Chapter 1
Sam’s POV
[Gunshots, soft cries]
‘Run as fast as you can and don’t turn back’, cried Mrs. Isabel, covered in blood.
I ran as fast as I could, following my mum’s instruction to not look back. The last time they came, they took Pa, and he never returned. Now it was mum’s turn, and she tried her best to make sure I was not taken. I ran, panting for breath as my little legs could carry me, going deeper into the woods and my little eyes peering into the darkness for a single glimpse of light. My legs suddenly got numb and I fell and dashed my head against a tree. When I finally woke up, I saw an elderly lady looking down and smiling at me, she wasn’t familiar.
‘You are finally awake’, she said still smiling. I managed to mutter a faint ‘Who are you?’, and then I felt a throbbing pain in my head, and I laid down back.
‘You need to rest’, she said as she headed for the door.
I said finally, ‘Where am I’ and she replied, 'You are safe’, and she closed the door.
I must have slept for long because after some hours passed a boy who looked some years older than me came to tell me dinner was ready. I went downstairs and sat on one of the chairs and the elderly woman who I got to know was Mrs. Melinda served me a plate of porridge and ale. I hesitated to eat as the memories of the previous night kept coming accompanied by a throbbing headache. After eating I retired to bed. Mrs. Melinda was the owner of a motel downtown; ‘‘La Bredàs’’. I went there to help out when I wasn’t at La Sienè Hotel where I worked as a cleaner part-time.
Years later, Mrs. Melinda took ill and passed on after lots of money had been spent on her treatment and the motel had been closed down. Damien: the other person that lived in the house apart from myself and Mrs. Melinda, had fled. I became a full-time cleaner at La Sienè Hotel, and I earned enough money to cater for myself. I returned from work one day hoping for a good night rest after the day’s work, only to be met by some people who said they now owned the house, I tried to explain that I was like family to Mrs. Melinda but they showed me papers that proved that the house and the already dysfunctional motel now belonged to the bank. I gathered up some of my things and began my journey to nowhere. I walked on the road; tired, hungry and drowsy and I didn’t even notice a car was coming. When I was conscious again, I found myself in a well-lit and furnished room which was two times bigger than the sitting room in Mrs. Melinda’s house.
Damien’s POV
‘How is she’, I asked.
‘She is awake now’ Alan replied.
‘Call her here’
I hope she will be able to adapt to the new me….
Sam’s POV
While in my state of amazement, the door opened and a tall, fair-skinned guy walked in and said the ‘BOSS’ asked for me. I thought, ‘What Boss’. I checked the closet and saw several sizes and types of clothes, as if this kidnap was already planned. I picked out a pair of ash-colored cargo pants with a black vest to match and I went to see the ‘BOSS’. As I stepped out, I saw several men dressed in black suits, all heavily armed like those henchmen in movie sequels. I approached one of them and asked for where I could find the ‘BOSS’, he took me there and left. I opened the door and a dimly lit room met my eyes and standing by the window was a tall, manly figure with the most acute body structure ever.
‘How are you’, he asked in a deep, charming voice.
In a bit to give a good first impression, I answered ‘I’m fine’, in a really courageous tone.
He then said ‘Same old Sam’
‘How did you…’, before I could ask how he knew my name, he said
‘LEAVE’, with the most horrifying tone ever.
What kind of emotional flip-switch is he; now he’s calm, another time he is shouting.
That wasn’t quite what I expected but I swallowed it in and refused to retaliate, which was really unlike me. I decided to check downstairs, and it was an even bigger shocker. I went to the kitchen, and it was so huge, with several people doing one thing or the other in order to make dinner a perfection. The sweet, savory aroma emanating from the kitchen made my stomach rumble.
I rushed to the dining as I supposed food was served. The meal was served in very beautiful silverwares making you more curious about its contents. The dining was huge and gave off this modern Victorian style. At the head of the table was a king-sized chair which I supposed was for the ‘BOSS’. I and the guys took our seats.
’Who is this ‘BOSS’ anyway?’, I asked in a bit to start up a conversation.
‘I am’
It was him; it was really him. The rude guy from earlier on. Some rudeness for a beauty like this!
’I am Damien Rodríguez, the Boss, pleased to meet you’
‘You didn’t sound so pleased earlier; well I’m S……’
‘Sam, Samantha Castañeira’
‘Looks like someone did a background check before kidnapping me’
‘It’s not a kidnap, Miss Samantha, in fact I saved your life’
’Oh really,” Mr. Knight in shining armor”, you know, I really didn’t need saving
“Yeah, sure”, he said in a sarcastic tone. I just rolled my eyes and tried to eat while holding myself from reaching across the table and scrubbing his face till all the sarcasm came off.
When I was done, I went upstairs to my assigned room.
(Ivan and Damien)
‘I saw the way you looked at her at dinner, do you know her personally?’ Ivan asked
’Less talk, lesser chances of an unwanted death on my hands, Damien said as he left for his room.
