MONALISA
I felt a rush of different emotions. I could finally hear from Irene!
“Irene!” I called in a nearly loud voice.
“Irene, how have you been? Why didn’t you call me all these while? I was worried about you? I tried reaching you but….”
“I am fine, Lisa” her voice cut me off.
“I am very fine. A few things happened to me and all but I am fine now”
“Oh my!” I whispered, almost muttering.
Lucius had told me she was away with her mum but I had never believed that. The only thing that confused me was why would he lie. He didn’t have to say a thing about Irene’s sudden disappearance, did he?
“Where are you right now?” I asked Irene.
I just wanted to see her and make sure she was fine and all.
“I am close to you. You are in school, right?” She asked.
“Oh yes, I am” I replied, wanting nothing more than to see her as soon as possible and affirm that she was fine.
“Let’s meet at the field we were in the other time before we were disturbed. I am there already and waiting for you”
“Alright, sure. I will be there in no time” I ended the call, slipped the phone into my bag and with hurried steps, I began to make my way to the field without thinking twice.
The rain was almost drizzling at this point. The drops were more constant but it wasn’t a lot yet so I hurriedly headed for the field.
And soon I was there but there was no one there.
“Irene?” I called out in a pretty loud voice but there was no response.
“Oh my, where is she?” I mumbled, grabbed my phone and was about dialing her contact when I heard her voice behind me.
“Lisa” I turned to face her and a look of excitement filled by face.
I ran into her arms and threw myself into her open arms, hugging her tightly.
“Irene!” I squealed as she wrapped her arms around me too.
“I have missed you”
“I missed you too” she said but I could not help but think that her voice sounded a bit distant, a bit cold.
But I brushed the feeling away.
“Where have you been?” I asked, pulling away from the hug slightly.
“You just left without telling me a thing and you didn’t bother calling once to tell me what was going on. You left me so worried”
She didn’t say anything in response. She just had a soft, calm smile on her face as she reached a hand to my wrist and pulled me into her embrace again.
“Lisa, I am sorry” she apologized.
“That’s… It’s fine but I need to know all that happened…”
“No” she cut me off.
“I am not saying sorry for just leaving without saying a word to you. I am saying sorry for what I am about to do” she said and my brows immediately arched.
Before I could pull myself away from the hug and ask what did meant by that statement, I felt something stab into my neck.
I froze, recognising the sting of a needle.
I pulled away from the hug very quickly. Just quickly enough for Irene to pull out the needle.
My gaze fell to her hand where she was holding the injection.
“What… What did you just inject into my body?” I asked with a small groan.
“I’m sorry, Lisa. Just cooperate with me and this will be just fine, okay?” She took a few steps towards me but I quickly moved back a few steps.
I felt myself going dizzy and weak in a matter of seconds as the rain gained momentum.
‘Lucius, I just need to call Lucius and I would be fine’ I said the words in my head and raised my hand to look at my phone screen but my hands shook and my phone dropped to the ground.
“I won’t hurt you. As long as you cooperate with me, Lisa. I love you and I won’t hurt you. I promise” each word sounded more and more distant to me by the second and at the end of her words, I felt so weak and was about dropping to the ground but Irene caught me.
Her face was the last thing I saw before my struggling eyelids forcefully closed against my own will.
LUCIUS DEVINE
With my brows pulling into an arch, I dialed Lisa’s contact again, wondering why she had not picked the first time I called.
I was now in my car, parked in her school and wanting to pick her up.
It rang but she didn’t pick up yet again. I tried to calm myself with the thoughts of her just being busy for a second but fuck! She was done with her exam and what could she be busy doing in the rain that would have her leave her phone.
Or maybe the rain was too loud and she couldn’t hear her phone ringing?
None of those guesses satisfied me. I just wanted to hear from her right now, have her tell me where she was, drive to her and pick her up as soon as possible.
I would have asked someone else to pick her up earlier but I wanted to be the one to pick her up.
Dialing her contact the third time, I waited for her to pick it up. Anxiety quickly building up inside of me.
“Fuck this” I cursed as the call ended. I loosened my tie with my left hand and dialed another contact with my right hand.
“Hello boss”
“Where is Lisa?” I asked immediately and the other line went silent for a few seconds.
“I asked a fucking question. Where is she?”
“I… I am very sorry, boss.” His voice quivered.
Bastard! The fucking bastard has definitely messed things up!
“I had something to deal with and asked someone else to fill in for me and lead the team protecting…”
“Look here” I cut him off, feeling my fury rising along with my fear.
“I don’t care who the fuck filled in for you or what the fuck you were dealing with. I want to know where exactly Lisa is. If not…. Oh damnit, the rain will be washing your blood off a drain in less than an hour”
“I… I will find out where she is right away, boss” the call ended and I hit the car wheel with my fist.
I alighted from the car, stepping out into the rain.
I had no idea where I could find Lisa. I had no idea where she could be in this place. I didn’t want to think of the fucking possiblity of Sandro getting her.
I didn’t want to think of that for a single second. I had still talked to Lisa about half an hour ago. Nothing could have gone wrong in half an hour.
But when my phone rang and I checked the caller ID only to see Sandro, I knew that it had happened. Those dumb fucks I asked to watch over Lisa had failed. I myself had failed Lisa and she was now in danger.
With the cold rain trying to cool my burning rage in vain, I picked up the call.
“Hello, Lucius Devine. It’s been a while.”
“Sandro…”
“Oh, I see you have figured out already. You have never been able to hide the anger and rage in your voice”
“Listen carefully to me. If you touch her, you are dead.”
There was a laugh on the other end.
“And if I kill her?” He asked and I suppressed the fear that gripped me at the mention of Lisa’s death.
I didn’t want to ever see her beautiful eyes closed forever in death!
“If you kill her, I will kill you, kill every fucking member of your family. I will ruin everything you have. I will kill everyone you know and everyone who knows you. I will go on a fucking killing spree and then I will end it by killing myself cause hell! I will be there to kill you once more in hell!”