Haven to Hell

Once she was out of the office, Iliana ran to the nearest restroom, grabbed a bottle of soap, poured it all over her hand and started scrubbing it vigorously with her nails until her hand started bleeding. Foot steps could be heard were approaching the cubicle she was in, but due to the fact that she was extremely focused and blindly concentrated on cleaning her hands, she  hear them. The door opened and a worried looking Catherine stepped in.

"Iliana! Iliana!, What are you doing to your hand? Stop! You are bleeding!"

"No, no I won't stop. I need to get his touch off my hand." Iliana said with her eyes focused on only her hand while scrubbing it harder.

"Come on Iliana. Don't do this to yourself."

Catherine tried stopping Iliana but got shoved away, her back hitting the door forcefully.

"Iliana please stop. For the sake of your mother, please! Do you think she would be happy seeing you like this?" Catherine whispered.

Hearing that, Iliana collapsed onto the floor in tears as Catherine stood up and took some water in a bottle washed the blood off of Iliana's hand. Grabbing a tissue paper, she cleaned the wound and wrapped it with a handkerchief.

"You shouldn't do this to yourself Iliana. This isn't fair on me. I saw Mr Anderson running out of the cafe in a torn shirt and a bloody arm through the back door while I was looking for you. Did you do that?"

"No, of course I didn't. I lack the strength to do that Catherine. I am extremely weak and hurt. You know sometimes, I feel like the world is closing in on me."

"Alright, I know you could never have done that. Just don't hurt yourself because of that fat, slimy, old man. It pains my heart to see you like this and I am sure you will be fine." Catherine said while hugging her and patting her back. A weak Iliana collapsed into Catherine's arms as she wept.

Suddenly, Iliana pulled away. "The shift is over. I think I should go now. It is late and I don't want stepmother thinking anything else."

Iliana told Catherine from the start that Juliana was her step mother because she didn't want to put her best friend in danger. It is said that the lesser you know, the safer you are.

"Don't worry, go on. I will clean up the counter and lock up the cafe before leaving."

"Thanks alot Rina. You mean alot to me, don't you ever forget that. Okay?"

"Of course not" Rina replied smiling.

"Now hurry."

Grabbing her bag, she walked out of the cafe and let the cool evening breeze caress her tired face.

Walking towards an abandoned park, she sat down on a bench and gazed up at the night sky. The glitter-like stars illuminated the dark sky creating a pleasant scene to the eyes.

"Aren't they beautiful?"

Beside her, she could make out the outline of a man with jet black hair but due to the darkness surrounding them, she couldn't see his face.

"Yes, they are." She whispered in response.

The both of them sat there in complete silence as they were both lost in their own thoughts. Soon, the man heard soft whimpers coming from beside him and with a frown, he handed her a handkerchief. Instead of taking the handkerchief, she laughed and glanced at him, as the moonlight cast its dull rays on half of her face.

"You know," she began, "the people you once cared about can turn your haven into hell."

"Well, I don't know what made you make that statement but I believe that when life throws you lemons, you should make orange juice." He said winking at her.

"I will keep that in mind" She replied with a smile.

Though the moonlight was dull and her face couldn't be seen properly, her features looked so delicate and weak that he felt like protecting her from anything that could harm her. He stared at her in silence while a clueless Iliana continued looking up at the sky.

An hour later, she stood up, smiled at the stranger and left. He smiled back at her while staring at her disappearing figure. He wanted to stop her and ask for her name, but when he decided to, she had already left. Sighing deeply, he stood up as well.

He was already walking away when something shiny on the grass caught his eye. It was a necklace with the a heart-shaped locket. On the locket, the letter I was engraved at the centre of the heart. Opening the locket, he found the words, Iliana inscribed in bronze-gold coloured letters.

"This must belong to her." He said looking carefully at the necklace.

"Iliana...." The man sighed deep in thought.

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Walking into the house, Iliana found Juliana, Mark and Melina in the sitting room with angry looks on their faces.

"And where were you foolish girl?"

"I was at work."

"My guards reported to me that they saw you walking into a park and talking to a man instead of coming straight home. Who was he!?"

"I don't know him."

"Don't you dare lie to me!!" He thundered.

"I am not lying."

"So you can really stoop that low as to shamelessly shoving yourself on any man you meet just to get money? I can't believe you are that cheap. Tsktsk." Lina mocked.

"For goodness sake, I do not know him!" Iliana screamed in frustration.

Angered, her uncle slapped her so hard she tasted blood in her mouth and fell to the floor. Lina's mouth stretched into a smile as she watched the scene.

"How dare you shout like that in my presence!? You bastard! You will apologise to Lina right now! Get on your knees and do that!, Or else..."

"Yes, I will do it" she said hiding her tears.

Kneeling down, she stammered, "I..I...a...am...sor.. sorry Lina."

"Uhh, I didn't hear that properly. Please, speak like a normal human being."

"I am sor..sorry mistress."

"Oh, it is okay my dear servant. Did you finish the chores I gave you?" Lina said with a smirk on her face

"Yes, I did mistress."

"Get your pathetic self out of my view."

"Yes mistress."

"Wait, what is that handkerchief doing on your hand?"

"It is nothing, I got injured while working."

"Serves you right" Her aunt mumbled.

"I should leave now. Thank you."

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"Xander, Cole, I want you both to gather as much information as possible about that man she met with at the park, okay?"

"Yes boss."

"I want to know every single thing about him."

"Yes sir."

"You may leave."