Trapped

Deici materialized in Ayla's apartment after securing her in his room. He had been scoping the apartment for the last hour and no one seemed to be home. He meticulously searched the apartment for another hour and a half acquainting himself with every facet of her life. He finished on the sofa her diary in his hands and a look of delight on his face.

"Jackpot!" He said to himself, leaving the same way he had arrived.

.....

Ayla woke with a start, her unfocused eyes scanning the unfamiliar surroundings. Where was she? She shook her head; the fog slowly began to lift, and she tried to raise her arm to massage her aching temples and fear tore at her heart. She couldn't move her hands! She was suddenly very alert, her eyesight quickly cleared, and her breath came in shallow gasps that left her body screaming for oxygen. Her head began to spin, and she had to force herself to calm down and think rationally. She looked around again, this time looking for a figure lurking in the shadows.

There was no one there. She focused on her restraints. Her hands had been tied behind her back and her feet were bound together, but she was not gagged. She flipped onto her side, then sat up on the bed feeling a bit dizzy. Ayla closed her eyes and allowed the moment of vertigo to pass. She slowly got to her feet and hopped to the door, turning around she tried the doorknob, locked as she anticipated. She was about to scream when a thought struck her silent. 'Why wasn't she gagged?' Her scalp tingled and instincts told her she was being watched by a predator. 'Why?' She hopped back to the bed and sat down.

The man walked forward; a chuckle left his lips that made Ayla's blood run cold. "You are smarter than I thought, with instincts that would rival mine if honed Ms. Phos." With a movement too quick for her to register the restraints were cut, and she was free. She looked into his eyes trying to read his intent but found nothing there, they were as cold as they were beautiful. She steadied her nerves and calmed her mind, a technique she had honed for years, a coping mechanism developed during her adolescent years.

"I see you know my name, but I am at a disadvantage since I don't know your name or who you are." She held his gaze waiting for a response, her fear replaced by a fierce determination to survive this situation. She did not realize it, but her eyes had become as cold as his.

"My name is Deici, and I am your employer, you are currently in my apartment."

"Your apartment, I see." Ayla knew exactly where she was and why she was there, she had seen something impossible, something she was not supposed to witness. She thought carefully about her next question and try as she did it came out slightly pitched. "What are you going to do to me?" He smiled knowingly.

"I would like to welcome you to our organization, your application was quite impressive, kindly follow me for your orientation." He replied gesturing to the door. A tear slid down her cheek.

.....

Arcadia was a bit flustered. She had received a message from Ayla asking her to attend an impromptu celebration dinner. "Celebrating what?" she had texted. "

'You'll see, it's on me just be there, I need you there,' was the reply. She loved Ayla like a sister and would go to the ends of the earth for her, dinner was nothing.

The address had her more curious than ever. This place was expensive, only the richest of the rich dined here, making it extremely exclusive. She nervously gave her name to the tuxedoed hunk at the front desk and was pleasantly surprised to be told "follow me madam." She had worn a short black dress with matching gold bag, shoes and accessories, an expensive purchase she kept for special occasions. She was led to a table for four, where Ayla and two men were seated. The men both wore expensive suits and to her delight were quite handsome. The guy with the soft violet eyes was muscular and wore a black suit and unbuttoned white shirt, while the other had the clearest silver eyes she had ever seen. He was lean but clearly fit and wore a white suit with a blue shirt also unbuttoned at the neck, 'I guess no ties means casual to these guys' she thought as she approached the table. Ayla stood smiling and she smiled delighted to see her friend had cleaned up nicely for this outing, wearing a green dress with a high split and matching emerald earrings and chain. They would have to talk after. Where had she been hiding this outfit and where had she bought it? Her closet always looked to be full of either skirt or pants suits and sweatpants and T-shirts.

"Good evening." Arcadia said through a wide smile. The two men stood and introduced themselves.

"Hi, I'm Typhon, it's nice to meet you."

"I am Deici, Ayla hasn't stopped talking about you since we hired her, it is certainly a pleasure to put a face to the name." Arcadia took her seat and everyone, but Ayla sat.

"I need to use the ladies' room, excuse me for a moment." Ayla did not look at Arcadia, an indication that she did not want her to follow, so Arcadia nodded and gladly looked at the two men seated to either side of her. "Tell me about yourselves."

Ayla splashed some water on her face and looked in the mirror. She was still reeling from what had happened in Deici's and Typhon's apartment this afternoon, was she even awake, this had to be a dream, no, a nightmare. She pinched herself, it hurt. As she had stepped out of the bedroom Typhon had entered the apartment carrying what was clearly three of her suitcases. She had recoiled at the sight of him, not because he was ugly, quite the opposite, but because he was huge. His muscles clearly bulged through his clothes and his presence was intimidating. He disarmed her to some degree with his smile, it was genuine and reached his purple eyes. "This is my associate Typhon, he lives here." Deici stated, placing his hand on her back and leading her to the living room. "Sit." She sat on in one of the armchairs and Typhon occupied the other, Deici sat on the sectional facing her. "I know you are not an idiot so I will be frank. You are a risk to us and the people we work for and the best way to eliminate such a threat would be to silence it, permanently. However, we are not evil men and would hate for any harm to come to you, so we have initiated an alternate solution. You have been implanted with a monitoring device."

"What!" Ayla shouted, jumping to her feet, her emotions overriding her survival instincts.

"Sit. Down." Deici said calmly. She slowly lowered herself into the chair her eyes burning holes in him. "This device is being monitored by an AI programmed to detect certain phrases and key words, it is also capable to tracking your movement including your hands should you try to write, or type said words and give them to a friend. "This device also transmits your location at all times and can be used for communication."

"Like a phone?" Ayla asked.

"No, like a receiver." Typhon interjected.

"We can give you instructions, but you can't reply." Deici continued, "To more closely monitor your activities, you will be living here as a caretaker, the guest room is yours, your things have already been moved and the lease on your apartment settled."

Ayla took a few seconds to let the information sink in. "So, I am a prisoner?"

"No, you are an employee, we will be paying you five times what you were earning as a cleaner." Typhon replied.

"I won't tell anyone what I saw, I just want to go home and forget this ever happened."

"It's too late for that, plus, we don't know you and simply can't trust you to keep your mouth shut." Deici said.

Ayla had taken a minute or two to compose herself and organize her thoughts. "What's stopping me from exposing you, a pay increase? By the time your AI realizes what I've done your little secret will be out along with your address and description."

"The Ai job is not to stop you talking, it's job is to ensure that you pay for it." Deici replied his eyes glinting in the light thrown from the chandelier.

"What do you mean make me pay?"

Deici stood and walked over to her, kneeling until they were at eye level. He took out her diary and read a few select phares "Arcadia is a true friend... I love Arcadia like the sister I always wanted...." Deici smiled; it held nothing but malice. "I'll take her life as soon as the AI reports your treachery. It doesn't matter where she is, as long as I have her DNA sequence, which I took the liberty of obtaining from her apartment while you were sleeping, I can be next to her in seconds." He stood up, looking down at her paling complexion, "Oh, and just for fun I'll dispose of daddy and mommy dearest as well as your sister, her husband and three kids, not that their deaths would bother you too much. I'll just do it out of spite, that's just the kind of person I am."

Ayla's blood ran cold, it felt like ice was running through her veins and some of the shards had pierced her heart. "How..." she started to ask.

"It's my job to gather as much information as quickly as possible on certain people, and it's not like yours was a hard to find." Deici retorted.

Typhon saw the situation spiraling out of control and stepped in. "Ms. Phos, I know it's a lot to take in, but this is the best solution for all involved, we...."

"Best solution for who?" Ayla snapped.

Typhon stood and Deici stepped away from her, he looked her straight in her eyes and said, "For you, it's this way or I can let him kill now!"

Her shoulders had slumped, the fight draining from her body. When the hopelessness of her situation sank in tears began to flow steadily down her face. Deici had started to approach her, but Typhon had asked him to leave. Deici had given something to Typhon and went into his bedroom. After she had composed herself, he called her over to the bar where he sat drinking cognac. He gave her back her phone, unlocked and open to a conversation she never had with Arcadia. She read in silence. He gave her a bank card, her name engraved on the front. "Go buy something nice to wear. Make sure it's appropriate for the location."

'Who the hell were these people.'

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