When Night Falls (Complete)

11

JOSI

Today, Josi remains home. She called in sick for work, and while there's no actual illness, it certainly does feel like there is. She's in the living room now; on the sofa with her knees up to her chin. Eyes so low, it seems as though she's already passed on. Perhaps she really is sick, because the stress has eaten so much into her — breaking her down both in mind and in body.

Josi isn't sure how much more she can take. She could make one last attempt and break down in front of Idris. She could weep and beg for him to stop. She could tell him she's learned her lesson, that she regrets ever going against him. But this is Idris's objective, isn't it? It's why he began that game in the first place. To see her break down. To witness her ruin.

No help from the authorities either. Idris is a man with many connections. He knows his way around every possible threat. And he'll only take it as more incentive to get her family involved. He'll make them pay for her actions, have them tortured and face an end too cruel.

Josi's phone begins ringing, and as a response, Josi flinches. All too sudden, her heart sinks, and her breathing picks up speed. But the person on the screen isn't Idris. It's her mother.

"I'm right around the corner," she says. "But the traffic hasn't moved for a while, so I might be a bit late."

Josi nods as if her mother were present. "That's fine. I'll wait."

She arrives a while later. The sight of her mother ignites a flurry of emotions in Josi, and now she can barely even keep her composure. She brings her mother in for an embrace, tears already pouring from her eyes. "Mom . . ."

Her mother returns the embrace, a bit caught off guard by the tears. "Is everything okay there?"

Josi wipes them away and replaces it all with a smile. "I just really missed you."

To this, her mother smiles. "Well, we have a couple hours together."

A couple hours of leisure. Josi grabs hold of her mother's arm — afraid to let go — and ushers her into her home. Perhaps she could catch a break. At least, until Idris's next set of games.

~《¤》~

IDRIS

"I'm going grocery shopping."

Croff turns to Idris, baffled. "Since when?"

"Since today." Idris tells him, still in the middle of swapping his shirt for a newer one. Damn that red liquid. This is the fifth shirt he's lost to it.

Another day, another torture. Idris isn't so sure what the victim did this time around, but he must have done something if he landed himself in his prison. Enough about torture, though, because something else more entertaining has caught his attention. He seems a bit more animated. Even Croff has caught on to it.

"That girl again?"

Idris keeps his eyes on his phone, scanning the text that was brought to him by his security team. "She's at the grocery store." He keeps reading. Until he smiles. "With her mother."

Croff doesn't look nearly as thrilled. He just sighs and ties his hair down. "Just don't fall in too deep."

Idris takes this as an insult. How could he fall into the very hole he dug? This is his very own game. It's his playground. He makes the rules. He breaks them as well. This is just another one of his pastime activities — tormenting Josi. He does it because he has the power to do so. And nothing turns him on more than abusing that same power.

Idris drives himself over to the grocery store. When was the last time he'd been to one of these things? Years ago, perhaps. Though, he's not so sure what his mission was. His mission this time around, however, is to inflict more misery. It's what brings him joy. Josi's anguish.