious that they hated her and wanted her out of the family, Avi always envied her and desired all that belongs to her.

The only one who was different from them was Sarah, she loved Leanda dearly, she wouldn't sleep without Leanda singing the usual lullaby

"I'm scared Leanda, why are they banging our door?," Sarah's voice came at her again, "Will they harm us?," she asked.

Leanda bent by her side and pulled her to herself, "Don't be scared my darling, they won't do anything to us," she murmured and held her hand, "And if things doesn't go the way I want, I promise to keep you.."

"Open this damn door," there came the voice again.

"Open the door Leanda," Natasha said while she finds a place to hide, "Just open the door and go with them, you have no other choice," she added.

"What do you mean I have no other choice?," Leanda retorted, she had always done whatever Natasha asked her to do, she always listen to her, and she even kept up with her tortures without complaining, but now, she was finally going to ruin her life, she wouldn't accept that.

"You are the collateral, you have to go with them," Natasha shouted, "Don't make me force you," she added, "You will..." the door broke down and the rogues ran in.

"Go to your room Sarah," Leanda said and pushed Sarah to her room.

Thank goodness she did, as soon as Sarah left, one of the rouges picked a handful of her hair and pulled her up with it, "Didn't you hear me knocking?," he asked and slapped her across the face.

"Let me go," Leanda shouted, the tears which she had been pulling back for minutes rolled down like a downpour, "I did nothing wrong, I wasn't the one who borrowed from you, so let me go," she cried out.

"Keep quiet," the rouge shouted at her, "I don't want to hear any word from you," he warned, but she didn't listen.

How could she listen when he was forcefully pulling her hair like he was going to pull it off her scalp, "Leave me alone, let..," she swallowed her words when she saw a gun pointed to her head.

"Say another word and I will blow your head off," he threatened, "I don't want to hear any other word from you, close that dirty mouth of yours," he barked.

Leanda's hand went to her mouth gently, she closed her mouth and all she could do was whimper, what was she going to do?, and how was she going to get away from these men?.

"Where is Natasha?," one of the rouges asked, but he was dressed in a different way than others, he wore a black roundneck and a black suit, "Where the hell are you Natasha?," he shouted.

Natasha crawled out of her hiding place, "I'm...I'm here Dan," she stuttered, she was obviously scared, and anyone would be scared.

Seeing their hugeness, their broad shoulders and long faces, no one would want to dare them, "I would have blown this whole house off if it wasn't for my money, give me my money now," Dan yelled, he seemed to be their boss.

"I...I ..don't have it," she stuttered.

He shook his head, "I'm being calm because I still have my money with you, where the hell is my money Natasha," he shouted.

"You can take the collateral," Natasha shouted but she was the one who shook to her own voice, "Just take the collateral," she added and the boss turned to Leanda.

Dan's face glowed when he saw her, he moved closer to her, her hair was still held tightly by the other rogue on her side.

"Wow," he murmured and raised her chin with the tip of his gun, "You will make a lot of money for us by dancing at the stands," he added and the other rogues laughed.

What does he mean by stands?, is she really going to be taken away by these strange men?, they look so merciless, will she really be staying with them?, just the thought of it sent shivers into her whole body, causing her to shake uncontrollably.

She was no longer in control of her body, her body was sweaty, her heart beat hard in her chest, was there a way out?.

"And I think you have a nice body," he laughed, "Turn around," he said.

Leanda looked up at him, it was like she didn't understand his question, but she did, she was only wondering why she had to turn around, she wanted to ask, but she couldn't, what if he does something to her?.

"I said turn around," his voice came with such command this time that she began to turn.

Dan bursted into laugher, "You have a nice body, I said it," he giggled, as others joined him, "It won't take up to a month to earn me my money," he chuckled.

Who the hell was this man?, and how was she going to earn him so much money with her body?, if it was what she was thinking, the she would do anything to avoid that, she would never sell her body.

"What...what...what..am..I.. what job am I.. going to do?," it took her seconds to be able to ask that question.

He moved closer to her and whispered in her ears, "You just have to satisfy some rich dudes, just make sure they are not lonely at night."

Her eyes widened, she was never going to do such thing, how could Natasha do that to her?.

She borrowed the money, she gave her no dime out of it, but she is sacrificing her for her debts, she would never forgive her for doing that to her.

"Take her away," Dan ordered and they pulled her towards the door.

"Wait," Leanda shouted and ran to Dan, she fell at his feet, "Please.. please give me the chance to pay you," she pleaded, she couldn't imagine herself doing such dirty job, satisfying people for money, she would never do such thing.

Dan laughed, "Pay me?," he asked and bursted into laugher again, "Do you even know how much we are talking about?," he asked.

"How...how much is...is it?," she asked.

"You don't even know the amount, yet you think you can pay me?," he shook his head, and he was no longer smiling this time, he had a long look on, "Take this girl away," he ordered and the other rouges began to walk towards her.

"Wait, I can pay you, just tell me the amount," she said to him.

"It is a hundred thousand dollars," he responded and her mouth dropped.

A hundred thousand dollars?, she wondered what Natasha did with such money when she didn't even take care of her dad.

Her dad had been on the sick bed for months and she was even the one paying for the hospital bills, what did Natasha do with such money?, she was confused, that was a whole lot of money.

"Can you see for yourself?," Dan's voice came at her, "I told, you that you won't be able to pay, we're talking about thousand of dollars here, not hundred," he added and turned to others, "Just take her away, she is starting to annoy me."

"I will pay," Leanda shouted, "I will pay, just give time, I will bring all the money," she added.

"What!," Dan was surprised, even the mother doesn't have the money, how was she going to pay it?.

"Give me some time please, I will pay for it," she repeated.

"This looks more fun than I expected," Dan said and dipped his hands into his pocket, "Just 24 hours, and I will be back, you will have no other choice than to follow me after that," he said and Leanda nodded, "Come on boys," he ordered and they all headed for the door.

Leanda was going to heave a sigh of relief when Dan stopped and she was forced to hold her breath, "And don't you dare run away, I have people all over the world, you can't run away from me. Don't try it, you will regret it," he warned and they all trooped out.

Leanda finally sighed and fell on her knees, it was a narrow escape, but she was going to be in more danger if she doesn't get the money before 24 hours, and there comes the biggest question, how?.

How was she going to get the money?, she doesn't even have up to $100 dollars with her, how was she going to get a hundred thousand dollars in 24 hours?, she had no work, she had nothing that fetches her money.

"Is it true that you have the money?," Natasha asked Leanda ask she begin to move closer to her, "Do you have more than that?," she inquired.

"Can you give me some of it, I need to get some clothes for the next outing with my friends," Avi murmured and knelt beside her, she began to comb her hair with her fingers, "I'm sorry you were treated that way, you know it's not my fault, just give me some money and.."

"Get your hands off me," Leanda groaned, making each word a sentence. She wiped the tears in her eyes, "Get your hand off me," she shouted and Avi moved back from her.

They were so disgraceful, they had no shame, after putting her in such situation, they still had the gut to ask her such questions.

"I was only..."

"You both will pay for this," Leanda said as ran out of the house with nowhere in mind.

She stumbled to the street, a lone tear fell from her eyes as she dragged her feet, she was still hoping that someday she was going to get away from her stepmom and live a good life, but it seemed like fate had more bad in store for her than good.

She thought everything was going to be fine someday, but it looked like that day would never come because things were begining to become worse.

A car parked beside her and honked but she couldn't hear it, she was too lost in thought, she was thinking of a way to get a hundred thousand dollars in the next twenty four hours.

She only had hundred dollars with her and she did the calculation, she still had to find ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred dollars, that was never going to be possible.

She came to sudden halt when she felt a hand on her.

"Wait," the voice said.

She didn't turn at first, the voice didn't sound like someone she knew, should she run?, or maybe shout?, should she get ready to fight?, she was confused of what to do, and she wasn't ready to talk to anyone in that situation she was in.

She turned slowly to see a young man in front of her, the first thing she noticed was the two colors of his eyes, one was dark green and the other was blue.

"Who...who are you?," Leanda asked, but this man didn't give her an answer, he only stared at her like he was going to make her vanish with his gaze.

"Who are you?," she asked again but she still got the same answer, silence, and the long stare, "What do you want from me?," she shouted.

"I want you to carry my child," he finally talked.

"What!," Leanda exclaimed.