Blood red love
80
Charlie was in her office, putting together a report of why they needed an add on to their code handling system. If they wanted version handling for all their systems, it was a necessity. There was a light tap on the door frame and when she looked up, Caine was leaning on it.
“Time to go?” she asked. “Already?” Caine chuckled.
“Most of the employees left an hour ago,” he pointed out. Charlie looked at the clock on her laptop. Six P.M. She sighed and nodded. She started to shut everything down and disconnecting her laptop. Vidar would be working late. They had got their hands on one of Millard’s men and Vidar was personally going to make sure he told them everything he knew. Charlie didn’t mind. She understood the importance and there was a voice in her head telling her they needed to catch Millard as soon as possible. The same voice that had mistrusted the man from the minute she handed him that first Cosmopolitan. Caine walked with her to the elevators and they stood in silence as they went down to the garage. It was a relaxed silence. When all of this was over, Charlie would miss Caines presence, they had become good friends, and she trusted him almost as much as she trusted Vidar. If she was honest, she would even miss the games they played in the bedroom. Even if Caine had never joined her and Vidar, sometimes Vidar made it his mission to make sure Charlie was as loud as possible under his hands. Even though she couldn’t hear it, Vidar always assured her that Caine was enjoying their teasing just as much as they did. They had never talked about that part of their living arrangement. But, with blushing cheeks, Charlie admitted to herself it gave her a thrill. The elevator dinged and opened to show Malcom standing by the car, ready as always.
“Mademoiselle,” he greeted her as always.
“Hello, Malcom. Thank you,” she said as she got into the car. He gently shut the door behind. her and she watched Caine climb into the front passenger seat. No matter how many times. she had told him to sit with her in the back when Vidar wasn’t joining them, he refused. Charlie relaxed and let her mind wander as she stared out of the window at the now familiar route home. The car stopped, and she frowned and shifted her eyes to see why. A hoard of people were moving in front of them. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Looks like a protest of some sort,” Caine told her, sounding deeply unhappy.
1/5
80
“Don’t worry, mademoiselle. There are more routes than this one. I’ll have you home soon. enough,” Malcom told her with a smile as he turned down a side alley. Charlie was tense. Something felt off and she could sense Caine felt it too. She took out her phone and sent a text to Vidar.
C: Hi. Is everything ok?
If he was working with retrieving the information, it could take him a while to answer, she thought. But her phone vibrated right away.
V: Yes, we are just getting started. Why?
C: Nothing. I just had a weird feeling and wanted to make sure. Love you.
V: Love you too.
She smiled at the message and tried to relax despite the nagging feeling. Charlie looked up. from her phone just in time for her periphery vision to warn her. She looked out her window and the scream she was about to let out was cut short as the mini van T–boned their car. Charlie’s seat belt locked and squeezed the air out of her lungs as she heard the sound of metal smashing into metal and the screech of rubber wheels against the pavement. She heard. Caine swear. Then everything stopped. The sounds and the motion were just gone. It took Charlie a moment to realise Caine was calling her name. He had unbuckled his seatbelt and was turning around, looking at her.
“Charlie!” he called her name.
“Yes,” she wheezed as she finally had replenished the air in her lungs.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Was she? She didn’t know, but started to take stock of her b*dy. Her ch*st hurt, but she could breathe without pain. She felt tossed around, but nothing was seriously wrong.
“Yes, I think so. Nothing broken and nothing seriously wrong,” she said. He nodded.
“Stay in the car. Don’t leave it at any cost. Call Vidar,” he told her, and reached for the door.
2/5
80
“Wait, where are you going?” she asked, feeling a little terrified.
“I need to see who was driving the other car and make sure the area is safe. Malcom will try to get the car started. If he can’t and if something is wrong, we may need to leva on foot. Prepare for it. But it will be our last resort,” he told her and waited for her to show she understood. Charlie nodded, and she saw Malcom trying to work the car to start. Caine got. out and closed the door behind him. Charlie heard the locks click on and saw Malcom fire a smile at her.
“Just as a precaution,” he told her. She nodded and bent down to try to find her phone. It had slipped from her hand in the accident. It took her some time to fish it out beneath the driver’s seat. When she straightened up and looked at it, she was relieved it looked fine. She had just dialled Vidar when she realised something was wrong. She looked around to see what it was. Charlie noticed she couldn’t see Caine anywhere. That was bad. Charlie turned to Malcom to ask and saw he was rigid in his seat in a way which didn’t look natural. Charlie was so occupied with trying to figure out what was going on, she hadn’t noticed the call had gone through. Not until she faintly heard Vidar frantically call her name from the phone in
her hand.
“Vidar,” she said as she held it up to her ear.
“Charlie? What is going on? Why did you cal land then not say anything?” he demanded to know.
“There was an accident with the car,” she told him.
“Are
you okay?” he asked. He sounded calm, too calm.
“I am,” she told him as she continued to look around. The street they were on was deserted.
“Is Caine there?” Vidar asked.
“No, he told me to stay in the car with Malcom and he went outside. But I can’t see him anymore and something is wrong with Malcom. It’s like he is frozen in place. I don’t know what to do, Vidar. Tell me what to do,” she begged him. Charlie felt close to a breakdown. But it wouldn’t be of any use to her now, so she fought the panic and fear back as best she could.
3/5
80
“Listen to me, Charlie. You need to stay where you are. Take the seatbelt off and sit down on the floor between the seats. Don’t look up and don’t move. I’ll be there in minutes. Just stay put for a minute and I will be with you. Can you do that?” he told her in a voice that sounded calm on the surface. But Charlie knew Vidar well enough to hear the fear and stress beneath the surface. She was about to tell him she could do that when she looked out the side window and fell silent as a man unlike any she had ever seen walked towards the car with a sledgehammer flung over his shoulder. His muscles had muscles of their own, and he was taller than Vidar. He smiled a cold smile and swung the hammer. Charlie screamed before it hit the glass. The first blow didn’t break the glass, but the third did. In a distance, Charlie heard Vidar calling her name, but she dropped the phone as the man leaned in through the shattered window and grabbed her by her jacket and tried to pull her out. Her seatbelt locked. again, and she stayed put in her seat. The giant man grunted and tugged harder. Pain. radiated over Charlie’s torso, but it snapped her out of her passive state and she started hitting the man as hard as she could.
“Let me go!” she screamed. He tugged at her again, but the seatbelt held her in place. She needed to write a thank–you letter to the manufacturer, Charlie thought in a fleeting moment. She continued to pound on the man as best she could and make noise. Vidar should be here any second, she thought. She just needed to hang on a little longer. Then the realisation hit her. Vidar would search for the car along the regular route. She had never told him they had to take another way home. She cursed herself in her mind. How far off out of their way had they gone? When would Vidar notice and how soon would he be able to find her?
“What are you doing?” a voice called from outside the car. It sounded familiar, and Charlie froze when she looked past the form of the man filling most of the view. Min stood behind
him.
“She is stuck,” the man said.
“You idiot, her seatbelt is still on. Unleash it and you will be able to pull her out,” Min said in
an angry voice.
“Oh,” the man said and started on his new mission. Charlie desperately tried to fight his hand. away from the release of the seatbelt and, at the same time, she was trying to figuring out what was happening. The man was stronger than her and soon she heard the belt clip pop open and then a tug on her jacket and she was flying out of the car into the arms of the man. “Look, I got her,” he proudly said.
4/5
80
“What have you done with Caine?” Charlie demanded to know. “Does Jun know you are doing this to me?”
“Oh shut up,” Min said as she walked up to Charlie. Charlie felt a pressure on her n*ck and then everything turned dark and the last thought she had mustered was of Vidar.