DANGEROUS

The Lonely Writer (SP #2)

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Chapter One
The Lonely Writer
Eliza

               "You look horrible."
               Closing the door behind me, I took off my coat and hung it up. "Gee, thanks Liv."
               "I'm just saying," she said with her hands up in defence, "you look like you haven't slept at all."
               "Idiot," Gunter rolled his eyes at Olivia, "she always looks like that."
               This time, I was the one rolling my eyes. "Gee Gunter, thanks."
               It was six in the morning at a Monday, and my workload was practically stacking itself for me to stress out. And yes, both of my friends were right, I look horrible—it was no surprise though. This always happens to me every time I sleep.
               Nightmares have always invaded my sleep, pulling into my deepest darkest fears—my past; five years straight, and I still can't move on.
               "So what're we doing today? Are there any deadlines this weekend?" Liv snapped me out of my thoughts. I sat down on my seat right next to Gunter's.
               "Jean told me I should rewrite all of these revisions. It's the final critiquing for my book, so I really need that cover you're working on Gunter." I pleaded to my friend.
               Gunter chuckled, "I got you girl, the final size is already measured so we're good to go."
               I nodded, "Thank you so much Gunter. Now Liv, did you reschedule our book convention? Jean told me it should be on November."
               "I already did, but I haven't had any replies yet. So we're still waiting for the final date."
               "Alright, now I gotta work through these pages, Jean will kill me if I don't finish till Friday." I gathered my work and grabbed a pen.
               My book was about a girl named Ana, and a boy named Mason. It was the perfect kind of love story, but with a bittersweet ending. I knew that when I started writing this story I had went back to my first relationship—I couldn't say first love, because it was never really love at all. Perhaps at that time, I liked the idea of having a boyfriend, but in the end it was costed me a lot.
               Jean once asked about why I'd write this kind of book, I told her "It's like reminiscing my own story, but with creative fiction in it." It just seemed alright for me, to write about it as if I'm writing my diary.
               I was never the one to spill tea about my life, but damn it felt good letting it all out and then write a book about it just to make it clear for myself.
               In a selfish way, I had written this book for myself—I wanted to reassure myself that I wouldn't be stuck remembering the painful part of my past. Even though I had ran away from it, it was still refreshing to know that I'm not alone and that I have Ana with me—my fictional character; if I were a child, she would've been my imaginary friend.
               Philip was a part of my horrid past, alongside my family—the only good thing about it was my best friend, my brother and my sister; Freddie, Wesley and Jenny.
               My family are cruel people, and for as long as I can remember they were the ones who had ruined my childhood. Some people have families that are always there for each other, supporting their children's lives and loving them despite the challenges they face. My family weren't like that; they weren't the kind of people you're even suppose to support. I mean, who would want to be like one of them, a mobster?
In another perspective, being a mobster is cool—you get to be in a group of badass people, and can be labelled as the Bad Boy or Bad Girl In Town. But in reality, there's no such thing. If murdering in intent will get you that title, then I don't know what sick game you're dragging yourself into.
People will not look at you like a God, they'll look at you in fear, disgust, and hate. Trust me, you won't be able to make decent friends.
In my world, if you don't have any accomplishments, you're labelled as the black sheep of the family. What's worst than being bullied by your family?
My father, Jonathan Stone, is a drug dealer, while my mother, Sarah, is a prostitute. As for my brother, Wesley has been the Mafia Don ever since our uncle gave him the business. My older sister, Julie, is a spy who worked with Philip. And my sister, Jenny Stone, is the little angel of the family who fortunately wasn't able to see this rotten world.
My brother had taken me in when my parents had went away for a business trip. When they came back, they were banned from seeing me. As the Capo of the American mafia, Wes was able to do that without any trouble. Though my parents didn't care.
But ever since the night my parents forced me into a marriage, I was traumatised with what they had done to me when I rebelled against their decisions.
My parents knew that Philip would soon propose to me, even at a young age. I expected it too, but I knew he was only marrying me because of our family pact to them. I tried to deny them their control, but after that I was sucked into a dark haunting experience, the whipping.
Punishments like that are common in the world of mobsters and drug dealers. Unfortunately, it was my first time and it felt agonisingly slow. It would always leave me nightmares. Hence, the reason I left.
               The last time I had spoken to Freddie was two weeks ago, he had been one of my continuous contact from back home. He gave me updates, telling me news about their whereabouts, and how they were doing. For my brother, he has been busy, I talked to him two years ago when he unmistakably bumped into me at the market. He pulled me into a dark corner and hugged me for dear life, he told me to keep safe and contact him if ever I was in trouble. And Jenny...she's in a place called paradise, where all angels are taking good care of her.
               Ever since leaving that place I had called home, my life has been full of occasional glances from left to right, to front and behind. I've been careful with everything, especially with taking care of my friends. Now I know Olivia and Gunter can take care of themselves, but they don't know a thing about mobsters at all. They were my two innocent devils.
               I couldn't help but feel a sense of responsibility towards them, considering the fact that I let them into my life and now they are under my protection.
               "...time for a break. Where do you guys want to eat?" I hear Gunter speak, pulling me again from my thoughts. "Olivia?"
               "Let's go to Big Joey's, I'm craving for a steak right now."
               "You know, one day you'll realise how much you're eating unhealthy food. I mean, seriously? Meat?" Gunter snorted.
               "Hey! How come you're scolding me? Eliza eats a lot of meat!" She whined.
               I chuckled, "Don't bring in on any of your bickering."
               "Where do you wanna eat, Liz?"
               I shrugged, thinking of finishing my work. But I knew these two, they'll drag me out no matter what. "I'm up for Big Joey's clubhouse sandwich," I grinned at Gunter's grimaced face and Olivia's mischievous one.
               "Alright, let's go you two, I'm just gonna wrap up real quick." They got up from their chair noisily, bickering all the way to the exit.
               "I swear..." I sigh to myself in amusement.
               Putting my pen back, I gathered my papers and put a book on top so they won't fly away. I turned the fans off and turned the AC on, I locked the door behind me.
               Together, the three of us walked to Big Joey's for lunch.

               The day passed by, and I finished nine chapters in total. As I drove back home, I turned Judas on.
               Judas is one of Freddie's many gift, she's a virtual robot that happens to be the one controlling every inch of my house and territory lines.
               When I first moved in the city, money wasn't necessarily my first problem. Wes had given me a bank account which held a billion dollars. Of course, these money were dirty money—they came from all the bad kind of people in this world. The one good thing about my brother's mafia is that he eliminates bad people. Even though killing in intent isn't a good thing, you can never change someone like my brother, a Capo Crimini.
               Freddie is one of the technicians in the mob, he hacks accounts, emails, private messages, cameras, and other gadgets. He is part of a team that invented the Globe, a type of hacking virus that can go through all technology in a click. And as cliche as that sounds, it is unfortunately true—that's why I find myself avoiding cameras and using my real name (obviously).
               "Judas, play Redbone by Childish Gambino." I said out loud.
               "Playing Redbone by Childish Gambino."
               There were times that I wanted to go back to that horrid place, and get my revenge—creating some sort of master plan just so I can destroy the people who broke me.
               I badly needed that relief, but I knew it was impossible since my father is out to get me.
               Had I not mentioned?
               My father is out to get me. There are many reasons why. One, I ran away from my wedding day, completely ruining his name.
               And two, I'm the reason why my mother went missing, along with all the money he owned.
               In this story, you're going to learn the hard truth about what's good in a person, and what's nasty in a war of mobsters.

a u t h o r'  s   n o t e:

i. ANY GRAMMATICAL ERRORS OR INCORRECT SPELLINGS SHOULD BE DISREGARDED.
ii. COMMENTS AND VOTES ARE DULY NOTED AND APPRECIATED.
iii. CHAPTER ONE CRITIQUING OR QUESTIONS ARE ADDRESSED ON THE COMMENT SECTION.
iv. THANK YOU FOR READING.

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arifah salic