Cruel Stakes High Roller

Anthony, save me

[9] Anthony, Save Me

We met again in Math and PE, but we didn't talk much. Before I left school, I greeted her with an advanced happy birthday since her birthday will land tomorrow, a Saturday. I arranged a Mango Praline Dessert Cake to be delivered to her house tomorrow. Since she loved all kinds of food so much, I know that she'll be able to appreciate that box of sweetness from Dulcelin's.

Surprisingly, when I got home, the lights were all dimly lit. It was as if no one was home, but as I checked the garage, my sister's Audi was there. I crept into the second floor finding nobody.

I spot my sister's door open, but with no light.

I battled out my options first. What if she was there, but with Alfred, surely I wouldn't want to see that.

Although, that thought of her being taken advantage of made me really furious. I glanced over the huge hallway window and assessed her car. It was parked in the garage alright, but the 2 front wheels were not aligned with the body.

She must have gone home in a hurry.

As the situation seemed more dubious as the time trickled by, I finally decided to peek inside.

"Antoinette?" I called her.

There was no answer.

I entered the room and saw that there was a shadow on her bed. "Antoinette?" I called again.

She was shaking, crying, and refused to face me. The lights were off and I couldn't quite see her. "What's wrong, what happened?" I held her shoulders and she tensed up.

I am not quite sure as to what had frightened her, and it was starting to scare me too. I pulled her up and laid her down gently in her bed. All I saw were tears; it was almost like an active river endlessly flowing from her taut closed eyes. Her mouth was stiffly pressed into a flat line as if trying to control a scream.

I sat beside her and tried to comfort her with a soothing hug, but I realized that I couldn't do much since I didn't exactly know how to do this. I was unaware, I mean sure, I watched movies, but the real thing was entirely different. It was helluva lot more confusing.

"Antoinette, why don't you get some sleep, and tell me in the morning alright?" I told her. "Would you like some water?"

"Yes thank you" She struggled with the words. I stood up and left to get her some water, tucked her into bed and went into my room.

It was the most disturbing night of all nights. The worst part of it was not being able to know how to handle it. Sure, I've seen her crying over her boyfriend, but it wasn't like this. It was usually over in a few minutes.

But her clothes, the atmosphere, even how her car was parked told me that this happened quite a few hours ago.

I couldn't sleep.

I had to know what happened.

That morning, after a rushed bath, I got a call from the butler downstairs. He said that the Mango Dessert has been delivered here. With everything under stress right now, I can't possibly bring that myself anymore. So even as reluctant as I was, I asked the butler to call in the driver to bring the dessert to a specific address. With that accomplished, I visited my sister's room again.

Silently creeping into the room, I was shocked to see that she wasn't there. I pressed the intercom to ask where she is. The cook answered that she was in the garden having breakfast.

I immediately went down to greet her. Her slightly tousled brown hair was swaying with the morning dew as her back was against me. She was staring at the calm blue of the pool and was deep in thought as she didn't hear me coming. I gently slid in a seat in front of her and was utterly shaken when I saw how she looked like under the light.

"Antoinette, what happened?" Her eyes were red and puffy as enormous grey circles sagged underneath them. Her eyes were droopy and lopsided as they screamed so many troubles.

I took in her face and all I see was white, white that was pale as snow. Her right cheek was redder than her left. Her mouth is a bit swollen too and if I was not mistaken, there was a small cut on the upper lip.

"Don't think about it too much, Tony, it's nothing." She said as she looked at me. "It's just stress."

"Stress?" I asked as I tried to connect my conclusions. "Didn't you tell me over dinner the other day that your proposal for the company was approved? That you were applauded in front of everyone because of the hit? And now you tell me this is stress?" I stopped as she looked away and I saw that she took off the engagement ring on her finger. "Did Alfred do this to you?"

And when she didn't answer, the anger inside me boiled up. I stood up ready to kill the man.

"Tony! Don't do anything; this is between me and him!" When I stood up, I clearly saw her lip, it was bright as the sun—there was definitely a cut that was not there before.

"Antoinette, did he hit you?" I asked her trying to be calm as possible.

She didn't answer me.

"DID HE HIT YOU?" I demanded and waited most impatiently.

And she burst into tears.

Something in me snapped. I bellowed with anger as I called the driver's wife to take care of my sister and to bring her to the doctor.

"Bring her to Dr. Simmons." I gave the maid some money and I took the keys to my car from the cupboard.

I knew how to drive; it's just that my parents didn't want me driving my car to school since my Audi R8 was too ostentatious.

I also knew how to punch a guy; I knew how to punch with all my hatred. But of course, my parents didn't want me to go around punching people.

I hissed in frustration as I tried to concentrate on the road. Sure, I've been in many brawls before, especially in open parties when things got too tense. I'm usually the one that gets in the middle and hits everyone cold before it could get worse.

But this is different.

This wasn't some random guy who got too intoxicated in a bar. This wasn't some drunkard trying to hit on a few of my stoned friends.

This was my sister. This is Antoinette Tan, and whether he was inebriated or not, I couldn't care lessat the moment.

This is entirely personal.

I ranted in my mind as I sped off the main highway away from the suburbia village. "This is the most important person of all," I said to myself as I floored the gas pedal, and the engine of my R8 roared to life. I knew where that son-of-a-bitch lived, and I'm going to get him.