Thy Will, Not Mine

Chapter {43} Destiny

"Hello, dear Nio," a voice thick with an accent I was not familiar with menacingly sneered.

I felt chills run down my back.

Why was he talking to Nio? What did he want from him? A ransom?

I could not make out where I was because I had been blindfolded, probably so that when I regained consciousness I would not be able to point out the area to the police.

"If you want to see your doll," the man ran his hand down my thigh. Shivers ran through my entire body as I tried fighting against the tight ropes on my hands, his hand burnt a hole through the sweats I had decided to wear. With each passing second the man tightened his hold, eventually causing me to whimper out in pain. "You will stop trying to infiltrate my house and your little doll over here will be left unharmed but if you continue with your endeavour, I will not hesitate нажмите кнопку и отправьте части тела вашей куклы одну за другой."

He finally let go of my leg, allowing me to let out a sigh of relief despite knowing that the death grip was sure to leave a scar. 

I rubbed the sore spot before the words registered in my mind. Infiltrate. Doll. Endeavour. Nio... Nio. Why would he try to attack this man's house? What was going on? Did they know one another? How so? What on earth was going on? Was Nio hiding something from me?

No! I could not allow this situation to sow a seed of distrust within me. I trusted Nio with my life, he would never hide anything from me. I knew everything about him and he knew everything about me.

However, the questions in my mind did not subside but they grew instead. I needed answers. Why had I been kidnapped in the first place because as far as I knew, Italy was safe and no one would kidnap an innocent woman from her home without reason.

The conversation continued but I could not make out what was being said due to the foreign language the man was using but I was able to hear these seven final words loud and clear, "Forty-eight hours, or I will press the button."

Suddenly, I felt the weight on my chest, it had been there since I had gained consciousness but I had been too numb and engrossed in the back-and-forth quarrel that was going on between the mysterious man and Nio. Was a bomb strapped to my chest? Did he want me to explode if Nio did not agree to whatever they were talking about within forty-eight hours?

My heart started racing. Was this how I was going to die? Alone, cold and kidnapped without the love of my life? 

How had I even found myself in this predicament?

                                      

FLASHBACK

"Hi, it's Thato. I am not available at the moment, please leave a message after the beep and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I can."  

Beep...           

"Hey, Thato. It's me again. Please get back to me as soon as you get this message. We need to talk," this was the third message that I was leaving her and I still received no response. It was like she was purposefully ignoring my persistent messages but how could I fault her? I would probably do the same thing if the tables were turned. But, there was another possibility, perhaps she had not seen my call and her phone battery had died. I really hope that that was the case.

I had preoccupied myself with some household chores throughout the day, dusting, spraying, sweeping, wiping and mopping down every inch of the place that I had once called home. However, today this place was no home, the word even left a foul taste in my mouth. Home was nothing without my best friend, her ambience, obnoxious humming, and sharp attitude made this place home.  She was home. I missed her hugs, her constant chattering, her tantalizing food and everything that made her Thato.