TWO

LUCAS' POV

I was blindfolded and beaten like I had never been beaten before.

"Just say where the merchandise is!! How can it all disappear?" an angry voice, which I failed to recognise, yelled at me.

I groaned in pain, crouching on the cold floor. Although there were many people in the room, I had failed to recognise a single voice.

"Where are the goods?" the man repeated as his thick leather belt landed on my bare back.

"It's enough!" a voice screamed. Troy!! Oh! That voice was undoubtedly Troy's! Troy was there too! I almost screamed in joy upon hearing Troy's voice.

"Troy! Troy is that you" I sobbed in desperation.

"You better shut up if you want to leave this place alive," Troy said. "Everyone get out!" he screamed.

"But Troy, boss said we must beat him until he speaks", said the voice of the one who had been beating me.

"Boss said we must torture him until he talks, not until he dies. At the rate you're going, you will kill him any minute from now. I said out! Everyone!" Troy's commanding voice was followed by the sound of many footsteps which were loud at first, and slowly faded off as the people left the room.

I heard the loud sound of a door slamming shut. Footsteps drew close to me, and I believed it was Troy, so I asked in a begging voice, "Please untie me, Troy. My feet and my hands are hurting. I also have a very bad headache. Please untie me."

"That's not going to happen. Tell me, where are the goods?" he asked in an emotionless tone.

"Troy, please believe me; I have no idea. But please, help me save my family. My wife and my child are…"

"Your wife is dead", he said in a rude tone.

I suddenly froze. Although my eyes were already blindfolded, I felt a deeper, thicker darkness engulfing me. It felt like I had been thrown into a freezer, for suddenly I felt cold. The cold was moving through my body from my legs upwards, intensifying as it moved upwards, causing my body to shake. All my limbs were suddenly numb, and it felt like something or someone was chocking me, making it extremely difficult for me to breath. My head started spinning, I felt like I was in a roller coaster going round and round, and the faster it went, the colder I felt. Without any warning, I threw up and my tears started coming out, wetting the cloth that they used to blindfold me.

I wanted Troy to say it was a joke. I waited anxiously for Troy to say, "she's alive, I was just joking," but those words never came. He did not say anything. Larissa! Larissa was dead? My dear lovely wife…my heart ached. It felt like a rock was placed, or rather thrown on to my chest, weighing heavily on me, causing both physical and emotional pain. I could not breathe. My breathing, which came in short outbursts accompanied by small whimpers, heightened with each breath I took. My breathing was fast and forced, and the cold which I previously felt instantly turned into heat. My body seemed to be producing its own heat, for the warmth came from within. It was warmth at first, but the temperature rapidly rose, leading to my sweating. I felt my trousers clinging to my legs, soaked by the sweat that my body was producing.

"Where are the goods?" Troy said to me. The goods? He was still asking me about the goods, soon after informing me that my dear wife was dead? Larissa! Larissa la Martina, my wife. If I had known that things were going to come to this, then I would have never got involved with the people that I involved myself with. My wife; my dear wife.

"I said where are the goods!" Troy sounded impatient.

"M-my s-s-son. Is Liam alive?" that was all I managed to say. If Larissa was dead, did it mean that whoever killed Larissa also killed Liam? Troy remained silent.

"Liam. Troy, please answer me. Is he alive?", I said through my tears.

"For now yes. Where are the goods?" he asked without any emotion in his voice. Using the phrase "for now" was Troy's clear way of letting me know, in a few words, that Liam's life was in danger too. I needed to beg for my son's life…

"Troy please, for my loyalty to you throughout all these years, please help me save my son. Please." I cried even more as I struggled to get to my feet. He roughly pushed me back and I fell on to the floor. Falling was not an issue at that time. I did not mind, as long as Troy did something to help save my son's life.

"Please, Troy", I begged.

"I can help save your son, but I can't save you," he stated with finality.

A chill ran through my body upon hearing those words. But it was better than nothing. If he could save Liam, there was always a chance that next time I would convince him to help me too.

"Can I use my phone, please Troy? For the sake of our friendship, please!"

To my utter surprise, Troy placed the phone in my hand, before withdrawing it and asking, "What's your password?" I told him.

Then he asked, "who do you need to call?"

"Anisha", my voice shivered.

I heard him clicking on the phone, and I assumed he was searching for Anisha's contacts. As soon as the phone started ringing, Troy said to me "thirty seconds." I stretched out my hand, believing that he was going to give me the phone, but instead he ordered me to talk, informing me that the phone was on speaker.

"Sir, you have to come home now….", came Anisha's loud voice. From what she said, I knew things had already gone seriously bad, because the panic in her voice could not be missed.

Hoping that Liam was still alive, I could not allow her to finish off her sentence. I needed to get straight to the point as I told Anisha in a stern voice,

"Go into our bathroom…" I gave her the full instructions on how to get money and run as far away as possible.

Before I could finish talking, Troy ended the call. "Troy," I pleaded. "May I just say a few more things to her? Just one more sentence, please Troy?"

"Instead of thanking me, you're asking for more favours?" Troy said in a mocking tone.

"Thank you", was all I could say.

"You'll never see this phone again", was his response.

He walked out of the room and as soon as he was out, someone walked in. Without saying a word, the person injected something into my right arm, while two or three other people firmly held me. I tried to struggle but it was in vain. They overpowered me.

"Why do you keep injecting me? What is that?" I protested.

A woman laughed and said, "this is good for you. it will kill you slowly. You don't have to go through the pain of a cruel death."

They walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. My right hand felt heavy. The drug, whatever it was, was too strong. The muscles of my body ached terribly, and I felt parched. It was as if my throat was some narrow dusty road in a desert, with the ground caking from the vast heat.

"Water!" I called out in distress. "If anyone can hear me, please may I have some water?"

The door was opened. Someone walked towards me and I felt their presence right in front of me.

"What do you want?" a woman's voice demanded in an angry voice.

"May I have some water to drink?" my parched throat managed to let out a husky whisper.

"Zuri ordered for us not to give you any water."

"She doesn't have to know. Please." I tried my best to get the woman's compassion.

"Zuri has a way of knowing everything. I cannot risk my life for a glass of water!" and with that, she walked out of the room.

The huge door made the usual loud sound. A small echo was heard after the door was shut, followed by dead silence.My heartbeat was the only sound I heard; for it was thumping rapidly, causing me to wonder in horror what it was that they had just injected me. I started to lose energy, and I slept on my side.

The image of Larissa came to my mind. I saw her in my mind, laughing, talking, singing. And to think that I was never going to see her again was the most painful thought. She was gone. Dead. Who killed her? Was Zuri that heartless? After serving her for so many years, she still ordered for my wife to be killed, just for my one mistake? For all I knew, I had never made a mistake before, yet on my very first mistake, she ordered for the death of my wife. My throat ached, and my chest tightened in response to the injection. My body, refusing to have mercy on me, continued to produce immense heat. All the muscles of my body throbbed in deep pain. I curled my body into a ball and groaned for leniency, yet there was no ear to listen to all my cries. My mind shifted to little Liam, my only son. Was I ever going to see him again? Where was Anisha? Was she with Liam? Anisha, how far can you run before Zuri's men catch up with you? Run, Anisha, just run!