Chapter 4

Although, I appeared calm and unfazed, inside I was going insane with fear.

‎"Huh?" I heard Kael's voice as he got closer. "What the hell are you talking about, Keys?"

‎Don't look. Don't look. Don't look.

‎The words kept replaying within me like an annoying dirge, warning me of danger but my body moved on it's own, and before long I was staring up at the man beside me.

‎He was tall, so tall that my head could only dare to reach his shoulders, shoulders that were as broad as a high school's teaching board, if you would give it a physical outline. His clothes were casual but I could see sets of muscle packs bulging underneath the fabric, especially the area around the arm.

‎And then I thought, 'why would you need to let clothes breathe when you have this guy' ?

‎Jet-black silky hair framed a vogue-made-headlines hit face and thick arched eyebrows with hunter shaped lids which held the scariest pair of eyes I've ever seen.

‎And they were glaring down at me.

‎I was doomed.

I was so doomed.

‎"What do you m...." Another popped up in my vision on the other side and I was met with a boyish version of the one I'd just gawked at. He had similar but softer features.

‎This one must be Kael. "Oh." He blinked, letting long, dark lashes flutter over his upper cheekbone.

‎The one with an icy expression, he was definitely Kiean, turned around and began to walk away but not before saying in a low, cold tone. "Bring her."

‎Kael's face contorted when he turned to his brother. "What happened to 'your' hands? Are they hurt?"

‎"Kendrick, you bring her."

‎Kael snorted before he grabbed my arm roughly and yanked me out of my hiding spot, there was only a limited chance for me to steady my cane so it won't fall. Then he started to lead me towards thick, brown doors.

‎What would they do to me if they locked me in there? A place where no one could see or hear anything from outside.

‎My heartbeat spaced up to my throat. I felt suffocated. I started to wheeze as my chest caved in terribly. I pulled back on my arm and began to look around.

‎Anything, anything at all that might help me. My throat hitched as tears gathered in my eyes, pricking at the ducts.

‎I don't want to die. Someone... anyone...

‎My blurred gaze landed on a man standing at a distance. He was tall, had black, silky shoulder length hair and possessed the exact face Kiean had except his was edged in youth. He looked calmer, gentler and exuded a particular warmth, one I couldn't put a finger to.

‎As he stared at me passively, I realized. He was the youngest of the three. Kendrick.

‎I was brought into a large room but I was too petrified to focus on anything other than the man in front of me. He sat behind a mahogany desk, looking at me like I deemed to be at his presence.

‎I was left standing, switching my cane to the other hand and vice versa. I was surrounded by the brothers. It was like being at court where you were the defendant and you couldn't plead your cause because it wasn't a court that would hear you out in the first place.

‎I was scared.

‎Frightened, infact, especially of a future where I had no existence. The more my palms got sweaty and my face heated up, I couldn't help but plan how they would kill me. However, I needed to survive.

‎"Here."

‎Something hard bumped into the back of my knees, almost prompting me to jump out of my skin. I glanced behind me slowly and saw Kendrick gesturing for me to sit on a chair that he'd brought. "Your legs might hurt if you stand for too long."

‎‎I watched him intently, trying to understand the meaning behind his action but it wasn't until he walked away that I carefully obliged, and not because I wanted to but because my legs were indeed starting to hurt and I, myself, hadn't noticed.

‎"Is this what you people do before you kill someone off? Gentle care before a quick execution? Die-with-the-feeling-that-you-were-cared-for-before-your-last-breath kind of thing?"

‎Those were the words that laced my lips instead of a thank you. My bones were tensed but I couldn't let down my guard around either of them.

‎Kael let out an amused chuckle but as Kiean stood to his feet, the laughter faded into a cough.

‎He leaned against the desk with his eyes on mine. "Well, I didn't think I would meet you so soon, Alyssa Brawns." He knew who I was. "I thought I made it clear to Loralye that the meeting would be in an hour."

‎They were all working together, the girls, Loralye.... I clasped a hand over the trembling other, trying to remain as calm as possible. "I guess I was impatient sir. It got the best of me and put me in some kind of unredeemable trouble."

‎His brows creased, drawing together slightly. "What do you mean trouble? The meeting just started. You wanted to discuss something important with me, remember?"

‎What did I look like to you? A gullible, knee rubbing fool who would fall for your obviously devious sweet-talk? If so, then yes, that could be planned.

‎"Ah yes sir, my lips do utter the most useless things at times."

‎"Then fix it." He turned around and began to pour himself a glass of wine. "If not, I would be pleased to help you shut it up for good." He gestured to me with a glass in hand. "Red wine?"

‎I swallowed, trying to calm my nerves, and kept clasping one hand over the other again and again. "Ah no, thank you."

‎He gave me a sad look. "You're rejecting my offer? How cruel."

‎"Ha!" Kael laughed out suddenly. "Keys' pouting, award winning terrible actor."

‎"I.." My head was beginning to hurt terribly. "I don't drink."

‎"Your fidgeting makes me wonder if I've done something to scare you. I can't have a wonderful guest wish for the ground to open and gulp her down while I'm right before her."

‎My breathing shuddered at that moment as my heart gave way. "Listen, I lost my way, I didn't see anything, infact I don't know a thing, please let me go."

‎A low chuckle reverberated the room, scaling my bones in its impact. "You appear smart but you're quite dumb. You see, if we allow that, the people around you may be visited with the consequences of your mistakes instead. An exchange for an exchange, don't you agree?"

‎The atmosphere in the room felt heavy, the temperature had dropped long ago. I could see streaks of blood running down the walls in the corners of the room and didn't know when it affected my tone. "Don't touch them, you disgusting eyed fool."

‎"Oh." Kael murmured. "Wow!" Then he laughed. "She's quite fiery."

‎The corners of Kiean's lips lifted into a smirk. I could tell that he was annoyed. Well, middle finger to you!

‎"Miss Brawns, am I allowed to believe that you didn't utter some baseless words a second ago or you've really grown some nerves in a matter of seconds?”

‎This entitled bastard... "Will you kill me then? Help yourself. I'm already one limb short."

‎"Oooh."

‎Kiean took tentative steps toward me, pausing with a demeaning, haughty look as he made use of the pen in his hand to raise my chin. "You're not so different from your parents, after all.”

‎My blood boiled and simmered against my skin as I matched his glare. "I'm more curious about that audacity. What rights do you have to talk about my parents like you know them?"

‎"Far more than your five-star rating ignorance allows you to."

‎I tilted my head. "You mean there's a reason your hairline keeps receding in accordance to your senses?"

‎"Ha! She clocked that shit, and it doesn't even make sense!" Kael spread out his arms and shrugged when Kiean shot him a look. "What?"

‎"Kael, let's move it."

‎"And miss out on all the fun? Hell no, Kenny." Then, he turned to me, eyes beaming in amusement. "I'm rooting for you big time, get his fat ass!"

‎His voice suddenly faded at the last sentence when he locked eyes with Kiean. After few seconds, he rolled his eyes and stood to his feet. "Fine, I'll leave."

‎What, no wait!

‎In spite of myself, I didn't want any of them to go. I felt safer with them than the one in front of me. I may have provoked him a bit too much.

‎I heard the clicking of the door and my paranoia returned.

‎He began to walk around me, swirling the glass of wine in his hand. "Let me ask this, are you aware that your parents were a part of the three biggest organisations in the state?"

‎I frowned in disgust. Now, that just sounded stupid. "You look like a fool saying nonsense right now."

‎If he was upset at my reply, he didn't show it. "Okay, what about you knowing that your so called parents exploited people in your neighbourhood and across the state? They were the sole proprietors of drug and human trafficking, and they funded huge slave driving and human marketing businesses.”

‎I was prompted to laugh. They really wanted to paint my dead parents as villains here. Why couldn't people just leave the dead to stay dead?

‎"This has to be some kind of jok... uuk.." My words faded into a wince as he suddenly pressed on my chin with his thumb, jerking it upward.

‎"Listen here, little bird," he said through gritted teeth, looking down at me in disgust, "I am going to tell you a vital information so keep quiet and listen, is that clear?", his hands travelled to my nape and gripped it tight, "Or God so help me if I don't break this tiny neck of yours. I've been quite tolerable of your nonsense for long, don't push it."

‎When he let go of my neck, my face felt hot and heavy like gravel. I knew right there that I did NOT like the feel of his hand on my skin.

‎"Let's continue." He stated passively "The leaders of the Pili organisation weren't some wannabe circus folks, they were your parents. Though they were not so different from circus clowns." He shrugged a shoulder, raising the rim of the wine glass to his lips.

‎Another lie.

‎I glared at him with as much hatred as had been juiced from every fibre of my being. This man kept lying with no shame at all. How much more could you get irritating?

‎"Don't talk about them like that," I found myself muttering, "they opened lots of charity homes and funded multiple scholarships in the state. They built homes for the elderlies and helped the homele..."

‎"Why do you think the police didn't go further in their investigations? If they were so kind to the people, why didn't anyone show up for them? Why do you think what happened that night died down faster than it was broadcasted?" He tilted his head, holding my gaze with a cocky grin. "Was it even broadcasted?"

‎"Everyone knew about it."

‎"So, like a gossip that lasts for a day then."

‎"Screw you." I said, eyeing him.

‎He chuckled saltily and turned his attention to a painting of Van Gogh on the wall. "The people must've pitied you so much that they didn't tell you anything and the police pretended to continue investigating."

‎‎He took pleasure in swirling the glass of wine in his hand. "Your uncle, Samuelson, is quite commendable. After the truth got out, many people wanted to take matters into their own hands and destroy whatever was left of the people who'd exploited them. In order to protect you, he sent you to an orphanage and convinced them to relieve the stress that the news would put on your mental health if you ever found out."

‎He added with a snort. "He must've compensated them well. I wonder how though, they destroyed your parents properties and erased any candle they held in the state."

‎I nodded, finally understanding. "So, it's that, huh? Did my uncle send you? Did he orchestrate all this to get at me again?” ‎

‎Kiean turned to me with a frown. "Little bird, did you really think your parents were," he air-quoted, "divine angels, heavenly sent?" He cocked a brow, eyeing me before throwing his head back. "Ha! Hilarious. They played that role well, I must admit.

‎Listen, the other organisations had no concerns about what your parents did. However, your parents did something quite foolish, they sold valuable information about us to the bureaucracy in an attempt to create a smokescreen for them to redeem themselves out front and continue their illicit businesses. They did that mainly because they'd created an underground organisation which would smoothly sell life threatening drugs, to which over an hundred and fifty clinically admitted people died from by the way."

‎"No, no, no, they wouldn't... my parents wouldn't..." My heart started to race as my vision blurred altogether. The more I convinced myself that I was being told a lie, a cooked up story, the more those words felt true and that I was the one lying instead.

‎"Intelligent, I admired them, but that was just crossing the line. We decided to get them back for it, but what do you know, they'd planned to end their lives and the lives of their two daughters that night."

‎"W.. wha... what did you say?" My eyes gave out, my heart bled, my throat clogged up and my gut recoiled painfully. I gripped the chair for support as the walls started to close in on me.

‎For the first time since I met him, a genuine smile graced his lips.

‎"That night, little bird, none of you were supposed to make it to the next day alive."

‎