#NotEdited

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"Why don't we start from the beginning, sugar-bite?" The man now stood just inches away and it took a major part of me not to punch him square in the face. Strands of dark hair were sticking on his forehead. There were wrinkles around his eyes and forehead imaging his age. Around 50, give or take. But something familiar placed around him. Disgust was all I felt.

"Why don't you screw yourself?" Slings of saliva spat out with the words, greasing his neatly polished shoes. I tried too hard to stay quiet but I guess I would've had an aneurysm if I did.

The bad girl was out.

"I have bi**hes for that, baby girl." Once again his lips formed a taunting smirk.

"Way to prove yourself a man." The music stopped. I realized it when my laugh cackled in the air followed by a deadly growl.

"You filthy piece of shit, I'll show you my manliness!" Goosebumps alerted on my body as his hands reached the leather belt, unfastening it. All sorts of horrible things played in my head and a part of me regretted the words.

"Stay away! You said you won't touch her or harm her in any way! Get the hell away from her!" Adam shielded my frame, staring straight into his eyes.

"Ah! Now I see." Looking from me to Adam and then to the group standing near the window,he let out a heinous laugh. "Look who is he protecting now! Well, well, well Adam don't you reckon it's bit late for the 'I'm gonna protect you with my life little sister' ? After all, you were the one who led me - or I should say brought her to me."

It was too difficult to process, harder than hybridization before a Chemistry exam. All thoughts fell out of the orbit right in the middle of my head.

"The snipper missed you or you would've been buried next to that old hag!" This wasn't some random fight, it dug way deeper than I thought.

"So your people killed my mother? How pious of yours to mingle with them!" My glare directed towards Adam who kept fidgeting with the button on his shirt.

"I can explain...This...this isn't what you think!" Up close when he grabbed me by my shoulders pulling closer I spotted the dark brown eyes.

Two in the room.

"You are his father? What the hell is happening Adam? Answer me dammit!" My fist collided with his chest first, then landed on his shoulder.

Still no reaction.

"Tie her up! I'm in no mood for fucking girl drama!" Just as the words left his mouth, two guys--twice my size threw me on a limpy chair. Amidst my protest I was shackled in thick rope that embedded in my skin.

"Don't you dare touch me!"

"It's flesh not rubber!"

"Get your filthy hands off me, you berk!"

That's it!

"Ahhh! You bit*h! Dammit! She bit me and now it's bleeding!" The big guy on my right yelped in pain giving me enough time to hit the other where flowers don't grow.

"Shit man!" It was kind of entertaining to watch the men -- thrice my size hopping around in pain. As the third guy came closer, a good few inches from my face, I shut my eyes. Recited Astaghfirullah and pinched his chest. He sprung back like the other two and I couldn't help but smile at my accomplishment.

"Listen here Tahan." The 'boss' perched in front me, snarling in anger. "This..." He indicated the room. "Is my property and these.." His eyes stopped at three sissies. "Are my people. You hurt them, I'll rip out your throat and feed your heart to the dogs. I'm not the one to mess with."

I didn't know I stopped breathing but as he moved back, my lungs sucked in hard. Adam still imitated a mannequin except that he ran his fingers through the locks on his useless head several times.

"You aren't gonna say anything?" A smirk appeared on my face almost involuntarily.

"This is not what you think. Please Zee... Let me explain once." I was tired. Really tired. Mentally, physically, emotionally I was drained. In an awkward position between tied and untied I stared at him when a flash of memory hit me right in the chest.

FLASHBACK

"Stop eyeing my sandwich! I'm not sharing." Half way through lunch Adam appeared greedily looking at my sandwich. I hid it on my side, nibbling quickly.

"Where's yours?" Popping in the last bite, I wiped my heads on the uniform.

"I..I...I ate...I ate it. I ate my lunch mine already." All grade five students were spread across the room. No going out due to the heavy rain.

"You've grown an appetite just like Aunty Rukhsana." Snorting loudly I got up to join my friends.

"Did you ate the cookie too?" His timid voice asked.

"Duh." Rolling my eyes I stepped out in the hallway.

Alan McCain and the rest of his buddies lingered around the supply room. I ran towards them, my pixie cut hair swaying. Last week, after an hour long shower I came out with incredibly roughly chopped hair. I worked the scissors until no strand touched my shoulders. Mum dodged an angina attack and Dad nearly missed a concussion. When instead of scolding me he laughed and praised my 'barbership' and Mum threw a book at him. In short, I was rushed to the salon and got this cut I seem to be loving. No ponytails, no braids.

"Sup bro!" Fist pumping the other guys, Alan and I did our signature 'bro hug'. Skinny with blonde spiked hair, he was the perfect image of a delinquent. I officially befriended him last month when I showed him the latest collection of my Pokémon cards. Together we made the teacher's lives miserable and pulled pranks. The only different between us was he bullied others and I stayed away from it. Neither I defended the bullied ones nor stopped my new friends.

"ZT my best buddy! I brought a matchbox we'll try the trick they showed on BGT last Friday in history class. The dumb teacher will make us watch that stupid film." My eyes sparkled in excitement but from the corner of my eyes I watched Adam looking at us laughing and turned back to the class.

~*~

"I swear to Allah, Adam is so dead!" Circling around the school ground in rain was the least thing I wanted to do. But since my dorky brother was no where to found I had no other plan. Zayd left with his friends for the new arena down from the school block.

Splashing in the puddle, I went to the backside of the building. There was a very old train track that hasn't been used for a long time -- way before I was born. Mum practically warned us everyday not to wander there but since I found Adam backpack on the way, I couldn't help but follow the way.

"The bastard is here! How was lunch? Are you hungry?" Familiar snickering came from a few meters away followed by hyena-style laughs.

"Leave me alone Alan." The voice was weak and trembling and that was the second I recognized the person. Instead of hurrying to them I stayed behind trying to listen the next things.

"Did your parents leave you at the footstep? Aww...poor baby!" There wasn't a hint of sympathy in his tone; just mockery.

"That's why you don't share the same surname, Saleh?" That wasn't Alan but another friend of him. I knew Adam would be quivering right now especially hearing those awful remarks and nasty laughs.

"ZT?" Seeing my face, Alan was in shock. Adam who was now stumbled on the mud looked up with doe eyes.

"Surnames don't define families Alan! Adam is my brother and no power on Earth can undo it." This was beyond the limit. "Help him get up Alan or you won't have 'Matchbox Club' anymore." It wasn't an empty threat but much to my dismay Alan thought I was.

"Help him up the same way you pushed him down!" My voice was high pitched, thanks to puberty.

After a moment of silence from the both the side, I gave Ad my hand and helped him up. The area around his right eyes was turning slightly blue. Launching myself at Alan, I slammed my fist on his jaw, then his stomach and lastly his chest. Instead of backing him up, his friends ran away.

"I won't hesitate to break your precious nose if you came close to Adam or me. We are done." It was painful breaking a friendship but no one messes with my brother. Except of me of course.

Alan looked at me one last time, be

~*~

"You didn't have to do it. I was handling it." Picking up his bag, Adam gave me a sad look and continued walking home.

"You're my brother, you doofus. Of course I had to!"

I stayed true to my words.

~*~

Still in my daze, I stopped struggling as I was once again strapped to the chair. I wanted this to end. As quickly as possible.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" My eyes burned with the smoke and drug effect in the air. "You want money? I'll call my Dad. Ask for as much as you want."

"You did this for the money?" My question was directed to Adam but the man answered with a chuckle. I remembered when a few months back he asked Dad for money or he even rented the apartment for cash. I sewed my brain from any accusations or doubts I had for Adam. This can be a trap.

My brother won't betray me.

"Sweetcheeks, money has never been a problem here. The cash keeps rolling it.

Someone glided a crate to him as he removed the lid, all eyes were fixed on the thick bundles of sterling pound.

"What I want is something only you have." What if they wanted Ninja?

"Your mother's files."

"Excuse me?" All those files were at the house. There was nothing else, not her office nor anywhere.

"See?" He brought a tablet so close to my face that I hard time focusing. But what I saw flipped my heart. The whole house was ripped apart. The camera was guiding through the basement and then the living room. Couches were shredded, lamps were thrown. It was a hot mess. A few masked members were sorting out Mum's documents. The same went for my room. My books were thrown, the bed was flipped over and the wardrobe was molested.

"Where the hell did that woman hide the files? We raided her bank, her office but nothing! No fucking clue of those files!" Anger was seeping through him as he tossed the chair across the room. Suddenly everyone dispersed leaving just the three of us.

"You're..."

"I'm the man whose child your mother stole! Manipulated the truth, like the hypocritical b*tch she is, she took my son away while rot in jail." His fists were closed turning white.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother like that, you ba*tard!" No matter how hard I tried, the ropes didn't undo but pierced my skin even further.

"Sharon was my wife. Your mother was her friend who poked her nose into business she didn't belong. When we had Adam, Sharon blood sugar went drastically down and the doctors lost her." Anger was replaced by sadness and sorrow. "I was grieving the loss of my partner when the cops slammed my door down. Snatched my son away from me and threw me in jail. The court proved me as an invalid father because your mother wanted my son! She walked away with my bundle of joy while I reeked behind the bars." I did nothing. Except for blinking and breathing I sat motionless, swallowing everything.

"Sirius was right when he said twelve years was a long time." Dry humor. "When I got back, all I wanted was my son back! But the Tahans were having the time of their lives. No lawyer was ready to file a case against Amal Tahan. So I did the most irrational thing I could think off." He sat back in the chair, almost laying and played with the chain around his neck. "I built an empire, the best drugs in town, the best men to get the job perfect. But then she came back. With a murder case in hand of the man I killed a few nights before. I remember her, head up, shoulder back as if she carried the world on it. Soon I would burn that world down. She was the first lawyer who got too close to us. Had that information, evidence gathered. She had to be gone."

I knew her death was related to work but her friend's husband? That's new.

"You've killed her. Now what'd you want?" My eyes were watering.

"We need those evidence. I need to burn them down so no soul can destroy me. She must have given you that. Anything a file, hard disk, USB, laptop. Anything! Hand it over!" He latched on me, gripping my hijab brutally.

"Stop it Father!" Before Adam could say anything, a man grabbed him, leading him upstairs.

"All her files were at the house. I don't have anything else." I spoke through gritted teeth.

"You have to die, little pup. Don't you think it would be wise to help another man before dying?" His smile made bile stir in my stomach.

"I'm not afraid of death."

"Ah! Just the words your mother said before the bullet made a whole in her head.

I'm not afraid of death.

"Well, then are you afraid of your little brother what was his name...Dani! Hamdan. A car can hit him on the way back from his photography class. Or Zayd, how would you feel receiving a package with his fingers? How can I forget Daddy Tahan! The scalpels could work in reverse too. You know the bone scraper and all, very dangerous. I heard the oldest one got married? His car could be wired. Pity." He got hold of a dagger, tracing his fingers on the edges.

"I give you an hour to ponder over it. Whether you want your house to be a graveyard or you are willing to cooperate."

With that he out of the door, the room that was filled with people buzzing around, was now eating me with silence. I didn't know what evidence he was talking about, Mum never mixed work with family. Dad must be worried sick and after what they did to the house.

Shit man!

What about Nayal? He was tracking my phone. He must know I'm here. I didn't have my phone on me either.

Double shit!

I will get out of this fast and by myself. I don't need anyone to help me when my own best friend dragged me to my death bed. I searched the chair with tied hands for any sharp edge but only found a crooked nail. Trying my luck, I rubbed the rope with it. As expected, it didn't yield any fruit but since I was free I kept doing it.

Suddenly there was commotion upstairs. Several footsteps hurried down and shouting was heard. There was a faint police siren and a hope built in me.

"I won't let you go this easily." The feel of a gun place on my head was scarier than I thought. "If you don't tell me, you won't live."

Then the trigger pulled.

The swearing was necessary guys. I'm sorry if it offended you.

If I get 75+ comments on this chapter before midnight (it's 3 pm here right now) I'll update again.

Ciao ✌