Miss Vengeance

Ambush

— Eda Yildiz! Vay vay vay... I thought it would take longer for us to cross paths, canim.

Eda was immediately on a state of alert. That was not Zeki. Who was it? How'd they know her name?
— Who is it? – Eda was shaking, and so was her voice.
— You don't know? – the voice says in a fun and sarcastic tone – Guess!
Eda felt a lump in her throat. Just the thought of Zeki having to deal with whatever she's brought upon him made her upset and guilty.
— Who are you? – her voice came out firm this time.
— You should ask your parents.. oh wait... my condolences, Edacim!
She was angry, she almost threw the phone on the wall but Yiğit, who was ear-to-ear on the phone hearing everything, held her.
— Stop these stupid games! – she practically spat the words – Where's Zeki?
— Oh... that incompetent hacker of yours? Zeki. – the voice makes a dramatic pause – Oh he's here, we're hanging out. And we'd like to invite you to hang with us!
Yiğit instantly mouthes "No" repeatedly, Eda was certainly going to walk into a trap. She glanced at her brother's widened eyes and desperate gestures, and then looked away.
— Where?
— EDA, DON'T COME! – she heard a familiar voice yelling in the back.
— Shut him up! – the voice says to somebody, then the voice gets back on the phone – I think you'd wanna come, Eda hanim. I'll message you the address.
And hung up. Her heart was racing and Yiğit was about to lose his mind.
— WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
— Yiğit, what'd you want? They know about us anyway, I need to go. Zeki is innocent!
— Zeki can handle it! He's smart!
— YİĞİT! This is the mafia! It's my fault, I'm gonna bring him back!
— And what if they get YOU, abla?
— Nothing's gonna happen, I'll be fine!
— Hayır! You don't know who you're dealing with, Eda. I'm not letting you go!
Yiğit put his foot down, he wouldn't let his sister put herself in that much of danger. That was enough. They'd go and ask for their grandmother's help and tell her what Eda had done. She'd be able to hide them or send them to another country.
— You can't stop me, Yi.
— Eda, give it up! You have no idea where you're getting yourself into. Let's go to grandma, let's ask her for help, we can start a new life somewhere...
— ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? I'll NEVER ask for her help, she's helped more than I ever wished she did. Asla, Yiğit. And I'm not running away, my life is all here in Istanbul.
— Eda...
— YETER!
Yiğit runs his hands to his hair nervously as Eda walks out to her room stomping, with tears rolling. As she gets inside and closes the door behind herself, she heards a blip on her phone.

Message from Zeki
Come to this place, exactly at 10pm. [location]
Do not bring anyone with you. And don't dare calling the police, or things will get worse.

Ah, she couldn't believe what she got herself (and Zeki) into. But she'd have to go forward with it, she wouldn't walk out now and she wouldn't let these people intimidate her. Eda was convinced, she would get the answers she deserves about her parents' murder. If the man in the phone mentioned them, it means he knows something she doesn't. The only thing truly worrying her right now was poor Zeki. Her brother was wrong when he said Zeki could deal with it. The guy is just a normal, innocent human thrown in the middle of the mafia because of her crazy plan. He never had any encounter like this, and God knows what these people could do to him. All she could do right now is pray he's alright until she gets there.

❦

The clock was pointing to 10pm sharp and Eda was already on the address that was sent to her. After a huge fight with Yiğit, he'd let, actually, he was forced to let Eda go alone to the place. At least it was what she thought. He's always been good in passing by unnoticed and unheard, and he hoped this little skill of his would come through now as he was silently following his sister on the shadows, guarding her safety. Eda looked around, it was a desert, narrow street and the darkness was illuminated by one single light pole. It was creepy and she was most definitely scared, but she managed to pull herself together and to try looking at least a little intimidating.
— Eda hanim. You came! – the same voice from the phone echoed on the street. She couldn't see where it came from.
— Yes. Now where's Zeki?
— Straightforward. I like it. Ama, we need to talk first.
— What do you want?
She gave a 360° spin, slowly looking for the shadows to see any glimpse of the man that was talking.
— Aren't you gonna show yourself?
A figure slowly came out of the shadow, near an apparently abandoned building.
— You're brave, little girl. I gotta give you that.
She simply looked at him, analyzing the man that was now just a few steps of distance away from her. She couldn't fully see him, as the street was partly dark, but she saw he was dressed very fancy. The man was elegant and was in a great shape, although she felt like he could be of her own father's age.
— You've been snooping around our systems with your... little friend. – he says the last part, in a disgusted tone.
— Where is my... little friend? – she replied back in the same tone.
— He's good. For now.
— I'm here to get him back. And maybe get some answers.
— Bold of you to demand things. You really don't know who you're talking to, do you, kız?
She crossed her arms, not feeling intimidated at all by his redundancy.
— Tamam... what answers do you seek? – he says with a dramatic pause. Guess he was into theatrics.
— You know my parents. How do you know them?
— They never talked about me for you? – he says, pretending to be offended – How rude...
— You're not clarifying anything! – she raised her tone, clearly angered.
— I'll tell you what's gonna happen, kız! – as he says, some armed men start to come out of the shadows, and she sees Zeki with one of them. He has a gun pointed to his head. He looked scared, and it broke her heart he was put in such traumatic situation because of her.
— ZEKI!
She motion to his direction and sees the other men positioning to shoot.
— LET HIM GO!
She looks at the man in front of her. The man, who's probably the leader, gestures for his men to put down their weapons and then turns to her:
— UH-OH! That's not how it works, canim. – he cuts some distance, coming closer to Eda – You'll come to us first, we're gonna ask a few questions and you're gonna answer them honestly, and then maybe... we'll let your friend out.
— Hayır! Free Zeki first then you can take me wherever.
— You're in no position to demand anything.
— I'm not going anywhere with you and I'm not leaving here without Zeki!
— Either you come hang out with us, or you'll go back home silent without your friend.
— He has nothing to do with this, it's all my fault! I made him hack your servers cause I want justice and answers!
— Your heroic attitude moves me... – he says sarcastically putting his hand on his chest – He didn't have a gun in his head like now, I'm sure. Therefore, he wasn't really forced.
— Free him and take me!
— How abou I take you both? – he gives a sarcastic smile.
— Hayır! – she puts her foot down.
— Your stubborness reminds me of your mother. She could never do things right unless she was forced to... – he says, sighing – Pity...
— What'd you say...? – she said almost in a whisper, and suddenly she felt like her feet wouldn't move.
Yiğit, seeing an odd movimentation from the little group of armed men, decides it's time to intervene. But not without having a back-up plan first. He wasn't totally stupid. He reaches for his pocket and sends his friend a message:

Message from Yiğit
I'm going in.

☆

Glossary
Kız = girl
Yeter = enough
Canim = dear