ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOUR

ISRAEL POV

Lucas la Martina…I hated that name! The man stole everything that was supposed to be mine. The greatest gratification for me was to slice his little son up. I always had a dream of slicing that boy up, limb by limb, starting with the fingers, the ears. I wanted to watch him crying out loud, the blood gushing out at first, until it ran low, oozing out slowly and painfully. I wanted to witness all his pain. At the time that Lucas la Martina died, or rather disappeared (because I never believed that he died for real) , I managed to convince myself that I had let it go. Yet when Anisha spoke about that silly la Martina boy, my anger rose. My hatred re-surfaced. I wanted to do it. I had to slaughter him myself.

"If...if I go in this dress, they will suspect that I…I mean, can I change into something else??" Anisha stammered.

"Let's go!" I barked the order, leading the girl to take very fast steps towards the door.

"You are going to act very normal. Any funny tricks, and you die. Do you get that?" I howled at her. She nodded her head and wiped off the tears.

"You're taking me to that la Martina boy tonight! Now!" I demanded.

"Well, what will I say? My sister in law is here to take me to…"

"Find a way! If you value your life, find a way!" I pushed her, motioning for her to go.

My plan was to kill two birds with one stone. I wanted this girl Anisha to lead me to the la Martina boy, and then soon after I got hold of the boy, I planned to shoot Anisha at that same instant.

We started walking and we used the stairs down. At the foot of the staircase I saw the old woman who opened the door for me,

"ma'am Anisha, I was very worried when you took so long! I was coming up just now to check on you." the woman said.

"The...the dress is too big, Mrs Silva. I tried to adjust it," Anisha's voice was very shaky.

"Normal voice!" I reminded her with a nudge on her waist.

"Are you ok, ma'am Anisha?" the lady whom Anisha referred to as Mrs Silva asked with concern.

"I am fine," Anisha smiled and entered into the room. The other lady was still seated on the sofa, and she looked up with a smile.

"It's too big," she commented.

"Yes," Anisha forced a smile.

"Have you already taken the picture?" she asked again.

"No," Anisha answered.

Mrs Silva went closer to Anisha and scrutinized her face.

"Why do you look so sad, ma'am Anisha? Did the dress get you that much worried? Don't worry, I know that sir Dylan will get you a new dress. It's a pity that he bought one too big."

Anisha remained silent, but the moment she looked at me, I gave her the eye, commanding her by that look, to say something. She immediately understood the look:

"It's just that, I really wanted the dress to fit, I wanted to wear it tonight," she said in a low voice. She continued to say, "Ciera, I cannot attend the diner anymore."

Ciera, who was scrolling on her phone, looked up at Anisha with disappointment written all over her face.

"Is it such a big deal? You have many more dresses, Anisha." She sounded irritated.

"Sir Dylan is spoiling ma'am Anisha!" Mrs Silva laughed a little. "She's using to getting anything she wants. Look, now she is about to cry over a dress. Come, ma'am I will help you find another dress."

I cleared my throat and said, "I will take my leave now," with my eye on Anisha. It was my way of informing her that I was done playing around, and she needed to come out with an excuse for leaving the mansion with me.

"Oh yes. I…Mrs Silva…I will go with Fletcher…I will go with him."

Mrs Silva, who was smiling, immediately stopped smiling and looked at me with a doubtful eye. I smiled at her.

"Where do you want to go, ma'am Anisha?" she asked sternly.

"Well, I want to wear this dress, so I want to go to my boutique now, and have them fix something fast, for the picture." Anisha's voice trembled.

"Is the dress really such a big issue, Anisha?" Ciera failed to hide her irritation.

She put her phone aside and looked at me. Her eyes shifted from me to Anisha, then back to me again.

"Who are you?" she asked looking straight into my eyes.

"I am Fletcher, from the courier company." I responded.

"Which courier company? Does it have no name? Why is she so scared of you?" Ciera asked me with a suspicious voice, but I did not respond.

"I'm calling Dylan!" she hauled her phone but she had not entered any number before I pointed a gun at her and barked in anger, "no, you are not calling anyone."

"Oh my! He has a gun!" Mrs Silva screamed.

"Shut up! All of you, move to the sofa. Hand me that phone. Give me all phones! Move, move towards the sofa!" I pointed the gun at Anisha and Mrs Silva.

Mrs Silva's shaky hand handed over her phone to me, and Ciera gave me hers too. They started moving toward the sofa on which Ciera was sitting.

I started to regret…what had I done? I should have just shot Anisha when we were upstairs; now I had three ladies to deal with? If the worst came to the worst, I was willing to shoot them all, but what I was not sure of was…was I going to be able to get out of the mansion, with all the security guards that I saw when I entered? That one was tough to answer. How? Unless if I prepared myself to shoot all of them, which really was not a big issue for me, but then, was I going to be able to take all of them down before one of them fired back at me? It was a case of a multitude against one, and I could not trust myself enough to convince myself that I was able to make it.

I cursed la Martina. I cursed Lucas la Martina with all my breath, for it seemed, even in the grave, he still had power over me. If that girl Anisha had not mentioned la Martina' son, I wouldn't have ended up in such a mess! Oh Lucas la Martina I hate you! I hate you with all my might! First you made me feel inadequate, when you constantly proved to be a better thinker than me! You always used your intelligence to get ahead of me, stealing everything that was supposed to be mine. I hate you Lucas! You stole my idea! Double L waste Management company was supposed to be mine! I should have owned that company! And you killed my brother, Lucas! You killed my brother! And my sister died because of you! What do you want from me, Lucas?

And now that I had a chance to get to Liam, I could not let the chance slip by. I could not do that. And yet it appeared like that was what was happening. Left with no option, I was supposed to fend for myself first, make sure I get to escape the hands of the law, before I could think of anything else. The only option I had was to shoot and run. It was good that my gun was a silencer, so I could shoot and walk out freely, walk past those dumb security guards and disappear never to be seen again in Lakeworld!

"Why did you stop? Move towards the sofa!" I screamed at the two ladies who were standing, seemingly watching me with intently.

The older woman was already crying, yet in her great fear, she still stood in front of Anisha, as if trying to protect her. I wondered what a loyal servant she was, willing to protect her madam even until her own death. I looked over at Ciera, just in time to see her reaching inside her bag, which was on the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"I...I just…"she stammered in immense panic.

"Let me see!" I ordered. "Kick that bag to me!"

She immediately obeyed and when I opened, I saw that she was reaching out for a phone. She intended to dial a number on her phone while it was inside her bag. What a sly woman! Great fury enveloped my whole being, and I hurled her by the arm, bringing her to me. She let out a small scream and I made her stand in front of me, with her back on my chest. I placed the nozzle of the gun on her ear and told her, "Trying to cheat me? You've messed with the wrong person!"

"Please…please don't...don't; don't hurt her," Anisha begged.

"To the sofa now!" I screamed and the two of them walked silently towards the sofa.