Ego's Trap | ✔

36 | The Big Bad Problems

☆☆☆ Chapter 36 ☆☆☆

The Big Bad Problems

Hilery let out an excited sigh that matched the kid's face when his eyes landed on her, the same face he'd done a few days back when Hilery's head popped out of the water. Déjà vu, almost.

The kid reached out for her with his hands. "Mommy!"

It was loud enough for me to hear.

"Felix, sweetie! Hello!" Hilery squealed, quickly bending down to kiss the kid's cheek as he hugged her head. One of her hands brushed down Joel's free arm 'til it reached his hand. She then squeezed it lightly, and intertwined their fingers together. The teen third-wheeling the family reunion cooed a couple of words, with a toothy smile on her rosy face. Had she no clue 'bout how terrible the situation was, of how it can't possibly be something normal in anyone's eyes?

Nikki. Nikki, that's her name. She must not be anyone, like Hilery. Like Joel.

The soft music continued to play in the hallway from the speakers installed on the walls, continuing to liven up the place as if nothing wrong was happening. As if it's a normal, casual thing for one of the most nauseating acts of society to take place in its hallway.

I stood there for what seemed to be an eternity not knowing how to react 'til I found some courage within me to blink and calm down my breathing. What my eyes were watching was wrong, immoral. Unbelievable, inconceivable, and yet it was right there, existing. Is... is this one of the things Daniel was talkin' 'bout when he warned me of his family?

If it is, and even if it isn't, I didn't want to watch anymore. I couldn't stand it.

Still a little dazed from it all, I stepped back, getting ready to rush my way out of there, but as I turned the other way, I bumped into Steve, the pushy guy from the bar. He looked straight ahead, and out of pure instinct I followed his eyes, gulping mid-way. I wish I hadn't though, 'cuz then I wouldn't have seen Joel make a hand signal to Steve that obviously meant to get rid of me: with a stern expression on his face, Joel lightly slashed his neck with his thumb.

When Steve and I made unintentional eye contact, he let out a dry laugh while cracking his knuckles. "Oh man, I really did like ya, but you just had to do somethin' funny with Boss' family. I did warn you, too. It's just too bad, really. Nobody can save you now, sugar."

There was no such thing as the big bad ghost. Instead, there was something far more terrifying than a mere ghost── a secret. A big, bad secret.

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Like a fast little mouse, I did my very best to escape from his hold but it did nothing in the end. Steve caught my tail with his paws and scooped me right off the ground, holding me so tight that I couldn't even let out a single peep or breathe right. He carried me effortlessly, as if I were a random piece of clothing (like a sweater or somethin'), and cared little 'bout how exposed I felt. Maybe he enjoyed every second of it.

On his way to wherever he was taking me, I prayed for some miracle to happen, for anything that could possibly save me from the doom that my own brother-in-law had judged upon me, but as of yet nothing seemed to be working in my favor today. Is giving up the best option?

*Daniel's Point of View (POV)*

Ah, there she goes, right into the lion's den.

I saw it coming since the second day, I am not going to lie about that, but why couldn't she at least try to hide when the time actually came for her to follow? Anyone could tell she was following them and it was seriously disappointing. I might have to give her a few tips on those types of things if she's ever planning to do something similar again, but right now all I could do is cringe from a distance. Gods, in the very least I am glad the lion is someone related to me; he will notice her fairly quickly simply because she would be out in the open, but he won't do anything to her. Nada.