Chapter 8

Stella came down from the bus and ducked into the woods to find her way to the secret building that was occupied by the assassins.

She hopped happily upstairs, immediately she jumped the fence into the main building. Mrs Smith was anxiously waiting for her at the entrance.

"You made it?" Mrs. Smith raised a quizzical brow.

"Yes! No hangovers" Stella bowed. 

"Alright, you have proved to me how competent you are, I promise to reward you greatly" Mrs. Smith smiled and shook hands with her.

Stella bowed again and raised her head to see surprise written all over her boss's face. Her smile faded and her mouth fell when she turned to see the girl right behind her.

"What is this?! Who is she?!" Mrs. Smith glared at Stella. She opened her quivering lips and closed it.

"Am sorry… I had nowhere to go and I didn't mean to put you in trouble" the girl went down on her knees and bowed her head. "I'm Sophia Williams, ma'am. I'm really sorry for my unwelcome intrusion" 

"Stella, what do we call this?! How can you be so callous to let a stranger tail you here! Explain this… now!" Mrs. Smith yelled at Stella.

"I'm very sorry, ma'am! I didn't know she was… I told her not to… I… I…" Stella stuttered and went down on her knees with a guilty look. 

"She told me to stay away, but I followed her because I don't have anywhere else to go. I promise to accept any punishment you will give me, don't get mad at her, it is all my fault and I deserve to be punished" Sophia begged.

"How… where in God's name did you meet her?" Mrs. Smith shook her head in confusion.

"I… it's my mistake. I could have left without saving her, but I wasn't able to resist when I heard her screaming for help and…" Stella trailed off and shrugged.

Mrs. Smith gazed into Sophia's eyes and saw the hurt. But she is still dressed like some cheap slut, she thought. There are wounds on her face that tell she was manhandled and fresh blood was still oozing out of it, and the girl is obviously shivering in fear.

Mrs. Smith opened her mouth to reprimand Stella again, but her phone rang. "Keep your eyes on her," she said instead and took the call.

Stella sent a disgusting look at Sophia who put her hands together apologetically. "I didn't mean to…" Sophia mumbled.

"Seriously? About not having anywhere to go, are you being serious?" Stella asked sympathetically.

"Yes. I was forced into the sluts foundation and… that's why you saw me there. I was struggling with the man because I didn't want to do that. You are my saving grace, thank you" Sophia said gratefully.

"Well, don't worry. Mrs. Smith might look callous outside, but she has a heart of gold. With all those scars, even I know that a spy can't be in that condition" Stella tapped her shoulder fondly.

"I hope she will accept me into this organization. I have a lot of people to deal with and I know this is the place that will help me achieve that. We can be friends, right?" Sophia forced a smile to her face.

"You haven't been accepted yet… like, you don't know what she would say, and you are already making friends? How pathetic!" Stella muttered and couldn't help chuckling at her.

"I take that as an acceptance. You're welcomed" Sophia wiped sweat off her face with the back of her hand.

Mrs. Smith put the phone to her ear and waited for the caller to talk first. She knew who it was, how much she despises this man that has shattered her dreams and rendered her life useless.

She shouldn't be taking his call, but her son is with him and it has always been through him that she was able to talk to him, so she has no much choice but to answer.

"Justin was involved in the plane crash" Mr Smith's voice broke into the phone.

"What?! No! You can't be serious!! I saw the news and there were only three survivors… where was he going? You promised to take care of him and that's why I let him stay with you and…" Mrs Smith forgot how to breathe.

"Calm down! The doctor said he will be fine. Just breathe, relax and I promise…"

"Don't promise me anything again! I don't trust you bastard!" She cut him short, "text me the hospital address, I will come right away!" She said and ran back to get her bag.

"It's already too late, don't…" Mr Smith was saying, but she cut the call.

"Boss, is there any problem?" Stella asked worriedly when she came to the entrance again.

"If anything goes wrong here, you will be responsible! That's a promise. Get the men, I have to leave now!" Mrs Smith commanded and scurried away.

"Hey! Follow me, I can't trust you now. I don't know what's going on, you will be watched till tomorrow… or when everything gets in check!" Stella took Sophia and handed her over to the guards.

"It's safer here. I would rather go to jail than sell my body for cash. Thank you so much, I owe you my life" Sophia bowed slightly to her before going with the guards.

***

*Next Morning*

"I can't believe these tragedies happened the same yesterday! And almost at the same time, the cops are busy doing nothing! They always meet a dead end whenever they go on investigating those two crimes. They are obviously the handwork of some blood suckers!" Franko shook his head.

"I heard Justin was in the plane that crashed, and I can't reach him nor his father. I hope he is alright. Only three survivors were found, thousands of souls were wasted!" Tyler said sadly.

"Hey, guys! Look who we have here! Miss Molly taxi-driver is here" Greg scoffed when he saw Molly walking towards them.

They knew exactly where to wait for her since she normally visits the library after morning lectures. There hasn't been a day she doesn't go to the library except she didn't come to school that day. 

As she approached, they blocked her way and her face paled. Her friends aren't there to back her up today and she is worried sick about Sophia and so doesn't have their strength, but this is something she would never avoid. 

These guys are always so mean to her and she could swear it was only Sophia that always keeps them off. But ever since Sophia went out of the picture, they never stop being a prick.

"Poverty has dealt with a lot of people's mindset. Who told you that reading your ass out will take you away from the slums you came from?" Tyler shook his head as his friends laughed at her.

"Why are you drinking painkillers over my headache? I just noticed that eating an already made wealth that you and I don't know how it was made has inflicted madness on you and your senses of reasoning are gone!" Molly lashed out at him.

"Wow! So cool! Hey, this babe just cursed you. Show her that you are made of metal" Greg mused as they went behind him and gave him room to deal with the infamous girl.

"It is your wretched family that has gone mad. And I would have loved to show you how a mad person behaves, but I don't want to dirty my hands. Tell me, what has your sanity done for you and your family?" Tyler mocked.

"You're a bastard!" Molly thrusted a warning finger at his face, "you had better stay away from me or I will show you what my sanity will do to you. I will rather remain poor than be animals like you and your useless friends!" She spit on his face and walked away.

"What guts!" Franko cursed. He went to draw her back, but Tyler stopped him. "Why? She deserves a beating!"

"Let her be, I know what to do to hurt her. She had better watch out for unleashing the beast in me!" Tyler threatened.

"What Justin did to Sophia will be a smaller version of what we will do to her. Nothing is gonna come out of it!" Greg smirked.

"Yeah, no one dares us and goes unpunished!" Franko laughed.

Molly couldn't concentrate when she got into the library. She was looking at a textbook, but the words written there were blurry in her eyes.

She put a hand on her beating chest and cursed herself for being a fool. How can she crush on such a guy? He just insulted her family today and rebuked her status. What else does her heart want to see before it stops hopping whenever she sees him?

"What is likable about that jerk?" She thought out loud.

"Which jerk?" Eve's voice broke in, she sat beside her friend and lifted a romantic novel to her face.

"Oh, I was just thinking… Eve, have you seen Rebecca?" Molly changed the topic immediately.

"That idiot? I used to see her, but not anymore. Rebecca or whatever her name is doesn't exist to me anymore. That girl even had the guts to record her last call with Sophia and shared it in the school's social media groups, and the admins are not doing anything about it" Eve replied.

"She was removed from the group, but everyone believes Sophia is the bad girl. I bet she must've been added again. I'm already tired of coming to this school" 

"Yeah, me too. It's no longer fun and I hate it when everyone looks at me like a follower of Satan because of what happened to Sophia. I talked to my parents and I'm certain they will take me to a boarding school very soon" 

Molly and Eve turned to see Sunny and Vicky. 

"Help me talk her out of it. Team Queens will be dead if she leaves too. Let's stick together and rebuild TQ, please!" Vicky held Sunny.

"It has already died after what happened to Sophia, so let's not try to mend a broken glass. I wish we all could just change to the same school and start afresh" Molly shook her head. 

"Sometimes, I just blame myself for what happened to Sophia. I shouldn't have left her alone with Justin and I could have checked on her, now I don't even know her whereabout" Molly said again.

"It's okay, I believe she is safe. I know the allegations aren't true and that video was edited because I know Justin went upstairs to meet Sophia that night and that Reverend is long dead. People can be so heartless" Sunny indicated.