Chapter 15
“Euclid! Are you fucking serious? We don’t have that much money!” Frederick hissed from his earpiece. “Christ—”
“Shut up, Fred,” Euclid muttered. “Get ready, I’ll take her now—”
“Wait, what the fuck—”
“Five thousand dollars,” the man from table number three announced suddenly. “I’ll give five thousand dollars for Magdalene.”
The audience fell silent. Murmurs roared and spread all over the club, making the woman on the stage with a red feathery mask and wearing a red velvet dress looked uncomfortable. Her hands twitched, a sign of fear and tension.
“Euclid, hold it up,” Fred said. “Let’s do the plan B—”
“There’s no plan B,” he cut off and heaved a sigh. “That asshole played dirty.”
The emcee cleared his throat. “That was an impressive bid, but unfortunately, we have to stick with the rules—”
“Six thousand dollars,” the man said and climbed up the stage. He snatched Magdalene’s arm and pulled her down the stage. “Come on—”
The woman refused. She looked in his direction, and even she can’t see her eyes clearly, Euclid can feel that she was asking for his help.
The emcee intervened, but the man swept him. “Sir, I’m sorry, we have rules here—”
“How much do you want?” he asked loudly. “Ten thousand dollars? I’ll give ten thousand dollars!”
Euclid waited for the clubmen to intervene, but nobody came to help Magdalene. “What’s with the bouncers?” he asked over his mouthpiece, starting to get anxious with what’s happening.
“Sir Mercado, all the clubmen were guarded by Mr. Fortuno’s men,” one of David’s men whispered on the other line.
“We gotta do something—”
“No, Euclid! Spare that girl—”
“No!” Euclid cut Frederick's words and raised his card number. “Twenty thousand dollars!”
“Fuck, Euclid!” Frederick cursed at him loud enough that he thought he heard his voice from the other side of the club. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Loud gasps from the audience filled the club. The music stopped, and so did the man on the stage who was trying to abduct Magdalene. From the corner of the stage, Euclid saw the woman named Demi and the Club owner, Doppy, stepping out from the curtains but didn’t go the stage.
A moment later, a tall man in a cheap suit, approached Mr. Fortuno on the stage and say something inaudibly. The man clenched his jaw, turned in his direction, and threw Magdalene to the stage forcefully, making the woman squeal in pain due to the impact. He left the stage with no words.
Euclid immediately climbed up the stage and helped the woman to stand. The emcee’s shocked face focused on him as he took Magdalene out of the scene. Euclid felt something strange as their skin touched against each other. He felt as if something reunited deep within him, but he can’t figure out what it was.
“David, get ready with your position,” Fred whispered from the other line. “Everybody, it’s showtime…”
Euclid can see from the corner of his eyes that all eyes around the club were focused on him. But, he doesn’t care, they need to launch and accomplish this mission as soon as possible.
“All right!” The emcee’s delayed reaction pulled the people’s attention from him. “Table number seven won the bidding for an amount of twenty thousand dollars or one million pesos! Wow! I didn’t expect that our Magdalene cost that much amount…”
Euclid ignored the emcee’s remarks. He stood up and held the woman’s shoulders gently. He raised his hand to call the barker waiting on the corner.
“Sir, you can take her out—”
“She needs to relax first. I don’t want to take her like this,” he cut off. “Give us a room now.”
The barker nodded. “This way, sir.”
But, on their way to the lounge area, the club owner, Doppy, blocked their way. On his back was the woman, Demi, who was smiling at him from ear to ear.
“Buenas Dias, Senior Roberto,” Doppy greeted him using his unpleasant fake European accent. “You must be really a fan of our Magdalene.”
“I have seen her videos on the internet, and I’m quite impressed. I want to see how she will perform on my bed,” he said, imitating a French man’s accent. “Will you excuse us? I have to give her time to refresh before I take her out.”
“Sure, sure,” Doppy said, rubbing his palms against each other. “But, our policy here is payment first.”
“Oh, that’s not a problem,” Euclid raised his forefinger. “My assistant will give you the exact amount of my payment.”
David approached them with a checkbook in his hand. “I’ll take care of this, Sir Roberto.”
When Doppy nodded and get preoccupied with David, Euclid immediately continued walking, but Demi stopped them.
“I have a few words with Magdalene, will you give us—”
“No,” Euclid said gravely. “I’m excited to touch her, please don’t cause me any delay,” he said, giving her a look of an impatient horny man.
When Demi didn’t speak, Euclid nodded at the barter to continue. When they reach the door, he quickly pushed it open and went inside. As soon as the door closed behind their back, Euclid blew his breath. He let go of the woman’s arms and threw him on the sofa in the middle of the room. The woman looked up at her surprisingly.
“Fuck,” he hissed. “Fucked up!”
The woman stood. “D-do you want me to undress?”
Euclid looked at her. Seconds later, the lights inside the room went out, indicating that his team was starting to invade the club. He held his gun pocket and prepared for any attack.
“Launch attack!” Fred shouted on the line. “Euclid locked the door, the barker is about to open the door.”
“What’s happening?” he heard the woman ask. Her soft voice was incredibly familiar to him.
A few seconds later, the lights are back, followed by the screams and gunshots from the outside of the room. The woman screamed and covered her ears. When he looked at her, she was already crying, her slender body was crumpled on the sofa and shaking.
“What is this? Who are you?” she asked, her voice is trembling in fear.
Euclid turned to face Magdalene. “Take off your mask.”
The woman paused, stood up, and looked at him as if she didn’t hear what he said. “Huh?”
“I said take off your mask, Magdalene,” he repeated and stepped forward.
“No, please…” she stepped back, but her legs were caught with the chair. She lost her balance and fell on the floor. “Don’t hurt me…” she pleaded and started crying.
Euclid grabbed her by the arm and forced her to stand up. “I said, take off your mask!”
The woman strangled him until he let go of her arm. She fell once again to the floor but managed to stand up quickly. “Don’t go near me!”
Euclid was losing his patience. He took out his gun from his back and aimed its gunpoint at her. The woman shrieked and pleaded for her life. Euclid clenched his jaw, he doesn’t want to do this, but he was testing her patience.
“Please, sir. Don’t kill me…” she said and bent on her knees. “I’m a victim here—”
“Shut up and take off your mask!” Euclid shouted and looked away from her breasts that are starting to show from her thin dress. “Take off—”
The woman started to undress in front of him, still leaving her mask on. “Do whatever you want with my body, but don’t ask me to pull off this mask…” she said, tears streaming down her face.
“What the fuck?” Euclid looked away from her and quickly removed his coat. “Put this on!” he said and threw it to her.
But, when she didn’t move, Euclid pulled the trigger and shot the vase behind her.
The woman screamed and covered her ears while crying. “Don’t kill me, please—”
“I won’t kill you if you take off your mask, Magdalene,” he said and forced her to stand.
The woman’s body shook when he touched her arm. But, when she looked up at him, her eyes turned dull and hazy. She raised her shaking hands to touch her red feathery mask.
Euclid held his breath when she started to untie the laces at the back of her head. And, when the mask fell on the ground, the mystery behind Magdalene’s mask was revealed.
Magdalene slowly looked up at him. As soon as their eyes met, Euclid’s surroundings started to spin as if he was being thrown back to his past. He can’t believe what his eyes were seeing that his hand on the gun trembled until he couldn’t hold it still. He blinked twice, hoping the image he saw in front of his eyes will alter, but it didn’t.
Euclid stepped closer, not taking his eyes off Magdalene’s face. And, with a shaking voice, he spoke the name that hurt him in the past six years. “Maria…?”
***
