How dare he

==Matteo==

I slammed my palms on the table, fury blinding me. “How dare he?” I growled. “What gave him the effrontery? “

My servant remained emotionless. Well, it wasn't as if I was expecting him to react.

Fuck! The little bastard that called himself Lyons thought he could sideline me. The hell he thought. Ever since my encounter with my proposed…subject, I hadn’t been at rest. Thoughts about her plagued my mind. I would get flashes whenever I slept, and that scent was stuck in my nose. Fed up, I asked my servants to keep an eye on her. I didn’t want to claim her just yet. Now, everything was going well, until I was informed that Lyons…Lyons fucking Jones dropped by at her apartment. His conversation with her was intercepted and that was when I learned that he too had come to claim her. Can you imagine that?

I didn’t know what irked me more. Lyons or that pathetic man called Haynes. I had never seen someone as greedy as him. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars could automatically change a person’s life. In a twinkle of an eye. But no, not for Haynes. He wanted to bite more than he could chew. And the dumb thing was that he went on with his dumb collateral. I couldn’t understand why a man would do that to his daughter. Well, it was a crazy world. I had to remind myself. It was indeed a crazy world.

“Lyons,” I breathed furiously. My face squeezed.

There was no way I could have him claim what wasn’t his. No fucking way.

And so, I rose, having one thing in mind.

---

==Olivia==

I was cuddled up in my room, coffee in hand and was looking out to the window. It was barely 7 pm and darkness had grown fully. It didn’t help that there was a downpour.

I sighed, almost choking in my unshed sob. The weather perfectly matched my feelings. Somehow, it gave me comfort.

I took a sip from my plain coffee, a faint frown forming on my face as I took in the bitter taste. Dad…yes, I still called him Dad. He still hadn’t returned and I didn’t know his whereabouts. I’d grown worried. That was my weakness. No matter what someone did to me, I always looked out for them. This was one side of me that I badly wanted to change. It had cost me a lot. A lot I couldn’t mention.

This afternoon, I went to the sheriff’s office to report him missing. While I was there, I had the urge to tell them about my predicament. That there were people that wanted to claim possession of me, but I couldn’t find my voice. Well, actually I did. I did tell an officer, but when he made further inquiry, I had a brain fart. Didn’t know how to explain the urgency of the situation. Therefore, I was back to square one, with me thinking of ways to evade this “capture”. I hadn’t failed to wonder what would become of me should these persons get me. Would they force me to work in their farm? Or as a housekeeper? Or as a prisoner looked up in some dungeon? I didn’t think much of the last option, because, well, Lyons or whatever his name was hadn’t given off that feeling. He didn’t look like one to do that.

But how could I be sure? I slapped my forehead. Here I was supporting a stranger. Yes, he might not have had a scary scowl, might not have lashed out on me, but that didn’t mean he was a saint. The mere fact that he… that he agreed to Dad's terms and conditions showed that he wasn’t innocent either.

Sniffing, I made to take another sip, but realised the coffee had become tepid. Nah, this wasn’t for me anymore.

I walked to the kitchen and poured the coffee into the sink. Had Dad been here, he would probably have given me the lecture of a lifetime on why wasting food wasn’t right. But he wasn’t here and the house was a graveyard. Loneliness screamed.

I would have run off to Leah's. Yes, without even batting an eye. But I couldn’t. Not when I was given the mandate to “think things through”. I still have to figure out what to do. How to put forward an alternative.

I walked idly around the apartment as memories of the past came. The hallways…I would run around and play hide-and-seek with Dad. I would run down the hallway whenever I took a peek at my window and see Mom coming home from work.

My heart broke a thousand pieces more as I made those recollections. Life would never be as it used to.

I couldn’t bear staying here anymore. The boredom was overwhelming. I had to go some place. Park, bar, café, anywhere but here.

And so I got to my closet, grabbed my fur coat, my boots and a beanie. I locked up the house and got outside. The rain had been reduced to a drizzle, but not the cold. My skin had goosebumps even under the thick layer of clothing. I guessed I could make do with some shots of vodka.

A small smile played on my lips as the thought came. Leah would surely have raised her brow. Yup, this was what I’d become. An alcohol craving machine.

I legged it to a closest bar in my area. The journey there took me about ten minutes, and by the time I arrived, I had generated enough heat.

I went inside and placed my order, drowning myself in vodka. The bar was fairly crowded. I guessed I wasn’t the only one that needed some nice warm environment.

I took a total of five shots and called it a day. It was dark now, like really dark. Pitch black. The drizzle hadn’t died down.

Dipping my hands inside my pocket, I made to start the long trip home. My legs, however, had become jelly. They could barely bear my weight. Nonetheless, I forged on, using all the strength I could to keep going.

I'd be right, after all. Alcohol was an enemy. However, it was too late to regret now. I just had to get home, and then…maybe. Just maybe, I could continue with my admonishing.

I continued with my walk, counting backward from 100 to 0. I had almost made it to my street when two guys cornered me. It was dark, so I couldn’t make much out of their faces.

“Uh, excuse me?” They wouldn’t budge. I dodged to my left to try to get away from them, but they blocked my way. The effect of alcohol suddenly left me.

I turned the other way, at least to run and try to head back to the bar or something. But surprisingly, their movement was swift and in a blink of an eye they were facing me.

“If you don’t leave me right now, I’m gonna scream and let everyone know you wanna rape me.”

If my words had any effect, I knew not. These guys didn’t say a word. Didn’t flinch.

“We don’t want to force you. It's in your best interest if you come with us,” one of them said.

His tone was monotonous, almost as though he had rehearsed on it.

I gave a laugh. A reaction caused by the strangeness of the situation and the nimbling effect of alcohol.

“You must be crazy.” I made another attempt to pull away from them, but like before I wasn’t successful.

This time, I was enraged. So they want to try me.

Granted this part of the city wasn’t safe. However, there still existed good Samaritans. People who wouldn’t waste a second to call the cops should they notice any strange or unusual happening. I took this as a chance and screamed at the top of my lungs. Before I knew it, a hand covered my mouth. And I was lifted from the ground. I screamed harder, wanting to break the barrier, but it yielded not much result.

That was how I saw myself best being pulled into darkness. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was…

Home.