Sweet Escape

Blair wasn't feeling too good as she struggled to make space for air.

The last thing she could remember was being home with her stepdad and suddenly feeling a sharp needle penetrate her neck.

Listening closely, she figured she was in a vehicle, and as she thought of many possibilities concerning how she got to be in a moving vehicle that quickly, she felt herself go numb as each second passed.

Gathering her strength, her hands moved around her face, slowly, stopping just as they came in contact with the dark silk cloth wrapped round her eyes.

She had been blindfolded and taken hostage, but by whom?

Her thoughts didn't last too long as she snapped out, meaning to focus on the real situation.

She tugged weakly against a piece of clothing which she had successfully traced to the figure occupying the space beside her. Yielding it in her possession, she held onto whom she thought was a man, prompting him to shake her off himself.

Swiftly, she used her elbow to protect her face, noticing that the man had yanked her off while applying a great amount of force.

Trying again, she clutched onto him so hard, this time leaving him to look a struggling mess in his attempt to lay her off.

"Why?" It appeared as though her voice felt weak along with her body, it quivered, not letting her speak in full control. "Why are you doing this?"

She tugged against her blindfold again, aggressively this time, ignoring the fact that she could wrongly place a scratch on her flawless face.

She didn't care less as she tried endlessly to take it off her face, but the blind didn't budge, however, it had her wondering just what material it was made from.

Seconds passed, and the material still held on to Blair's eyes as though it was paid to do so.

Glancing at her, one of the men who sat close enough engaged her in a tight grip, prompting Blair to tussle back with weak punches. She figured they did her a Favour by leaving her hands free.

"Let me go!" she screamed, and as a result, got her head slammed to the walls of the vehicle by the same man. She gasped in disbelief and slowly led her hands to her temple where she felt pressure, gently rubbing it in regret. "Please"

She had mouthed the word in between tiny sobs but paused in fear as she felt strong fingers dig into her hair, gathering hairs from the root and jerking her up by that pattern.

Soft sobs escaped her mouth and her tears began trailing their way down her cheek.

A breeze of an emotion she often referred to as pain settled within her, making a prison for itself. She whizzed, feeling the thirst for liquid.

How was she going to ask for that? She had thought to herself.

From her experience, she figured the persons who captured her were not in any way near kind. She racked her brain, thinking of the right approach at this.

Letting time pass without yet a sensible idea, she decided to go with what came to mind.

Adjusting calmly, she readied herself to speak while slowly making a plea sign with her hands.

She turned, in an attempt at facing someone, anyone at all.

She cleared her throat, harboring a shaky breath.

"Can I have water?" Her breath went still, waiting in anticipation for a positive answer. "Please, I beg you"

It was almost the end of the day, and she hadn't even had a drop of the liquid. She waited in silence, hoping there was change in the atmosphere.

"What was that?" Blair's ears were perked as she heard one of the men ask, she was in too much of a hurry to state her problem but leaned back in disappointment as she felt huge hands hold her to motion.

She couldn't stop herself from wondering just how huge these people would appear before her eyes, she feared for what they would do to her.

Blair hadn't thought for too long before she slowly began dozing off, if she wasn't allowed to see who her abductors were, she was definitely not prepared to see where they were taking her.

Bumping sounds had Blair shoot open her eyes immediately, searching through her blindfold for the slightest opening that could give her access to the world which she had failed to see for half a day now.

All she saw was darkness, as she had failed to find an opening through her blindfold.

On the trail, she heard a screeching sound and concluded it must have come from the car.

Blair observed now that the car had halted and immediately leaned out, meaning to get hold of what might be happening. Her senses swiftly set off at being attentive as they aimed to catch every detail that could be fused to make facts.

She finally was able to tell that they had reached whatever place they were headed to.

Blair flinched at the sound of the door as a guy shut it closed just after he had highlighted the car.

"Take her where the other girls are" a man flaunting his baritone voice instructed. "I will need her with me not too long from now"

What did he mean by that? Was she kidnapped because her abductors couldn't get to their initial target?

One after the other, the questions in Blair's mind kept piling up but, unfortunately, she couldn't get an answer to even the least of them.

She heaved deeply as she felt someone tap her back, gesturing that she steps down. Using her hands to feel the closed space surrounding her, she finally held the door to the car, pushing it open and stepping to the outside with the help of a member.

The blindfold at this moment still embraced Blair's eyes. She was not cheerful with the idea of covering up her eyes, but had no choice than to do just that.

All she could do to make a choice was curse under her breath, whilst she hoped that she was silent enough with her words to avoid worthless problems.

Blair finally had her blindfold removed by someone whose fingers were too fast to leave traces. Just as soon as the clothing had fallen off her eyes, she ceased to see whoever it was that assisted with that.

Closing her eyes tightly and opening them back up, she observed closely the environment in which she now found herself.

In awe of how unpleasant the place looked, she was glued to a spot, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

She couldn't help but wonder if she really wasn't having a horrible dream or the like.

A jumbo-sized man walked towards her, halting just as he stood before her. He had made rowdy little observations before grabbing her hand, instructing that she trail after him as he walked past her.

Blair, looking around and almost puking, took in some air before following behind. She walked slowly behind him, thus wondering where he was taking her this time.

Oh, she remembered, she was supposed to be taken to 'where the other girls are'

Repeating her thoughts in her head, curiosity took the best of her.

Who were the other girls?

Why would a number of girls be in a room?

Considering how the man with the baritone voice from earlier had made his statement, she drew to a close that there probably was a good number of girls where she was headed.

Blair hadn't noticed that the man had stopped walking as she almost bumped against him.

She briskly arranged herself, cleaning up the little blood stain she had observed at the side of her temple in which subsequently, caused the horrible moment from the car to replay in her head.

Blair took a stance beside the man, letting her eyes waver, a reaction she displayed subconsciously. Her mind was made up, she had realized it was of no good use being scared.

Wholeheartedly, as that seemed to be her mind's state, she began drafting emergency escape plans in her head whilst trying not to appear suspicious as she utilized her brain as a mental backup drive.

She had hoped to spend less time in an unknown place such as where she currently was.

Jolting back into reality, Blair realized the man had his rough gaze on her, wordlessly telling her to be alert.

She heaved a fast sigh, finally standing a little too close to the threshold which, of course, cut up between the room they both stood face to face with.

Blair felt a sudden push from the back, and on cue, she was thrown into the small room which, unsurprisingly for her, harbored quite a number of women.

Her eyes stared for a moment, taking in everything there was in the space, but was interrupted by her little survey when she heard someone laugh.

Her eyes looked around, hoping to get a hint.

"Finally, we have someone who might be accepted" A voice from the room filled the air, prompting the others to noisily agree with praise.

Blair's world was starting to spin. She didn't exactly understand what that meant, but more importantly, she wasn't interested in comprehending whatever the woman had meant by what she said.

"Let's hope he accepts you", another lady who had walked towards her mouthed, "he rejected us all."

Blair suddenly couldn't move her legs, and with a shaky breath, she prepared to mouth out her first word since she got into the room. "Who?"

Blair sat in the corner that was allocated to her as she accrued more ways to escape the place. Her corner wasn't too bad compared to that of some other women.

The beds in the room were only too small and could barely take up some of their owners. That was not a problem for Blair as she was small enough to fit in her bed.

From her last question, she had been enlightened about whom the mafia was but still couldn't picture his appearance.

While in deep thought, Blair subconsciously raised her eyes, suddenly meeting a figure who stood just in front of her.

She suppressed the urge to let out a scream as she figured it was just one of the women.

"That wasn't necessary" she blinked, eyeing the lady who stood before her, "it would do nothing to say something."

"I'm sorry about that" The lady in turn began with a soft voice, assuring Blair that she barely meant to give her a scare. "I thought I'd just wait, since you were so engrossed in your thoughts."

Blair adjusted uncomfortably in her space, she realized just how suspicious she made the whole thinking process seem like.

"It definitely wouldn't be good if more people noticed" she thought to herself.

With her gaze averting at the lady and both palms clammed together, she faked a smile. "What do I call you?"

Blair hadn't finished up her escape plan but figured that the point where she was at was definitely a considerable start.

The lady's expression became more relaxed just as she observed the smile on Blair's face, taking that as a clue to accord one right back. "Call me Brianna"

It was definitely the girls with the cutest names that got captured. Blair had to pause to think before proceeding with the ongoing conversation.

The smile on Blair's face switched from fake to an almost real one, as she tapped the little space she had created on her bed, gesturing that Brianna sits.

The lady took the space and Blair had to shift further into her bed, ascribable to Brianna being a little too big.

Before speaking, Blair slowly observed just how clean and beautiful the lady looked, she probably was somebody else's wife until her abduction. "Permit me to call you Anna"

She thought about narrowing her unanswered questions towards the lady instead. Curiosity had gotten her hands fidgeting calmly, whilst she thought of ways to lay out the questions to Brianna.

"Sure" Brianna had answered, waiting in anticipation to hear that of Blair.

"Oh, my bad" Blair sounded, as she noticed Brianna's anticipating look "Blair"

She pushed her hand out, which prompted a subtle handshake from both parties. Thereafter, Blair leaned closer to Brianna because her curiosity was eating her up.

"How did you get here?" Blair's voice was a little above a whisper, as she aimed to keep the conversation within. "Do you not have a family?"

"Well..." Brianna had begun, her voice pitched well enough for just Blair to catch. "My husband set me up, and sold me off to these people"

"I want to see him again" Brianna sniffed, an attempt to push back the tears which had begun welling up in her eyes. "I want to ask him why he did that."

Blair had noticed the glitch in Brianna's voice as she spoke, she observed how hard it was for her words to flow.

"I'm so sorry" she mouthed, passing Brianna a piece of clothing she was lucky to find around. "How long has that been?"

"A month now" Brianna laughed hysterically "I can't believe I've been here for a month."

"Wow." it was beyond reasoning for Blair as she could never have imagined that happening to anyone. She figured other women had thick stories about how they found themselves here too.

Now, she was more interested in their role here. Again she leaned closer to Brianna, making sure they were in close axis before whispering "what then is our purpose here?"

"To serve the Mafia lord and other members of the group", Brianna had answered.

"And by serve, you mean?" Blair's brows were raised. Observing the expression on Brianna's face, she suspected that there was more than just that.

"Whatever services they ask of you", Brianna paused to look straight into Blair's gaze. "Most especially, love making"

Blair realized what she feared the most was suddenly coming to her. She wrapped her head in her palm as she tried to picture herself being slept with, against her will.

"And if you disagree?" She had gone further to ask, just to be prepared for whatever comes. "What happens then?"

"You're likely dead" Brianna engaged her lips in a thin line, as she let her breathe escape freely.

"What?"

"That's what I said in the beginning" Brianna attested to Blair's words, shocking her even more. "We try our best to survive here, and that can only happen if you obey their rules."

Blair didn't think

It worried her to the extent she began fidgeting, roughly this time.

She let her gaze drift back to Brianna, realizing how fake scenarios couldn't help solve anything. "Have they done such evil to you?"

Brianna's head bowed in shame, but she didn't let it stay that way for too long. She bit her bottom lip as she prepared to give a response. "Too many times, I can't count."

Blair's eyes opened in shock. How was it possible that people operated so wrongly and yet, the government hadn't caught them?

That was another question she left hanging without a response. Her body quivered just from hearing the cold stories Brianna told about the place.

"All these, and no one attempted to escape?" She asked, waiting for a positive answer to rely on, as that was what she had planned to do.

"Well.." It was starting to look like this was Brianna's way of starting a sad story, as she adjusted in her space, letting her gaze sit on the air and taking a deep breath thereafter. "The only time two women tried breaking free, they were killed by the members"

Brianna had turned to access Blair's face after she poured out her last words. She figured it would be better to make Blair understand what she was involved in. "It happened before us all, said it was, so we could take example."

Blair swallowed hard upon hearing Brianna's last statement. Whatever is it that was wrong with these people?

For the first time since she got off the vehicle which hoarded her, she remembered that she had held her phone minutes before she went blank and realized she had been kidnapped.

Not expecting to find it, she tapped herself, gently observing every part of her body as she prayed for luck.

Blair couldn't find her phone and so, quietly, she led her focus back to Brianna as she was now back to placing her hands below her chin.

In clue, she had her elbow pressed against her lap. "How have you been able to cope all these time?"

"To be honest", Brianna started. "It's been tough for me, for everyone".

Blair's heart broke from hearing those words. She bowed her head, letting tears stream down her cheek. She sniffed. "I know."

The door suddenly swung open and two men barged in, grabbing Blair by her arm.

"What now!" she yelled, applying her weak struggles which eventually turned out to be futile as the single act had grabbed the other women's attention.

In sync, they all fixed their gazes on her, causing her to keep calm as she realized she was now the center of attention.

"Quiet!" The darker man shouted just when he thought he had had enough of Blair "You should come along if you do not want to get in trouble."

Blair paused, her emotions totally disrupted. Now, she feared for her life the most. She figured she had to at least know where she was headed.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked with fierce eyes, causing the person holding her to tear his gaze from her.

Blair waited to hear a response from them, but she only met silence. She shook herself off their grip and made for the next demand without the intent of asking nicely.

"Tell me!" She screamed, staring with intent into the eyes of the man who now stood before her.

"You're coming to me" The statement was made word after word, and clasping onto an insane amount of grace, a deep voice filled the air, promptly sending shivers down her spine.

She had turned immediately, her eyes in a full hunt for who it might be that spoke with such a depriving tone.

"Looking for me?" A tall figure stood just in front of her, smelling of mint and colonizing the whole aura with his scent.

Shifting her gaze to this man, Blair was curious, and again, she only thought of one question. "Who are you?"

The man gave back a wide smirk. "You..." Calmly, he moved a step forward, grabbing Blair by her chin. "You can't know for free"

Ethan Morris looked a bit dazed as he sat on the corporate chair which shared the same space as his table.

He activated wheel mode, letting the matte black chair spin him in circles as though it provided a cure for his indecisiveness.

He looked down at his hands, his gaze only settling on the envelope he had between them.

Raising his head back up, he pondered quietly about the contents of the letter.

For the umpteenth time today, he repeated the words on the letter as he tore off the envelope.

He wasn't sure it was going to be easy to force a quick decision. He reasoned, shifting his gaze to the date written down the note.

He was expected to revert in few days and to him, the request was something he really did not mind doing, although there was a problem.

He was already off the police force, even if he seemed to miss his days while being there. The request from the letter was not something he thought as easy as what he had done, while back in the force.

His head flew to the back, as he rested his neck on the adjustable head rest his chair possessed.

"And besides, it doesn't seem like a day's job" he thought loudly, shifting his gaze to his assistant whom, all this while, was standing right in front of him.

"Do you think I should do it?" He asked the young man, ignoring the fact that the man knew not the slightest bit of what he was talking about.

"Well..." The young man had begun, aiming for an insight "if you would tell me what you're on about, sir." He, asked, involving both his lips in a thin line.

"Alright", Ethan had answered, same time he drew his seat closer to his table, placing his arms on them as he narrowed his eyes briskly, he gestured that the young man shifted close.

"Closer" he waved his hands.

The man moved forward, halting just as he got too close to the rich caramel table, separating him from Ethan.

"Who was I before now?" Ethan had asked to make sure his assistant would, in grace and psyche, be able to aid even after he explains the contents of the letter.

"You mentioned you were a Cop, sir" The young man briskly answered, leaving no room for doubt.

"Good", Ethan used a gentle tone, meaning to march to the exact issue this time. His eyes lessened the pressure it withheld as they settled on air. "Matteo"

"Sir?" His assistant, who was also Matteo, responded. He was a man from Italy who single-handedly passed the famous interview hosted by Ethan's large company a year ago.

"They're asking that I join the force temporarily.." Ethan's voice trailed off even before he found words to complete his statement.

"What?" Matteo had expressed shock. He knew almost nothing about the police, but from the little he knew, an officer couldn't be called back after resignation. "Is that possible, sir?"

"It's why I said, temporarily" Ethan had panned, arching his left brow and letting his eyes hold that of

Matteo.

"Oh"

"To answer your question," Ethan had begun. "There is a way to make it work."

"Now" Matteo paused for a bit, taking in air before making a continuance "I'm more interested in exactly what the letter says, sir."

Ethan laughed, he knew exactly why he had chosen Matteo to work as his assistant among the many others who showed up for the interview back in the time.

He cleared his throat, letting go of the slightest elements disrupting his seriousness, most being his laughter. "An undercover job"

He had said, leaving Matteo in awe.

"How dangerous would that be?" Matteo at least knew the danger such things possessed. He felt that if it was going to be too dangerous, then he might as well try to advise his boss against it. "Sir?"

"Well.." Ethan started as his lips twitched from the left corner "Not too vicious, it's nothing I haven't done before."

"So, you would take the offer." Matteo hadn't presented that as a question, he meant it more as a statement.

"I didn't want to" Ethan struggled with his indecisiveness, tilting his head to the corner as though he had suddenly changed his mind. "But now, I suddenly want to."

"What do you think?" he turned to his assistant to completely assess him. "There are many people to be saved through this."

"I support that, sir" The part about saving people clung onto Matteo as he had briefly imagined himself in a position of need. He had no idea what the said people were to be saved from. However, following his conversation with his boss, he figured they might be in dire need of help. "You should help these people."

"That's what I thought" Ethan sounded impressed as he stood from his space, walking towards Matteo and letting his left hand fall on the young man's back, twice. "I should help them."

"But what exactly are these people?" Matteo's curiosity had already began to set in "what crime do they attest to?"

Ethan tskked, turning towards his table and placing his butt on its surface. "I didn't ask, what's the worst it can be? We have a meeting set up for further explanation, when I at least revert back with a positive response."

"Sir", Matteo had called to gain his boss's attention, wholly this time. "I understand that you've been in something similar to this, you probably won't think anything of it either."

"Yes?" Ethan nodded, gesturing that Matteo goes on with his point.

"Since you left the police, the crime rate has doubled up, and toughened up too" Mateo paused to confirm that his boss was listening before he continued. "What I'm saying is that you call and ask what exactly you'd be going into."

"Good point", Ethan had confirmed.

"You might have been able to catch thieves while being undercover, but this appears to be way more than catching just thieves." Matteo continued.

A small smile tugged against Ethan's lip, even if he had, in reality, gotten the letter. He had made up asking his assistant about it, just to see how contributing he could be.

"Knowing you..." it wasn't a surprise to Ethan that Matteo had not concluded his talk. In short, he literally expected a long epistle, knowing the kind of person Matteo was.

Matteo sure didn't fall short of his expectations as he continued. "You would want to jump into it because they're people in danger. It's totally fine to do that. But you have to consider your chances of survival too", he concluded.

"The organization won't offer me a job that threatens my life", Ethan had defended, but suddenly leaned back in slight thoughts. "But these days, they do."

"Exactly" Matteo had on, a smirk for the first time. He ignored the fact that Ethan might notice it and call him to order. All he thought of at this point was how good he had become at convincing. "So what do you say?"

Ethan's eyes leveled to the ground, as he indulged swiftly in a chain of thoughts before grabbing his phone from the corner of his workbench.

Imputing numbers into the gadget, he dialed thereafter, placing the device at a close range to his right ear.

"Hello" a voice spoke up just as the call went through. "Ethan?"

"Yes, it's me" Ethan had answered, half in his thoughts. "What crime are we investigating?"

The voice at the other end let out a dry laugh, it sounded so hysterical that it made both Ethan and Matteo's heart beat noisily against their chest.

"Too many" the man with the voice said at last. "But mostly, drug trafficking, human trafficking and murder."

Hearing his mention, Matteo's gaze spun immediately to Ethan, wordlessly asking if he heard what had just been said by the man.

But Ethan had appeared too calm, he only nodded to him and made to continue listening to the man who was still talking. "They're really vicious, so I wish you luck."

"Luck?" Ethan was curious. Did the man know he'd taken the offer already?

"Yes, Mr Ethan" the man answered with a small laugh. "They're stuff you like to do, aren't they? But I must say you add care to the list."

The man spoke, laughing at his words and hanging up thereafter, prompting both Ethan and Matteo to direct their gaze at each other.

Letting go of the heavy air that settled on his chest, Matteo asked in reconsideration. "Are you still willing, sir?"

"I'm suddenly not sure", Ethan slowly answered with a tone that seemed as though it was the quietest he had ever indulged while speaking. "Should I?"

His gaze shifted to meet that of Matteo, as he waited calmly for a response.