Secret Lair

"A few days" She whispers under her breath repetitively but in an assuring manner as she walks the clean roads of the town, silently devising ways to get out of the tough spot.

She decided that calling her mother would yield no results, knowing that she couldn't possibly have this much money. If she did, would they really be stuck in that obsolete place with the bare minimum to survive? Many days went by with empty bellies because bottles were more important than a meal to her mother. 

She had to find another way.

She takes out the phone that Nova had taken from their mother and opens up the search engine. It may seem childish but that is all that Nora could think of doing as the next step.

"How to make money" she types in innocently as she continues walking forward, not sparing a glance to the shops full of pretty clothes and food outlets that she had once been dying to see.

A few results came up filled with bank loans and associated numbers to contact for it. She chews on her lower lip as her gut twists in multiple knots and hits the call button. 

As soon as the other line picks up, she asks about loans. Not knowing the caller's status, they agree and ask for the bank account details. Nora's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

She wonders what they could be talking about.

"I have 600 dollars?" She suggests.

The other party ends the call. 

Heaving a sigh, she comes to the conclusion that there is nothing she could do with the money that she already had. Her last resort was one that she hated the most and it was also something that she never had to do because Nova would do it for her. That is, asking for money.

Many a times, their mother would not put food on their plate. During those difficult moments, Nova would take charge as the elder sister and would either snoop around the house for a couple bucks or ask neighbors for a little bit of money. If she didn't receive any she would resort to stealing, anything to keep her and Nora from starving. The shopkeepers too, though they were angry about the theft, wouldn't say anything to the authorities. Not that the authorities would have cared if they had.

After passing through various shops and markets, asking for help she came to a conclusion. There was no way that she could save up enough money for the initial deposit. At most, a couple shops gave her 20 dollar bills after looking at her exhausted state, thinking she hadn't had any money to eat food. Truthfully, Nora wasn't even hungry anymore even though the only thing in her belly was nervous knots.

"Have I come to the end of the area?" She whispers to herself as she looks around at her surroundings. She had been walking for 30 minutes now and the shops had slowly depleted until there were only interconnected roads leading to god knows where. Though further along the road, she could see a farm and a few huts.

With aching legs, she drags herself to the place. Nora hadn't walked this much in her entire life. In their previous little town, there weren't any places to go to. At most she could accompany her sister to the market for some food or to the neighbor for the blankets but usually she was on the lookout at home for Amanda. In case she woke up, Nora had to be there ready with a perfectly good excuse as to why her sister was missing.

As if it had just rained, she drags across the muddy grass and reaches the hut. It was completely plain. There wasn't a single thing inside. Not a chair or a bed, no signs of residence. 

Her eyebrows lowered at the absence of doors and the lack of human life inside it. There were 2 more huts to look through since she had nothing to do she decided to be thorough.

As expected, the second one was also empty as a drum. Her hands ran across the straw material of which the house was made of, pulling a few out to fiddle with. With disappointment looming over her head, she walks to the third hut, turning around the straws in her hands.

She taps her muddy shoes against the elevation to the entrance and walks around the small conical hut. 

'Why am I wasting my time here?' She thinks with a step backwards. A sudden clink sound presents itself, surprising her enough to remove her feet.

Her eyes glance down -away from the claustrophobic environment full of straws- and stop at the metal plate embedded as a square in the ground. It was quite big, making up at least one fourth of the whole hut. What she couldn't help but think of was that the metal was shiny.

How could it be so shiny if no one lives here? Shouldn't it at least rust a little bit? 

She notices the almost invisible handle stuck to the corner of the metal square. With a curious eye, her hand reaches towards it fascinatingly. Her fingers curl into the rounded handle and she tugs. 

Cursing her weak strength, she tugs a few more times until it budges significantly. It takes a lot of effort to pull it back and make visible whatever was underneath it.

Sucking in a breath, she admires the concept. It was evening but there was quite a bit of light shining through the spaces between the straws that enabled her to see what was below. 

Stairs.

To her it seemed wild that a basement could be present in a hut, without a house in sight. In fact, most houses in her town didn't even have basements though hers did. However, due to a serious pest infection and other parasitic concerns, the basement was sealed shut and no one was allowed to go there.

In fact, Nora and Nova had wished that they lived together in the basement. They would be away from their mother and once she would be asleep, they could go outside for supplies. They were content with such a lifestyle. 

They didn't need luxury or cars. They needed each other and a safe place to live where they could enjoy each other's company without fear looming over them every passing second.

Her tired shaky legs try to maintain their balance as she enters the unknown, step by step. It was getting progressively darker, the light couldn't reach all the way to the bottom and the stairs were going down for a while.

It was eerily quiet, at first. 

Slowly some sound entered her ears. Touching the side walls, she makes sure to not miss a step which would result in her tumbling down an unknown number of stairs.

There were thuds, banging and chatter of people. The chatter gradually increased until it became clearer and clearer. She was nervous to encounter so many people.

Judging by the voices there were at least 10 people right in the vicinity of the stairs. She saw the blue light, helping her locate the bottom of the stairs. Nervousness filled her veins as she shakily steps down, hastily taking a step too wide in the darkness.

The stumble wasn't as painful as she had imagined since there weren't that many stairs left but she knew that the sharp edges of the stairs definitely cut her here and there, moreover the bruises would eventually form as well.

"Yeah she was an old hag, killed that piece of shit like a dog and-" 

Her head bangs against the floor as words of an enthusiastic voice stop mid sentence.

"What the fuck" The voice called out as Nora blinks to adjust to the sudden light, there were black spots in her vision that slowly recovered as rough hands are placed on her arms, pulling her up with strength she's never felt.

"How the fuck did you get here little girl?" The voice seethes. 

After some adjustment, Nora calms her pounding heart at the sight of a cold scarred face. There was a huge scar that trailed down from his forehead till his eyebrow and then continued below his eye till mid cheek. The man's features were rough and unpleasant.

Nora found herself wanting to back away but his grip was like iron.

"I was just passing by and I happened to find this basement." She says quietly, expecting to be hit for her disobedience.

"A basement, she said." His face widens with amusement as he withdraws one of his hand in laughter. The others – 9, to be exact – joined in on the chuckles as if it was the funniest joke they had heard in a while. One of them even started wheezing from the lack of air due to the intense contractions his laughter produced.

"Funny. Now tell me who you really are." He smiles but it wasn't a kind one. It wasn't like the soft uplifting curve of Dr. Miller nor was it similar to the comforting smile of her sister Nova. 

In all honesty, Nora felt disgusted.

"I was just looking for help for my sister. She has to have surgery and it's expensive." She told them as it was, once again receiving amused responses from all of them.

'What was so funny?' She thought.

"They have a new excuse each time Brian, set her straight." A man from the small crowd spoke to the individual holding Nora's arm.

"I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll just go back." Nora stuttered nervously, her survival instincts kicking in. She had an extremely bad feeling about the situation and decided that it would be best to get out of here as soon as possible.

Something in her told me that these people were worse than her own mother.

"Sorry, we can't let you do that. Besides don't you want to help your sister?" He mocks, his free hand was placed on the round neck of the shirt Nora was wearing. He fiddles with the buttons a few times.

Pure electric fear interrupted Nora's thoughts. She knew whatever was going to happen was bad , even if she had no idea what it was.

Nora struggled against the tight grip against his hand but to no avail, he pushes her against the wall beside the stair case, ripping off the buttons in the process.

"Well would you look at that. Girl's got buns." He winks as the top half of the shirt exposes her worn out black bra which were full.

Though Nora was so slim that bones seemed to stick out in many places and were extremely prominent, one could not deny that she had the right curves and they could be more pronounced one she gained some weight.

Brian fondles Nora's full breasts with his hands, causing her to widen her eyes in discomfort. She brings her leg up instinctively and knees him below his waist in a place where no man wants to be hit. 

But Brian has been trained better than that, he blocks her attempt by turning to the side and letting her knee his thigh instead.

"So feisty, beautiful. If only you had a little meat on you." He licks along her jaw, causing her to shiver uncontrollably in disgust.

"Mateo won't like this." A man, named Marcos, called out from the crowd as a few other members dissipated away, paying no attention to the situation. They behaved as if it was a natural occurrence, which it was, at least for Brian and perverts who shared the same mindset as him. Nora's suddenly felt the familiarity of the voice, it sounded like she had heard it somewhere before but she wasn't sure from where.

"I say, fuck him, so I can fuck her." He grins against her cheek, his hand tucked inside her shirt, roaming around her waist. Just as his hand slips inside her pants, a click clack noise is made on the shiny floor by expensive shoes. 

It was a calm walk, but it extruded dominance.

It was full of aura and confidence, the slow but heavy clacks were screaming of presence. 

Most of all, it radiated one thing. 

Power.

Mateo Hernández.

The Mafia Prince.