Kidnapped?

Marie stared out the black limousine she was bundled into by the scary-looking man. Her face was full of dried up tears. She had cried, screamed, fought and done everything within her little capability to avoid being taken away by the members of the gang.

However, neither her father nor mother moved to rescue her or intervene. Till now, she doesn’t know the reason she is being carried away, so she just decides to give up, and let fate decide as she cannot win the battle, whatever it is.

After two full hours of driving, the driver took a turn into what seemed like the woods, and she began to panic immediately.

“What if they’re taking me into the woods to kill me”

“Is this how my miserable life will come to an end?”

Her thoughts began to travel all over the place, as they drove deeper into the forest.

Just when she was about to shout for help, the most magnificent mansion she had ever seen came into view. A little gasp escaped her mouth as the gigantic gate opened by itself slowly, and the compound became clearer to her.

For a moment, she forgot she was just kidnapped as she took in the beauty of the empire in front of her.

“Of course, it’s owned by the biggest Mafia in town, so what was she expecting?” She thought to herself.

The place was several hectares wide, with close to ten different magnificent buildings in view.

The driver pulled up in front of the second biggest building, which she assumed would belong to the second-in-command of the organization. The snarky man who had been sitting right next to her all along signaled for her to get out of the car.

Reluctantly, she opened the handle and stepped out carefully. There were guards everywhere…like everywhere. Fully armed, all dressed in black with communication devices in their ears. She looked at the gate for a second, and contemplated if she could run, but she knew she’d be dead in a heartbeat.

“Don’t even think about it.” The man said, cutting through her thoughts.

Of course not. Even if she did miraculously escape the numerous guards, she wouldn’t last in the woods. They drove for nothing less than fifteen minutes in the woods alone. She wouldn’t know where to turn to, and would probably end up roaming around or eaten by a wild animal. She shivered at that thought.

Reclining to fate, she followed the man slowly into the humongous building. They were met with a big open area which could pass off as a waiting area. There was a huge gold chandelier hanging down in the center of the waiting area matching the gold and white furniture.

There was a huge couch set in white with gold edges located on the left side of the room, and it looked so clean and untouched. On the right, there was a mini bar, which was stocked with expensive drinks from top to bottom. There were paintings scattered all over the room, each with different depth and meaning.

There were also two armed men on both sides of the room, focused as if someone were about to attack soon.

“Go and sit over there, girl” said the man who had been with her for half of the day.

Tired of receiving commands from him, she turned to ask a question

“What is your name…sir?” She mustered all of the courage left in her, adding the last part with hesitation.

At age 22, she wouldn’t say she would pass off as an extrovert, but she wasn’t too shy either. She stood up for herself and friends when necessary, and no one could ever get away with bullying her.

“Bob,” he replied with a small smirk on his face, slightly impressed by her courage.

“Sit over there, and wait for me,” Bob said, pointing Marie over to the smallest couch beside them.

“And don’t try anything funny while I’m gone. These guys know how to use their guns.” He nods to her briefly, and walks into the elevator on the right side of the room.

Shortly after, he gets to the office of the big boss and after knocking, Bob walked into the office.

“She’s here, boss,” he said curtly.

“Hmm, send her in.” The boss replied, with his head buried in a bunch of paperwork he had to sign before the end of the day.

“Okay boss,” Bob nodded his head, and stepped out again.

Bob had been working for The Shadow Empire for over five years, and he was one of the most trusted men of the big boss. He carried out all his dirty work seamlessly with no questions asked. He was very keen on details and protocols, and was his go-to man.

In less than two minutes, Marie found herself following Bob to the topmost floor in an elevator. She was thinking of the one thousand and one ways that the man would look like, and how ferocious he would be, and what he might eventually do with her.

Getting to the entrance of the office, Bob knocked again and they entered into the office, after a short response from inside. On instinct, she hid behind Bob as she was expecting to meet an old, grumpy and ferocious looking man behind the desk.

The boss, who was already irritated from working, wasn't ready to start patronizing a young girl.

“Show yourself” he almost thundered, referring to the lady hiding behind Bob.

As she stepped out slowly from behind him, the boss’s eyes widened, and he knew his eyes couldn’t be deceiving him.

“She’s the girl from last night!!”