5.

Gentle rays of sun invaded the quiet room, caressing her face softly. She struggled to open her eyes, feeling dizzy due to the weakness and fatigue.

A sudden wave of sadness hit her, crushing any delight someone could experience after a good nap. The reality rubbed itself so vigorously on her broken heart that even when she didn't want to cry, her eyes welled up with tears and her lower lip quivered, causing soft sobs to leave her mouth as she hastily tried to wipe them away.

Last night before when she dozed off, she covertly wished in her heart that all the mess that had gone down just in two days somehow proved to be one of her dreadful nightmares.

But now that she sees herself in the condition she wished for the bad dream to end, all tied up and bruised, she couldn't muster up the courage to deny the harsh reality anymore.

When she was calmed and her breathing was back to normal, her gaze shifted towards the bed. It was empty.

The boring walls of the room held an unsettling silence. Despite it being bathed with the piercing sunlight coming from the unadorned window, the place held a scary and frightening aura which only stimulated her uneven emotions more.

She stared at the empty, crumpled bedsheets for a while absent-mindedly, lost in all the past traumatic images the monsters in her head forced to remind her about.

Recalling the last night and the food that was offered to her, she wondered if she was only living because the poison in it hadn't yet affected her immune or if was there never a poison, to begin with.

Either way, she knew she was going to die. If not with the poisonous good, then maybe with the torturous blades or guns.

"You up?" She visibly flinched, not expecting anyone to suddenly barge into the room unannounced. But who she was kidding? This wasn't her room and her 'right to privacy' is not respected here.

She stayed silent as the long-haired guy walked in, his hands dapped in his jean's pockets, flipping his silky locks back while running his hand through them smoothly. He wore a sleepy boyish smile, his black eyes holding a dazzling gleam while his clear skin radiated with the glow that the golden rays decorated his face with.

"How you doin'?" He stopped in front of her.

"How caring of you to ask this to your hostages after abducting them. I'm doing pretty good, thanks." Her eyes were fixated sharply on him.

"Fiesty much, huh? I see." He chuckled, amused by her sarcasm.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, clearly not interested in whatever he had to say.

"Well, I just came to inform you to not let Tiger know that I gave you food last night. He would skin us both alive." His index finger motioned between her and him.

"Well, I would be dead before he gets to know anyways." She replied, devoid of any sort of emotions.

He furrowed his brows in confusion. She sighed, "Wasn't there a poison in the foo-",

"Poison? Woah..wait..you think I poisoned your food?" He threw his hands in the air, his mouth agape as if he couldn't take the accusation made on him.

"You didn't?" She raised her brows.

"No, little one. I didn't. Why would I do that?" He tried to joke off but he was still in a haze of how could she think of him doing such a filthy job.

Her features softened, sudden guilt summoning her entire sensitivity with regret flowing deeply through her nerves.

"Well, it's okay. I understand why you thought that." He chuckled, scraping his neck awkwardly, trying to lighten up the silence that fell to the hilt.

She didn't know what to say so she just stayed silent and looked down, drowning in guilt and sulking with herself.

"What are you doing here, Warren?" They both turned their heads to the deep husky voice that came from the doorway.

"Uh...nothing. I was just..." Warren trailed off.

"Checking up on her?" He completed his sentence, making his way in. Stopping beside Warren, his gaze zeroed on her meticulously, causing her to shift in uncomfortableness.

"Go get something to eat." He ordered to Warren but his eyes were still fixated on her.

"Okay." Just as Warren left, she turned to face him. He tilted his head to his left a little before scrunching down to her level.

Her hazel brown orbs met his darker, foxy ones. She searched his eyes, only to be struck by them again. It was as if he could see everything inside of her, not even once did he blink or move. She gradually started to feel uneasy, not in a bad way but it was surely not something she could take any longer.

"Stop looking at me like that." She panted nervously.

"Looking at you like what?" He smirked.

"Like how you-"

"You need to sign the papers." He cut her off.

"I won't." She answered valiantly.

He took a cool breath in, poking his inner cheek.

"You know why you are brought here?" A corner of his lips lifted in a small smirk.

"I do."

"Then why not just agree to do it?" One of his eyebrows raised threateningly. Her breath hitched a little.

"Aren't you going to kill me after I sign the papers?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"We will."

"And you are going to kill me even if I don't sign them. In the end, I'm gonna die. Then what's the purpose?"

"If you sign, you'll die peacefully. If you don't, I don't have to explain what will happen."

"I won't sign, never." She pressed on to each word, emphasizing that she truly meant it.

He continued examining and searching her face. Then he swiftly slid his hand back and took out a gun.

"You aren't scared of this, are you?" The gun which she didn't even know he had all this while was now pointed at her forehead, just in the middle, above her eyes.

Her eyes widened, her heart started to race and her vision got blurry.

Hayat, move out. Go away!

She no longer saw what or who was there in front of her. She could only see an image of a man lying on the floor helplessly, the pool of blood around him as he kept on telling her to leave him and save her life.

Hayat! Run away. Listen to me, run.

A tear fell from her eye, gliding down on her cheeks and disappearing beneath her chin.

She could only see red, the red of the blood.

"You were all brave before. What happened now?" He scoffed jokingly.

Her lips were silent as if she was mute, staring ahead at him but her eyes didn't seem like he was in her sight. She didn't hear him.

He frowned, searching her face when his gaze involuntarily fell upon her hands which were fisting her cloth tightly at her sides.

"Relax, I'm not killing you just yet." She snapped back in reality but she was still fazed.

His cell buzzed in his pocket. Giving her one last glance before he got up and walked towards the doorway while taking his phone out.

She sighed, staring ahead when the sound of something falling on the floor disturbed her.

She turned towards it, he was gone but left something on the floor.

-----

They tied her to a wooden chair again which was present in the room. She seemed unbothered by what they were doing, she kept her eyes on the same man who was the reason for her messed up life, nightmares and scars.

"Leave her here. You all can go." The older man approached her slowly.

She struggled to be free but her hands were tied at the back. Seeing him after years had her feeling like her worst nightmare had come true.

The man himself was a nightmare.

"It's been a while. How have you been?" He asked creepily. His mere presence was enough to make the disgust crawl up her skin like a snake, let alone his words.

"You don't seem pleased to meet me." He sucked his teeth, faking sadness.

She wanted to scream that she indeed wasn't pleased to see him but her taped mouth held her back. She could only give him her murderous look as a retort.

"You thought I wouldn't catch you again?" He laughed, mocking her misery.

Bloody jerk.

"I knew you wouldn't give in that easily. So happy time being locked up at the farmhouse." He smiled, leaning down on her. Her breathing took a speed, beads of sweat tickling her skin when he spoke his next words which left her stunned and alarmed.

"Don't repeat the mistake your father did," he leaned more, his pupils growing shorter,

"Don't waste the time and just agree after a few punches. It will only get worse with the days passing. And who knows better than you to what extent my men can go to get what I want? You have experience." He smirked evilly.

--------------------

"So we will need to go the day after tomorrow? Can't they do it without us?" Warren whined childishly, his loud voice echoing through the empty beige walls decorated with patches of blood here and there.

"They said we are needed. It's an opportunity to finally get ScarFace down. We won't get a chance like this again." Tiger explained.

"Ugh... Fine." They entered the room.

"But who gonna stay with her-" He stopped midway, tucking at Tiger's shoulder when he saw something that stopped the functioning of his brain cells.

"Ti... Where is she?"

"What?" Tiger followed where Warren's index finger was pointing which was the metal pole where Hayat was tied.

Now what remained there were the opened handcuffs which once clutched around her wrists in the now vacant crib.

"Shit."