3: ASKING FOR SAFETY

I CRIED and begged the driver. “Please. Please get me out of here. I need to get some help for my parents.”

“What happened to you, woman?”

No words left my mouth. Instead, I pulled out the taxi’s door. As I sat in the backseat of the taxi then I stared at the driver. His eyes stared back at me but landed on my now-drenched shirt. I suspect my boobs are now showing underneath my shirt that got drenched by the rain. Fear jolted inside me once again, making my stomach churn.

I slowly covered myself as I looked out through the window and gave the address to the driver. Westbent Street. The biggest mansion I could see. It didn’t help that the streets were dark and damp from the rain. It was almost empty with only lights from the lamp posts. I kept my hope. I prayed for my safety. And my mothers. Even if it sounded impossible.

With no cash in my pockets and not even a phone in my hand. I unlocked the gold necklace that my parents gave me when I turned eighteen. Soon, the driver slowed down his taxi somewhere. We did not stop in front of a house though. There was a very large black gate, behind it was a long road. The sides of the road are filled with trees with leaves so thick that it prevents even a bit of moonlight from shining through the road. Towards the end of it, I spotted a mansion with only a few lights on.

“I can’t drive further,” said the driver. He looked at me from the rearview mirror.

“Just right here,” I said, still taking in the dark road that I had to walk by and the gate I had to pass through just to get some help for my family.

“Are you sure you’re heading that way, woman?” The driver looked perplexed and somehow worried. I could see it from the way he shrugged his head when I only answered him with a nod.

“The people in that house are not merciful,” he added.

I didn’t listen to him. Instead, I handed the gold-plated necklace to the driver’s palm. Only the chain, because I removed the pendant and grasped it around my palms. “I don’t have any cash with me, sir. Please take good care of it.”

I saw his eyes go big. “This is gold…” He immediately recognized it was gold, glad he did. I don’t have to convince him anymore. With no other things to do today, I got out of the taxi. Only then did I feel that I was barefoot.

The road was hard when I was running earlier. But this time, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle when I stepped onto the rocks.

My eyes kept looking at the mansion behind the gate. It was the only house on this street. It didn’t look large from the spot where I was standing right now but I had no other choice but on this. The sooner I could get help for my mother, the greater the possibility that she might still be alive.

Not knowing if it was what my mother had told me, I started walking. Each stride felt more and lighter as I almost ran towards the gate if only I was not limping from a wound on my feet.

I was rushing through the gate with no other plans but to press the doorbell repeatedly or maybe shout just so anyone would notice that someone was waiting in front of the gates. There was a car that was running fast from the inside of the compound.

I braced myself. Get ready to talk to anybody that I can talk to. As long as they are from that mansion, they might know what I will be talking about. My father’s agreement with this family living in this secluded part of town.

I looked at the sky and the moon was right above me. I reckon it is probably midnight. Someone is leaving the house at this hour. I thought I was the only one under serious mischief.

The gates opened automatically when the car was about to pass through. The lights from the car landed on me as I didn’t leave my spot. I kept standing in the middle of the road, preventing them from driving through.

The car beeps several times. But I didn’t falter. Until someone in the passenger’s seat got out and lifted a gun from his waist. He looked muscular. His suit hugged his body and when he raised a gun right at me, I gulped.

“Move, beggar, we don’t give alms in here,” said the man in a rushed tone.

I didn’t move. I raised my chin high. Challenging the person who kept pointing his gun at me. I am not afraid of that… I whispered inside my head. Repeatedly. Just to evoke a strong presence on the outside but the truth is I was shivering. From the cold. From fear. From my father’s death and my mother’s… risk of dying as well.

The car’s engine halted right in front of me. And several men got out, in their suits. 4 of them lined up in front of the car and I stood looking at them frozen in my spot. All of them raise their guns at me.

I was about to raise both of my hands as a sign of surrender. When I opened my mouth, the backseat of the car opened as well.

There was a guy—lean, masculine, and formally dressed from head to toe with an expensive watch on his wrist that glimmered under the moonlight. Amid the darkness, I saw his slicked-back hair, his chiseled face, and his eyes… They bore on me. Not a single expression could be read from his face.

He was the one who got out of the car last.

“H-hello, sir! Are you a ravij?” That was the only thing I could say as I rushed towards him.

The four men wearing black suits and ties lined up in front of him, blocking me from getting to the man that they seemed to be keeping away from anyone like some sort of protecting him.

“Are you their first son?”

His bodyguards tried to push me away. The man looked at me from my face… to my knees which were now bleeding at this moment. He stared at them for seconds before he looked at me in the eyes—his gaze cold and judging.

“Who’s she?” His domineering voice echoed through my ears even if it was low. He looked at this bodyguard, waiting for an answer. But they all just shrugged.

“I am to marry you,” I said, mumbling under my breath. Taking in the shame of barging into someone else’s house. Meeting my supposed fiancè in this time of need and desperation.