The Captive Angel [11]

Annisa woke up in a pitch-black room. She felt her head throbbing. While trying to hold the pain, she tried to remember what had happened. The last thing he had in mind was that she watched Dave walking out of his apartment from a distance. Then, her nose caught a strong odor and finally everything went dark. She couldn't remember anything after that.

"Where am I now? What is going on?" Annisa straightened her back seat in a hard-wooden chair on her back. She just realized that her hands were tied with the rope to the back of the chair. She tried to wiggle his bound hands, but wasted away. The knots of the rope was made tightly enough.

In the humid and stuffy room, she squinted, trying to scout around, not so much to see as there was not much light coming in.

Instantaneously, Annisa was beset by panic, confused about what was happening and she felt the hairs on her neck got straight. She then took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. Over and over again till she felt calm.

"Keep calm Annisa, keep calm..." Annisa said to herself. "Be strong, don't be panic."

The sound of the door opened was heard abruptly. A glimmer of light came into the room followed by the sound of footsteps. A light switch was turned on. The room was suddenly bright.

Annisa narrowed her eyes. She tried to adapt to the glare of the light that went into her eyes. She saw two men coming up to her who was tied to a wooden chair at the far end of the room.

"Don't be frightened, beautiful lady. We won't hurt you if you don't show any kind of behavior and manage to escape from here." The shiny-haired man grinned and continued his command.

"Just sit down here and wait until Dave comes to save you. Then, we'll let you go."

"Dave? What makes it a deal between me and Dave?" Annisa pretended to be stupid.

"I have nothing to deal with Dave. You guys caught the wrong person. Dave won't come up to save me. So, you'd better let me go now." Annisa tried to lie to save herself.

The man looked at his bald-headed friend and then they burst out laughing together.

"Our pretty girl is lying! We're not stupid, lady!" The bald-headed man held Annisa's chin and yanked her upward.

"Calm down, remember what our boss said, don't touch and hurt this girl." His friend whispered in the bald man's ear.

Annisa swallowed her saliva and tried to brace herself. She stifled with all her strength to keep her from trembling. She did not want the two men to see her in fear.

Annisa thought hard to find a connection of why she was kidnapped with Dave.

What did Dave have to do with these creepy people? What had Dave done? What did they really want?

Many questions raged in his head now.

Dave had locked up himself for a few days in his hotel room. Nico was back and forth knocking on the door of his room from early morning till late at night, he wasn't cared about. He drowned himself under a thick blanket, curled up, hugging his bolster tightly. All he wanted was sleeping and sleeping. Sleeping and never wake up again. Because by the time he woke up, he faced the fact that he had lost Annisa, the girl she loved so much.

Dave had been looking for her for a few days. Go to her apartment, to her office, to her favorite places, even call her home in Ubud. But there was no news of Annisa's position everywhere. The phone call to her mobile phone was immediately canned into the message box. There were no signs that Annisa's mobile phone has been actively used since the day before.

"Where are you now, Annisa? Why are you avoiding me?" Dave closed his eyes to imagine the anger on Annisa's face the last time they had a fight.

He felt the pain in his chest. His heart was in pain remembering about the last time he met Annisa. The feeling was increasingly painful when the scene of Raka hugging and kissing Annisa intimately suddenly flashed in the eyelids. It was as if a hammer pierced his heart.

There was a knock on the door. Dave kept ignoring it. But it turned into a loud bang.

"Dave, open the door! Open it or I'll call the hotel manager and the security guard to break this door!" Nico threatened as he continued to bang on the door strongly.

Dave stumbled out of bed. He didn't want a fuss happened in that hotel. Besides, by involving the crowd into his problem. He opened the door for Nico and invited him to enter.

"What happened to you, Dave? You locked yourself up for a few days and refused to talk to me." Nico watched Dave who was just sitting idly at the time.

"Your dad keeps calling me up asking about you. He said your phone is off so he can't call you up. He is very worried about you, Dave."

"Tell me what your problem is. We've been together since childhood. Your problem is my problem too." Nico smiled trying to persuade Dave to open his mouth.

Dave told the problems he was facing to Nico, about his anxiety and his confusion because he couldn't find Annisa anywhere.

"I think I just want to give up, Nico. Maybe it's my fate for not being able to get Annisa's love. I'm thinking of going back to Mexico as soon as possible."

"Before you think about going back to Mexico, I need to know about a few things. Have you looked for Annisa in her favorite places to visit? The place she might come? What about Ella? Did she tell you about where Annisa is? How many days has Annisa disappeared?" Nico questioned demanding answers from Dave.

"I've come to all places I could think of. Nothing to miss. And I've also asked Ella, she had no idea where Annisa is at the moment. I know Ella was telling me the truth because she volunteered to look for Annisa, her best friend, together." Dave paused for a moment.

"It's been three days since Annisa disappeared. I began to worry about her. Her family didn't know where Annisa is now. I've asked Mrs. Sukma but she said that Nisa hasn't called her up since three-days ago." Dave took a deep breath. His expression looked worried about her beloved girl.

"If she got mad at me and avoided me, I can accept that. But there's no way she wouldn't give any word to her family and her closest person, Nico. It seems that Annisa is not that kind of person. I'm getting worried. It can be something wrong with her." Dave got up from his chair and started pacing while holding onto his suddenly dizzy head.

"Umm ... Dave ... What about Raka? Have you asked him too?" Nico asked cautiously. He did not want to hurt his best friend's heart.

"What did you just say, Dave? Raka? I have no will to see him again!" Dave dismissed Nico's idea immediately.

"Listen to my explanation, Dave. I don't intend to interfere with your love triangle. But for the sake of Annisa, don't we have to do all efforts we can?" Nico tried to calm Dave's heart down burned of jealousy.

Dave then sat on the edge of his bed. He paused and thought to make a decision about it. Finally, after a while he started to say something.

"Okay, Nico, I will do everything to find Annisa. It seems I have to suppress my ego once more to talk to Raka. Hopefully, I can hold my patience to face him this time." Dave finally relented.

"That's good, buddy. The first thing you need to do is call your father up and tell him you're okay. Don't make your daddy worried, Dave." Nico handed Dave a cell phone to call Mr. Edward immediately.

"How are you, Dave? Why has your phone been inactive for a few days?" His father demanded an explanation on phone.

"I'm fine. Daddy doesn't have to worry about me." Dave tried to hide his problem. He didn't want to trouble his father with the problems he was facing.

"Mr. Swastika recently contacted Daddy. He told Daddy that your relationship with Raka didn't go the way he wanted. Even you guys almost got into a fight. Is that true, Dave?" Mr. Edward's voice suddenly rose.

"That's right. I lost my patience at that time. I have disappointed Daddy. I'm sorry, Dad." Dave felt disappointed.

"Mr. Swastika didn't like to hear about it and has unilaterally canceled the business cooperation agreement with our family. I honestly feel disappointed, Dave. I never thought you would do that. What has really happened, Son?" Mr. Edward's voice softened softly after hearing apologies from his son.

"My feelings were uncertain at that time. So, I get carried away with emotion and almost fought with Raka."

"Tell me what's your problem. Who knows Daddy can help you, Dave." Mr. Edward offered help to his beloved eldest son.

"I need Daddy's connection to find Annisa. She suddenly disappeared and I'm worried about it." Dave wished his father could help him find the right solution.

"I think I cannot help you this time, Dave. Daddy hasn't yet had a strong network there. That's why Daddy asked you to lobby Mr. Swastika beforehand. So, our business can grow well in Bali."

"But Daddy's sure you can solve your problem well, Son. Moreno's descendants are persistent and unyielding people. Try to think calmly and clearly. I'm sure you will find a way out of your problem well." Mr. Edward encouraged Dave.

"Well, Daddy. I won't disappoint you again. Wish me a good luck." Dave's voice began to calm down. He ended his phone call with his father, his soul started to rise again.

"Well, that's what supposed to be!" Nico patted Dave on the shoulder to express his support for his best friend.

"Don't forget that you were born as a true warrior, Dave! If you could save yourself when you were drowned in the pool as a child, you certainly can solve this problem well. Keep it up!" Nico shook Dave's shoulders with his both hands to brace his best friend up.

"All right, Nico. I will come to Mr. Swastika to apologize for my previous behavior and I will try to get along with Raka. Hopefully, he can accept my good intentions." Dave held Nico's arms to stop shaking his body.

"Besides, I can fix the good business relationship as it was, I also hope Mr. Swastika family will help me find Annisa. They certainly have a strong enough network in Bali." Dave explained his plan to Nico in glowing eyes.

"What a great idea, Dave! To kill two birds with one stone. Why didn't I think of that idea before?" Nico praised Dave's idea.

"Let's make plans carefully. But, before taking it into action, we'd better take a break first, Dave. It's already midnight." Nico urged Dave to sleep.