*Andrea*
I don’t know how Lucas came here. But what shocked me the most was that Nora could have him tied like this next to me. One of the men had hit him hard on his head, causing him to lose consciousness.
My heart tightened as I watched Lucas groan in pain before dropping to the floor. How could a mother be this heartless? What bothered me more was that it was Lucas who was here.
Alejandro should be the one here, not Lucas. I had left through a place where, though it was dark, there was still a CCTV camera there, so why was help not coming?
When I saw one of the two men with Nora carrying Lucas up, I asked, “What are you doing to him?” To Nora, I said, “he is your son, so why are you doing this to him?” I expect her to yell at the man who had hurt Lucas and to go pat her son; that’s what I’d do.
That’s what every mother would do. But at that point, I had forgotten that not every mother would kidnap and threaten someone with a gun.
It didn’t take long for Lucas to regain his consciousness. Now, he was tied beside me.
I may not have seen his face, but I knew he was disappointed; his voice was proof. He didn’t support what his mother was doing, and that seemed to drive Nora out of control.
.
.
.
“You are not Alejandro’s son,” Nora screamed again, this time with pain and anger seeping out of her voice. I was shocked at this revelation.
“That’s a lie; I know you are just trying to make me mad.” “You think I have the luxury of time to do that?” Nora asked bemused.
“I don’t know, I just can’t believe you. Everything I know about you seems to be a lie, so how do I know that you aren’t lying to me right now?” He asked.
“You are more dumb than I imagined,” Nora said.
“No, this is wrong, this is a lie; all my life, I have lived calling Alejandro my dad; you didn’t say anything, so why would you suddenly say it now?” I didn’t know what to think.
But from what I’ve seen from Nora for the time I had stayed here, I knew she was capable of doing anything.
“You may be dumb, but I know you know that I am not in love with your father.” She revealed. I was shocked beyond words.
If she wasn’t in love with Alejandro, then why was I here? Why am I being tied to the chair for taking away someone she doesn’t have feelings for?
But I don’t say anything. I didn’t think she was joking when she said she would blow my skull off. If she could keep her son tied to the chair beside me, then she could do anything.
“For his money. I was sick of the rough life I had, sick of being in the gangs, and I wanted a good life where I didn’t have to work to earn, and Alejandro offered me that life on a golden platter. Now tell me, wouldn’t you accept such a life if you were in my shoes? Why should I hesitate?”
“So, how do I come into the picture? How did you have me if I am not Alejandro’s son?” Lucas asked. I was eager to know.
“It wasn’t hard to pin a pregnancy on him; after all, we were married,” my mouth was left hanging.
“He was not always around, so I made sure to sleep with him when he was back from his numerous business trips and made the doctor write a report that I was two months pregnant instead of three.” She didn’t seem sad, and no hint of remorse was found in her voice.
“All your life, you have believed that you were born prematurely, but that was a lie,” she released a small laugh, “I didn’t think it would be easy to manipulate your father, but he was too nonchalant to notice.”
“How could you do this?” Lucas struggled on his chair.
I felt pity towards him. I could only imagine the amount of pain he was experiencing right now.
To think that the person you have called your father all your life was not your biological father? It must have broken him beyond repair.
He stopped after a while, “So who is my father? At least I deserve to know,” his voice broke as he spoke, sobs interfering with his speech.
“It’s someone you know very well.” Nora replied, “I want a name,” Lucas yelled, “You owe me that much.”
“It’s none other than that good for nothing, Williams.” My eyes widened at this revelation. William? He was Alejandro’s closest friend.
“Your real father is so useless. It’s of no use knowing his name. You could have lived your life as Alejandro’s son. Heir to all his property, but you choose to side with this bitch who bore a son who would compete for Alejandro’s assets with you. Can’t you see you are so stupid?”
“Mom, no please tell me all of this is a lie.” My heart was broken as I heard him speak. It was all clear now why Williams was close to Lucas, why he had been by his side all these years.
Nora took a drag from her cigarette.
“Does Williams know? Does he know that I am his son? Cause I know that he is not a heartless human being like you. He will not betray his friend. He is a good man.” Lucas said, and I nodded.
“You think he has been by your side all this while for nothing? I knew Williams before Alejandro.” Nora revealed and this made Lucas sob loudly.
I couldn’t control my tears.
But how could Williams betray Alejandro like this? He slept with his wife and bore a son; then, he had his son live like Alejandro’s.
Alejandro didn’t deserve this.
Nora dropped her cigarette on the floor and stumped it. She walked to the side, and one of the men handed her a piece of cloth. She cleaned her hands with it.
“Now I’ll have to see what I can do with you. If only you didn’t have to stick your nose in my business and keep living your stupid life as Alejandro’s son, I would not have to be pegged as the wicked mother. But now you leave me with no choice.” she raised her gun and pointed it towards Lucas.
“Nora, you can’t hurt him. I’m the one you are after, so do whatever you want to me and leave Lucas out of this. He is your son.” She moved her gun away from him and pointed at me.
“I am not receiving lectures from you.”
“Mom no, please don’t do this, please,” Lucas said.
Nora dropped her gun, closed her eyes, and massaged her temples. “It doesn’t help if you two won’t let me have my way.” She walked around the room in deep thought.
She stopped in front of me, her hands reached for my jaws, and she lifted it, ‘I think I know what to do with you,” she said, looking straight into my eyes.
I removed my eyes from hers and looked out of the window. The sun was beginning to set. Why wasn’t Alejandro here? I tried to mask my fear, but with Nora being mad like this, it would be impossible to run from her.
“There’s a lake close by, and there are piranhas in it. They are always hungry, especially at this time. Don’t you think they deserve to eat?” Lucas struggled on his chair.
“Mom, don’t do it, please.” My chest rose and fell, fear settling in the pit of my stomach; I don’t want to die.
I turned my head away, forcefully pulling my face away from her hold. She gave an evil laugh and stepped away, gesturing at the men.
That moment, my eyes fell on Lucas and moved down; something bulged out of his pocket. Was that a phone? The men walked to me and untied me.
Lucas kept alternating between pleading, yelling, and threatening, but it fell on deaf ears; Nora was already set on her plan.
I didn’t struggle when Nora asked the men to take me away, leaving Lucas alone in the room.
I was sure that he would come up with something to help me.
*Alejandro’s POV*
The search was beginning to become fruitless. With the police and everyone involved, we have not been able to get a clue about Nora, and to make matters worse, Lucas has gone missing, too.
I haven’t told Alison yet. She was already broken at the thought of not seeing Andrea; she would not be able to bear that of Lucas.
She was in the hospital room with Austin, keeping him company.
As I walked towards the room, I felt helpless, and for the first time, I got completely useless. What was the use of being so rich and powerful if I couldn’t protect those I love?
I took in a deep breath as I stood in front of Austin’s room. After steadying my breath, I stepped in. Alison was seated on a stool close to Austin’s bed.
“Any news yet?” She asked.
“Yes, we are close to finding her.” I couldn’t tell her otherwise, not when she was staring at me with such hopeful eyes.
“What about Lucas? Since he left, he hasn’t returned,” I said as I looked out the window at the beautiful sunset. I was angry at nature. I couldn’t find Andrea and now Lucas was missing too. The world was moving on as if nothing had happened.
“He is with the search team. He promised to come back soon.” I couldn’t bear to look at her eyes while speaking.
“How’s Austin?”
“He is fine, but he is yet to speak,” I say as I look at the boy on the bed, his chest rising and falling softly as he sleeps.
“The doctor said he has a trauma response; he will speak soon,” I said.
If Austin were able to speak and tell us anything about his abduction, then it would help, but I didn’t want to force him.
I sat close to Alison, watching Austin sleep; he was the only reason we had to keep living; he was the one I drew strength from.
Since he was found, I was confident we would also find his mom.
He soon woke up, and I stepped closer to him immediately. “Austin, how are you feeling?” Alison was the first to ask.
“I’ll get the doctor,” I said and left the room. I was back with the doctor in no time.
The doctor examined him, “Why is he still not speaking?” Alison asked.
“He is still in shock; please be patient with him.” The doctor said.
When the doctor left, Alison broke down. “I’m so sorry, Austin. I’m sorry you have to experience all that. ”
I couldn’t bear to watch the scene. I kissed Austin on his cheeks and walked out of the room.
As I stepped into my car, my phone rang.
My heartbeat accelerated when I saw Lucas’s name appear on the screen, “Where the fuck are y…”
“Dad, please come get us; we’re close to a lake. Mom has Andrea, and she wants to feed her to Piranhas; come fast. A desolated place, and it will be…”
I heard a door open on the other side.
Fuck.
He must have been found while we were on call.
I drove into the busy road, my head calculating. Though he didn’t give me a complete description of where they were, I had enough clues.
They were close to a lake with piranhas.
It was an isolated place.
And there was only one place that matched that description in the city.
I immediately called Jane, “Send backup now,” I said after telling her the destination.
I was already on my way there.
“Hold on a little, Andrea and Lucas, I’m coming.”