Treachery Affair

Two months on…

Richmond Hill

I struggle to breath with my head held deep in the water. Seconds later, the young man drags my head back from the bowl of water and I choke seriously, while struggling to catch my breath. I don’t know how I ended up here, but I slept off in my room after a long day at work, and now I have my head deep inside a cold water. What the hell is happening, because this doesn’t seem like a joke to me.

Two minutes passed before I finally look around to find myself in a strange place. The room is somewhat dark and it’s difficult to see the surrounding. The smell of alcohol and tobacco fills the air and it’s already making me uncomfortable. Without being told, I know that I’m in trouble. A deep one at that.

Finally, I spot a man dress in all black, standing in front of me. I have no idea that someone else is inside the room, except the man that have been holding my hair roughly and I can’t even see his face.

“What do you want?” I finally asks him, and his soft and dry chuckles fills the room, sending waves of confusion to me.

“How about I say that’s not the best way to greet someone? Anyways, hello! It’s nice to meet you, Richmond Hill…” He finally puffs smoke from his mouth, and I turn my face away. I hate smoke, it affects me greatly and that’s why I hate going close to it. I haven’t mentioned this before, but I’m an asthma patient. I have been battling this since I have been a child. According to mom, she had left me to go to the market that fateful day, but came back to find the house almost on fire. According to her, I passed out after inhaling so much gas and that was how I became an asthma patient. All these years, I have always tried to make sure not to go close to things that’d triggers it.

“I ask again, what do you want?” I asks angrily, struggling to stand up from the chair. But who says that I can? I am tied down here with a strong rope, so it’s difficult to break loose from it and fight for myself.

“You don’t have to rush things, Richie. You’ll know what I want now,” he finally drags a chair to my front and he sits on it. Now that he’s sitting down, I finally gets a clear view of him. He’s wearing a black leather t-shirt upon a black leather trouser. He has a mask covering his face and a black face cap to disguise himself. His skin is hairy and masculine, I think that’s all I can point out. He smells differently, his voice is thick andhe switches it almost every seconds. Maybe because he doesn’t want me to know who he is from his voice.

“I have something interesting to show you…” Even if I can’t see his face, I bet that he has a smirk on. I watch as he snaps his finger, and someone who I have no idea have been in the room, hands him an iPad. He slowly clicks on some things on the iPad, before he finally turns the screen to face me, and the sight that welcomes me makes me gasps sharply. There’s a live video of my mom and Nelson in a strange room. Another man is dressing like a nurse, but it’s obvious that they’re not in the hospital. What’s going on? Nelson was at home before I went to bed, I checked up on him before I retired to sleep in my room, how come she’s with mom?

“Don’t you dare touch a hair on their body, I won’t spare you if anything happens to them,” although I know this won’t help, but I still have to show him that I’m not afraid of him.

“Well, it all depends on you if you want them alive or not. And one more thing, you don’t threaten me when I’m talking. It’s almost as if you’re daring me, and you won’t blame me for it if I end up doing it, will you?” He chuckles dryly and I scoff.

“What do you want?” I asks him for the umpteenth time, getting impatient already. Mom was under life support before I left the hospital yesterday, she’s going to die if anything goes wrong. I don’t want anything happening to them.

“You’ve asked that like a million times already, you should calm down. I’m still going to tell you what I want…” He pauses and tilts his head sideways for some reasons best known to him, before he finally turns his attention to me again.

“Before I tell you what I want, I’m going to set this rule straight, and don’t you dare think of playing games with me, because it won’t work. Look at this, there’s a timed nuclear bomb in the room, which will blow off if you try to act stupid. All it takes is my command, and your family will be gone for good. Now it’s up to you, whether you want to save them or not…” My eyes widens in shock as my mouth drops open. No! This is not happening! I can’t lose my family, they’re the most important people in my life.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I watch as he stands up and places his leg on the chair, leaning over me.

“Tell me, where’s the evidence against Jayden Clinton? I want you to give it to me…” He utters in the coldest voice that sends chills down my spine and my heart miss a beat. It can’t be Jayden playing games with me now, right? He won’t think of doing something like this, knowing that he already has a case with the police, right?

“You have two options, either to give it to me and save your family… or you watch me blow them off before your eyes. You have just three hours to speak up, that’s the amount of patience I can have. After then, you’ll have yourself to be blame if anything happens to your family,” he further says, and I gulp down the lump in my throat. I’m doomed!