14

Xavier and I laugh in the shower. The warm water runs down our bare bodies as we casually talk to each other. I can’t even keep track of how many times we’ve had sex over the past twenty-four hours’ honesty. I can’t get enough. My eyes drop to his muscular bottom and I chuckle. I step closer to him and he wraps his arm around my waist. He pulls me close and the warm water runs down our naked bodies. Neither of us say anything, we just stand there in each other’s embrace.

Knock. Knock.

Knocking from the door startles us both. Before he exits the shower he kisses the top of my forehead then I watch him wrap the white towel around his waist and shut the bathroom door behind him. I quickly finish my shower and then dry off. As I dry off I hear voices on the other side of the door talking faintly. I wrap my hair in a towel and then quickly get into the white robe that hangs on the door.

Carl’s eyes hold mine as I step into view. He nods. I can tell he’s trying hard to hold back a smile because he puffs his lips out and looks away from Xavier. “Have they been spotted?” I ask and Carl steps forward.

“Yes, Miss Lina they have,” he answers quickly.

“How fast can you be ready?” Xavier’s caramel-brown eyes hold mine.

“Ready?”

“Club attire ready,” he looks over to Carl.

“Twenty minutes,” I say going back into the bathroom.

────

An hour later Xavier and I walk hand-in-hand through the crowded but familiar club. The same blonde beauty is standing behind the bar. Her eyes catch Xavier and this time jealously creeps its ugly face into the pit of my stomach. Did they sleep together? Of course, they did. I answer my own question as I force a smile out at her.

“You two are back,” she smiles at me and Xavier.

“Lina, you look extra stunning tonight,” she adds while making our drinks. Xavier scans the building casually. I smile politely before I look out at the dance floor.

“When are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I ask, taking a sip of my drink.

“After I’m done whispering in your ear. I need you to laugh, like I’ve told you something hilarious. Okay?” He steps back and I swallow hard then nod.

“Two o’clock,” he says as his lips graze my ear. I look and see two men dressed in black. One has an earpiece and the other is looking at Carl across the dance floor.

“They’re here. Heavily guarded or so we thought. Once Carl takes those two out my team can get Emerson and the woman within five minutes. Now laugh, we’re being watched.” He smiles at me and I laugh as told. My heart beats quickly as I feel Xavier take my hand. He leads us towards the dancefloor and pulls me close to his body.

We dance to the music and I try to force a smile out, but I can’t because for all I know Emerson is watching us. Xavier’s eyes are scanning the dance floor as he holds me close. Nerves rush through my body as the music blares over us. I look at everyone happily dancing around us. They do not have a care in the world. Unaware of the dangers of life. Women dressed in barely anything with men gawking and grinding over them. I swallow hard, almost disgusted that I’m in a place like this yet again.

I continue scanning the crowd when suddenly, the blood drains from my face as I look at the man dancing on the other side of the floor. I’m not sure why my eyes caught him, but they did. It’s him. Emerson .

“He’s right there,” I say with a quivering voice. Xavier looks past me and in the direction of Emerson and he nods.

“And that’s the woman,” he says in my ear. I watch Emerson pull her hips towards him as they dance. Her blonde hair flies into the air as she moves to the beat. However, when she finally turns around my knees feel like jelly. Life as I know it comes to an abrupt halt. I’m seeing a ghost. I have to be seeing a ghost.

“Alex?” I say out loud. No one hears me over the music of course. And while Xavier’s eyes stay glued on them, my world crumbles from beneath me. I stumble as if I’ve had too much to drink, but Xavier catches me. “Lina? What’s wrong?” he asks as I stand there completely frozen.

“That’s Alex.” My voice cracks, betraying my shock. The walls seem to close in around me, and the faces in the crowd blur. My knees buckle, and a wave of dizziness sweeps over me, threatening to pull me under.

“I need you to hold it together Lina. I promise you this will all be over tonight,” Xavier looks past me. I spot Carl in the crowd and he gives us a quick nod.

“Let’s go,” I feel Xavier take my hand and quickly lead us out of the club.

“That was fucking Alex! That was fucking Alex!” I sob as tears stream down my face.

────

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me, Xavier!” I scream in the passenger seat of the car. The cries coming from my body make it hard to breathe. I can’t for the life of me catch my breath. He didn’t tell me. I told him everything and he didn’t tell me it was Alex.

I feel his hand on mine, but I quickly pull away and turn my attention to the window. The city lights begin to disappear as we continue driving away from the city.

“I didn’t know it was her. All I had was a blurred photograph and his name,” he says quietly as he looks straight ahead. Liar .

“If you didn’t know it was her, then why didn’t you tell me about the photograph?” I look at him through blurred vision. He reaches his hand into his back pocket and pulls out a folded and wrinkled photo. He hands it to me and I unfold it. He’s right, it’s too blurred to make out any physical features. I pant heavily.

“I didn’t want you second-guessing this because you saw a photograph, Lina. I didn’t want that photograph embedded in your mind for the rest of your life. I swear I didn’t know it was Alex until you said her name tonight. I promise you that, okay?” I feel him touch my hand again, but I pull it back once more and gaze out at the darkness. I can’t trust him anymore. I can’t trust anyone. My best friend. The girl I was with the night everything happened. The man I trusted in the warehouse? The entire time he was scheming with Alex. She was in on all of this. I flashback to the three of us in my room dancing as we got ready. It was her idea that we had a night in the town. This is all too much right now. I continue gazing out the window as tears trickle down my cheeks.

────

Carl opens my door as we pull into what looks to be an old run-down factory. He shines the flashlight on the gravel and reaches his hand out to me. I try to smile up at him, but can’t. He knows. I know he does. He saw the newspaper that day, showing Alex’s face. But the article said two local girls were found dead. I memorized every word of that newspaper clipping that day. Alex and Grace’s bodies were found. I need answers.

“Right through here sir,” Carl says over to Xavier. I follow close behind as we make our way into the dimly-lit building. The smell of mucky standing water stings my nostrils. I want to hurl. The air is thick and I don’t know if that’s the reason why I begin to panic. But with each step I take, the harder it is to breathe. Anxiety slowly seeps into my body.

As we walk deeper into the building that’s when I see a light shining from the cracks of the closed door. My hand begins to shake. Nerves continue filling my body, this time making their way deeper inside of me. My breath quickens and slowly turns into a pant.

“I—uh,” I say softly as my eyes close. When I open them back up I feel Xavier’s hands on my shoulders and see his light-brown caramel eyes staring straight into mine.

“Lina, do you need to go back?” He asks as I stare at him through blurred vision. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. I have no words for what I’m feeling right now. A tingling slowly rushes through my veins. I feel like at any moment camera-men are going to pop out behind the doors. Telling me that this has all been a big joke. My best friend behind all of this suffering, all of these killings and selling of women—that it was all a big fucked-up joke.

I wait as I stare at Xavier. And I wait. Nothing. No one pops out with bright lights and a camera. This is far from a joke.

My heart beats slow and steady now. I flashback to myself lying on the cold hard ground of that warehouse. I lay there for almost two days before anyone even came to my room. Almost forty-eight hours of endless crying, thinking I was dead and that was my hell. Alone and secluded. I promised myself something that day, I swore that I was going to be the one to save myself from this. No matter what, I was going to save myself from them. Or at least die trying.

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