SPACE OUT

She zipped up her bag before looking up at her little brother who just stood in front of her with a deep frown on his face.

"Hey yah!"she called playfully"I'm going over to earn money for us and not to die"Humor laced her voice as she tried to coax her little brother into smiling

"I Know"Raphael replied grumpingly"But that doesn't change a thing... I'll miss you"He said and she chuckled pulling him into her arms

"See your nose,you are 11 for crying out loud"she said smiling

"And?"his face was squeezing"sis"he pulled her and wrapped her so tight she thought she might actually suffocate"who'll take care of you? who'll arrange your shoes? who'll remind you to take your meals?"Raphael said and then started sobbing.

"Oh come on,I'm 21"she wanted to scream that but it rather came out as a whisper

"Does 21 changes you or your lifestyle?"he disengaged from her enough to see her face"hell no"He answered himself and hugged her again

"Hey stranger,your ride is here"Natasha's voice had the duo disengaging. Annabel stood up and Raph rushed over to grab her bag,she and Natasha exchanged glances and smiling

"Guess to him,you never get to grow"Tasha said and Anna laughed

"Will you two stop?"now his eyes were shining blazers but that only ignited their laughter"Oh God"he grumbled out loud as he pulled the bag out of the room leaving them both behind.

"You'll miss him"Tasha said and Anna nodded her head mildly "hey chill, I'll take care of him well"she assured silently

"Noone can do it better"Anna smiled at Tasha and suddenly hugged her too"I'll miss you too"

"Ohhhhh...I'm going emotional,I feel like crying" Tasha said and Anna slapped her back then they burst out smiling.They walked out and saw Raph having a conversation with the driver who had his face just as hard as Raphael's

"Hey Raph, chill... nothing's gonna happen to your sis"Tasha teased grinning and Anna Hit her hand

"Stop teasing him"she cautioned in a teasing voice as well

"Like you'll stop"Raph said then turned to face them"eat well sis and always remember that this big boy love you"he said and went to hug her again, Tasha joining this time

"Together forever"

"Together forever"Anna and Raph echoed

"Okay,okay, enough with the byes... Anna, it's time to go"Raph said and went to open the car door for her.

"Bye sweetheart,I love you two"she said

"I love you"both Tasha and Raph said in unison, Anna smiled and got in the car

"Call me when you land"Tasha said

"Yeah!won't sleep until I get your call"Raph added

"First thing after landing then"she said and they all smilled

"Seatbelt please"the driver said and Anna closed the door before fixing her seatbelt

"Fixed"she said and the man behind the wheel ignite the engine,she looked at the window and saw Tasha and Raph hitting each other playfully while watching her car leave,the car was with tinted glasses so as they couldn't see her through them,she relaxed her back and closed her eyes. God must have been so good to have her coincidentally come across her mom's childhood friend who had offered to take her to America where she'll give her a job. She and her little brother had been poor orphans after the demise of her mother and literally been sponging off her bosom friend, Natasha.

*******

"Excuse me"Anna said yawning as she woke up from a nap,she looked around and then stretched to look at the way ahead"sir,this isn't the way to the airport"she said looking at the driver

"We ain't going to the airport"he said bluntly

"But Mrs Smith said we'll meet at the airport"she countered,her brow pulling to each other in confusion

"Sorry ma'am,I don't talk while driving"

"I don't mean to disturb you but..."before she could complete her statement,his hand grabbed a spray,sprayed it into her face in a jiffy and her eyes started spinning while a demarcator pulled up staging a barrier between her and the driver

*********

Aiden Nicholas swerved in his seat smiling at himself,he was prospering and nothing feels better than that,he was aiming his goals and gradually taking over the business market,he was making his grounds. His phone buzzed and he swerved around picking it and taking the call.

"Hello"he said,smile still fixed on his face

"It's my son"His father's cheerful voice came through and he smirked,he was now his son

"The father"playing around does no harm so that's exactly what he plans on doing

"Heard you just won over the T&D company"

"Well, someone heard right"he replied

"Now I know you are my son,come over for a feast"Aiden kept mute for a while hearing that,his father was doing everything to win his heart and it's his turn to play hard

"When?"he asked coldly

"Today son,I got a gift for you"his father said

"Will check if I can make it"He replied not wanting to sound desperate for his gift or feast

"Never overwork yourself son,you work then enjoy your labour" Now,he was sounding like the caring father he never was for the past 26 years on earth. Aiden chuckled and then cleared his throat.

"I'll keep a father's advice at the back of my mind"

"Alt son, I'll be expecting you tonight then"his father said but without waiting for his response ended the call,he dropped his phone and smiled nodding his head

******************

She felt herself being pulled as she tried to find her senses,where was she?she tried to gain her memories but before she could,she heard rattles of chain and then she was pushed into somewhere. She stayed there for a while before her memories came rushing in and in no time,she opened her eyes and was instantly shocked ,she was surrounded by ladies all cowering in their own corners .

"Oh no" Her brain screamed"what's happening?"she turned and tried to get up pulling herself,she crawled to the gate and held onto it. She looked out as her eyes roamed other cages filled with girls of all ages, ranging from kids to teens,teens to adult,she looked back into the cage she was in to inspect the people with her,they were all ladies around her age.

'She's been kidnapped' Her brain screamed that to her,Mrs Smith's driver haf kidnapped her,she was worried Mrs Smith would leave her behind and even think of her as an ungrateful brat who had her waiting in vain. Gaining little more strength,she shared the cage such that the sound rattled loudly in the container they were,she added it with a loud scream and soon enough,the cabin door opened and a full chested man walked in ,he inspected from one container to another before reaching hers.

"Who are you?"She asked fearlessly looking at the man,eye to eye

"Why will he fail to inject them?"A woman's voice came from the door before the mn could reply her and both his and her attention diverted to the middle aged woman walking towards them.

"She wasn't struggling at all when they brought her in,she was unconscious and I thought they injected her already"the man replied and Anna moved away from the cage ,they were talking about her .

"Just inject her already and spare us the noise"The woman gave a last glance at her and then left the cabin. Anna looked at ladies around her, little wonder why they all looked so calmand scared at the same time, they've all been drugged. The man brought out a syringe while their eyes fixed on each other,after drawing some drug into the syringe,he brought out the keys to open the cage and her heart leaped in fear,she wanted to run and hide behind the ladies but his fixed eyes gave her no way

"Lyons"someone called and the man turned his heard toward the door "Lyons"

"Coming"The man named Lyons replied dropping the syringe and keys in his pocket,he glanced at her again and then left,she broke down sighing in relief.

*****Aiden drove into his father's compound and saw the man in tracksuit holding a bat,he packed his car and got down.

"Young man"His father called smiling

"Old man" Aiden replied as he shook hands casually with his father "how are you doing?"he asked

"Doing more than good,I have a reliable son"The man said and she chuckled

"So reliable"he muttered under his breath,his father Davis Nicholas dropped the bat in his hands for his Butler and they walked in with Aiden

"Your mom is home" Davis said and Aiden snorted

"Stepmom"He corrected ,Davis stopped and faced Aiden before heaving a breath

"There's lot of grudges in your voice,I offended you and not her"Davis said at last

"I wonder why you hates corrections,it's not healthy for a businessman"Aiden said plainly and walked past his father into the building

*********Finally,the door was opening and Anna quickly crawled to see what's going on around her, she'd been acting like the drugged Ladies to avoid being injected but now was no time for that. From her cage,she saw a whole lot of people and her brow knitted, 'who are they?'

Yeah! she'd felt a lot of movement and she was right when she guessed they were in a container filled with oxygen tanks,a woman dressed in the most expensive dress she'd ever seen climbed into the container and walked from one cage to the other looking at the girl,she was going to go back to act drugged as well when suddenly from the corner of her eyes,she saw Mrs Smith walk in too.

"Mrs Smith"She couldn't be anymore happy to be free from this cage,she voiced out and ran to the cage "Mrs Smith,it's me"she called drawing the attention of both the sophisticated woman and that if Mrs Smith

"Who's she?"The woman asked

"A product of course,there are 20 products from me and I'm not getting less than 500 million Dollars for them"Mrs Smith said and Anna's knees went so numb that she fell in shock.

"500 million? that's much Charlie,I'm offering 300 million dollars"the woman said

"300 million dolz fits nowhere in my budget"Mrs Smith said slightly raising her voice.

"I'm buying from other containers as well,and you don't expect me to pay for such kids as well"the woman said in the same hostility

"Fine,three hundred million dollars and take the cage"Mrs Smith said,turned and left the cage .

"Ron"the woman called and a man from outside came in to meet her "bring me that girl"The woman said and Anna shot her eyes up realizing she was being referred to