The Kiss that Sparked it All

“I can’t believe this is happening to me. All I wanted was to focus on the choir

competition. Why does it always have to be me with the bad luck?” Victoria lamented, her voice cracking with the strain of her emotions.

Balfour’s complexion turned ashen, riddled with guilt, knowing full well that this mess was his doing.

Yet, Elton’s words carried more weight in moments like these, and he couldn’t muster the courage to convince Victoria to take any risks. He simply had no right.

As Victoria’s sobs slowly subsided, Elton tenderly stroked her hair, whispering words of comfort. “There, there, kiddo. Have you forgotten your old man’s right here with you? Just stand behind me, and I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you.”

Throughout their childhood, their father had been an unshakeable fortress, always shielding them from harm. As they grew older, the hero’s aura he wore in their eyes began to fade. But when real trouble struck, like now, Victoria still believed her dad was the most reliable person in the world. His presence was a soothing balm to her fears.

“Daddy,” Victoria murmured, still frightened but slowly warming to the thought of her father’s plan. Deep down, she knew waiting for an inevitable end was futile. Escaping offered a glimmer of hope.

“What’s the plan, Balfour?” she finally asked, her voice a mix of hope and trepidation.

“Mr. Lewis,” Balfour began, his tone serious, “I need you to check the wires on that window over there. Can we break through them?”

If the window was secured with the kind of iron bars commonly found in rural areas, escape was nothing but a pipe dream. The only way out would be the front door, which was tantamount to walking straight into the lion’s den.

“Alright, give me a sec, I’ll take a look,” Elton replied, struggling to his feet awkwardly.

His hands and feet were bound, and he stumbled several times, unable to maintain his balance. The thuds of his falls and the muffled grunts of pain caused Victoria’s heart to contract with worry.

“Daddy,” she called out softly.

Elton didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he took a moment before reassuring her, “Don’t worry, kiddo. I’m okay.”

Balfour detected a quiver in his voice, a sign of how badly he must be hurt, and asked, “Mr. Lewis, are you alright? Are you injured?”

That’s right, even though Elton had mentioned being knocked out and brought here, he didn’t tell them that those thugs had roughed him up in the van.

1/2

Balfour frowned, annoyed at himself for overlooking this detail.

“Ah, it’s nothing serious, just a little trouble keeping my balance. Took a bit of a tumble, that’s all. If I wasn’t up to it, I wouldn’t have agreed to help, you know. I’m not that daft,” Elton tried to sound reassuring.

Victoria, anxious and concerned, pleaded, “Daddy, if you’re hurt, please don’t move anymore. We can wait for the police to rescue us, okay?”

“I got it, sweetheart. I’ll just have a quick look,” he said, as he hopped towards the window. His movements were cautious, taking care to be as silent as possible to avoid alerting anyone outside.

In truth, he was in excruciating pain, his body trembling nonstop. He suspected that one Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

of Monkey’s kicks had broken a rib. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out.