Uncle Briare

"Be smart. Call me."

Lalin read the note on the piece of paper in her hand again. No matter how much she thought things over, she could not see a possible solution to her problem. The money that her aunt worked so hard to save was now all gone.

The empty metal box that she had put on the desk, next to the hotel phone was mocking Lalin with the truth of her current situation and it awakened a rage in her chest.

"Who are you?" She asked for the piece of paper that she had crumpled so many times in her hand, imagining that she was hurting the person who wrote the note by doing so.

She looked at her phone and thought harder. Her first reaction was to call her friends to ask for help but the logo of the hotel where she was staying on the note was the one that stopped her from calling her friends. What could they do for her? They were all minors. The only difference was they had rich parents. Other than that, they were all just kids—like her. There were very few things they could do to help her.

"Be smart," she read aloud the first two words in the note.

She had no idea who wrote the note but she knew that whoever wrote this knew her.

"Call me," she read the last two words of the statement and stared at the phone number written. A phone number. Not a mobile phone.

Not a burn phone, she thought to herself and heaved a deep breath.

Her chest started thumping wildly in her chest when she lifted the hotel phone from its cradle. Her hand was shaking when she dialed the number on the note. And her breath was caught at the back of her throat when she listened for a phone ringing at the other end of the line.

"Hello, Lavine?"

Lalin gasped when the voice on the other end called her name.

"Lalin," she said in a small voice. "My name is Lalin. What's yours?"

"Ahhh, my apology, Lalin. My name is Briare. I am your uncle. You can call me uncle but you cannot call me by my name as well."

"Why?" She asked. The shakiness of her voice was gone. Her curiosity won her over. She was expecting a villain-sounding name, not like this voice.

"Because there are people who are looking at me with my real name."

"Then, why did you tell me?" She snorted in disbelief. This man is a weirdo, she thought to herself.

"Because you're smart."

"Huh!? Don't make me laugh. I need my money back."

"I will make sure to give you your money back, Lalin. But I want you to do something for me."

"It's my money that I'm asking for. You're a jerk for asking me to do something for you in return for something that is mine!"

"You're right. It's my fault. How about an offer, Lalin? Hmmm?"

"I would offer to double the money that was taken from you. Would you accept it?"

Lalin chewed on her lower lip. She knew by heart the amount of money that was on the metal box. It wasn't that much. Her aunt's customers weren't that generous. And her school needs a lot of money despite her having a scholarship.

If this man will double the amount of her money, she can finish high school without any problem.

"Lalin, you may be thinking of living on your own but I want you to know that the people your late aunt warned you about were still coming for you."

"That wasn't you?" She asked sarcastically.

Briare laughed heartily. "No, it wasn't me. All I want is for me to take care of you."

"I don't need a nanny." Lalin scoffed and wondered if she should just end the call for she wasn't getting anything from this man. But the idea of not getting the money that her aunt had worked for hurts her.

"Lalin, you can get your money back. All I'm asking is for you to see me in person. Is that fine with you?"

Lalin flinched when Briare talked about her money as if he could read her mind.

"And would I know that I'm going to be safe if I met you?"

"You can come down to the lobby and see for yourself."

Lalin slammed the phone on its cradle as her heart thundered in her chest and she could not hear anything but the wild beating of her heart.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and drew the curtain tightly. She ran to her bed and dove under the cover, her mind was churning like crazy.

"Are they here?" She whispered to herself as she hugged her knees under the cover. She remained to lie on her side for a long time before she made up her mind.

She got out of bed and started packing her things in the room. She made sure that she had not forgotten anything before she changed her clothes and got out of her hotel room with her backpack.

She was about to go to the fire exit when she remembered that in most of the movies she watched, people take the fire exit staircase to escape.

Scoffing to herself, she went back to the elevator and got on, and went down to the lobby.

"You must be Briare," she said, standing in front of a woman carrying a baby.

"What?" The woman asked her with incredulity.

Lalin smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were my friend Briare. Your baby is cute by the way," she said, staring at the mirror behind the woman who tucked her baby closer to her chest as if she was shielding her baby from her.

Lalin stepped back. She found the man she was looking for.

"That was impressive."

Lalin did not react when she heard the voice on the phone chuckling behind her.

"I need my money," she said, in a cold tone, watching a man across the street wearing all black, staring at her so intently as though he was trying to etch her to his memory.