Nicholas's P.O.V

"Watch over her" I said to the person through the phone and hung up the phone call. I put the phone in my pocket and glanced outside to see that I've reached my destination.

"I'll drop here, thanks" I said to the driver and gave him some money "keep the change" I muttered and got down from the vehicle. The man zoomed off immediately--probably in fear-- and I made sure his car was fully out of sight before making my way to the abandoned building.

I nodded at the two hefty men at the entrance as they nodded back before opening the door for me.

"Nick" Jonathan, one of Venom's men nodded at me and I nodded back as I scanned the surrounding before leaning on the bar table. Jonathan was a really shy guy when I met him here but now? I don't think so. He has been in the business for more than five years now.

"Hey Nick" A familiar vibrated from behind me and I turned around to see the person. Of course, Danny. He walked over to my place and patted me on the back in greeting as I gave him an indifferent look. He awkwardly coughed and smiled again "So....how are you man? It's been a bit long"

"Cut the crap, what the hell do you want" I said coldly with a straight face. Danny's smile disappeared from his face replaced with a wicked smirk.

"Okay, lover boy. Venom will like to see you" he said and I raised an eyebrow "looks like someone got revenge on you" he winked and left. I understood what he was saying immediately. Venom already knows of my plan? I wouldn't be surprised but I kind of saw this coming. I just didn't expect it so early....

I began to make my way towards his office. Venom's office was at the far end of the building and it has a secret escape in case of any 'emergencies'. I saw one of Venom's girl. I recognized her tattooed body in a black tank top and black leather jeans. She had a bob cut black hair and piercings on her lip, tongue, eyebrow and chin.

She winked at me as I passed by her, smacking her lips while chewing on a bubblegum. I looked away immediately in disgust. Only God knows what else she pierced....

I knocked on Venom's door when I got in front of his office. "Come in" He said and I opened the door, recognizing the huge bald guy who was Venom's bodyguard standing at the far corner of the room. A mischievous smile appeared on Venom's face as he saw me making my blood boil "Nick, Nick, Nicholas" he sang as he stood up from his chair slowly.

He walked around his desk and sat on it facing me. I folded my arms on my chest, defensively with an impassive expression on my face. "You called for me?" I said monotonously. I had to show him that I wasn't afraid of him.

"Yes I did and I think you know why" he smirked. "The plan was smart, I must admit. But not smart enough. You didn't think I would find out did you?" He grinned wickedly.

"I did" I said, trying to keep up my expression with every word he said.

"Nick" he sighed " You can't leave. Ever. You asked me and I said No. So don't you get it? If you leave, I will find you. My men are everywhere so you can't hide" he said arrogantly as he picked up a pencil.

"If you try to outsmart me, I will just.." He paused and broke the pencil into two "Like this and you have nothing left. I can't risk letting one of my best men leave the business" he smiled and threw the broken pencil in the bin. My expression has faltered, a frown was etched in my face as his threat replayed in my head over and over again. He's just bluffing! I thought, trying to convince myself. I put my guard up again.

"You are just bluffing. I told you already when I wanted to join that I have no relation, no family and no one so I have nothing to loose" I said, keeping my voice cold.

"Just stop with the act already. I have all the information about your friends and family and I can hurt them anytime I want to so you had better watched your steps" he threatened making me clench my jaw in anger.

"I don't believe you" I growled, trying to convince myself that it was just an empty threat.

He laughed darkly and smiled wickeldy at me "Here's a little surprise for you" He sang and I heard the sound of the door opening, making me turn around. The back of a lady was facing me, her hands tied together and her black hair, a mess. The girl was slapped furiously, making her whimper and whip around. Her eyes were covered with a black silk. The person looked familiar but I was hoping and praying it's not who I think it is.

"Remove it" Venom waved his hand to the bodyguard, his gaze fixed in my face. The blindfold was removed from her face and a familiar green eyes stared back at me, with tears spilling out on her cheeks from them.

"Nick" Zoey whimpered as my mouth hung open in surprise and my guard fully down.

Alexandrea's P.O.V

I rolled over in my sheets and I glanced over at my window only to realize the sun shining through my curtains.

"Shit! It's morning already?"I groaned as I checked the time. 6:55am. Whoa! I did not notice that!

I dragged myself off the bed, tossing my duvet to the side in the process. I spent the half of the night chatting with Eli so that explain my kind of tired state. I yawned widely and cringed as I caught a whiff of my breath.

Walking to the bathroom, I took my towel and stripped off my clothing. I took a warm shower humming Savage Love by Jason Derulo. Getting out of the shower, I stood in front of the mirror as I smiled to myself. I was happy today because for once, something felt right though I miss my mom a lot. I hope she is doing okay.

I put on something simple and completed the outfit with a black jacket to cover the scars that I'm trying to imagine don't exist. I succeeded in my imagination.

I took my phone and put it in my front pocket, along with the house keys and jogged down the stairs with my school bag "Mom I'm hungry!" I yelled then I remembered that she wasn't home, making me frown a little "Oh". Gosh, I feel stupid.

I quickly made scrambled eggs with tea and ate peacefully. I stood up and felt like someone was watching me, I shrugged off the feeling and let a grin make its way to my face before skipping to school. Okay, maybe not. I didn't actually skip to school, I just walked. Kind of.

I entered the school premises, coming directly face to face with Bex as her eyes widened before she frowned and left. The smile on my face dropped as I watched her leave. I jogged towards her and pulled her arm to stop her but she jerked it way and continued walking. I decided to obstruct her path by standing in front of her. She gave me and annoyed look as I noticed the tiredness in her eyes.

Her eyeballs were bloodshot and she had bags under her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and she is dressed in sweats and a T-shirt. Sweats and a T-shirt on Bex to school??? That's very abnormal and something you never get to see. At least, not on Bex.

"Hey, are you okay? Is something wrong?" I asked and her eyes started to fill up with tears and he lips quivered. Bex crying, is my second proof that something is definitely wrong.

"Of course I'm okay. Everything is so fucking perfectly fine." She spat before storming off into the girls bathroom. I jogged after her immediately. We may be fighting now but she's my best friend and I already made a sacrifice when I called her that.

"Bex, please talk to me" I pleaded. She leaned against the wash hand basin with her hands and focused on the mirror, gritting her teeth together. "Bex-"

"Just fucking leave me alone okay? Leave me the hell alone! Why can't everyone just get that! You want me to tell you how I am when you keep things from me? Everyone keeps things from me! My parents, my brother and even you!" She yelled at me as I closed my eyes, not liking the sight of her crying and in pain. "Why? Do you think I'm too stupid to understand? Or I'm not stable enough to be able to absorb the truth? Huh? How could he cheat on my mom! We were such a perfect family. I've never seen them fought! Ever! They were so cute together and always acted like high school couples. I might have gagged when I see them doing cute things but it secretly makes me happy because it's rare for stuffs like this to happen. So why did that stupid woman have to spoil everything? Why?" She cried as her shoulders shook. My eyes snapped open as I saw her crouched on the floor with her arms around her knees.

I walked over to her silently as she cried. It was clear that this wasn't about me anymore. I bent down beside her and hugged her as she cried on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" I whispered as I planted a kiss on her forehead.

We were like that for sometime before she pulled away and stared at a distance. "When I got back home, I saw my mom in the floor and my dad, with his head hung low , standing shamefully. My brother was sat on the couch and gave me a look before looking down. I asked what was going on and my brother told me that my dad's secretary I pregnant for my dad. I looked at my dad in surprise as he avoided my gaze. At that moment, all I could think about was how my mom was feeling. I just couldn't...I couldn't..." She sobbed into her hands and sniffed, bringing her head back up. My hand was itching to pull her into a hug again but I wanted her to complete her story.

"And...and my brother knew about it all along. He knew everything that transpired between my dad and his secretary and he never told anyone. Not even me. Then I got to school and found out you were keeping something from me too. I just couldn't take the frustration so I took it out on you. I'm sorry I overreacted. I shouldn't have taken it all out on you." She apologized as she played with her fingers. I smiled and gave her a hug again.

"Of course I forgive you. I missed you so much" I muttered into her hair. She hummed a 'me too' and pulled away. We smiled at each other before both staring into the distance.

"Also, never mention this to anyone, okay?" She pouted at me, embarrassed. I laughed lightly and picked my nails sassily.

"Hm..I'll think about that" I said and she glared at me "Just kidding, I might not" I winked and she rolled her eyes.

She washed her face and cleaned up. She didn't look the best but she looked a bit better. We walked out of the bathroom and she threw her right hand over my shoulder loosely. We got to my locker and I realized that class will start in two minutes. I looked around in searched of Zoey but I couldn't find her. I wonder where she is though because she never misses class. She's kind of the good one among us.

"Hey, do you know where Zoey is?" Bex asked me, while her eyes searched the crowd of students.

"No, I was just looking for her too" my mouth formed a downward curl. I have a bad feeling about this.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Bex muttered and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Are you reading my mind or something?" I raised an eyebrow I'm question.

"No! Why? I just have a bad feeling that something happened with Zoey. I hope none of my thoughts are true though" Bex furrowed her eyebrows and my lips tightened in a straight line.

"She is probably having cab problems and will be a bit late but she'll come" I assured "I hope" o added, muttering.

Bex nodded as we took our notes and headed down the hall towards our class. I saw Eli walkie opposite us and I felt a blushing creep It's way up my face. Bex noticed this and nudged me teasingly, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Hey! Do you guys know where Nick is? I haven't seen him since yesterday" Eli said, frowning, making me frown too.

"Well..he was with me yesterday..." I said and Bex raised an eyebrow at that.

"Oh" Eli said and I glanced at him. His expression was unreasonable.

"Zoey is a bit late too" Bex spoke up "I guess something is wrong. I think we should wait till lunch to see if they will still come to school"

"Yeah, you're right" I agreed with Bex as Eli nodded too.

"Okay, thanks. See you later" he was Ed and walked away. Bex looked at me immediately.

"You'll tell me every single detail after school" she established and walked off to business class. I opened the door to my class and sat down as I waited for lecture to start.

Why does a lot of weird things happen when I finally find a peace of mind? What is going on and why can't we find Zoey and Nick? Something is going on and that something is really bad.

×××××××××××××××××××××××××
Writer: Hello sweethearts, how are y'all doing today? Good? Alright! So sorry for the late update. I'm afraid this will be the last update before my book is put on hold till November. I'm so sorry about this but I have exams and I need to concentrate. I hope you understand.

Bex: *gasps* how could you put people's lives on hold? Especially when it gets interesting and how dare you mention the part that I cried? I was so embarrassed.

Alex: *pops a cherry flavored gum* Atleast, for some days you'll stop telling people my story.

Zoey: Best of luck in your exams!

Writer: thank you hun but aren't you supposed to be missing?

Zoey: Oh right *disappears*

Bex: Where are the boys?

Writer: Oh they are locked in the booth of my car. I'll let them out when I'm back, can't have them causing trouble and making my readers faint while I'm gone.

*Faces the audience* Don't forget to vote, comment and follow. Enjoy!

26/10/2020