Don't - Mark Tuan Fanfic (Third Book for 'Can't')

21 - How Far A Simple Action Would Take You

Jump? Does she mean jump off the building? She didn't .... did she?

"K...Karen ... P... p...." I can't even let my plea come out. I take small steps back, my body convulsing in horror, my skin drenched in cold sweats.

Once again, I'm hoping that I'm on drugs and that everything that's happening is just pure hallucination.

"What? Scared?" Karen's demonic laughs on the other line send more shivers down my already trembling spine. "It's easy, Cristina. Just think that you're gonna die anyway. Just step up the ledge and imagine yourself flying. Or would you want to take some pills to help you with that first?"

I take more steps back, too weak to hold the phone against my ear properly. It's starting to slip off my hand. I try to grip it tighter, but because of my now-wet palms and my flaccid fingers, it's hard to do even that.

"C'mon, Cris. I don't have much time here." Her laughter is gone and is replaced by annoyance. She waits, and I stay silent, still too terrified to open my mouth. She exhales aloud after a minute. "So, what? What do you want me to do then, Cris? Would you want me to take your father first? Or Mark?"

That's the only time my senses come back and I become alert to what I just heard. "My dad is with you? Mark, too?"

"Of course, honey." As if it's a fact that I should know. "So ... It's either you jump or you lose one of them ... at a time."

"Why are you doing this?" I feel my anger arising, pushing away the fear I've been feeling since the call started. "What have I done to you? Is this about Trey? What the fuck are you trying to do?" I shout the last question.

"You are not in the position to ask me anything, bitch."

I furrow my brows at the word. She never called me that before. Actually, she never showed signs of hating me before. Even when I met her the first time and she found out that Trey had something for me ... she was never the one to get angry at those petty things.

"But," she continues, "since you're gonna die anyway, I'm gonna give you one last gift before you disappear forever." I can hear a bit of a smile on her end. "Yes, Cristina. This is partly about Trey. Hhmmmm..." She pauses for a while.

My knees are buckling and I let my legs collapse under me and I sit on the floor, just at the sliding doors of the balcony.

"Where should I start?" She pretends to think, but I'm sure she's just intentionally prolonging the suspense.

But, I don't show my impatience. Instead, I take the opportunity to think of what I should do. Could the guards still be outside? Would I have enough time to slip out of the hotel room and tell them what's happening so they could look for my dad as I distract Karen, all before she could realize what's happening? I'm sure that's impossible. She has a camera somewhere and she can see my every move.

"Although I've already told your dad, I'm in the mood for story-telling. You're in luck." She's saying.

I still wait when she pauses again.

"Remember Nick?"

"Nick?"

"Nicolas. The boy who used to go to the same school with you, but he suddenly disappeared three years ago? Doesn't ring a bell?"

I try hard to think back on boys from school with that name, but I can't remember any.

"No? The senior who jumped off the roof of the main building?"

Nick! Of course.

"Remember him now, Cris?"

I do. How could I forget him? I was a junior then. He was one of the top students in school. He was one of the populars, too, because of his involvement in different sports and activities in school. But, all that changed when he got involved in a group outside school and he was accused of murder of one member of the rival group. I knew about it before the other students in school because the victim's parents were my dad's clients.