Chapter 2

"Excuse me officer? Where is my car?" Whitney impatiently asked.

"Your car was just stolen by a gang." The police officer answered and wrote something on his note pad while the other one spoke into his walkie talkie.

Whitney felt weak in her knees and slumped. "What?" she huffed in disbelief.

"Our troops are already chasing after the gang." the officer politely continued.

"Louis fucking White." Whitney covered her forehead stressed.

"If you could please come with us to the police station?" he kindly insisted.

Whitney looked blankly at the genuinely concerned police officer. Without a word, she turned to walk away feeling like a zombie. She picked up her box in a daze and headed to the bus stop. The policeman tried calling after her but she ignored him. Whitney spotted a cab turning her way and opted to go into it instead.

"Take me to the nearest bar." she instructed the driver. "I could use a drink."

****

Whitney set down an empty bottle of beer beside four others. Sliding money to the bartender, she picked up her box and walked out of the bar. Whitney quickly got into a cab and off she went down the streets to her house.

Upon reaching her neighborhood, she was met with a crowd of people wondering on the road. Whitney gazed upon the thick clouds of smoke polluting the air.

A fire truck zoomed past her cab in a haste. Whitney wondered what was on fire only to discover that it was her house. She got out of the cab and watched her house burn down with fire fighters desperately working to put it out.

Whitney stared deep into the fire in sheer disbelief. The heat emitting from the flames wasn't enough to wake her up from the fiery trance she got herself locked in.

All her belongings gone - just like that.

Whitney remembered Britney and her eyes widened. "Britney!" she yelled. "Where is Britney? Is she stuck in the house?" she asked the people around her but none of them answered her. "She is in the house, isn't she?"

Whitney's blood turned cold at their silence and sympathetic facial expressions. She saw a fire fighter from the corner of her eye and turned. The people pulled her back and restrained her, fearing that she would go into the house in a hopeless attempt to save her sister.

"Let go of me!" she screamed at them but they refused to listen to her. "Damn it I said let go!" and with so much force, she freed herself and ran to the fire fighter.

"Stay back, lady." he politely said before Whitney could utter a word.

"Where...where is my sister?" Whitney asked, barely catching her breath. "I am the owner of this house." she added.

"Is she the only one you live with?" the man asked.

Whitney desperately nodded her head in confirmation, her tears wailing up and lips trembling. Whitney ran her fingers through her hair. A tear ran down her eye. She shakily pointed at her burning house.

"Her name is Britney. She is usually back home from school this time of the day."

"Please stay calm. We will do everything we can." the firefighter comforted and joined his colleagues. "There might be a female in the house!" he exclaimed.

Whitney took out her phone and called Britney in panic. Britney did not pick up any of her calls and on the fifth attempt, the phone went off. Whitney was forced to wait until all the flames were put out in order to get any answers. It took three excruciating hours until the last ember was extinguished. The sight of fire fighters carrying a corpse covered in a blanket paused her world.

With tears pricking her eyes, Whitney ran to them desperate. The body was set on the ground and the men backed away. Whitney dropped down to her knees and her tears fell to her chest. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and she swallowed hard at the tightness in her throat. With her shaky hand, she uncovered the body.

Whitney gasped and covered her mouth at the sight of the totally burnt off face and roasted tendons of a feminine body. The moment her eyes set on the golden bracelet with a navy green oval ruby, she knew that her worst fear had come to pass.

Whitney couldn't take it anymore. She realized that she was running when she fell hard to the tarmac. Lying there all alone, she cried deeply. Whitney sat up and faced the sky. With a heart full of grief, she screamed loud in anguish.

"Mommy and daddy are gone." little six year old Britney squeezed Whitney's small arm.

Whitney took her eyes off the tombstones and got down on her knee. Her black dress set on the green lawn. Behind the girls was a social welfare officer. She stood away and patiently waited for the girls with her arms crossed.

Whitney fought back her own tears and wiped Britney's. "It's just you and I now. I will take care of you. Everything is going to be alright." Britney hugged Whitney.

"Britney," Whitney sobbed with her hand covering her mouth.

Whitney continued to cry deeply all by herself. During her cries, a dark figure approached her from behind. A baseball bat was raised and down it went on Whitney's head. She blacked out immediately and rolled her head to the boot of her attacker.

"You idiot, I only hope you haven't killed her." Louis stepped out of the shadows.

The man bended down and pinned his fingers on Whitney's neck. "She is still alive boss." he confirmed with a nod.

"Good, let's go. We don't want to keep them waiting." Louis grinned.

****

Whitney woke up to the metallic taste of her blood. Her head was bowed and her bloody hair covered her face. She moved her chin up only to weakly throw her heavy head back.

The sound of snickers forced her to bring her head back and hold it in place. Her hazy gaze scanned the room the best that she could. She took notice that it was a tiny wooden room.

"Where I'm I?" she wondered to herself.

Whitney tried to move her hands and it was at that moment that she realized when she was bound to a chair. Whitney blinked once, twice and finally saw three cowboys staring down at her. They all grinned at her with their coffee brown teeth.

Whitney had seen a lot of dirty men but never in her life had she seen any revolting and as repulsive as those three covered in sweat. Their visible scars and scruffy dirty blonde hair darkened Whitney's heart.

The oldest looking one said something to the others and one of them left. The remaining two kept their beady eyes on Whitney and she cringed slightly from behind her hair. Moments later, the one who left came back with a person.

It was Steve.

Thank you for reading. ❤

Votes ❤ Comments ❤ Shares ❤

Are welcome 😊