Status & Glory

Fifty Five

I waited till I was at my hotel before I called Ace and my mother. I was exhausted so I took a shower and got in bed; in a matter of seconds I was out like a light bulb.

The next day I woke up early because I was so excited for my first day at the USC campus. My hotel was close to the campus so it was easy to get a cab to the campus. I didn't know want to risk walking and taking longer than the speculated time for it otherwise it would have been cool to walk as part of exercise since I didn't go for my morning run.

I met up with my tour guide, Angela. She was on the athletic team too and a final year student. She showed me around some parts of campus that I would need to know. Then she saved the best for last, the tracks.

I was impressed by the facilities they had and how they were able to manage it all. Since I was wearing sneakers, Angela insisted that I raced her and we did.

She was faster than me but only by a second or two. I begged her to tell me who the fastest was but she couldn't give me a precise answer since there were about five people who were fighting for that spot. I was really impressed by the competition on ground. It made me scared that it was tougher out here but I saw it coming and I knew deep down that I was ready to face whatever.

After visiting the tracks we had lunch at a small restaurant just outside the campus. Angela claimed the place to be her favorite place, mostly for the silence at the cool hours of the night.

After lunch, we went our separate ways as we were done for the day. This time, I decided to walk back to the hotel.

It took me about thirty minutes to get to the hotel, mainly because I stopped at a pastry shop and got myself a donut and I was basically looking everywhere like it was my first time around civilization.

When I was back to the hotel, I called Ace, my family and friends. By the time I was done talking to all of them, the sun was already setting so I took a quick shower and laid in bed watching TV till I slept off.

The next day was slightly tougher because I didn't get to meet only Angela, I met other people on the athletics team. I wasn't the only person on tour, we were about fifteen.

We had a few exercises and had some people come speak to us. Apart from the fact that it was a little tiring, I loved every single moment of it. I had learnt so much already. At the end of the day and back at the hotel, I ordered dinner and slept off almost immediately.

The next day was even tougher but I enjoyed every single moment of it. When the last day which was Friday finally rolled in, one thing was certain, I was coming to USC.

The environment, the feeling was just amazing and though I knew college was stressful but I was ready for the stress.

At the end of the day on Friday, on my way back to the hotel I felt uncomfortable. I could sense someone following me, I could feel their hot gaze on my back but I had to act oblivious. This wasn't just a hunch, I was very certain that I was followed.

When I was safely in my room, I called Ace and told him. He told me to lock the doors and stay alert and the next thing tomorrow morning, I should switch hotels even though I was heading to Malibu on Sunday morning.

Whoever was following me had obviously been trailing me all week and they were ready to attack, switching locations would throw them off course of whatever they had planned, giving me enough time to leave on Sunday morning.

I tried to book a flight for Saturday morning but sadly there were no flights until Sunday morning. All night long I couldn't sleep. Any little sound had me jumping.

What scared me most was that I was alone, in a city I knew nothing about, a city I knew no one. It was terrifying.

The next morning before the sun came up I switched hotels to one closer to the airport. I stayed indoors all day long, still on alert.

On Sunday morning I was up earlier than I usually did and as soon as I was able to leave, I left the hotel. As we got to the airport and I stepped down from the taxi, I couldn't help the feeling of dread in my guts. Something was terribly wrong.

Just as the taxi drove away, I quickly noticed my surroundings and I knew that I had walked into a trap.

There were three SUV's and one van, all black surrounding me. In a flash men came down from the vehicles, all of them dressed in black suits and they were all headed my way.

I quickly reached for the pocket knife hidden under my jacket. I wouldn't go down without a fight.

As the first man got to me, I swung my knife at his face. This took him by surprise and had him stumbling back. The tip of my blade was coated with a little blood. Before I could celebrate my little victory or even react, someone held me from behind and placed a cloth over my nose. I didn't breathe in as I struggled against the man, kicking and pushing. My knife was the first thing the man had taken hold of so I was left without a weapon.

Seconds passed and the more I struggled, the stronger the man's grip got. My lungs began to scream for air and I knew it was only a matter of time before I gave in but I still struggled against them.

I couldn't hold it anymore so I breathed in, filling my air with lungs just as the world around me turned black and I fell into a state of unconsciousness.

ACE

I watched her from a distance as she struggled against those men and for the first time I felt truly helpless.

I did everything in my power to prevent this from happening but Dimitri was an impatient son of a bitch, he couldn't even wait for two more weeks.

I had already tricked her and made her to believe a lie and I knew she'd hate me for it so what was one more lie?

I wasn't ready to face a furious Olivia, but as it was I had less than twenty four hours to face her.

I watched as she finally gave in and fell limp in the hands of the man who held her. That was my cue and I ran towards them to carry her in my arms. If not that I didn't want her to risk knowing I was involved in all this till we get to our destination, I probably would have drugged her myself, I didn't want anyone else touching her.

The man recognized me and gave her to me. I carried her into the van and when we got to where the jet was I also carried her into the jet.

I strapped her for takeoff and sat beside her. When we were safely in the air, I took her to the private quarters and gently laid her down.

It pained me as I injected her with drug to keep her unconscious for the duration of the flight but I had to do it, or else Dimitri would have my head, if it wasn't his already.

I stayed with her throughout the flight and even when we landed I carried her into the SUV and out when we got to the house.

I carried her straight to her room and tucked her into bed, making sure she was comfortable. I stepped out of the room and locked the door with the security code that only I and Dimitri knew, not even Alex had access to the room.

"Ace, Alex and Dimitri are looking for you." One of Dimitri's personal guards told me. His position was at the very door.

"The moment she wakes up, you let me know." I instructed the guy who nodded his head in understanding.

I made my way downstairs and straight to Dimitri's office where he and Alex were waiting for me. I wasn't ready for this talk, not yet at least.