Anne, Lisa and Carol's past (13)

Susan just froze, her heart racing as the icy touch of metal pressed against her forehead. The fear inside her intensified, making it hard to think clearly. The gun's weight reminded her of the danger she was in, and she knew that any sudden move or any utterance that wouldn't please this man could have dire consequences. From the sound of his voice, she could tell that this man meant every word he had uttered. Time seemed to stretch, each second dragging on like an eternity. Her mind raced, desperately searching for a way out. The room felt strange and hostile; every sound seemed louder because no one uttered any word and it was as if everyone in the room had even stopped breathing too, making her feel even more vulnerable. She felt completely powerless as if someone else held all the control. It was a sickening realization that her fate was no longer in her hands since she was so used to controlling other people's fates. The mix of emotions was overwhelming. Fear gripped her, while despair and anger fought for attention. Tears streamed down her face, mingling with the sweat on her forehead. She was used to being always on the top of the chain and even her husband wouldn't battle any words or anything with her but this time, a young man old enough to be her first son was about to show her the way to hell without any hesitation. Her stubbornness had finally gotten her into trouble, the look in the man's eyes carried an intensity that sent shivers down her spine and she knew very well that the only option was to surrender Lisa to him.

"Okay! Okay! I…ah… I agree, please don't shoot me!" Shouted Lisa's mum with a quivering voice.

"Good choice," sneered the man as he bent a little bit to speak face to face with Lisa's mum, without moving the gun pointing at her forehead, whilst his right hand was in his pocket.

"Here is the thing, my boys are going to return you to your house, and be warned, any sort of investigation or suspicious movement, I will kill you and your husband and then take that little precious daughter of yours, I think that will be more like buy one and get one free isn't it, Susan?" Said the man as he pointed at the screen with the gun, and on that same screen was a live video showing the Stevens's whole house, and in a few minutes, it showed Carol who was sleeping peacefully in her room.

Susan couldn't say a word she just opened her mouth and eyes, her throat became dry all of a sudden such that she forcibly swallowed her saliva which made her feel a bit of pain, she even lost the power to blink at that moment. She could feel her ears ringing, she felt like she was going crazy all of a sudden.

"TIME TO ROLL!" Shouted the man as he sat back on the single black couch that he was sitting before. In no time two teams of 3 men each came in and without any further instructions, two of them approached Susan.

"Follow those men and do as they say if you want to save your life and that of your family, make sure you cooperate," he instructed.

"Halt!" Said the man and both groups stopped what they were doing because the other group was now busy helping other men who had just got in to carry the bodies that were just shot, and also two people wearing coats that looked like those of doctors had walked in to carry Lisa who had just fainted.

"You all know I hate repeating myself, but let me remind you with a few words: incompetence is equal to death in my territory. GET OUT," he said with a loud and cold voice.

Everyone quickly went back to what they were doing, in no time the house was sparkling clean as if nothing had happened earlier. The man sat on his couch so relaxed, his eyes closed and smiling. After twenty minutes a lady dressed in a black leather jacket, and black leather trousers and inside the jacket was a black poll-neck, she walked to where the man was sitting and she got very close in front of him such that a few inches were left between them and then she bent facing the man, she could feel the man's breath he could feel hers too. Her eyes were moving so fast as if she was scanning something on his face.

"You are disgusting me," said the man, disdainfully.

"Tsk, you are really beyond redemption just look at you," said the lady as she moved a few steps away from the man but she didn't go too far. She just stood in front of him waiting for him to say something but he didn't move or said anything.

"Abel are you a fool or do you just pretend to be a fool sometimes?" Said the lady folding her arms and also frowning.

"Mind your language and tone…"

"Or what, you will shoot me also?" Interrupted the lady as she moved away and sat on the couch that Lisa and her mum had been sitting on earlier.

"Your dad warned you not to take things too far, he told you to be very mindful of Luiza's condition but then what did you do?" She said, pointing at the man.

"You should applaud me for being so patient until now, something that normally takes me thirty minutes to an hour took four hours, they were wasting my precious time and my patience had finally reached its limit. Besides, don't you think that I followed what Dad said?" Said the man unbothered.

"Which part exactly, because none of all that you did is what he said? He told you to be patient and let her come with you willingly because he knew, something like this or worse would happen…."

"Exactly, I like the last part when you said or worse, meaning I behaved very well because it didn't get to that, by the way, how is she?" Asked the man, still in the same position, his eyes still closed.

"As if…" The lady couldn't say more of what she had in mind because the man immediately sat straight, his eyes opened, and gave her the death stare of her life.

"(After rolling her eyes) Both mother and child are not safe and the doctor said chances of survival range from twenty to thirty-five percent. There is a possibility that we might lose the child because the mother has been through a lot and that show you just performed earlier had just worsened everything (clapping her hands) BRAVO. Honestly, do you even listen when your dad speaks?" Said the woman sounding very annoyed.

"Then please do me a favor and send word that everyone should be ready to get buried alive along with the baby," said the man, without care.

"You are sick…"

"I MEAN IT," he said interrupting the lady with a cold tone and stern face.

"(Touching her forehead) Tsk, my head hurts, your mother should even forget asking you to get a partner for yourself, you are insane and no normal person would want to stay with a maniac like you," she said after a few minutes of staring at the man, wagged her head, and then left the room.

On the other hand, the men who had been assigned to accompany Lisa's mum did not waste much time. They blindfolded her and quickly hit the road. They were assigned a maximum of one hour nothing more. They couldn't avoid feeling the weight of the urgency and the gravity of the mission, since they had just witnessed other team members being eliminated for incompetence. They knew that every passing moment brought them closer to the point of no return, where the consequences of their actions would be irreversible. They were racing against the relentless grip of time, their hearts pounding in sync with the ever-ticking seconds. They hastily got out of the house and got into their respective cars and in no time two cars were speeding on the road heading to the low-density suburbs of the city where the Stevens's house was. This time around they used some shortcut routes because it was around five pm and the sun was about to rise soon. A journey that would have taken thirty minutes took 10 minutes, and two cars were parked right in front of the Stevens's house. Three men whose car was carrying Susan removed the blindfold from her face and headed for the gate whilst the other three went straight to the guard's room and apprehended him so that he wouldn't call any outsiders that include the police. Susan opened the gate for the other three men and also opened the door too. They got inside the house, and she knocked on the door of the guest room downstairs where her husband was sleeping. Even though she had left, he didn't feel like moving back to the bedroom. He was in deep sleep such that he couldn't hear Susan knocking but he was quickly awakened when one of the men knocked.

"(Sleepy and confused) Who is there!" Shouted Mr Stevens his eyes opened but still lying facing up on the bed, frowning and also trying to understand what was happening, because Carol wouldn't wake up at that time mostly.

"I…it's me…Su…Susan," she said with a quivering voice.

"(Still confused and no getting any sense of the situation) HUH?"

"Mr. Stevens we have brought your wife come out and let's talk we have limited time!" Shouted one of the men.

This got Mr. Stevens a bit nervous, and more confused and he even waited in his blankets, as he tried to comprehend the situation. A minute passed without him moving and he then quickly jumped from the bed when one of the men had threatened to break the door. He got to the door, opened it, and let his head out so that he could speak to the men from inside since he wasn't aware of how bad the situation was but then one of the men pushed the door wide open fortunately Mr. Stevens had to move away quickly otherwise, he was going to get hurt.

"Here is your wife, don't mind the bruises on her face she will be good. This is also a warning to be careful not to do anything stupid because it will be more than a bruised face. Anyway, we have your daughter and we will return her to you only if you cooperate, do not involve the police, or do any silly investigations. The rest Susan will tell you. Let's go," said one of the men who had just finished narrating everything to Mr. Stevens.

In no time the men were back into their cars and sped as before because they were left with about fifteen minutes to finish the mission. On the other hand, after the man left Susan couldn't move an inch, she just kept on staring at her husband who was also looking at her with eyes that were full of questions, after a few minutes he took a deeply sighed, wagged his head went back into his room and closed the door. That's the moment Susan then went into the bedroom upstairs, sat on her bed, and looked in the mirror, she couldn't even recognize herself. She was so bruised and her face was swollen. She didn't know how she was going to explain the events that had occurred to Carol or her closest friends that knew what was happening without revealing the truth.