Lottie's Ship Wish

CHAPTER 14

"...ttie...ottie...Lottie..."

"Hmm..." Lottie crumpled her face as she started to regain her consciousness back thanks to the voice calling her.

She blinked a few times while her sight adjusted to the dark enclosed space, she was staying in.

'Wait, why is it dark?'

The feeling of her hands tied up also sunk into her mind.

'Where am I!?'

Lottie tried to stand up but got hit with strong dizziness which almost made her collapse to the floor again, but two arms caught her before her head faced the ground.

"L-Lottie! Are y-you okay!?"

"Lance!?" she asked in shock when the face of her old friend and co-worker in the illegal drug trade which she thought she would never see again appeared in front of her.

"S-Shh! Keep it d-down!" Lance nervously put his finger in front of his mouth. Then, he slowly puts Lottie down on the ground in a sitting position and her back on the wall.

This caused Lottie's world to spin like crazy but toned down a few minutes later.

"Please r-rest Lottie. You h-have a fever..." Lance said, clearly concerned.

"I...how...why am I here?" Lottie asked while holding her head, skin hot to touch.

"You got kidnapped by t-the boss...Ah n-no. The boss' boss."

"Huh?"

"A-Ah I mean...u-uhm..."

Lance gulped in nervousness and his stutter getting worse, yet he continued.

"I...heard o-our boss talking to...multiple m-men...They w-were angry..." Lance remembered how he hidden himself behind the door, his hand on his mouth, trying his best not to let out scared gasps upon hearing the shouts and punches in that room.

"They ah...h-hurt our boss because he was n-not paying...then h-he blamed you. H-He said you stole h-his money."

"What the heck!?" Lottie's voice rose in anger and shock but closed her mouth in the middle before going back to whispering.

"W-Who stole what? I didn't steal anything!" She complained in a hushed tone.

"I-I know..." Lance stated, his eyes on the floor.

"I-I got scared on w-what will happen to you...so I k-kept following o-our boss for days...then today, he met up w-with a man i-in a hood. The h-hood man is carrying you...so I sneaked in here."

"Lance, that's dangerous! You could have discovered and got hurt!" Lottie scolded him but out of concern for his safety.

Lance flinched in fright and his eyes watered.

"I...I am aware...but...I just d-don't want you to get hurt..."

"Lance..."

Lottie grew up with Lance so it's not a question anymore if she knew him or not. She knew how easily he got scared, how he easily stuttered in his words in nervousness and how he tended to follow her around like a scared puppy. So, hearing him sneaking inside despite how frightened he must be just to check up on her made her feel happy and proud.

'Now, I feel guilty raising my voice...'

Their melancholic conversations halted midway when footsteps came nearing the door of the room, they were staying in.

It happened too quickly, with just a blink of an eye the room illuminated with light outside when the door opened, but a huge shadow cast on Lottie's vision which lessened the uncomfortable adjusting of her eyesight from the sudden illumination.

They may be quick, but Lance was quicker.

He hid in the darkest and hidden part of the room in the snap of the finger. Lance might be a scaredy-cat, but he had great reflexes and hiding skills, and Lottie was aware of that.

She just gulped, steeling herself in her acting as if she was the only one at the room before the men entered.

Well, that was the only thing she could do anyway in her condition.

"So, this is the kid?" A man with sparse beard entered, looking down at Lottie with his hand on his hips.

"Dang, she actually looks like the duke! With the hair color and all!" He knelt and tugged on Lottie's braid with force as if she was a doll.

"Augh!"

"I thought that guy can only play smiles but look! He actually has the balls to create a child. Nice!" The man added with a grin full of maliciousness mixed with marvel, which made Lottie feel repulsed. She didn't waste any seconds and spit in his face.

Of course, the man moved backwards in disgust.

"Why you!" The man grabbed Lottie's face forcedly which made Lottie groaned in pain.

"Careful Iacopo, we cannot damage the goods." Another man commented. This one has tattoos all over his body.

Lottie gulped when her eyes laid upon him. She didn't know how to put it, but she felt a dark heavy pit forming in her stomach when his presence entered the place.

"She won't be a good hostage and product if she is all scratched up."

"But Guido, this kid--!"

"Just let go of the kid, dumbass."

"Tsk, fine!"

The man named Iacopo let go in harsh manner that made Lottie's head stirred to other direction, reviving her dizziness.

'Son of a--!' Lottie cursed inside her head.

Before she could recover, a tray of unripen fruits and moldy bread fell on the ground in front of her. It was almost a miracle how the food stayed on the tray or at least, close to it after the fall.

"Eat up, kid. We cannot have you dying on us," Guido, the tattooed man said nonchalantly.

'Yeah, right. I am not going to die of hunger, I will die because of food poisoning!' Lottie complained inside her mind while looking at the food and how it got more ruined after hitting the dirty floor.

"Come on now. We did what we have to do." Just like that, Guido faced his back and walked away from the room.

His comrade, Iacopo also followed but of course, he had to spit on Lottie's food before leaving and slamming the door shut. The sounds of chains behind the door echoed inside the once-again dark room.

"Freaking b*stard," Lottie scowled in her breath and kicked the tray away from her. At the same time, Lance left his hiding place and went to Lottie's side again.

Lottie noticed him trembling.

"I am fine Lance. I am much stronger than I look, you know?" Lottie tried to cheer him up, but he just looked down.

"Y-Yeah..."

A deafening silence covered them after that. However, this was broken by Lottie's groaning when a sharp pain stabbed her head and dizziness came back. She held her head and squinted her eyes as she waited for the pain and dizziness to pass.

'Dang fever!' Lottie grumbled in her mind.

All of these were witnessed by Lance who couldn't help but clenched his fist and bit his bottom lip.

"I-I'll get you o-out of here. I promise..."