Chapter 5

~~Oriana~~

I sat by the window sill, waiting patiently and watching, the day soon bled into night. My stomach grumbled violently.

The door clicked open, footsteps entered. More than one this time, I ignored them.

“Mistress, your food” a polite voice said from behind.

I finally turned, and came face to face with a young girl, about twenty or so, dressed like a maid.

“I'm not hungry” I mumbled.

She collapsed almost instantly, tears rolling down her eyes, the others followed suit. Their bodies trembling. “You have to eat something mistress. Please, all the master will have our heads”

“Stop calling me that” I snapped, my voice harsher than intended.

“We're sorry mistress, please spare us” they bowed, body shaking.

Shit.

“Look I'm sorry, stand first” I spoke calmly, they were not to blame for my situation.

They kept kneeling, none bothering to budge. “Please mistress, eat something.” The first one spoke again.

“He won't actually kill you guys right?” I could hear the uncertainty in my own voice.

Their faces ashened, but without a word the planted their faces to the floor, body shaking.

“Fine, I'll eat.” I mumbled, grumpily. I didn't even want to imagine what fate awaited then if I didn't eat.

One taste of the soup and I wolfed the rest of the food down. Soon I was done,

“Thank you” the first looked at me gratefully, handed the empty plate to the other three who followed her, they bowed and walked out.

“Wait..” I called out, “I didn't get your name”

A smile spread to her lips, “Nica mistress. I'll be back” she turned and followed them out.

The door shut behind them, I trudged back to the window where I sat previously, my thoughts ran wild.

How was Cassie doing? Was she looking for me? Hopefully she had filed a missing person report, so I consoled myself.

Then suddenly it clicked, I never heard the sound of the lock after Nica passed.

My heart began to race, I tiptoed to the door, placing my hands shakily on the door, the door rattled and clicked open.

“Yes.” I whispered, “okay, control yourself. Don't ruin this, deep breaths”

Gathering the courage, I slipped out of the room, a bright light lit up the entire passageway, strangely enough there was no one in sight. But I still tried my best to walk in the shadows, avoiding even the slightest sound of a living being.

Following my instincts, I soon spotted the gate that led to the outside of the estate up ahead. Freedom was in sight, I picked up the pace, sprinting towards the gate. I was soon on the asphalt. Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks, “I made it” I sniffed, pushing down the tears.

Something felt off, the escape felt a little too easy, way too easy if I were to be honest.

Doesn't matter, all that mattered was I was out of that nightmare and I'm going to make that bastard Ciro regret his actions.

I ran as far as I could, till I finally got to a public road, with vehicles and people walking past, going about their daily businesses.

I flagged down a taxi, “to the nearest station” I said immediately I entered, still throwing glances behind me to be sure I wasn't dreaming.

“Sure. Are you okay ma'am?” He asked, his accent thick.

“Yes. Just drive” I rested my head on back, I could feel my nerves calm, my eyes were still on the road, this was far from over.

“Here.” I handed him my hair pin, “I'm so sorry, I was robbed. This is all I have on me.”

“It's fine mist— ma’am. No payment is necessary, are you sure you don't need help?”

I pursued my lips, my instincts kicking in, “what were you about to call me now?”

“Huh?” He looked at me, confused.

“You know what, I can't deal with all these now” I quickly rushed into the station, straight to the counter.

“I would love to file a complaint. I witnessed a murder and I was kidnapped” the officer looked me over, bored like this was a scene he has seen repeatedly.

“Hold on. We'll get to you” he said evenly, going back to what he was doing.

This city was fucking rotten to the core, “I forgot to introduce my self. I'm Avvocati Oriana Vitale. And unless you want me dragging this station to the fucking depths, you will take my statement and do something about my situation.” I finished in one breath, pouring my frustration down.

He sat up straighter, his back arching upwards, “sorry ma'am, can you describe your captor”

Finally. Some progress, I quickly began describing that bastard,

“Hold on. I'll get back to you” he said and headed back in.

“Good. At least the law still counted for something, I would make sure that bastard regrets messing with me.” I clenched my fists.

The officer returned, but this time he wasn't alone, the second one came to my side, all smiles, something flashing across his eyes.

“Mistress” he bowed, his grin widening, “to have graced us with your presence.”

“Don't fucking call me that.” I spat, “you know what, this was a fucking mistake. I'm leaving” I should have known that the bastard would have people all over the city. At least he wouldn't attack me inside a station.

“Hold on” he pushed a phone into my hand, and a black ear pod. “You'll want to watch” he bowed and left.

I fixed the ear pod, colour drained from my face immediately the screen lit up,

A whimpering Cassie was tied to a chair, blindfolded, with a gun pointing directly at her forehead.

“Scroll up doll” a cold voice spoke from the pods, my heart sank deeper into my chest, tears poked my eyes.

I pushed it back, with a swipe I scrolled, my heart began racing widely, it was the matron, a red dot was pointed straight at her forehead, a sniper.

I held back my tears, I wasn't going to let them fall, I swiped once more, and felt my entire body go numb.

A bomb was ticking down at the orphanage, 9 minutes left,

“Why are you doing this?” My voice broke.

“See you in 8 minutes, wife. The clock is ticking” he responded and the sound of clicking followed.

The tears I had been holding back finally flowed freely.

“Why me?”