5 - WHAT HAUNTS HER

Jade jerked out of her sleep as she felt the cold water hit her skin. She opened her eyes but all she saw was darkness. The air smelt of tobacco and the place was as silent as a graveyard. She tried to stand up but she couldn't move her body. She wriggled and she noticed that she was tied to something - a chair. Fear gripped her as she began to remember what had happened some minutes - or hours ago. She had been kidnapped.

The first thing that came to her mind was to scream. She tried to scream but it was impossible. She had been gagged. Wiggling and shaking the chair violently, she tried to untie her hands and free herself.

“Loosen her up.” She heard a cold voice from behind her and almost immediately, she felt someone untie her. The person removed her blindfold and the first thing she saw was her mother lying on the floor in her pool of blood. She sprang up from the seat but fell to the floor with the chair on top of her as her legs were still tied to it.

Tears streaming down her bright blue eyes, she dragged herself across the broken stone floor, bruising her knees along the way. She reached where Marie lay writhing and knelt beside her, watching as blood streamed out of all the deep cuts at different parts of her body.

Jade felt her world spinning as she tried to stop the bleeding on her stomach. But, she knew it was useless. There was no way Marie could survive that. Her mother had never - and could never - hurt anyone. So, why would someone do this to her? 

She shushed her as Marie opened her mouth to say something. Her blue eyes filled with tears as she raised her bloody hand to touch her daughter's face one last time. Jade held her mother's hand to her cheek as she cried, assuring her that she would be fine, but deep down she knew it wasn't and would never be any more. She cried harder when her mother's hand went stiff and cold and her eyes shut close.

Jade screamed as she raised her mother's head to her chest. Her heart was in so much pain that she felt it might explode. She couldn't understand why her mother had to die. 

She was still crying when two men approached her and dragged her mother's body away despite her struggles. Raising her head, she looked around the structure, which looked like a warehouse, that she was trapped in. There were seven of them. The people who ruined her life.

She glared at them as she noted down their faces, height, build, and everything. There were six men and one woman. They all had tattoos of a cat in their left arm except for the last one. He sat majestically on a chair behind her, smoking a cigar. He was wearing dark glasses and a face cap, successfully covering most of his face. 

Jade could guess that he was the mastermind. The others were just working for him. When she would take her revenge, he'd be the one to suffer most.

“Blindfold her.” The man said coldly and the two men that had taken her mother away walked to her. She didn't struggle as they tied a piece of clothing around her eyes.

“What do we do about her, boss?” One of the men spoke, bringing Jade back to the present. She hadn't escaped yet and she was thinking of taking revenge.

“She'll eventually cause trouble.” Jade heard the man say, causing cold shivers to run down her spine. She could hear the sound of his footsteps as he walked toward her. “Get rid of her.” He uttered coldly as he held her face, puffing smoke on her face and making Jade cringe. “Or not. She's pretty and innocent. I want her.”

Jade frowned in disgust at the man's words and smell. How did he want her? What did he mean by innocent? She was still trying to figure it out when she felt his hand on her breast and she slapped him instinctively.  

He slapped her back, making her head swirl. He slapped her again, causing her to bite the insides of her cheek and therefore making her bleed. Then he tried to place his hand again and she hit it away. Fear raced through every nerve in her body as he gave a cold, chilling laughter.

Then before she knew it, she lay on the floor with her hands over her head while he sat on top of her. He reached for the zip of her jeans pants while she struggled to get him off her. But, she was like an ant trying to fight off an elephant. As he succeeded in unzipping her pants and taking them off, Jade closed her eyes, waiting and hoping for death to take her away. Forever.