She was not aware of the thing that had actually happened.
And when they got out of the car, there was a very large crowd.There was also too much noise that the child felt uncomfortable. "Daddy, let us go back home," she had said.But the man seemed not to be listening. He carried her in his embrace and rushed to the front of the crowd.And there, the child saw so many bodies, covered in blood. But one particular one attracted her attention.She felt like the blood in her blood had frozen. And even no word could come out.She patted her dad's shoulder and pointed towards it. That was her mommy. And she was lying there unlively.The man seemed to have come to his senses. He immediately covered the child's eyes.But the child still saw the tears falling from his eyes. He was crying. And it confirmed to her that that was actually her mommy.The man began walking ahead. But his assistant stopped in front of him. "Boss, you cannot go with her," he said, referring to the child he was carrying.He must have heard of what that had happened too and rushed over.The man handed the kid to the assistant. The kid was also crying, wanting to go to her mommy, but she was not allowed to.She watched as her daddy stopped before her mommy's body and hugged it,crying out loudly.She too had experienced how much her dad loved her mom. And it pained her to see how much he was crying.The scene changed.And the child stared at the casket that her mommy was in was being taken into the deep hole that had been dug."No!" She screamed. She did not want that to be done to her mommy. What would her daddy do without her?Atleast for her, she had big brother Steve. What about her daddy?But she was held back. She was not allowed to go closer and stop those people.And she watched helplessly as the people poured the soil back into the hole,covering her mommy!"Noooo!" She screamed even louder. She wanted someone to stop them."Nooo! Mommy, do not go!"Then, she sat up with a start.Gabby looked around her in confusion. She raised her hand to touch her head that was covered in sweat.She had that nightmare again. The nightmare of the things that had happened that year back.They kept haunting her,denying her sleep. And she was scared of being alone.The next moment, her door was pushed open and her lights switched on.She jumped from the bed. "Brother!" She called out.But she stopped when she saw her daddy. Tears filled her eyes, and she ran to his embrace."Daddy, I am scared," she said.The man hugged her and patted her back. " Had another nightmare?" He asked softly.She nodded her head. And she was trembling. She did not want to say anything about it to his dad. He already knew what it was.And it would hurt him more that anyone else."Go back to sleep, I will leave the lights on," the man said after she had calmed down.But she shook her head immediately. "Daddy...don't go. I am still scared," she begged.Mr Hawkins sighed. "Okay, go to sleep, I will watch over you," he said to her.She nodded her head and went back to bed. But she did not dare to close her eyes. She was afraid of falling asleep because she knew that her dad would leave."Why don't you try closing your eyes my princess? All shall be well, okay?" Her dad said to her.But she patted the space beside her. " Daddy, you can sleep here, please," she said.The man looked at her carefully. Then he sighed and got to bed, sleeping beside her."But you have to know that you are big now. You will no longer have to share a bed with daddy," the man said."You are right daddy," she said and smiled. She had always slept with her dad since the time her mom died.And it was only when she turned fifteen that he began sending her to her own room.But there was her big brother Steve. She would sneak to his room and sleep with him instead.Her face turned sad at the thought of him. It has been two full months since she saw him. And she cannot even communicate with him."Daddy..." She called in a small voice."Yes dear?" Mr Hawkins asked her."Has brother called you?" She asked,looking into his eyes.The man remained silent for some seconds. Then he shook his head. "I have not heard from him yet. But you do not have to worry. He is fine, okay?""But I miss him," she said and tried not to cry. He just left her like that that day. He did not even say that he was leaving."I know dear," Mr Hawkins said and patted her back. "I will try finding him for you.""Thank you daddy," Gabby said and closed her eyes. But she was not asleep yet.Two months has passed since her brother did that to her. And when she woke up that day, he was gone.At first, she had sworn to be mad at him once he returned. But days went by,and he did come back.She had tried calling him, but his phone was off. She sent him so many messages, but he never replied to any.She began worrying. She even thought that she was the reason he had left. Maybe he felt guilty of the things he had done to her and escaped. And maybe he was never going to come back.But she was scared of sharing what that had happened between them to anyone else, not ever her dad.It just sounded funny. How could her brother do such a thing to her? And he disappeared after that!She had been waiting for him daily,but until now, he had not shown up.He had not even called to ask if she was fine. It seemed like he did not care about her anymore.She looked at him, feeling a little better after hearing his words. “Thank you, Steve.”He squeezed her hand gently and said, “Remember, no one should know about this, at least not yet, okay?”Gabby nodded again. “I understand. I’ll be careful, brother.”Steve gave her a serious look. “Promise me, Gabby.”“I promise,” she whispered.Steve nodded, finally satisfied.“Good, are you already done with your work? I was just finishing up on something, then we can leave," Steve said.Gabby nodded. " Yes, I was just coming to check if you are done."The following day, activities were running normally in the office. Later that afternoon, Becky walked slowly towards Maya’s desk. She stopped and leaned slightly on the edge, flashing a friendly smile."Hey, Maya, do you have a minute?"Maya looked up, a bit surprised. "Oh, sure, Becky.""Come with me for a coffee," Becky suggested, lowering her voice a little. "There’s something I want to talk to you about. Something very interesting."Maya, wh
Gabby let out a quiet sigh after finishing her meal. She wiped her hands with a piece of tissue and then stood up. As she walked past their table on her way out, she paused for a second and gave them a small smile.“Enjoy your lunch, I am already done,” Gabby said with a polite smile.Becky looked up and smiled back, though Gabby could sense the fake sweetness in her eyes.“Thanks, Gabby,” Becky replied cheerfully.Maya also smiled politely and nodded. “Thank you.”She went back to her office and sat down. She picked a bottle of water to drink, and just before she could uncap it, her heart suddenly began to race for no reason. She placed her hands on her chest, feeling it pound fast and hard.Her vision slowly changed right before her eyes, and everything around her, including her computer, desk, and the office walls, started to blur.Suddenly, she was no longer sitting at her desk. She found herself standing in the middle of the red forest again. The leaves from the trees were glow
Time passed quickly, and soon it was tea break. People started leaving their desks to get tea or stretch their legs outside. Maya stood up from her seat, too, pretending she wanted to take a walk. She slowly walked toward the server room, glancing around to make sure no one was watching her. When she got near the door, she lightly placed her hand on the lock and tried to push it gently, but it wouldn’t open. She tried again, only to realize that, unlike the previous day, the door was locked tightly.Just then, a voice startled her from behind. “What are you looking for over there?” Becky asked casually, walking by with a cup of tea in her hand.Maya quickly turned around, forcing a small laugh to cover her nervousness. “Oh! I was… I was actually looking for the washroom,” Maya said, pretending to look lost.Becky raised her eyebrows but smiled. “Oh, the washroom? It’s this way.”She pointed down the hall and started walking alongside Maya. As they walked, Becky glanced at her curio
Maya rushed home quickly after she parted ways with Gabby. While walking, she kept glancing behind her, making sure no one was following her. Her heart was beating fast, not knowing what she should say after not receiving that man's calls. Her phone kept ringing nonstop along the way.Maya didn’t dare answer it while she was still outside. She was afraid someone might hear the conversation or see her talking.As soon as she reached her house, she opened the door and quickly locked it behind her. She closed the curtains and made sure all the doors were locked. Her hands were shaking a little as she pulled out her phone. She gasped when she saw the screen. There were twelve missed calls from the same number.“OMG! I am done,” she whispered, her heart sinking. The same number had called her over and over again.Without wasting any more time, she dialed the number. The man on the other end picked up immediately.“What took you so long to answer my calls?” the man shouted angrily, his vo
“There was an error, and some files tried to move from our system. Luckily, I caught it in time before anything bad happened.”The team started whispering to each other quietly, surprised. Steve raised his hand to stop them. “I’m not here to blame anyone,” he said calmly. “I believe it was just a system bug. But we cannot take this lightly.”Everyone nodded.“I want this company’s system to be fully protected. I don’t want anything like this to happen again. Do you understand?”“Yes, sir,” one of the senior IT officers replied.Steve looked at each one of them. “I need you and your team to run a full check on every corner of the system. Find out where the weakness is and fix it.”“We will get started immediately, sir,” the IT head said.“Good. Also, I want stronger firewalls added. Not just normal ones, they should be strong enough to block even the smallest problem.”“Yes, sir. We can upgrade the security software and set up alerts for every file movement,” the IT head responded.Ste
“I knew they won't reject your beauty and charms, " the man replied calmly. “What about them? Did you do what I told you to do?”“Yes, I have been watching them closely,” Maya said, leaning against the wall on the side of the road.“What did Steve say ?” the man asked.Maya’s lips curved into a cold smile. “Steve looks like he suspects me and my intentions, but he is not sure yet. But he said he would give me a short time to see how I perform."That's my girl, just continue doing what I tell you, and you will get everything I promised you," the man on the other end of the call said.Maya nodded. " I will, sir, thank you," she said, then ended the call.~~~The following day.Inside Steve’s office, Gabby sat across from him, looking out through the glass wall that faced the open office space. They could see them very well, but someone from outside couldn't see what was going on inside Steve's office.“There she is, seated, busy working on her computer,” Gabby said in a low voice while