Bennet arrived at Elena’s doorstep just as agreed. He neither wasted any time nor did he care to exchange any pleasantries. Elena felt awkward being around him, especially after the whole drama with Mark and his father had put Bennet’s business in danger.They made a quick detour to Jennet’s house, which just happened to be out of their planned commute for the evening.“Beats me why she’ll buy a property in a neighborhood so far from the happening places,” Margaret rolled her eyes at Elena, who nodded absentmindedly in agreement to what Bennet said.Elena’s mind raced with thoughts headlined by a dozen million questions. Why did Number One want them at a party? If he wanted to meet them physically, he could easily have pulled them off to some private hotel room, which he was capable of doing.Elena had done the courtesy of browsing through the invitation list for the party. Well, she had heard by some stroke of luck, when two women were discussing a friend who had managed to land an e
Their little group went silent after Bennet had finished speaking as they digested the words he had just shoved down their throats.Someone has to put these ones in check every now and then or else.Bennet looked from Jennet to her son, then to Margaret and Elena. He closed his eyes and let out a deep, long breath, after which he wordlessly stepped past them and moved across the street, into the waiting entrance of Chezzy’s place.Of course, he had his own questions about the whole impromptu arrangement. Like, who exactly chooses to show up at a party where his enemies have also been invited?Well, I guess we’ll find out soon then.Bennet’s eyes swept across the length and breadth of the restaurant space, in search of any notable figure, anyone at all that looked out of place in the environment. Unconsciously, his mind had registered Number one as someone with a need to show off and make a statement in public. So, he expected to see someone in a fancy three-piece designer suit, sittin
“If you would excuse me, my friends. I have urgent business to go attend to before the party kicks into full swing,” he winked and walked away towards another entrance. The bodyguard turned around and gave them a menacing glare and walked after his boss. Under the bright lights, he looked imposing and hardened with the scar running down his left eye. He looked formidable.Bennet walked over to an empty table and the rest followed him like sheep. Elena slipped into the seat right beside him and kept her eyes fixed on the table. The rest of their group kept busy with the drinks moving past their table and Elena seized the opportunity to begin a conversation.“It’s a beautiful place,” she nodded with a patronizing smile.Bennet barely grunted a reply and reached across to pick a drink from a passing tray.“Ben, I’m really sorry about how things ended between us. I wish everything went differently,” she tentatively placed a hand on his arm.Bennet looked down at the place where Elena’s ha
Elena watched with disdain as Mark marched alongside his father over to the VIP area. She knew that she had never been with the man for love. Her mother has given her mandate right from the first time he turned up in front of their house and they identified him as ‘Mark Darius, heir apparent to the Darius empire’. “That’s a walking cash cow, you silly girl. It’s our one-way ticket out of these slums,” Her mother had admonished when the shred of confidence she had left, felt terrible for giving Mark false hopes.“But, mum, I don’t love the man,” Elena had protested. Now, there was nothing not to like about Mark Darius. He had the most beautiful smile on the planet, and his eyes held a sparkle to them. He was tall and very handsome, and what more, he had a name that mattered.“Don’t you talk to me about bloody love, Elena. I loved your father and look where he left us! That’s right?”Looking at Mark Darius now, restored to his former glory and custodian of so much power and influence,
Mark looked desperately between his father and Mr. Cornelius, his eyes glinting with a fake smile which screamed ‘don’t leave me alone, I beg you!'“Nonsense. I say we take a tour of this fine hotel, what do you think, Cornelius?” Gabriel said with a smirk, before taking a sip from his glass of wine.“That’s a lovely idea, old friend". Cornelius replied him with a wink and their pair was gone in the next second.Mark settled back in his seat immediately after and couldn’t count how many glasses of wine he had taken from nervousness. Was it three already? It was a new behavior for him to be nervous about meeting a new woman, but subconsciously, Elena’s assault on his psyche during their marriage had left him somewhat traumatized and hesitant about getting involved with females.“Lovely deco,” Karen nodded, looking around the hall. Mark nodded for lack of a more appropriate response.“Karen, right?” He blurted out before he could reign his tongue.“Yes, right". Karen nodded with a smile
Mark ran with his heart sinking further into his stomach, while Karen was somewhere behind running as fast as her heels would let her. All Mark could think of was his father.But just as he approached the elevator door, he spotted a faint movement from the corner of his eyes. Didn’t that suit look familiar?He approached the scene cautiously, praying with all the faith he had within him.“Mark?” The figure lying on the floor stuttered weakly.“Dad!” Mark screamed in alarm and dashed for his father, falling to his knees beside him.“Mark. I think they’ve got me, son,” Gabriel muttered weakly.“Who got you, dad? Stay with me, please!” Mark couldn’t keep the tears from flowing down. He had to act fast. Mark slipped one hand into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone, while the other gently cradled his father’s head. He took in the situation again. It didn’t look any pleasant. His father had sustained a gunshot wound to the upper chest, just above his heart. There was no doubt that th
Brown was in a fit of panic, running in circles around the hotel lobby and its unending corridors. He had no recollection of how he had gotten where he was or what he had been looking for.Why the hell do they have these many bloody corridors?How would an adult be lost inside a building, whether or not the building was as large as the Red Panda Hotel? As much as Brown wanted to feel stupid for letting his guard down in foreign territory, he had bigger fish to fry. Where had the gunshot sounds come from?Brown walked with the staggering grace of a drunk goat and barely saw more than a few feet in front of him. He cursed every single time he bumped into a flower pot along the corridors.The distant blaring of a siren cut a shallow hole through his drunken stupor and plunged him deeper into panic. He ran any which way, as long as it was away from the sirens.An angry man bumped into Brown on his way in the opposite direction and sent him staggering back a few meters.“Hey watch where yo
Jennet had run in the direction of the fracas just from a pure mother’s instinct. She could have sworn that she heard her son screaming.“Would you slow down already?” Margaret struggled to keep up with the rest of the group, stopping every now and then to catch her breath.Brown walked in his own space, steady but not in a mad sprint like someone who had gone round a bend.There was a fleet of police cars blocking off the exit point in the direction they were going. An ambulance backed out and drove off into the street.“Let me go, would you!” Brown’s voice caught their attention.Jennet watched in horror as Brown was forcefully shoved into a police car. She rushed off to the scene to save her son.“Hold on! Where are you taking my son?” she asked anyone who cared to listen among the officers.“Mum! Mum, he’s framed me! The bloody bastard has set me up!” Brown cried, straining his neck backwards to look at Jennet.“Where are you taking my son?” Jennet asked again.None of them paid a
EPILOGUE : A YEAR LATER The courtroom was filled with apprehension and tension. From a mile away, one could observe and note the seriousness of the faces, how enraptured they seemed to be. The silence in the courtroom could be broken by just a pin drop, and everyone was rapt with attention, staring at the judge, the jury, the hideous criminal with beautiful eyes, slender waist, a beautiful body and the prettiest of faces, but with a heart darker than the devil's. The entire city was out for her, and everybody in the room was dying for justice to take its course. The entire courtroom was filled to the brim, and even from the outside, people were peering through the windows. It was the largest court in the city, but the turn up had been so massive that people had to look from the windows. That was the kind of reception that Karen Shapiro had garnered. A lot of people had heard her story, the murders she had committed, and how she had controlled the underworld of crime. She wa
In the days that followed, Jenett Darius felt as if she was living in a dream. She could barely respond to questions that were thrown her way, and she knew it made the chief of police genuinely worried because of the agreement she had made to testify against Karen Shapiro in the court. How was she going to be able to do that when her purpose of living was no more? When her son was no more, the child that she had birthed hadn't even lived to experience the remorse that she was feeling? The removal of the guilt that had filled her chest by turning herself in? On a sunny Monday morning, she was shocked to find the chief of police opening the door to her cell. She jolted awake, and so did Margaret Woods. She had barely spoken to Margaret since she had heard the news of her son's death, and all she had wanted was for death to snatch her too. But no matter how much she wished for it, it never seemed to come. Death knew that it wasn't time for her to go, and it was playing its part by r
But Karen Shapiro was in no state to do what she had conjured in her mind. She was brought down by a simple Roundhouse kick, and her head was pinned to the floor as the cold metal of the handcuffs clamped on her wrists. Karen Shapiro was bundled back into her room, just like the common criminal she was. ********* When Mark Darius came to consciousness, he instantly found out that his side was hurting and that he was in a hospital. The dream he had been having was the same one that had tormented him during the previous nights, Karen Shapiro pursuing him endlessly with a knife, her screams making him terrified and making him perspire profusely. By the time he managed to sit up in the white, comfortable bed he was in, he was covered in a sheen of sweat. He also acknowledged immediately that the bed he was lying in wasn't his, and that his room didn't have a speck of blue in it. He had always been a green and orange color person from the start. And those were the colors that flound
When Karen Shapiro came to consciousness, the first thing she recognized was the continuous beeping of the heart monitor machine next to her and the needle that was in her skin. Her head felt as if it had been pounded upon severally and her eyes wanted to close of their own accord. Where was she? What had happened to her? For all she knew about her being in a blue and white room that stank of drugs and antiseptic, she knew within her that she was missing something. Something was wrong. She wasn't supposed to be in the room that she was, and she knew it. But she couldn't place it. At that same moment, the door opened, revealing a nurse in a white uniform that bore kind, brown eyes. Her hair was covered with a nursing cap, and when she smiled, it was cheerful and broad, seeming to light up the whole room. It made Karen Shapiro smile slightly even though she clearly didn't want to, even though her head felt as if a thousand nails had been drilled into it. The nurse proceeded
Swallowing, he spoke those dreaded words that Jenett Darius heard in her nightmares for days, those words that seemed to stick in her mind, that had left a firm imprint in her soul. “I'm afraid your son has been found dead amongst the bodies of the dead in the aftermath of the Splendid bar shooting. He was alive when the ambulance left the bar, but he was confirmed dead on arrival at the hospital. He died from several gunshot wounds.” He paused, and Jenett Darius could only hear the blood pounding in her ears and the hammering of her chest. She couldn't believe it, she was hoping it wasn't true. But it was reality, the cuffs on her hands were real and the chief was still standing in front of her. “I'm sorry that I'm the one that has come to you bearing this sad news, Miss Jenett. I wish I could take it back, but it has already happened.” When she didn't speak, he ventured further, touching her lightly on the shoulder. It was clear that he wanted her to say something, to at least
As soon as he struck Karen Shapiro on the head with the heavy box, he knew that he had only a few seconds before he would totally black out. And that was why without wasting a precious second, Mark Darius made his way to the phone in Derek Campton's hand. Without skipping a beat, he dialed the popular emergency line, his hands trembling. The amount of blood he had lost was going to determine if he got to live or not, and Mark Darius knew that he had lost quite a lot of blood. “911, what's your emergency?” Smiling, Mark Darius was slowly embracing the darkness that was enveloping him. He was fighting to stay alive, he was fighting death, the darkness, and even though it looked bleak, he was sure that he was going to win. He was going to say his location before the darkness enveloped him completely. It had been quite a long day, and Mark Darius wanted nothing more than to lay down and rest. He had been fighting a battle which he didn't know how it was going to turn out, and t
“I can drive you to the station. I believe one of the staff can help to look after Atticus. He's eating, and as far as food is involved, he's good to go.” Sergei stared at her, slightly worried. He was just a little bit different. Even in the urgency of the moment, he was rethinking things, making sure that he wasn't leaving out any detail. He was very observant, and she could see why Mark had maintained his service throughout the years. “Are you sure? You should rest, take a shower. I assure you that Mark will be alright. He knows how to take care of himself, fight his battles if you know what I mean.” She nodded, knowing that she would do anything to know that Mark was safe and sound. He had fought for Atticus, and it was up to her to do the same for him. She would gladly do it without blinking or hesitation. “I'm certain. I need to be sure that Mark is safe and that Karen hasn't killed him yet.” Sergei nodded, finally acknowledging her pleas to follow him. He had carefully c
She didn't know why, she couldn't fathom the reason. It was probably what she had deserved, but the fact that she had been so close to getting away hurt her everyday of her life. After she closed the box successfully, she turned around to see a smiling Mark Darius, the smaller of her boxes with its edges that were made of metal in his hands. And before she could move or raise her hands in defense, the box had been slammed on her head, sending her into a darkness she had never encountered throughout her life. ********** Farida Atticus stared at her son, then smiled. Out of everything that had happened to her in the past few weeks, he seemed to be the only good thing that had emerged from it all. For the fact that he had managed to come out of the devil's lair that was Karen Shapiro's home unshattered and unharmed, there was every reason for her to be happy. Yes, her life had been a mess because of love, but there was one thing Farida found herself acknowledging. She st
But it was clear that Mark Darius was having none of it. His mind was made up, and he stared at her, his gun very much active in his hand. He was going to use it, no matter what she said. “I can give you the contract right now.” Mark Darius smiled instead, as if he knew of her plans to bolt and do something unpredictable like she had done a few minutes ago. He looked purely ready for her, her antics and whatever she was going to try next. “You should've thought about that before trying to shoot me, Karen Shapiro.” And with those words, he fired. It was a single shot, and the bullet pierced her upper arm in a jolt that sent her to the floor, holding her now bleeding hand. At that moment, Mark Darius let out a cry. He had fallen to the floor, and the gun was out of his hand. Staring at him in pain, Karen Shapiro could see that he was in pain. He was clutching his side, his knuckles completely white. Despite her bleeding arm, the sight of Mark Darius in pain seemed to give her st