Maria Long
"Let me go you filth!" I shouted. "Do you even know who my family is?! Do you know what they will do…" A slap, so hard that it made my head spin, landed on my cheek.
"Shut up, you brat. Your family is the very reason that you're here." A well dressed man with sunglasses and a scar over his left eye said. "Who told them to come and borrow money from us? Who told them to not return the borrowed money afterwards?"
"My brother is super strong! If you touch me, he will kill you all, so let me go and I might let you off the hook!" I shouted, my voice cracking.
"Ugh… This brat is giving me a headache." The scared man said to the others. "Stuff her mouth with something for some peace and quiet." One of the others began approaching me with a roll of duck tape.
"No! You can't!" I shouted. "Let me go this instant!" I shouted, trying to break the ties binding my hands and legs and escape, while the man with the tape was getting closer.
He grabbed my face with one hand and was about to tape up my mouth, when a call came in for the scared man. "What did you say?" The scared man exclaimed after picking up. "One guy did all that? How?" He looked at me for a second, then continued. "It's fine, there was nothing that you could have done, we'll move to another place first." He ended the call and sighed, then gestured to the others. "You guys, come with me, while, you lot, stay here for an ambush, got that?" The scared man asked.
They nodded and the one that was about to tape my mouth lifted my struggling body and carried me to the car - the same black Cadillac that I was taken here in. I knew what was going to happen and began struggling with all my might, but it was all in vain. The man opened the trunk and dropped me inside, then closed it.
I was in the dark once more. I screamed and struggled, scratching the inside with my nails behind my back until they broke. Screamed more, banged my head on the roof until my forehead bled and did all I could to escape, but it was all futile.
After exhausting all my strength, I began softly crying. The lonely and grim pitch darkness where you can't see anything, but everyone and everything can see you was the one thing that I was afraid of, but no one knew. Being afraid of the darkness is childish, so this fear of mine was my most closely guarded secret. I don't know when it started, maybe it frightened me from the very moment I was born, or maybe since my consciousness was formed, either way, I always hated it and, either way, this was hell.
The car began to move, while I couldn't hear the engine because of the sound isolation in the trunk, I could feel the inertia. We were in a rush. I tried to guess the speed and the time between every turn. "Left, left, right… Left again, right, right, then left again…" I said out loud in order to memorize better, then the car stopped.
I guess-timate that it took us around 15 to 20 minutes to arrive and that we were mostly going west, that would mean… I shuttered at the thought. It's the docks… So many thoughts went through my mind at that moment. Are they going to dispose of me and throw my body to the fishes, or are they going to put me on a ship and send me somewhere I would never be found? Tears welled up in my eyes once again. I have to get out, I have to find a way to send a message.
A thought struck me. Wait, right before moving me, they were talking about a single individual causing trouble and by the fact that they actually had to transport me here, it seems that that individual is quite formidable. There is only one such person in this world - my brother - the pride of our Long family - Calvin Long. But they were talking about an ambush, will he be okay? No! That's a stupid thought. I shook my head. There's no one that could beat him. I have to be just as strong and brave as him.
The door of the trunk opened and, as soon as I saw the man opening it, I kicked the bastard straight in the balls with both legs. He slumped down onto the ground and I got out of the car with great difficulty, then began hopping towards the cargo containers.
"Where do you think you're going, you brat?!" I heard a voice behind me and began hopping even faster, but it was all futile, because, mere moments after, I was kicked down from behind and grabbed by my hair. They pulled me into one of the warehouses and tied me to one of the supporting beams.
The guy that got kicked entered soon after, looking furious. "Boss, that brat is way too troublesome, let me get revenge." He shouted.
The man with a scar over his left eye thought for a moment then said. "We were supposed to begin sending fingers tomorrow, but seeing as there is someone interfering with our plans…" He stopped talking and gave me a look that chilled me.
The newly appointed eunuch grinned from ear to ear and took out a knife. Soon he was before me, holding one of my hands, when a call came in for the boss.
"What!? Again? What about the ambush?" The boss shouted. "All dead?" He sighed. "Did you spill it? I see… It's fine, we'll move on." He hung up and looked at me. "You have one powerful backer, little brat."
I grinned, cold sweat replaced by joy. "That's my big brother. No matter what, you will never defeat him and never escape."
"Is that so?" The scared man asked. "Is he perhaps bullet proof? Can he withstand an explosion? If not, he's done this time." My heart sank. He turned to the rest. "Pack up, we're leaving again. Summon all our men and the explosives expert. I want all of them to surround this building from all sides and for it to be rigged to explode as soon as that one enters." The boss seemed calm on the outside, but it was plain to see just how shaken up on the inside he was.
"We can't leave now!" The guy that got his balls smashed protested. "I still haven't had my revenge!"
The scared man looked at him, then pulled out a gun and sent a bullet through the man's skull. The sound was deafening, magnified by the acoustics of this brick and sheath metal structure. "Is there anyone else that wishes to stay? Is there anyone else that wishes to oppose my orders?" The scared man asked. Everyone was quiet. "Good, now pack up and let's go.
This time, we traveled on foot to the other side of the docks. Not even a minute after we entered some building, a deafening explosion sounded followed by gunfire. After a few minutes, the gunfire ceased and a call came in for the boss. He picked it up once again and listened for a few seconds.
His eyes widened. "Stop bullshitting, you bastard!" He shouted. "How is any of that even possible?! There were more than a hundred of you guys, armed to the teeth and enough explosions to level a block and you're saying that he lives?! Hello!? Hello?! What happened there? Who… Who are you?" He listened for a second then ended the call.
His hands began to tremble and he pulled out a cigarette. After barely being able to light it and taking a puff, he looked at the starless night sky and, once again, took out his gun. I thought that it was the end for me, I heard a loud bang and closed my eyes. Then another, followed by a few more.
I felt no pain, so after a long minute I opened my eyes and saw that there was not even a drop of blood on my clothes, then looked around. The other members of the Triad lay there on the cold pavement not moving. I looked at the scared man and saw him holding the gun pointed at his temple.
"I'm sorry, young miss, I truly did not know." He murmured. "He killed all but one everywhere he went just for the one that was spared to tell him where to go next and to send a message to me that he was coming." His voice began to shake. "I thought that I had set a trap, but he willingly walked into it every time just to kill everyone and now… He's coming for me…" He pulled the trigger, his half smoked cigarette hitting the ground.
I sat there alone, on the cold concrete, surrounded by bodies for what felt like an eternity, until I heard a siren and a half dozen police cars surrounded me. They took me in, questioned, then sent me home.
I was so confused. I know that my older brother was awesome, but why didn't he come to pick me up personally? Why had he left me for the police to handle? These thoughts swirled inside my head until I was dropped back at my new home - a shabby motel by the road that smelled like cigarettes and saw my family.
"Maria! Maria, are you okay, I heard what happened." My mother rushed out and hugged me. "If something had happened to our family's princess, I wouldn't be able to bear it!"
"I'm fine mother." I answered. "After all, with a brother like that, what is there to worry about?"
"Your brother…" My father lowered his eyes, after stepping out. "It seems that misfortune follows our family…"
"What do you mean? What happened to Calvin?" I asked.
"Calvin, my dear boy…" Mother began weeping. "He… He lost four fingers…"
My heart sank. He lost four fingers just to save me? I pushed mom back and said. "I have to go see him now! I have to thank him and apologize!"
"It's the middle of the night, honey, we can go tomorrow." Father said softly.
"So what, if it's the middle of the night, we used to go see him in the hospital after his fights whenever we wanted in the past."
"That was when he was admitted to private hospitals and now…"
I had almost forgotten our family's situation. "I see, tomorrow then."
The next day, as soon as the visiting hours began, I was in Calvin's room, sitting beside him with teary eyes. "I'm sorry, Calvin, this is all my fault. If… If I hadn't been kidnaped and you wouldn't have been forced to come save me, your fingers… They…"
"What are you talking about, Maria?" Mother asked. "Calvin was admitted here a day before you were rescued."
"What? But I thought…"
"Mother, father, can you please leave for a second? I have something to say to Maria." Calvin said. My parents obliged.
After they left, Calvin began. "Thank Alex when you have a chance…"
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