The Carnival

The Mafia

I hit him in the stomach with my elbow. He groaned with pain.

"What the hell, Elle? We just came to help you,'' said Alex with pain.

"We?" I replied suspiciously.

I saw Jason and Chloe coming down the corridor. Chloe ran to me and hugged me tightly.

"Are you okay, Elle?'' asked Chloe with concern.

"I'm fine Chloe, I replied. But how did you guys find me?''

"I came back and luckily, I had the keys of your house. I searched for you but couldn't find you. I went to Katherine's room and found the letter,'' replied Alex.

"Who is this D, Elle? And why did he kidnap Katherine?" asked Jason

I was speechless. How was I supposed to let out my actual identity? The identity that I have been hiding since the past 6 years. I stood there without uttering a word. How was I going to tell them about the world in which I used to live before? The world from which my mother escaped from to protect me and my sister.

"I...Umm,'' I tried to reply.

"Elle, what are you hiding from us?" said Alex.

In that instance, the lights went out and it was totally dark in the hall. I pulled out my phone and switched on the torch. I shone the light on Alex and then on Jason and then on Chloe but Chloe was missing.

"Chloe", I shouted.

The lights came back on and Chloe was nowhere to be seen. He took her. He took her as a revenge on me. Why did I let this happen?

"Why the hell did you guys came to look for me? See Chloe is missing. You guys have no idea how dangerous and big this is," I shouted at Alex and Jason.

Alex and Jason stared at me with wide eyes open. Jason had tears in his eyes. He must have really loved Chloe. I thought of Melissa and Rick. They must be in danger too because he is taking everyone I love.

"Where's Melissa and Rick?" I asked.

"They are at Rick's house because Rick wasn't feeling very well", replied Alex.

I thought for awhile and that's when I saw the writing on the wall. It was written with blood. It read:

"Your friend is a tough, pretty little girl. Too bad you won't see her again".

-D

Jason clenched his knuckles and hit on the wall hard. For being a computer genius, he was pretty strong too. And that's when it hit me. I took out my phone and messaged Jason and Alex. Their phone beeped and they looked at me and nodded.

Game on!

We were walking down the hall. This part of the haunted house seemed so calm. It was the back rooms of the house where all systems were controlled and where the changing rooms were. We were walking when a particular room caught my eye. It was written "PRIVATE" with big letters. I turned the knob of the door but it was locked. We found the room we were looking for the "SECURITY ROOM". We opened the door and two big security guards came. Alex and Jason tried to defend themselves while I pulled out my mother's dagger and stabbed one of the guards in his heart. He fell down with pain and blood came out of his wound. Another guard was knocked off by Alex. Jason and Alex stared at me in horror.

"What," I asked. I wasn't feeling guilty of anything. Alex and Jason don't know these people. They are the people who have killed hundreds of people, kidnapped many girls and have sold them to the disgusting rich old men in foreign countries. After all, they are the mafia! But Alex and Jason don't know about it.

"Jason, do your job. And shut down all the cameras,'' I yelled.

Jason sat in one of the chairs and started to shut down all the cameras. I was staring at the screen when something caught my eye. In a room, there was a huge cage and in it were all the girls.  This was the same room with the label "PRIVATE" written. There were girls who were reported missing. In between them, was a girl wearing navy blue dress. It was Chloe! She is Alive!

"Jason, Chloe is alive," I said loudly.

Alex and Jason looked quickly at the screen. There standing in the cage, wearing a purple dress, was Chloe. I tried looking for Katherine but she was nowhere to be seen.

"My baby is alive,'' yelled Jason.

"We need to find her," Alex said.

We shut down the cameras and made our way to the room in which the girls were being held hostage. Nothing has been changed. It is the same way as it was before. Girls being captured from night clubs, being drugged and pushed in the world of prostitution. My mind filled with all the screams of the girls that were being held captive at the mansion. I used to see men bringing the kidnapped girls in the mansion. Then every Friday, there used to be an auction of the girls and highest bidder used to take the prettiest girl home. My aunt, Stacy, was one of them. She was being sold more than 10 times. She used to come home every month with bruises on her face and cuts on her body. It was a scary sight to see. My mother couldn't protect her because my, I mean Mr. Black and his best friend used to beat her till blood would come out of her mouth. The lights went out again. I tried to call out Alex but somebody covered his hands over my mouth and led me to a room. The lights came back. There standing in front of me was the devil himself. A man with black hair, wrinkled face, with a cigar in hand wearing a gray coat, guarded by two huge men, sat on a chair in front of me.

"Elle, it's been 6 years," he spoke while letting a puff of smoke.

"Hi dad," I replied to him.