Debbie||"You would need to eat a lot more than that for you to be able to take your drugs," I advised the old woman as I gently poked a needle into the vein in her arms.She had barely touched her breakfast this morning, and the bowl of pudding sat practically untouched on the dining table.A breakfast that had only had me and her in attendance, unlike yesterday.I had not set my eyes on Ivan nor his bitch since the altercation yesterday and it was all for good because I had promised to get my revenge on her for what she had done to me."When will I stop taking these I.V's?" The old woman asked."This is the last time ma'am."Even though her son and his partner in crime were total asses, I still had a soft spot for the old woman."It's so odd. Tania has not come down to say hello," The old woman said and I frowned.It was obvious the old woman was fond of Tania and it pissed me off.I bet, if she knew her true identity and knew the crimes she had forced Ivan to commit, she would not
Debbie||I stomped my foot agitatedly as the telephone buzzed in my ear. I clutched the pay phone so tightly. I would have likened it to my savior but then, it indeed was my savior.It was the only means I would be able to secure my release from this hell.The line clicked as there was no answer.I stole a glance at the policeman who was hovering nearby and then I dialed the number again."839–629," I muttered under my breath, reciting the number I had memorized a long time ago.The phone started to buzz again and I closed my eyes, saying a prayer in my heart.A click from the other side of the phone made me fling my eyes open as I gasped with joy."Hello? Ivan?!" I said into the phone, happy that he had finally answered my call.I had been given the opportunity to call someone and I had been advised to call my lawyer. But I did not care for their advice. I already knew whom I wanted to call."Who is this?" He growled over the phone in his usual grumpy tone. "Ivan? It is me! Debbie!
Debbie||"Do you think the hospital would want to have the reputation that its staff go to patients' houses as caregivers and then steal their properties? There was a board meeting as soon as the case was reported to them, and it was a unanimous decision to let you go," He said."And you didn't do anything about it?" I asked."I am the victim here, Debbie. You stole from my house." He sounded so condescending as if he was talking to a moron.Just as I had thought in the house, the odds were against me. She had outnumbered me, and I had lost the battle even before it had begun."Okay, Ivan! Tell her I'm sorry. That I did not mean to threaten her, and if she drops the charges, it will be like it never ever happened." I surrendered."I'm sorry, Debbie, but it's too late for that," Ivan said."No, please! You have to help me! I can't stay here! Please, Ivan!" I begged."I have to go, Debbie. Take care.""No, Ivan! Don't do this! Don't abandon me again! Please, Ivan! Don't abandon me!" I c
Debbie||I spent the entire day inside that tiny prison cell waiting.—I waited for long, but there was nothing.Anytime I heard approaching footsteps, my heart lit up with excitement and I ran to the bars only for my excitement to be killed of by the sight of a police officer either coming to get another inmate, or leading a new one in.I spent a huge amount of time pressing my forehead against the cold, hard steel of the iron bars, trying to see if there was someone for me beyond the bars.I had never been one to be concerned about the crime rate in the city but as I lay on the thin, hard bed, I prayed that for my sake, there would be a reduction in crime.I did not want to share this tiny hell with another person. It was enough that I was locked in here. Having another would push me to be charged with an even greater crime.I paced the grey floor of the tiny room, taking the two steps needed to move from one end of the room to another, to and fro million times.I alternated this wi
Debbie||"What time is it, please?" I asked the huge policewoman who was on duty. I had given Nicholas a deadline and I wanted to know how long I had to wait for it to end."If you are so keen about the time you should have stolen a wristwatch and not a bracelet," The guard hissed.I sighed and walked over to my thin bed. If it were under different circumstances, I would not have tolerated anyone talking to me that way, police officer or not.I was drained, not from physical exertion but from a mental one.I was definitely going to jail. There was no way out for me. Threatening Nicholas was a wrong move and I had messed up the only chance I had to get out.I dropped my head on my thighs and before I knew it, tears were flowing down my eyes.My heart felt just as gloomy and dark as the cell room. I was stuck and unable to escape either of them.My body shook as the sobs racked through my body.I did not know what to do or think and so I cried. It was the only thing I could do.I was s
Debbie||His eyes squinted a little as my words unfazed his emotionless face for a bit. But that was all I needed to help me garner my confidence."How come?" His voice grew deeper and he took me more seriously now.I turned my head around, sweeping every corner of the tiny cell with my eyes in a dramatic move."There is no way I am going to divulge such information while still a prisoner am I?" I said.His eyes narrowed on me, his jaw tightening as he contemplated the situation.I was nervous as I waited, my palms growing wet with sweat from the nerves."For your sake, this better be worthwhile." He hissed. Then he turned and walked out of the cell leaving me standing there alone, watching his retreat.The female guard who had been waiting a few feet away, hurried to shut the door.She did not seem as menacing as she had been earlier as she scuttled like a big fat rat around Nicholas.
Tania||"What do you mean she got released?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.I was hysterical and my mind was flying like a mad woman.I had been called to the police station and I had thought I was needed to file some statements or do some things to further the course of Debbie spending a considerable amount of her life in prison. But I was wrong.I met the officer who had sent for me only to be given the news that Debbie had been released."She stole from me! In my house! How could you let such a person go scot free?" I yelled."You need to calm down ma'am." The bald headed policeman who had headed Debbie's arrest said."Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down when I have been denied justice? That criminal is roaming the streets free as a bird. What if she comes back to my home to harm me? To take revenge for reporting her?" I went on yelling.I was indeed scared of the last part– Debbie's revenge.She already knew my secret and had threatened to expose me. Now there was no s
Tania||"Fucked?" Marcus asked, his voice apprehensive.By this time, I had started to lose the little control I had on myself. My voice was shaking just as hard as my body was shaking."Where are you right now?" I managed to ask."I am at the office!" He replied and I could feel the unease starting to creep into his voice."Talk to me, Tania! What's going on?!" He shouted frustrated with fear."He knows everything." I whispered as a sob escaped my lips.Marcus was silent on the other end of the line.The tears I had been trying to hold back started to flow freely. My worst nightmare had come to pass. Everything had shattered down.I was not even back to where I had started from– I was worse than that.Now that Nicholas knew that I was alive, he would ensure that I was killed and this time he was going to do it himself to be certain I was not going to pull a trick on him and resurrect once again.I would have thought that Marcus had ended the call because of the silence but then, I co
Ivan|| The hospital room was filled with the soft beeping of machines and the gentle hum of fluorescent lights. It had been three days since the incident that had happened but it felt very fresh in my memory. The television that was mounted to the side, was showing news about what had happened. The caption read, "Family Feud: A tale of love, deceit and betrayal." I had been disgusted at the various titles news reporters had been using just to trend with this story. It would have been funny to me if I had not been involved and my loved ones nearly killed in the process. Tania lay unconscious, giant tubes running in and out of various parts of her body. Her sister was in the adjoining room. She had also suffered a bullet wound, but hers was not as fatal as Tania's, and she was already awake and doing fine. We were lucky the ambulance came in time she would have been lost. I remembered how shocked the medics were when we brought her to her state. How did it even happen? How
Tania|| "Well, well, well. If it isn't the two loves of my life. My sister wives, literally." He mocked us sarcastically as he approached. He clapped loudly as if he had just won the lottery. Eyeing me, he said, "I can't believe you are Tania! You look nothing like before." He scanned me up and down. "I should have known it was you when you gave me that sloppy kiss. You know you were never a good kisser. Unlike my lovely second wife here." He addressed Eloise. The fear in the room from the three of us was so palpable, filling the room. I bet we even stank of fear. "Get away from her!" He commanded, but we did not move. "I said get away from her, or else her brain matter would decorate your bodies in a second!" He shouted. Not needing another graphic threat, Eloise and I jumped away from Nana. "Good girls." He complimented us with a leery smile, and I felt like throwing up. "Let her go! You said you would let her go if we came!" I yelled at him. He chuckled. "What do you t
Tania|| The siren of a police car trailed behind us as we sped to the location Eloise had discovered. Eloise sat at the back of the car. She had insisted on following us even though we had begged her to stay behind. "This would be traumatizing for you. Moreover, your body needs rest to fully recover." I had tried to reason with her. "I can't keep running from Nicholas. I need to face him and face my fear and if he goes down today, I want to be there to witness the moment." She had insisted. "I will not let you!" I stood my ground. "Then I won't tell you where the place is." She said cockily. "Good luck finding where the penthouse is, and even if you are lucky, it would be too late then," She said, folding her hands. Ivan wasn't too pleased with her. With fallen shoulders, he conceded. "She is coming with us!" Ivan had declared and she smiled triumphantly. She had played on Ivan's fear of running out of time and losing his grandma and had won. As we waited for Eloise to g
Ivan||I grunted awake, my hand heading straight to the throbbing pain at the back of my head. "Ouch!" I cried out as a sharp pain shot through my head when my hand touched the wound.My hands felt wet, and I brought my hand to my eyes to inspect it, and I saw blood.Struggling to my feet, I tried to remember what had happened but when my eyes fell on the chair in the middle of the room, it flashed in my mind instantly. Nana had been kidnapped and Tania and Eloise were the ransom to get her back.This realization sent a surge of energy through me and I regained a tremendous amount of strength. There was also a tinge of fear developing deep within me. A paper on the floor caught my attention and I picked it up.YOU HAVE UNTIL 8.00 P.M TODAY OR ELSE SHE DIES, the note read.I squeezed the note in my hand as anger overcame me.From recent events, I knew not to take Nicholas' threats lightly.Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and checked the time.It was 8.00 am.This mean
Ivan|| I could feel the exhaustion in my bones as I drove home from the hospital in the pitch-black darkness. It took a great deal of effort to keep my eyes open as I drove. It had been quite some time since I had a good night's rest ever since this entire situation had escalated. I was driving home alone; Tania had insisted on spending the night with her sister, and I had left them consoling themselves and planning their wrath on Nicholas, whom Tania had just found out had been the cause of her parents' death. That one was a big eye-opener; I never even saw that coming. I knew surprises were coming, but damn. I knew Nicholas was ruthless but I had never thought it was as bad as this was. He had killed and would have continued killing till he had wiped their family off the face of the earth until he was the only one left alive so he could take the company. I had never seen such callousness before in a man except my father. Nicholas reminded me a lot about my father. They could
Tania|| I held Eloise's hands tight in mine as I ran alongside the stretcher that was rolling her into the hospital. After she had collapsed by the roadside, we put her in the car and drove back to the hospital. I sat with her in the back of the car, her head resting on my thighs and my hands clasping hers as Ivan raced to the hospital. It was thanks to Ivan's connection that a team was already waiting for us when we arrived at the hospital. "Ma'am you need to let go now. We are taking her in to run some tests." A male nurse held my arm, holding me back from following the stretcher. "No! I can't leave her!" I cried out. "Madam, you have to allow us to do our jobs properly. Please calm down." His words were strong, but his expression was very soft. He was acting very professional. "Please, I won't disturb you. I will just stand in a corner, she needs me now more than ever!" I begged. My hands stretched out reaching for her hand that was retreating fast from me as she was p
Eloise|| I was shocked to hear my name, more so coming from the lady standing in front of me. My trembling reduced, and I raised my head. She had come out from the car that had almost taken my life alongside the handsome and gentle man who was leading me back to the car with them. I continued to stare at her as I tried to get my wits together after nearly facing death. It was as if I had been predestined to die with the way I was having a lot of experiences that brought me close to death. The situation was starting to get weird as her excitement of seeing me grew, and she started to jump and cry in one place. She acted as if she was very familiar with me. Who was she? How did I know her? And then it clicked in my head. I did know this lady. My eyes furrowed, and a deep rage started to brew inside my belly as my mind brought back the pain of the past. "You!" I spat out, pointing at her, my brown eyes heavy with hate. Nicholas whore! I had once threatened to kill her, and
Tania|| "The result will be put in five days." The doctor who had drawn my blood for the DNA testing said. "Five days is too far! Can't it be done tomorrow?" I could not wait five days to be able to take my inheritance back. "A day is not feasible, especially since your records do not exist to compare it to. We would have to search through the database to track your father's DNA." He explained. "Five days is too much, Sir!" I refused to give up. Figuring there was no way to continue arguing with me with any prospect of winning, he conceded. "Fine. I'll try to get it ready in two days. That's the best I can." He said. "Two days is fine. I can work for two days." I agreed, and the doctor looked visibly relieved. Ivan and I had headed straight to Ivan's hospital for the DNA test the board members had asked for to prove to them I was Tania White–Angel. I had suggested we go today as I could not wait another day. Today had been the best day of my life, and I could not hi
Eloise|| My eyes flickered open, and I was greeted by a bright light. It was hard for my swollen eyes to adjust to the light but I tried my best. I lay on the floor, my body aching all over. I looked at my body but I could not find my night dress on me, instead the shreds of what used to be my night dress were scattered on the floor. Hugging my naked breasts, I slowly sat up, wincing as pain shot through every part of my body. I assessed my surroundings. The room was quiet, and Nicholas was nowhere to be seen. Knowing that was a relief to me but I knew that I needed to act fast. Nicholas would be coming back to inflict more pain on me. I pushed myself up, trying to get on my feet but I ended up just stumbling back to the ground and hurting my injured body. I was weak, my body suffering from Nicholas' attacks, thirst, and lack of food. I could barely move an inch, but I knew if I lay there, I would die, and I did not want to die, especially in the hands of the devil spawn