C8 Where Is Your Sister?

The nurse wouldn’t talk to her.

Apart from taking care of her and assuring her that she would be fine, the doctor wasn’t saying much either.

She got something though.

They addressed her as Cathy.

The first time the nurse used it, she had stared at her blankly even while she felt unease.

Then the nurse smiled and said, “I think that is your name. You mentioned it before you got unconscious the other time.”

Annabelle winced at the thought of fainting again.

Whatever was going on in her head was really messing her up.

Though she didn’t remember anything of her past, she was sure she was not the fainting type.

Then the nurse told her her name too. Judith.

Annabelle was glad that neither of those nasty men had come back when she woke up.

She wanted it to stay that way.

She wanted to get well soon and go back home.

The fact that she didn’t even know where her home was caused her another panic until she abandoned the thought.

She was sure her family would be looking for her right now. She felt terrible for not remembering who they were.

She promised herself she was going to get her strength back. And her memory too.

She just needed someone to keep those murderous men away from her first.

She soon realised that they were not ordinary men.

Once, when the nurse was entering with her cart of food and medicine, she saw a man holding the door open for her.

She doubted she had ever seen one in real life before, but she recognised what the man had in his waist holster.

A gun on full display.

The fact that Judith didn’t look scared made her think this was not new to her.

Still, she gestured the lady closer and asked in a low tone, “Did they keep you hostage so you could take care of me?”

Judith smiled broadly before saying, “Why would you think so? No, I am here because Mr Cazador is a great boss. He pays well too.”

Cazador? What kind of man bears Cazador? The type who had men who went about with guns, obviously.

Annabelle didn’t need her to point out who Mr Cazador was to her. She knew it was him.

Even though the first man had been fearful and hard-toned, there was just something about the second soft-spoken man that made him know he called the shots.

Her life was in danger if her body kept betraying her and dragging her into oblivion like this.

She needed to get better faster so she could leave.

She did not allow herself to think of where she would go as that always caused panic to fill her body.

She just knew she had to get out of there.

Her family would find her and take her to safety.

At first, she thought Judith would help her, but after she had seen the admiration in her eyes when she was talking about her precious Mr Cazador, she decided against it.

She needed to escape by herself.

She had no idea how she was going to get past the armed men, nor was she even sure she could leave wherever it was that this place was, so she concentrated on using her medication and eating everything Judith brought for her.

She had no idea why, but every time Judith called her Cathy, she felt a horrible sense of dread, and she knew she had to be somewhere.

She just couldn’t remember where exactly she was supposed to be.

When she tried to think more about it, she would start feeling a headache until she let it go.

Her frequent sleep had reduced too, so when Judith got her some magazines to leaf through, she gladly accepted them and mindlessly stared at pictures of girls who were a far cry from what she looked like at that moment.

She had a half smile on her face when the door opened again.

But the smile died when she saw that it wasn’t Judith.

The middle-aged man who entered was nothing like the two men she had dreaded, yet her body reacted in the worst way.

The panic she felt was much more than the ones she felt in the presence of those men.

She started shaking even before he got closer to the bed.

He stopped suddenly when he saw her and the look on his face morphed into something so terrible that she bit her lips hard to stop a scream.

“You?” he growled in a cruel tone.

He looked around the room like he was looking for something.

He looked back at her as he asked, “Where is Cathy?”

Cathy? Wasn’t that her name?

She couldn’t dare to voice her question as her shakes increased in tempo.

She wanted to toss the magazine at him.

She wanted to melt into the wall.

She wanted to yell and pull out his sandy-coloured hair.

She could only whimper in fright as he moved closer to her.

He pulled down his open-necked shirt and she saw a blood-stained bandage. “You will pay for this,” he said in a terrible tone.

Then he grabbed her injured hand and pressed it hard until she felt her bones rubbing against each other.

His hand clamped over her mouth before she could scream, and her headache flared when he leaned closer towards her while pressing her chin together.

His beady, mean eyes shot daggers at her as he said, “You selfish little bitch. Where is your sister? Do you know the pain you have caused your dear mother? Always thinking about yourself alone.”

His hand shot back so fast that it was a blur before it struck her.

Her head snapped back, and the darkness rolled over her vision.

She was slipping under when he gripped her neck and pressed like he was going to crush her windpipe.

“Don’t you dare sleep when I am talking to you, bitch.”

The hatred in his voice made her realise she would regret it if she allowed the darkness to take her.

She fought hard to stay awake as he shook her like a rag doll.

Please, please, anybody. Her mind screamed as images flashed into her mind.

She wasn’t able to grab onto any of them as he pushed her hard against the bed and pulled her towards him again.

His crushing hand on her windpipe released only for him to give her another head-jarring slap.

“Answer…!”

A sound registered in Annabelle’s mind, and then he was suddenly gone.

She heard a loud yell over the roaring in her head.

She clung to consciousness as a warm hand touched her.

Icy-blue eyes showed in her fraying vision.

Then the darkness pulled at her more insistently as she tried to speak.

“Not again! Not right now!” her mind screamed before she slipped under.