Chapter IX
Today is Saturday. Last night I was at Jane’s house, where I found out a lot of stuff about Levi, that of course, he didn’t bother to tell me what so ever. At least he was great friends. I wonder sometimes how he got them in the first place.
I get up, all ravished from the intense sleep I had. I couldn’t sleep at all, actually, moving from side to side all night long. I woke up Levi five times, but who cares about that.
I feel like shit today. I have no energy, no power to do anything. I go to the bathroom just so I can get back in bed and be more comfortable about lying there, doing absolutely nothing. I’m not even hungry. I’m not even in the mood to talk.
Levi is at his desk, checking his computer. I can’t see what he is looking at, because his monitors are opposite to my view. He did it on purpose, I’m sure. I stare at my phone, trying to see what time it is. Twelve o'clock. Sad, but who gives a fuck. I don’t have anything to do today. Oh… wait, the club thing is tonight. No problem, until then I will be on my feet.
The house feels dead this morning. No footsteps, no talking, no loud music or crazy screams. Thank God Oliver found his phone. He went crazy the other day. I wonder what would have Levi done if he was the one to lose his phone. Probably play it cool, like he always does.
Next week it’s my grandmas’ birthday. She will be 70. I am sure to pay them a visit. Maybe I will take Levi with me.
Later in the day, my energy bar reaches normal levels. I feel better, ready to do stuff. I go about doing some research for my next book. I manage to get a copy of Levi’s book as well. I will read it in the next couple of days. I surf the internet, searching for different topics. After two hours of hard work, I abandon my task for today.
I go check how the girls are doing. Lola is on her laptop, wasting time like always. Liz is singing her songs, practicing perfection. Ashley will be back soon. I join Liz, myself attempting to imitate her. Of course, I’m terrible at singing. Liz has a YouTube channel, pretty popular I must say. She got two million subscribers. Her looks get half the viewers, I’m sure.
Nine o’clock.
All seven are ready to go out. We four will go to the club and the boys, Levi, Oliver and Gerald will have a guys night out. They will drop us at the club, and then go their way. I don’t want to see any of them tonight. That was the plan.
We look smoking hot in our dresses and high heels. Our makeup is on point and our attitude is crazy.
We are ready to party tonight.
We step inside the club like we own it, all attention directed at us. I, Lola, Liz and Ash are the baddest bitches in this place. We move to the bit of the sound, our bodies’ true art forms. Having cocktails one after the other, shortly I can feel the effect of the alcohol. It gives me the edge I need to go full out.
As we enjoy ourselves, a group of guys gets interested in us. We don’t give much attention to guys in clubs so we ignore them. Continuing with our drinking we get pretty tipsy. Lola is off the charts with her level of sanity. Ashley is the only one that actually is lucid. She doesn’t like alcohol and she is the one to look after us as we get drunk and need a ride home.
I stare at the mesmerizing colorful lights and bright flashes hit my eyes every now and then. I get separated by the rest, making my way deep inside the crowd, without even noticing. Ashley spots me and drags me back with the other girls. We need to stay together in this mess. People are going crazy tonight. The DJ is blasting the music to the max, not even the screams of the crowd can be heard. My chest vibrates to the bass, giving me a euphoria effect. The girls are having a great time, of what I can tell from their faces. The time passes without us realizing. I look at my watch, only to see it’s already twelve. Two full hours of craziness passed. I need a little break. I head with Lola to the bathroom. We do our needs, fix our makeup and take a minute to calm down. Lola is straight wasted. She can barely stand on her feet. We need to get her home. I should call Levi, but I don’t want to talk to him right now. Lola looks at me with a face that says I’m smoked.
We exit the room just to be blocked by the same guys I’ve seen before; the ones that were checking us out. They are four, all buffed and tall. They stare at us without saying shit. I try to pass them but they stop me.
“What? Move aside!” I have to scream so that they can hear me. The music is too loud, even here. Lola is behind me, holding herself by the door. No one but us is in close proximity. Not good.
“You two, come with us,” one of them says, putting a hand on me.
I slightly panic, quickly realizing this is not a game. I look back at Lola. She stares at me, not clearly understanding the situation we are in. I try to release from him grip, but his fingers are too tight around my wrist.
“Let go, you fucker! What is your problem!” I say. He smiles at us, not telling a word. His other hand wraps around me, forcing me to walk with him. His force is too great, I can’t oppose him. Lola too is taken by a different guy and we all leave the club floor, go down the stairs and pass a tunnel that, of what I can tell, connects this building to the next one across the street. I wonder is Ash observed our absence. I can’t reach my phone. I wish Levi was here now. I need him now. We enter a big room, old furniture no windows. It must be the basement or something similar. Two other girls are sitting on a sofa, crying. One of them has a bleeding ear.
“What the fuck is this shit, you fucking animals!” I snap out of nowhere. Fast after I feel a great pressure on one side of my face, followed by pain. I got hit. My nose starts bleeding, but I stand strong on my feet. Lola sees what happened and exits her state. She finally realizes we are in big trouble.
“This bitch is a daring one. She needs to the taught a lesson.”
“No, you will damage the product,” murmurs one of them, the oldest of them all.
“It’s okay; we can take the other one. She looks stoned. She will not oppose too much. I’m sure she cares for her.”
I move my eyes from the guys to Lola and the other two girls, analyzing the gravity of the situation. What can I do at the moment? What is the best attempt to escape this setting? Actually, what can I do at all? I can’t fight them; I can’t run from them, I can’t seduce them. I start losing hope, for me, for Lola, for the other girls that sit across the room, crying.
“Put this two on the couch as well. The last batch needs to arrive any minute now. Then we get on the move. We don’t have much time left.”
This is not good. If we change locations will be very hard for anyone to find us. Lola comes close to me, and whispers in my ear.
“I’m scared. What is happening? I want to go home. Let’s go home, Alice.” She is in shock. She can’t fully grasp the position we are in. I don’t understand it too, but I try my best. The moment I give in, it’s over. I can’t lose hope. Did Ashley observe our absence? Did she get worried about us? Did she contact Levi? All this questions spawn in my head non-stop, like it helps with anything.
How did we get in this place? If we didn’t went out tonight, none of this would have happened. I couldn’t anticipate something like this. I didn’t expect a situation as the one we are in to ever take place. This is insane. Maybe is just a nightmare. I need to wake up and all will be over. I’m losing it; I’m losing it so bad.
Time passes, but I can’t tell how much. The atmosphere is tense, pressure on us as well on these guys. They seem nervous. It looks like they are waiting for something that doesn’t arrive.
“Why are you doing this? Where are you taking us? Release us now and we will forget about all of this.” I try to communicate in the most basic way possible, not really expecting any concrete answer. I don’t even wait for an answer but start analyzing the room in detail. I need to get us out of here. I need to escape. I can’t get fucked up here. They didn’t tie us up. That’s good. They don’t expect much from us, but I’m better than them. I can fight back. Do they have any weapons? Any guns, anything dangerous. I don’t see anything at the moment. Maybe they conceal them.
Still, how much time has passed? How much time we have left? Did Ashley observe our absence? Are we going to die in this place? I don’t think so, but you never know.
“Aren’t you a chatty one, ehm? Come here, stand up, you bitch,” says one of them, of course pointing to me. I stare at him, not moving. He walks toward me, slowly. His steps are heavy, menacing even. I hold my ground, expecting to be hit or even worst. And so it happens. He grabs me by the shoulder, pulls me up with great force, making me fly through the air. His height is the same as mine, looking at me with his tiny eyes from the same level. I look back, not scared of the outcome of this encounter. He smiles and strikes me. I lose my balance, falling to the right side. He stops my fall, gets me back up to the same position and strikes me again.
“You like that? You like it, don’t you? You dirty whore. I will show you who is the boss here!” He screams in my ear, I barely hear him. I block him out, activating my survival instincts. I can take this, I can take this, I can’t take this….
“Stop, stop it! You are killing her!” I hear Lola’s voice, getting up from the couch and attacking the guy in front of me. I stand powerless, unable to fight back anymore. I can barely stand without support. I shortly collapse to the floor, watching hopelessly as Lola tries to fight back. I attend to get back up but with no success.
“Look at this slut, all brave all of the sudden. Did your little friend here inspire you? You got it wrong, if you think anything good will come out of this.”
“Boss, can I fuck this one very fast? I like her face very much; it remains me of some famous bitch on the TV.”
“Go for it, but make it fast. The other guys need to get here any minute now. We need to get on the move,” says the oldest one, the boss of them.
This is not good. Will they rape Lola? Is he going to rape her? No, this can’t happen. I get back up as I hear Lola screaming, trying to stop that slimy bastard.
“Get your hands of her, you piece of shit!” I push him back, but he gets furious. He pushes me back on the floor and starts ripping Lola’s clothes of her. This animal! I lose consciousness for one second, all going black on me. I can’t see, hear or feel anything.
A vision of Levi appears in front of my eyes, like I am dreaming. It’s all a dream now; I can wake up from it. Need to wake up, I have to wake up. I open my eyes to actually see Oliver next to me, dragging me into a corner. I stand amazed of what is happening. I can’t fully understand what is going on, but it looks chaotic. Are they fighting between them? Are those guns? I slip into darkness again. I can only hear now, I can hear gun shots. I can hear Levi’s voice; I can hear Gerald’s voice. I can hear nothing.
I open my eyes. I’m home now, I’m home now. My clothes are changed; my wounds are taken care of. I feel hungry, I feel thirsty, I feel sad. I get up but Levi, which stands aside, stops me.
“Don’t push yourself, dear. Just sleep. I’m here now, don’t worry, all is fine. You are safe now; I’m here to protect you from any harm. Just go to sleep…,” he murmurs with his hands on my arm. I can feel the heat of him on me, giving me life once more. I have a terrible headache, but all is well now.
“Where is Lola? Is she okay?” I ask with my mouth almost closed, not even sure Levi heard my words. He reassures me all is well, Lola is fine and I don’t need to worry myself anymore. I’m home now.
The next day I feel way better. I can stand up and move around. I of course bombard Levi with a multitude of questions about last night. How did he found out where I was, how he got there so fast, what happened to those guys, did I really hear gun shots, did someone got hurt or died? All this and more I asked Levi non-stop until he gave in and told me exactly what took place. I stood there and listened to his story.
After he was done, I was terrified. He says the guns shots were real and two of the four died on the spot. He killed one of them; he killed a man last night, with a gun. I can’t believe the words that come out his mouth. It doesn’t sound real, it doesn’t sound like Levi. I push him back, not wanting to admit his version. His version is a lie, it was to be. He couldn’t kill a person, right?
The next days I isolate myself, not letting anyone near me. I need time alone, I need time to think this whole situation. He tries to get close, not letting it go. I tell him to stop it, but he doesn’t listen at all. He seems to regret what he did, he is in pain. I can see it on his face, but not in his eyes. I just want some time alone with my thoughts. I want to understand what happened on my own, with no exterior help. Maybe that’s a bad thing but I can’t help it.
Later in the day, Levi comes into the room determinated to end this situation.
“Alice, look at me. You need to stop this. It’s not good for you; it’s not good for us. Let me help you, let me back in your life. I didn’t do it because I wanted to; I did it cuz I needed to. You get that, right? I know you scared now, not ever faced such events, but you can count on me.”
“And you know how it is? You should be the one in my place; you did it, not me…” I say.
“Then let me be in your place!” he gets angry all of a sudden.
“Fine. I will leave the city for a couple of days. I can’t be here at the moment. I will visit my grandparents. You stay here and think about what you did.” I spill these words and exit the room.
The next day I’m off to New Haven.
Chapter X
“Did Alice leave?” asks my brother as we sit at the table of the most expensive restaurant I know of. I look around and see happy people everywhere. I came here to eat my favorite dish that only this place makes. I may just cheer up with all that happened in the last few days.
“She did, and I let her do it. She must be alone now, I can’t help her anymore. She needs to get her shit together on her own, in her own way,” I murmur with a full mouth.
“What will you do?” he continues.
“Same as I always did, let it go and don’t let it affect me. I need to stay strong now, especially with Alice all on the floor. Lola is down too. She didn’t even left her room since that night. She almost got raped, and not to mention that a corpse rested on her for one full minute. She was too terrified to even move it of her, and then she fainted. Crazy stuff, that’s for sure.” Oliver cracks a small laugh, as he normally does when the situation is more twisted.
Back home, with Alice gone, the place seems empty. I miss her already and it’s only been half a day. I can sense the atmosphere of this house changing, gloomier by the second. I wish my big sister was here; she can cheer people from the worst. Gerald and Gloria left in the morning, not saying when they come back. It may be never for what I know. Liz, Ash and Zoe walk around the house like zombies, with no energy to do nothing. They eat, sleep and watch TV. This is depressing.
I need to fill my time with something or I will go crazy. The problem is I don’t have any desire at the moment. Not even for the gym, which I always loved. When I was younger, I just couldn’t be happier when I was in the gym with my friends, messing around with hot fit chicks or pump some blood in the muscles to impress the ladies with our aesthetics. I lost contact with many of my old friends. At that time I was living in Cali, and now I’m on the other side of the country. Of course I would lose many of them, but that’s okay, I can make new friends, as I actually did. Still, nothing compares with your old friends that you have so many memories of good or bad times. I’m pretty old now; I can say with certainty I grown up with good people around me, which supported you whenever you needed. Even now I can vividly remember some situation that I wish never happened, but they did. Even so, help was always on standby. If it wasn’t for some individuals, I wouldn’t be here today.
Friday morning I get up all fresh and ready to do shit. I don’t know what, but I will do something productive today. It’s only six, which means all are asleep. Only I am crazy enough to get up at this hour, and I’m proud of that. It’s not easy to get up when all are asleep, enjoying themselves.
First thing I do is go to the office and check ho
w things are going. Jane is already here, doing her stuff. She is one of the friends that I am lucky to have. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be able to have so much free time on my hands. She does all the work for me, as she does it way better nonetheless. I pay her extra of course, and she actually likes what she does here for me. I’m happy I found a person like this.
I go about some new documents that I need to sign and check. I finish that quick, letting myself wonder on different floors, observing the normal days of hard working people that have no social life. I pity them in some way, but someone has to do this shit. We can’t avoid it, but embrace it. A couple of hours later I leave the building with my sight on an old friends bar. It’s barely eleven but I don’t care. I want to see this person. I don’t know why, but I feel the answer to my current situation lies in that place.
I arrive shortly after, pulling the car one block away. I walk inside the bar, and see nobody. It’s empty, only a woman dressed in black is reading a book. She doesn’t even raise her head to see who entered. She doesn’t care about anything.
“What are you reading there? It sure seems pretty captivating,” I say with a smile on my face, trying to get her to look at me. No success. She continues her task like it’s the most important thing ever.
I come closer, and sit right in front of her. Only me and her in the whole bar. Silence fills my ears, not even background music runs. This place is gloomy as it always been. I wonder how it didn’t close until now.
“Hey Kimberly, you look beautiful on this lovely day.”
“It’s Kim, stupid. What you want?” she murmurs with her powerful but feminine voice. Her eyes don’t waiver not even a second, still fixated on the page.
“Who said I want something? Did I say that? I don’t remember, but with someone like you in front of me, it’s only natural to forget stuff,” I joke around, hoping she will actually take me into consideration. If I get to serious she will block me out immediately.
A desire come true (The Never Changing Wish Book 1) Page 11