Uninvited Guests.

Emily's POV

I frowned at how carefree he was about the whole plan. I knew Sammy had done bad things in his life, but I couldn’t believe he was seriously considering this. We may need money, but my desperation hadn’t gotten to this level.

Not yet. So I thought.

This was not the right thing to do. So many things could go wrong, and if this missing woman eventually comes out, we will be faced behind bars for impersonation and deception of persons. I was about to say something when the front door was forcefully jerked open from outside.

Sammy and I waited impatiently to see who it was. Who could that be? It must be the landlord, I thought. Not long after, my assumption fell wrong.

It was a strange, scary man. He looked around his late sixties. He walked in, scanning the whole room as if he felt disgusted coming inside. He stopped as soon as his eyes landed on Sammy, and his expression changed—not in a good way. I looked at Sammy 'cause I had no idea who this man was. Sammy seemed to do. His expression suddenly turned pale, as if he had seen a ghost. He kept cursing underneath his breath. Sweat coated his forehead. The atmosphere suddenly became tense and hard to breathe in.

"Hey Vi... Victor," I heard Sammy manage to blurt out as he walked forward to where the Victor guy was standing.

Victor didn't let him reach as he jerked Sammy by the shirt harshly and slammed him into the wall, making the wall clock fall and shatter into pieces.

I gasped, taking all the sight before me in. This wasn’t good at all.

"So this is where you have been hiding, huh? You lowlife, where the fuck is my money? You piece of shit, you think you can hide forever?" Victor said between gritted teeth as he slammed him on the wall again, this time harder.

"Come on, man... Victor... let's sit and talk things out. I wasn't hiding, I swear. I told you to give me a month and I will pay back everything. I swear on my mother's grave."

"You take me for a fool, right? And you think I wouldn't find you? I have given you enough time, and rumors had it that you are lately seen at the new pub, spending a lot. It seems you don't want to pay me my damn money."

I wanted to move, to speak, to stop him—but my feet were rooted to the ground. And then, out of nowhere—he punched him. Hard. A sickening sound cracked the air. A trail of blood formed on his nose. My mouth opened, but no words came out. Fear gripped me like a vice. I wasn’t just watching—I was trapped in the moment, paralyzed by shock.

Sammy held his bleeding nose, groaning in pain. "Fuck man. They are lying to you. I just go there for work, nothing else. Look around, does it look like I have a shit load of money? You can check if you want." A sickening grin appeared on Victor's face.

"Of course I will." Immediately Victor said that, another two strange-looking men barged in. They didn’t wait for further instructions as they went straight looking for the money we didn't have. They weren't just searching, they were purposely destroying what they could all in the name of looking for money.

"Please, we don't have any money. Just give him time. He will..."

"Stay out of this, bitch," one of Victor's men cut me off.

"Why don't you stick to what you were told to do?" Sammy lashed back at him.

"Or else what?" Victor said, daring Sammy to do what he had in mind.

"Look, we don't want any trouble. Please just give him time... o... or if you see anything valuable you like, take it before he will be able to pay." I quickly interrupted before the situation got messier.

The two strange men laughed mockingly at me. What did I say wrong?

"What could we possibly take in this shit hole?"

"Just look around. Even my dog won't accept to live here." He kicked the stool beside him, making me flinch.

"But there's something we could take," one of Victor's men said. I felt uncomfortable as the one who made the statement ogled at me from head to toe.

He started to make his way towards me, clearing his path. "Sadly, this is the only valuable thing you have, Sammy. Won't mind if I..."

"Fucking stay away from her. It's me you want, not her, fucking sidekick!" Sammy yelled at the top of his voice. That didn't stop the creep from coming towards me.

Before I could process how I could avoid him, he yanked my hair backwards, dragging me closer to him. The excruciating pain he was causing earned a scream from me.

Sammy tried to push Victor and come to me, but Victor immediately punched him down to the floor.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do, Sammy. When I am done with her, we will know who is the sidekick." He tightened his grip on my hair. "It's a shame she has to suffer for your crime."

"Please, let go." I tried to yank his hand, but I was no match for his strength.

Unexpectedly, with rage, Sammy punched Victor on the face with full force, making him crumble to the floor. The other guy ran to Victor. I watched in horror as they exchanged blows. It became a one-man fight as it was two against one. They knocked Sammy off his feet as they threw punches and kicked him.

"No, please leave him. I beg you. Please." Horror gripped me as I took in the sight before me. With shaky voice, I screamed and thrashed around to free myself to stop them, but the one holding me restricted me from getting anywhere closer. All my pleas fell into deaf ears.

I couldn't stop crying. They did what they liked with him, and I feared they were going to kill him or they had already done the worst because Sammy stopped moving.

They finally left him, satisfied with the way he was—covered with his own blood and unresponsive.

"That should do." He yanked his hair. "The next time you put your filthy hands on me again, I won't be so merciful to let you live," Victor gritted his teeth, every word laced with a warning.

"Boss, are we taking her or not?" the guy holding me in place spoke.

"Leave her. We didn't come here for her." Victor turned to Sammy. "But if by chance you don't pay up before this week runs out, I will have no choice but to take her as collateral. And even if you don’t bother to bail her, I will put a bullet through your head."

That was Victor's final words before he walked out of the room.

"See you soon, darling." He released his grip from me with a smirk and left as well.

I felt disgusted. His fingerprint left a burning sensation on me. But I didn't have time to care how I felt as I rushed to where Sammy was laying on the floor, lifeless.