Hurt People, Hurt People

Chapter 23- Puzzle Piece

It was 6 am and the rain was pouring heavily against the windows, a slight rumble from the thunder caused Jaeon to wake up. Fast asleep on his chest was Ari who had trapped him in a tight embrace, this put a smile on his face but not for long. A sharp pain ran across his shoulder into his neck, he thought it was because of how he slept on the sofa, so he brushed it off. For a while, he just zoned out and listened to the rain, it was peaceful for him, and it cleared his crowded mind. While observing the room he saw the liquor bottle and glasses on the table, with a confused look on his face. I don't remember drinking anything last night so why is this here? I mean we were talking in the kitchen; I saw the news and I was getting ready to leave the house, then everything went blank. I can't recall what took place after that.

Jaeon slowly pulled himself from the sofa without waking Ari up, he took up the bottle and glasses then headed for the kitchen. On the countertop was the cup of coffee Ari got him last night, he was ready to through it in the bin when he realized it was still full. This wasn't making any sense to him, he then remembered receiving a phone call and planning to meet up with someone. So how the fuck did I end up wasted? He made his way back into the living room searching for his phone, he found it laying on the floor, he picked it up and went into his call logs and saw no calls from last night, no emails, no voicemails or text messages. Frustration and confusion grew more and more on his face, he was trying to piece the puzzle together when his eyes were glued onto Ari. She was twisting and turning in her sleep when her shirt rode up and exposed a brutal bruise on her side, the area was black and blue and looked like a rib or two were broken. This made him suspicious even more. He pulled a blanket over her and made his way to the bathroom, he then stood in front of the mirror and raised his arm, when the pain appeared again, maybe if I just take a cold shower, it'll calm down. 30 minutes later and he was out of the shower, he grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist and another to dry his face, what the... What's wrong with my shoulder? A vertical bruise was on his shoulder, it was red, and the muscles were tensed up. He quickly got dressed and went into his room to make a call.

Jaeon: Hello?
Man: Dude where the fuck have you been? You told me to meet you at the parking lot, and then you went MIA! I've been calling and sending you messages all night.

Jaeon checked his phone again and his call log and message had no entries for last night.

Man: Just meet up with me as soon as possible.
Jaeon: Ok.

He slowly made his way to the living room where Ari was still asleep, he watched as the sunset crawled on to her skin and the reflection of the raindrops slightly painted her face. He just stood there, trying to piece together what really happened last night. A gut-wrenching feeling came over him, his thoughts would lead him back to one piece of the puzzle and that was Ari King.

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A black van came to a stop at the Garden City Terminal, the door flew wide open, and it was none other than Mr. Lowes. In front of him was a container and two of his men were standing guard. He flicked his lighter and lit his cigarette and then entered the container. The doors screamed as if it hasn't been open for a long time, the sunlight made its way inside without an invitation, inside was a man sitting on a chair with his hands tied up and a cloth over his head. He heard the footsteps coming closer and closer and started to panic. Mr. Lowes stood in front of him and blew the smoke in his face, which caused the man to start coughing. "In order to get what you want you have to forcefully take it am I right?" Mr. Lowes asked, and the man nodded. "And to get what I want I have to forcefully take your freedom wouldn't you agree?" he asked, and the man was hesitant to respond. A bodyguard from behind walked up and smacked him on the back of the head with a gun, "Come on be nice boys. Listen you are just a piece to the puzzle, which is highly needed, there is no escaping this son, it's either you agree to the terms or meet your death it's as simple as that" Mr. Lowes responded. Again, the man was hesitant to answer but, in the end, he nodded in agreement and made a deal with the devil himself. Mr. Lowes smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "See you have to forcefully take it" he whispered to the man, "The things you will need are in that bag in front of you, the phone inside should only be used to receive my calls, never under any circumstances call me from that phone. The car will be in the container across from you, once the clock hits 9 pm the terminal will be closed and you can access it and drive out from the back gate, my guards will be there to assist you. You will report to me every Tuesday at 8 pm and leave the car at the locations set in the glove compartment, you'll place the recorder there as well and come pick it up every Friday at 8 pm." Mr. Lowes instructed, he then left the container and went into his van, and his right-hand man appears at the window, "Leave a mark on him since knows how serious I am" he whispered, and the man nodded. Seconds later the gun went off and the screams of the man filled the container which caused the birds to fly to safety. Mr. Lowes smiled at the container, dropped his cigarette outside, and rolled up the window before speeding off.