At the Yungie mansion. Seven years ago, on a lively that afternoon. Maids moved around with trays in their hands while guards stood at different corners of the compound. Expensive cars lined neatly at the parking lot, flowers arranged perfectly around the fountain at the middle of the compound.
However, inside the mansion, the workers were but a few, they moved and did all their works with extra care because nobody wanted to make mistakes in the Yungie house.
At the large sitting room upstairs, very large in size and everything in it looked like it was birthed from luxury. The television was massive and it hung against the wall, so wide it almost looked like another wall on its own. Below it was a long black TV console with soft golden edges, decorated with expensive flower vases, framed pictures and little sculptures that probably cost more than some people's rent. While at the centre of the room sat two long cream coloured sofas facing each other with the smaller ones at the middle. The cushions looked untouched, arranged too perfectly like nobody was actually allowed to relax there. In front of them was a glass table with gold legs, polished so well it reflected the chandelier light above which was impossible to ignore. It hung proudly from the high ceiling, casting light across the entire room. The curtains were thick and expensive, dark grey with gold patterns running down the edges. They stretched from the ceiling all the way to the floor, covering the tall windows completely.
Eadlin laid on one of the couches with his phone in his hand while the television played quietly.
He was fourteen.
Still young, but due to his exposure to the world around him, he carried himself differently from people his age.
Meanwhile, at a room close by a woman stood arranging a few shopping bags on the table.
She had a simple dress on, purple in colour. Her face soft and her eyes calm and attractive. Blue in colour. To outsiders, she looked more like someone who worked for the family than someone important. She had a pendant on her, it rested gently against her neck. It was silver, shaped like a crescent moon wrapped around a tiny crystal that glowed faintly whenever light touched it. The chain was thin and delicate, almost disappearing against her skin, but the pendant itself carried a strange elegance.
The room looked nothing like the rest of the house. It was smaller, messier than the rest so far. The curtains were slightly uneven like someone had opened and closed them too many times without caring properly. One side hung lower than the other. The television sitting on the wooden table wasn't new, sometimes the screen flickered before becoming clear again. Books were scattered on the table beside empty cups and folded clothes that probably should have been kept somewhere else days ago. The rug on the floor had one edge folded upward and the standing fan at the corner made a low annoying sound anytime it rotated. The bed wasn't arranged properly either, the blanket rough and squeezed like someone got up in a hurry. The room wasn't ugly or scattered but it was different. It looked like a place where someone actually lived. A place where people cried, laughed, slept carelessly and forgot to clean up sometimes.
Eadlin enters, his face glued to his phone.
"You're going out?" Eadlin asked lazily without looking away from his phone.
"Yes."
"Where?"
"To get a few things."
"I'll follow you." He said hurriedly.
"No."
"Why?" He asked making a pity face.
"Because I said no." She replied and then pat his head.
Eadlin frowned slightly.
"That's not a reason."
A small smile escaped her lips.
"You ask too many questions."
"And you always avoid answering." He replied and this time back on his phone.
She picked up her bag.
"I won't be long. Stay here with your father."
"Nobody likes him except you. I'm still following you?"
"No, you're not."
He sighed dramatically then walked out of the room. "You never let me go anywhere."
A few seconds later, he walked downstairs angrily, this time Mr. Yungie was seated at the dining table speaking with two men in suits while going through some documents.
Eadlin walked straight toward him.
"She said I can't follow her."
Mr. Yungie didn't look up immediately.
"And?" Mr Yungie asked.
"Tell her to let me go."
One of the men seated there smiled slightly trying to hold in his laughter.
Mr. Yungie finally raised his head.
"What did she say?" He asked removing his glasses.
"She said no."
"Then no." Mr. Yungie replied and continued his reading.
Eadlin looked offended.
"You're supporting her?"
"Yes."
"Dad."
"No. Stay here. She is your mother, she would be back soon okay? Most you follow her everywhere. You are older than that." Mr Yungie replied and then continued talking with the men with him ignoring the expression on Eadlin's face.
Then footsteps echoed from the staircase. The moment Mr. Yungie saw her, his expression softened slightly although not fully, but enough to notice. She stopped close him.
"I'll be back soon."
Mr. Yungie stood up slowly.
"Take more men with you."
"I already have enough."
"You can never have enough." He said and then placed his right hand on her waist and the other on her neck. For a second, they just looked at each other.
"I'll be fine." She smiled faintly.
"Oh please.." Eadlin said and rolled his eyes.
"You will find love one day and understand." She replied and then laughed.
"Wow."
The two of them laughed while those in suit who faked a concentration on the papers in front of them so as to avoid the awkwardness that came with it.
She laughed softly, he walked toward the entrance like a gentleman stricken with love.
Outside, three black vehicles already waited.
One in front another at the back with the main car at the middle. Guards stood beside each vehicle heavily armed.
One of the security men quickly opened the backseat door for her. She entered quietly.
The door shut.
The convoy drove out immediately.
From upstairs, Eadlin stood at the balcony watching the cars disappear from the compound.
Something about that day felt strange.
The roads were unusually free, like the road users decided to ditch the day. The cars moved normally, people crossed streets, nothing looked wrong.
Inside the car, she sat quietly at the backseat looking outside the window while one of the guards spoke through an earpiece.
"We will be at the mall in less than an hour."
The drive remained peaceful for almost thirty minutes.
Then suddenly,
The weather changed, dark clouds gathered aggressively above. The wind became stronger, then accompanied by rain which poured heavily.
The driver frowned slightly.
"This rain came out of nowhere."
The guard at the passenger's seat adjusted his gun slightly. The wipers moved quickly against the windshield but visibility kept getting worse. Thunder echoed loudly.
Then...….
GBAMMMM!!!!
The woman inside the car screamed at the sound.
A truck crashed violently into the car behind them.
Metal crushed instantly.
Glass exploded everywhere.
The back vehicle flipped twice before landing upside down.
Screams echoed immediately through the rain.
"Move! MOVE!" one of the guards shouted through the communication device.
The driver stepped hard on the accelerator.
But another vehicle appeared from nowhere.
Black.
Large.
Fast.
It rammed directly into the front escort vehicle.
KRAASSSHHH!!!!
The front car spun out of control and slammed hard into a divider.
Gunshots erupted instantly, aimed at the driver and the tyre of the vehicle.
Pow!
The guards stepped out immediately despite the heavy rain.
Some fired back, some dragged injured men out of the destroyed vehicles. One of the guards opened her car door quickly.
"Ma'am, stay behind us!" Into the walkie with him he said; "We are currently under a massive attack."
Another gunshot echoed.
A guard dropped immediately.
Dead.
Blood mixed with rainwater on the road.
Everything became chaos.
People screamed while running away.
Car horns blared loudly.
One of the attackers stepped out slowly from the black vehicle.
Dressed completely in black.
Face, hidden.
The guards fired at him immediately but something strange happened.
The bullets stopped, those that hit him had no impact.
Midair.
Like invisible force held them.
The guards froze.
"What the....."
Before he could finish, his body flew backward violently.
The remaining guards rushed forward but suddenly collapsed one after another like something drained the strength from their bodies.
Some struggled to stand while others screamed in pain.
Powerless.
The woman stepped backward slowly, shaking
For the first time,
Fear crossed her face.
Tears that fell from her face were mixed with the rain already it was hard to tell.
Then more men stepped out from the rain.
All dressed in black.
Watching her.
One of them raised his hand slightly,
Golden chains moved through the rain unnaturally.
Floating.
Alive.
Her breathing changed immediately.
"No…"
The chains rushed toward her instantly.
She tried to move, but she was too late. One wrapped tightly around her wrist, another around her waist and also around her neck, the pendant on her neck dangles.
She cried out immediately as she dropped to her knees.
The chains glowed faintly.
The rain around her began moving strangely, like the weather itself had become unstable. One of the guards, the one with the walkie forced himself up weakly and fired again.
Pow!
The bullet never landed, but instead went back like it was reversed and hit the sender.
The woman screamed as his blood splashed all over her.
"Stop!"
But nobody listened.
The chains tightened harder.
Her cries echoed loudly through the rain.
"What do you want, money? My husband will give you everything."
She said begging but instead the men, five in all, laughed, her driver included.
She breaks down crying from the betrayal.
"You this…." Unable to complete her statement she breaks down crying.
Then suddenly,
Everything around them became dark not normal darkness but that, that is thick enough to swallow light.
And when it cleared, they were gone. Only the destroyed vehicles remained on the road.
Bodies everywhere.
Blood washing away slowly with the rain.
When she opened her eyes again, she was somewhere else, too cold.
The place looked unnatural, it had no windows, no doors visible. The walls were black like burnt stone and strange symbols glowed faintly across them.
She tried moving,
Clink.
Chains.
Her wrists were chained above her head.
Her legs restrained tightly against the ground.
The chains weren't ordinary.
They were gold and also covered with strange markings.
Every part of her body shook painfully anytime she struggled against them.
The room suddenly echoed with footsteps.
Slow.
Steady.
A figure walked into the darkness.
"Well," the voice said calmly.
"I finally found you."