AGE ( it is just a number)
Episode 30
A p@rt of me that I will always nee-d
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Hazel Dakota
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The throbbing in my temple grew louder , the voices in my head more insistent and I slowly opened my eyes to see Alexia staring down at me
“Oh God! Hazel! Thanks goodness you are awake”. she muttered, sighing in relief as I looked around in confusion
we were in a small dusty room full of cobwebs and there was nothing in it except the small be-d I was laying on and an old worn out chair …..
“you alright?” Alicia asked and I slowly shifted my gaze to her
“Where is this place?” I asked , sitting up and that was when I noticed the traces of tears upon her face……
I bec@m£ alarmed
“Alexia! talk to me , what is going on? where are we? what is this room?
“You don’t remember?” She snapped at me as I stared blankly at her
“Mike! It .. is .. Mike”. she stuttered and instantly the scale fell off my eyes and the memory of what happened flooded in
Oh no! the fat man , he kidnapped me! but what about Alexia, was she also kidnapped?
“What happened to you?” I asked , staring intently at her and she scoffed
“Isn’t it obvious, I was kidnapped”
“Kidnap! but how ! I mean you are suppose to be in having a fun p@rty”.I said in a rush and that was it , she flared up
“You are so dumb Hazel! I was trying so ha-rd to hold my anger but I don’t think I can do that any longer , didn’t you see the message? was it so ha-rd for you to get the hidden message?
“Hidden message !” I repeated as I tried to remember what was written in it….
Fun p@rty! She nee-ds me to be there ASAP! Killer p@rty! Come prepared with ….. wait a minute! Killer! ASAP! Gifts! oh my gawd! she was trying to warn me
Dang it! why didn’t I think of it?…. oh Hazel! she is right , you are so dull and stupid!
A sinking fear of panic swept over me,a temporary paralysing fear clutched at my heart with cold f!ngers
What will happen now? Is this the way it is gonna end? I thought aloud as tears rolled down my eyes and Alexia sighed, pu-lling me closer to her
“It is alright sis!crying won’t solve anything, we have to look for a way out” .she stated , patting my back as I cried in her arms …..
I snuffled , she was just too mature for her age!
“So what do you suggest we do?”
“Nothing but to wait”. she simply answered
“Wait!” I repeated , pu-lling out of the hvg to stare at her
“Yes, Mike will come around and just like he asked me to message you , he will ask you to do the same”
Do the same !Is she talking about …….
“ha-rd in!”. I said aloud
” it seems someone is catching on quic-kly”. she mumbled but I heard her clearly
“Is it ha-rd in!” I repeated , Ignoring her sneer and she nodded
“In whichever way Mike instruct you to reach him;be it throu-gh call or by message , you have to let him know you are in danger”
“And how will I do that?”
“Throu-gh a hidden message”. she answered as I rested my head against the wall, sighing
“but what if he didn’t get it?”
“No! No! No! we have to be positive here and moreover, ha-rd in is smart” . She as-sured and I swallowed ha-rd , staring at my shaky hands
I was so damn scared!
“we have to think out of the box or else we will all die….me , you, ha-rd in and your unborn child.she added and yes , she was right
We all have to stay strong for each other”
The door to the room suddenly flew opened and Mike walked in with the fat man following behind him
“Finally! the Princess is awake”.he drawled , cl@pping his hands
“For how Long have I been slee-ping?” I asked Alexia in whispers
“uhm.. about an hour”. she answered as she clung to me ti-ghtly , I could tell she was scared so I made her l@yher head on my l@ps as I faced the beast
“What do you want?” I asked him coldly as he laughed loudly
“Are you really asking me that! I want you Hazel and you know it”
“You are crazy !” I remarked angrily
“Of course I am and that is why I am gonna flush out that bastard in your wo-mb”. he half yelled and my heart beat increa-sed
My baby! no it can’t be!
tou-ching my belly , I shook my head vigorously
“plea-se Mike! Don’t , my baby is innocent”. I pleaded and he scoffed , moving closer to me
“No Hazel, that baby belongs to my enemy so it isn’t innocent”
I g@sped audibly In shock
“Jayden! I will make him witness his child disappearance and then I will kill him”
Having said that , he squ-atted beside me as he brou-ght out a phone from his pocket which he handed to me …
I stared at the phone ,my phone and then I looked back at him
“What should I do with it?” I asked , shivering in fear and he chuckled softly
“Simple! call Jayden and tell him to meet you up”.
I shifted my gaze to Alexia and she nodded slowly , signalling me to go- ahead
I was nervous, I could no longer control my hands , they were shaking in an odd trembling rhythm …
“he is in clas-s , he won’t pick up”. I said softly
“Then message him”. Mike barked ma-king Alexia and I flin-ch a little
“Tell him to meet you at the fun-park close to his house”
I nodded sheepishly, staring at the phone
My br@in was frozen up and the only thing I could hear was the loud ban-ging in my head ……
Hidden message! Do I even know what that means?
And as if re-ading my thoughts, Alexia c@m£ to my rescue
“I will type the message”. She offered, straightening up as she dragged the phone out of my hands
“Sure! Your sister does know how to compose beautiful messages”. I heard Mike say and I raised my head to see him smiling at Alexia
“She composed the message that brou-ght you here and I am sure her message will bring Jayden down here or what do you think?” he asked , shifting his attention to me and I looked away , meeting the gaze of the fat man who gave me a “I will kill you look”
“Crazy bastard!” I cursed silently
“I am done”. Alexia suddenly announced , holding the phone up for Mike to see and I held my breathe waiting for his response
“You can s£nd it”. he simply said , getting up on his feet and I let out the breathe in relief
he didn’t even re-ad it !!!!
” what is the name of the fun-park again?”he asked , facing Alexia
“Disney fun- park”. she answered with a
tiny voice and I swear , I could hear the sound of her heart beating.
She was scared and so was I!!
” I told him she took a stroll because the baby nee-ds it”. she quic-kly added
” uhm! baby fun! that sound like a good idea” . he said , nodding slowly as he faced the fat man
“You heard her Noah!Go wait for Jayden at Disney fun- park and as soon as you see him , bring him over here ”
Steadying my breathe, i tried to calm my panic
“It is gonna be alright Hazel”. I as-sured myself
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ha-rd in Castillo
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After an hour of boring lecture, the history teacher finally left the clas-s
“At last!” I muttered , sighing in relief as I brou-ght out a man-uscript from un-derneath my desk
“This man nee-d to be fired , his clas-s is always boring”.Richa-rd who was beside me stated referring to the history teacher and I nodded abs£ntmindedly , my mind and attention was fixed on the man-uscript in front of me
I smiled lightly, I can’t wait to be done with it , it is my first adult story and I am sure it is gonna be a hvge blast
“Harzel! the title of your story is Harzel” Richa-rd said , leaning over to peek at the man-uscript and I nodded slowly
“Amazing!You writing about your girlfriend?” he asked and I shrugged
“Something like that”
“Wow! wow! hope S-x scene is included”. he continued with a sm-irk
“Sure! in fact the whole book will be all about S-x “. I drawled in sarcasm and he laughed loudly attra-cting some curious stares…
” You crazy Castillo”
Just then , my phone beeped indicating a text message and I picked it up from my desk to see the name Hazel on the screen
Is she alre-ady missing me?
I smiled lightly as I cli-cked on it
“ha-rd IN ! I TOOK A STROLL OUT TO DISNEY -FUN PARK( 414), THE PAIN IN MY STOMACH IS A KILLER AND I THINKS THE BABY nee-dS IT , MEET ME THERE ASAP”
I scoffed , Disney fun park! is this some kind of joke? doesn’t she know I am in school?
dialling her number , it rang until her her voice mail picked it up …….
I dialled it for the second time , it was still the same and was about dialling it for the third time when a message popped up
It was a message from her , i quic-kly cli-cked on it
“Come meet me at Disney – fun park, our baby nee-ds it”
Impossible! Is she crazy?” I thought within scrolling up to the first message and the word “killer” caught my attention
Killer pain! what is she talking about ? I wondered, re-ading the message all over again and that was when I saw it
The number 414! Disney fun-park doesn’t have a number attached to it , it was just an open field where children pla-ys…. so could the number be a code or what
Well!Let’s see … uhhm… 4(D) 1(A) 4(D)… Dad… killer …… Austin …. oh no! It can’t be !
with shaky hands, I dialled my dad number and he picked it up on the first ring
“hey!”he greeted first
“Dad! Where are you?” I asked with a trembling voice
“I am home, is there any problem?”
“Hazel! she is home right???
“No! she went for a stroll , aren’t you aware about it?”he asked and my heart st©pped beating
A stroll! Disney park! fv¢k! this is all messed up!
“ha-rd in! Are you there? Is everything alright?” My Dad probe-d on and I bit at my lowerl-ips to st©p myself from Screaming out my anger
“Yes!! I will join you at home”. I said and ended the call ………
disoriented, I stood up in a huff , picked up my back pack and on slinging it over my shoulder,I ran all the way to the parking lot ……
“Castillo! Castillo! Castillo! I heard familiar voices call but I ignored them all…..
I was confused! I was scared ! I was hurting!
Opening the car door, I hopped in and on starting the ignition, I drove speeding to the mansion…..
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The drive home was a quic-k one as I broke the speed limit wasting no time to get home …..
honking the car horn, I drove throu-gh the alre-ady opened gate and on parking , I alighted from the car to see my dad outside leaning against his car
“Dad! I called ,rushing to him and he straightened up , staring at me curiously
“It is Hazel !She has been kidnapped by Austin “. I said and he went stiff
“Austin! how is that possible?I mean she only told me she was taking a stroll”
” And you believed that?”I retorted angrily ,bringing out my phone to show him the text message and that was when he believed
“Damn it! this is serious but there is no cause for panic, I will call for back up ASAP”
” back up! No Dad! I don’t have that kind of patience, that bastard might try hurting my ….. i paused to steady my breathe
The thought of Austin tou-ching Hazel was driving me insane
“You nee-d to calm down ha-rd in , Hazel… he tried to say but I cut him off
“You fv¢king don’t know who Austin is , Austin is a beast and any slight mistake will endanger the life of Haz and my unborn child”. I yelled and he sighed, holding my shoulders to calm me down
“You nee-d to be in your right mind for us to plan ahead”. he said and yes , he was right
Taking a de-ep breathe, I leaned against the wall as I tried to calm my panic
“Good! so can I see the text message again?”he asked and I nodded slowly, handing him the phone
“Disney fun park !that can’t certainly be the place he is holding her captive”
“I know! he wants to lure me in and I am going to take the bait”. I stated and he g@sped softly in shock
“If I am not mistaken ,you trying to say you will go to Disney land?”
“Yes!that is the only way we can save her”. I insisted
he was quiet for a while and then he sighed bringing a silver n£¢klace along with a gun out of his pocket
“Wear this”. he handed the n£¢klace to me
I looked at the n£¢klace and then back at him in disbelief
Is he for real? giving me a n£¢klace to wear?
And as if re-ading my mind, he said
“It is a n£¢klace with a GPS tracking device, with that I will be able to monitor your location , so wear it” he repeated and this time around, I wore it around my n£¢k without hesitation
“You will also be nee-ding this”. he continued, handing me the gun and I shivered a little staring at it
In all the time I spent with Austin, I held a gun only twice and that was when the beast tried training me to shoot… in short , I hated guns with pas-sion …..
Can you make use of it?”he asked , snapping me out of my thoughts and I shrugged
” I don’t know and that was the exact truth”
“It is simple! you just nee-d to pu-ll the trigger just incase the nee-d arises”
“Alright dad!” I simply said , hiding the gun in my un-derp@n-ts as I stormed to my car
“we will be right behind you”. My dad called after me as he got into his car and despite my pains , a small smile escaped from myl-ips
I was glad to have a dad who un-derstands me!
Hopping into my car , I closed the car door and on starting it , I drove heading to Disney- fun park ………
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Being a weekday, the fun-park was deserted Unlike the weekends where it was always crowded
I parked my car beside the tire swing and on alighting , I looked around to see a very fat man walking towards me ……………. wait a minute! Noah! Isn’t that Noah?
I scoffed silently, Austin sure means business!
“hi Jayden!” he greeted with a sly smile as I took few steps backward pretending to be in shock
“Noah!” I called back , wi-dening my eyes and he moved closer, pu-lling out a gun ……
“If you want to see your pregnant bit-ch alive then come with me silently”. he threatened, c0cking his gun and I clutched my fist ti-ghtly, trying to control my anger
bit-ch! how dare he call my girl a bit-ch!.. but no, anger won’t solve anything only pretence will and I am gonna pl@ythe game wisely
“No Noah! plea-se don’t hurt my girl”. I pleaded, faking my tears and he sm-irked
“Good boy!he remarked , pushing me r0ûghly as he led me to a black sedan car and I laughed inwardly
he is a dumb fool with no tactics, I could kill him easily with my gun if I wanted too!
Opening the rear door, he instructed me to get in and when I did , he ban-ged the door shut turned around to the driver seat , got in and on closing the door, he drove off …….
What an idiot!!!!!!
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Mike Peterson
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With a large grin , I brou-ght out the bottle of drugs and held it up for Hazel to see.
“You know darling, I really can’t wait to see the look on Jayden face when I use this on you”. I stated , laughing as she whimpered, clinging ti-ghtly to Alexia
They were both scared , I could see their fears but what can I possibly do? Nothing , I wanted my revenge and not even the tears of the woman I love can st©p me……
“plea-se Mike don’t this to me “. She kept on pleading as I glanced at my wristwatch for the umpteenth time …..
It has been over two hours and Noah was yet to return…
What could be wrong? Is anything alright?did he fail to catch Jayden?…but come to think of it , i didn’t even re-ad the damn message!
Bringing Hazel’s phone out of my pocket, I was about unlocking it when a car drove into the compound …..
quic-kly, I got off the chair and rushed to the window side view to look out of it and lol and behold, it was the black sedan car conveying Noah and ……… ha-rd in
I smiled softly as I turned sideways to Hazel who looked half frightened to death
“It is time for the game to begin!
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ha-rd in Castillo
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The car skidded to a halt in front of an old abandoned building
“Get down!” Noah barked as I hid the n£¢klace un-der my shi-t and on opening the car door , I alighted and c@m£ face to face with Noah gun
Again!!!!
“Move! he half yelled , c0cking the gun and I raised my hands up in surrender as I walked into the house , looking around
The house was ugly , dusty , full of cobwebs and looks haunted
“fuc-k! Out of all places , why must it be here ?
“Keep on moving”! he yelled at me and that was when I realised I was standing on the same sp©t as I stared at the weird house
“And where should I move to!” I snapped at him
“Over there”. he pointed to a door which was slightly ajar and without thinking, I ran towards to the door and on pushing it opened, I walked in to meet a shocking sight
Hazel and Alexia were seated on a small be-d begging Austin as they cried their eyes out
Bastard! how dare he drag a 13 year old into this mess!
“Wow! wow! Look who we have here , the Famous Jayden Winthrop!” he jeered, cl@pping his hands as I stared at Alexia and then at Hazel
“ha-rd in!” Hazel called softly as tears rolled down her eyes and I looked away
She should know I hate seeing her cry!
“I can see you have no clue as to why you are here”. Austin started, standing up as he moved closer to me
he was holding a small bottle and on a closer look , I noticed it was a mifepristone syrup
I bec@m£ alarmed , what does he want to do with it?
” you know what this is right?”he asked , holding up the bottle for me to see as my skin tingled in fear
“This is an ab-ortion syrup and I am gonna use it on your precious girlfriend”
“No Austin! You can do that!” I hushed and he sm-irked
“Then watch me and see”
And with that , he moved closer to her , squ-atting beside her
“Nooooo! plea-se help me”. She screamed loudly, ma-king my heart churn in anger
Blinded with rage, I charged blindly towards him ,about to get down in a physical combat with him but was st©pped by the pumping sound of a gun c0cking
” stay still or I will shoot”. I heard Noah say and I froze on the sp©t , shooting daggers at Austin
“Oh dear! what to do! Little Jayden is helpless”. he said tea-singly as I grit my teeth, racking my br@in on what next to do …
Using the gun was not an option , it will be two against one…. damn! I guess I should try stall him until the cops arrive
” I can see you are bent on getting rid of my child but are you too dumb to do it in front of a little kid”. I stated and instantly he withdrew his hands , staring at Alexia who was whimpering in fear
“Fine! Fine! Noah take the kid outside”. he instructed Noah who handed the gun to Austin ;then reluctantly left the room , dragging Alexia along with him …..
Immediately, I bolted the door and then faced Austin
“Why did you do that?” he asked , placing the bottle on the floor as he c0cked the gun
“That is because we nee-d to talk ”
“Talk! and what is there to talk about!”he retorted, staring at me
“Uhhhm… lets me start by asking you this simple question, when did the “Almighty Austin”become a coward?” I fired at him and in the split of a second, he stood up rushing to me as he pinned me to the wall
“Yes! that is it! the Austin I know will never torture a woman to get his revenge , you want me then I am right in front of you”
“Bastard!” he cursed , as he threw me a punch on my nose , I tried dodging it but couldn’t as he grip on me was strong and instantly, the blood c@m£ streaking down …..
I scoffed , “You are the only bastard here Austin!” I fired back at him and he scoffed , aiming the gun at me.
“Nooooooooo! Hazel screamed loudly and Austin lowered his gun , turning around to face her
Exactly the distraction I nee-ded!
quic-kly , I pu-ll-ed out the gun from my un-derp@n-ts and on aiming at his shoulder, I pu-ll-ed the trigger and instantly he fell to floor screaming !
“Arrrrgh!” he gro-an ed in pain with his eyes wi-de opened in shock as I stared at him fidgeting
“I pu-ll-ed the trigger! I sh0t someone!”. I muttered and the next thing I heard was the sound of the police siren , followed by gunsh0ts
“What! who called the police?” Austin yelled to no one in p@rticular and I sm-irked , bending over to pick his gun ….
“It is over for you Austin!” . I said as I walked to the door , turning the knob as I unbolted it
“ha-rd iiin!” Hazel screamed and I quic-kly turned around to see Austin aiming a pistol at me
Dang it! why didn’t I think of it? he had another gun with him
“Say your last prayer Jayden”. he said as the sound of gunsh0ts filled the air and to my relief the gun fell from his hand as he gr-unted in pain
he was sh0t in his stomach!
I looked in the direction the bullet c@m£ from and lol and behold, my dad was standing at the entrance
“No Austin! you should be the one to say your last prayer”! he fired back at Austin and I smiled softly
“Kill me Jay!” Austin begged and I lifted the gun , c0cking it as quietly as I could about to grant his wish but my dad was quic-k to st©p me
“No son! you ain’t a murderer,allow me to do it ”
And with that , he pu-ll-ed his trigger and sh0t the bastard at his temple and with a loud cry Austin fell to the floor dead …….
I took a de-ep breathe and a wave of relief swept over me
“At last “.I mumbled, walking past the lifeless b©dy to Hazel
squ-atting beside her, I pu-ll-ed her close to me , hvgging her
her expression was blank! her face white as sheet as she stared at Austin lifeless b©dy
“It is over Haz! I as-sured her and she nodded slowly
“what of Alexia?” She asked softly
“in the police van”. My dad answered
“And the fat man?” I continued
“Dead!” he answered as he walked out of the building
I smiled lightly, shifting my gaze to Hazel to see her staring at me
“Thanks for saving me ha-rd in”. she said , breaking down in tears and I sighed,wra-pping my hands around her
She was alre-ady a p@rt of me, that p@rt of me I will always nee-d……..
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TBC