Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Chapter Eleven

Magdalena

We fall into an uncomfortable silence, though I might be the only one finding it uncomfortable. My thoughts won't shut up. 'I'm your worst nightmare', what kind of lame movie line is that? Unacceptable. I sigh deeply and decide to ask him what the hell that was supposed to mean.

"Malcolm?" I call out to him. He looks straight at me almost instantly and sends me a wide smile.

"Yes, love?"

"Excuse my language, but, what the fuck?" My question makes Nico snort, making all of us snap our heads towards him in surprise. I didn't know he could do anything other than grunt.

"Would you look at that, love, you made him laugh." Isaac looks at me in wonder, he turns his head towards Malcolm and continues: "We should make that an initiation kind of thing, if you want to join the fam', make Nico laugh. The most I've ever gotten is a small smirk or a huff." Malcolm smiles widely in amusement, Scarface is smirking, though I'm not sure why – I thought he had a permanent stick up his ass.

"Please do continue." Malcolm's attention is back on me again.

"Oh, right, uh." I take a breath to compose myself and get back to my original thought. "You referred to yourself as 'your worst nightmare'."

"I did." He nods in confirmation.

"That's not really a name for a specific profession as far as I know, right?" I throw a glance around the room but no one is moving or giving anything away. "So, what do you actually do?" He studies me without blinking, long enough to make me take on my 'smiling to a stranger while walking down the street' smile. He finally smiles big, really big as if he has come to a satisfactory conclusion.

"You're brave, whether or not you mean to be. You seem to have your head screwed on correctly and you've still got your conscience. I think I'll leave it up to you to figure it out, to keep your mind occupied. How does that sound, love?" I think about his words for a few seconds. I think I'm up for the challenge.

"Okay, that sounds alright. But," I pause, making sure he is looking at me, "Please don't end our conversation like that again, please." His smile drops in confusion. The room freezes, and it suddenly feels like all the air has been sucked out of it. Nico has tensed up and Scarface is looking at Malcolm as if he is expecting an outburst. Malcolm losing his smile is clearly much scarier than him smiling like a lunatic.

"You mind me calling you love?" He raises his eyebrows in question. His question seems like a challenge, a challenge I'm not up for.

"No, not at all. I meant the whole 'I'm your worst nightmare' thing, scared me half to death for a second." I let out a tiny relieved laugh and wipe imaginary sweat off my brow. Isaac let's out a chuckle alongside Malcolm, whose smile returns strongly to his face. Isaac untenses and Scarface has shut his eyes again. Alright, noted. Don't make Malcolm's smile disappear.

"I told you you're a scary-looking, well-dressed man Smiley." Isaac weirdly compliments him, I mean, is that even a compliment?

"My apologies," Malcolm apologizes with a smile. "I'll try to be more mindful, no promises, unfortunately." He sends me a wink, I'm not sure what the wink is for though. What a strangely polite, scary looking man. Just as I am about to thank him, the door slams open yet again, making me scurry into the unoccupied corner to the right of me. Weasel struts in with Gunner right on his heels, and glances around. He seems pleased to see everyone is where he left them and finally looks towards me, and smirks, making me gulp. Kill me, please, and do it fast. He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by Isaac.

"Did your mother not teach you how to knock?" Isaac looks genuinely interested in what Weasel's answer might be.

"Or how to enter a room politely, like a gentleman?" Malcolm adds curiously. The anger rises in Weasel's eyes. Why do they have to antagonize him when they probably know he is here for me?

"My mother was a low-life bitch who knew her place." He spits back at them. Okay, zero respect for women at all, check.

"Now, that's no way to speak about women, let alone your own mother." Malcolm further antagonizes him.

"That sort of behavior comes from the dad. I think I read that somewhere once. Good thing he's been removed from your life." Isaac adds. This doesn't please Weasel, and he nods his head at Gunner, who walks over and punches Isaac in the face.

"Don't talk about my fucking father, Dentist!" Weasel shouts in anger. His crazed eyes find me again and he stalks over. If I didn't have full control over my bladder, I would have pissed myself. He grabs me by the hair and drags me to a standing position with my back against his chest.

"Now shut the fuck up, so I can ask this bitch what I came here for." Malcolm's eyes turn sharp, and Nico's jaw tenses. Scarface hasn't uttered a single word, but he is watching closely. Feeling Weasel's body pressed against my back is disgusting, and I try to separate myself just an inch without success.

"Now, princess, I need your help with some papers. Think of it as an application to sell yourself for a job." His breathy chuckle in my ear makes me physically ill. "Can't auction you off without papers, and depending on the answers you give, your worth varies." He licks my ear and I flinch away in disgust, but he just pulls my hair harder making me hiss in pain. "Put that down on paper, Gunner, she hisses nicely when you apply a bit of force." I zone out while Gunner notes something down on the tablet he pulled out from god knows where.

I think back to my life back home. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I had first perceived it. I could have been overreacting, as my parents liked to always say I did, I should never have left. A slap brings be back to the present situation.

"No answer? Alright, we'll do this the hard way instead." Weasel throws me to Gunner, and they haul me back out of the room. What did I miss? Fuck!