I don’t remember how it all started. It could have happened the moment I looked down that alley. No. That’s not the beginning. Maybe it was when I became someone important enough to look for? That can’t be the case either, since people just have a natural tendency to worry about others. Even if they don’t know each other, there is always a chance a near stranger will search for another stranger. 

Then what about a moment before I ever did anything? That’s a likely possibility, but even then, there are so many coincidences that are piled on top of each other to be considered the doing of someone living. So then does that mean fates to blame? If that’s the case, can I relinquish all of my responsibilities and consequences onto fate? Or am I doomed to fix the mistakes that weren’t by my design.

That doesn’t matter. All of those thoughts came by via retrospection. During the ordeal, I was fuming so much I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts. Fuming isn’t even as harsh a word as I’d like to use. The English language was so primitive that there wasn’t a word to describe my absolute fury. But, I would like to try.

My face heated to an unheard of level of velvet. Steam flew off my forehead as the absolute heat of my head evaporated sweat gleaning from my pores. Even the sweat that still had yet to leave me evaporated into the steam cloud hanging above my head. My chair shook, creaked, and neared the edge of snapping entirely as I frantically moved about, yelling and screaming obscenities all the while. I yelled things that wouldn’t go amiss from a preteen playing a shooter with voice chat activated during a multiplayer game. I think I even said the forbidden word once or twice in my anger. 

Karina screamed at the top of her lungs as the bullet wheezed through her shoulder. A neat, circular hole made itself known as the pain from it circulated through her body. I could see the pain and fear in her eyes, and the desperation of being entirely useless sent me into an even grander overdrive. 

“You fucking bitch! I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!”

Tiffany ignored me and went into her own sense of overdrive. She punched Karina across the face, shutting her up. She grabbed her hair and slammed it into the backrest. Karina gritted her teeth as Tiffany kept her hair in her hands. 

Tiffany got on one knee, still ignoring my cries. She stared straight into Karina’s terrified expression, and for the first time since she’s kidnapped me and I had to look at her miserably fake face, life finally found a new home within her. 

“How did that feel?” Tiffany asked. 

Karina stayed mostly silent, the only thing leaving her mouth being her wheezes of pain and fear. 

“I guess you can’t hear me.”

Tiffany raised her other hand, and upon seeing it, Karina flinched, her whimpers growing even more loud and desperate. My shouting only grew quieter, however, even though my passion to shout continued to rise. My throat couldn’t even keep up with my intensity.

Tiffany raised her hand, way above Karina’s head. Karina closed her eyes, expecting another slap. When Tiffany lowered her hand, however, she was met with a gentle rub on her wounded shoulder. Karina looked confused, but kept her eyes closed. Even though Karina was deep in her mercy, she continued to pet her like a confused puppy. In fact, it confused her enough to the point she opened. Once she opened her eyes, Tiffany took the opportunity, and she drove her thumb into the open gun wound.

Karina screamed even louder, which only prompted me to regain my voice. The only one not screaming besides Tiffany was Jessica. She was too busy looking at the floor, pretending like this wasn’t real. That bitch of a coward. 

Tiffany leaned closer to Karina and whispered something in her ear. I didn’t hear it thanks to my screaming and her quietness, but I could guess what she asked after what happened next.

“Yes, I can hear you.” Karina screamed.

“Good.” Tiffany pulled back. “How did that feel?”

Karina gritted her teeth as tears poured out of her eyes. It was obvious without asking how that felt, but she was so perverted enough that she’d rather hear her utter it from her pain filled gasps and moans.

“It felt like someone just lit a fire inside of my shoulder, and it just keeps on burning.” Karina said.

“Go on.” Tiffany ushered her. 

Karina looked hesitant to keep talking, but with a simple raise of her thumb, Karina fired out word after word.

“I can feel my heart pounding in my head. My entire vision changed to black, white, and red and it just keeps getting blurrier. For the love of God, don’t make me say more.” Karina continued to sob, and Tiffany looked satisfied with that answer.

“Good. Now you know how I felt back then.” Tiffany stood up, towering over Karina, basking in her accomplishments. “I would let you go with just that, but a marvelous idea came to mind after I shot you.”

For once, I shut up. I wanted to hear if I should continue to struggle, or if I could finally relax. The answer doesn’t really matter, since when I free myself from these ropes, I’m going to make sure she never loves me after this.

“Do you remember how long the party lasted until y’all finally found me in such a pathetic state?”

Karina, afraid of more pain coming her way, shouted once more before her voice quit on her.

“One hour! It lasted an hour.”

“Correct.” Tiffany clapped. “As a reward for you being so obedient, I’ll give you a five-minute break.” She sat back in her chair and left her with a pair of hawk eyes. “Once the five minutes are up, we’ll see how long you last in an hour session under the same stress I went through.”

***

“What is this?” 

Miranda stood at the counter, her arms folded across the table, which is probably the only thing keeping her saggy eyes from weighing her down. Beside her, a small child that I know colored in a book with an ever permanent smile. The girl’s father was nowhere to be seen.

“Well, this is why I couldn’t come to work yesterday.” Miranda said, pointing at Lai. “According to Zihao, someone was staring at their home the other night. So, they’re going to stay with me for the time being.”

I guess that would explain why Miranda looked so out of it the other day. When a friend I know is in trouble, I can’t help but worry. Hell, I’m worrying now, because who knows what the hell Harvey’s doing at my house right now? I don’t think he’d do anything bad since he knows the amount of strength I possess, but I still can’t put it past anyone with any ties to the rich. I’ve been gone for around ten minutes, which may not seem like a lot, but anything can happen in that allotted time.

“Where’s Zihao then?” I ask.

“He’s back at their house talking to the police or something. He’s also taking some of the more precious valuables out and he’s bringing it back here.”

Just as she said that, the store door opened, and Zihao marched in with two large boxes in his arms. The sound of fragile glass and plastic shook around in the box, colliding into each other with worrying dings and rings. 

He walked behind the counter and set the boxes behind Miranda, in a place where no one could see them unless they walked behind the counter themselves. 

“Is that it?” Miranda asks.

“Yeah, that’s all of it.” Zihao stood up and stretched his back before turning to Miranda. “Thank you for letting us stay with you for the time being. I can’t stand the thought of someone eyeing our house while Lai’s home.”

“No problem. It’s only for the time being.” 

I was about to go behind the counter and start work, but something shiny caught my eye. The sun broke through the windows of the store and the light reflected off of something on Zihao’s wrist. When the clouds covered the sun up, I took the time to see what was so clear that it could reflect that much sunlight.

On his wrist was a small, lanky silver chain bracelet. By itself, it wasn’t that spectacular, but the bracelet was connected to a gemstone roughly the size of a person’s thumb. Its glistening turquoise surface reflected so well that I could see my face all the way from the other side of the counter. 

“I’m going to step out for a bit.” Zihao said. He walked over to Lai and patted her head. She grumbled and swiped the hand away, but he kept on smiling. “Be good to Miranda now.” 

“Alright.” Lai mumbled and continued to color.

Zihao walked over to the door, but before he could leave, I waved him over. He noticed me and came closer. 

“What is it?” Zihao asked.

I point to my wrist, and he sees me doing that, he immediately looks at his own.

“What is that?” I ask.

Zihao chuckled, and he held it up so I could get a better view. My head looked green from the reflection of light, making it hard to tell apart myself from the surrounding area through the gem.

“It’s actually Lai’s. She won’t ever take it anywhere with her, so I always keep it with me for when she actually wants it.”

“Well, why not just sell it or something if she doesn’t want it?”

Zihao sighed, and I could hear a hint of sadness in it. It was a very similar sadness that I’ve felt again and again but never given the chance to relieve. 

“No, that’s not just something I could do. What if she wants it a year from now, but then I say I just gave it away? It would just destroy me if I ever upset her like that.” 

He tore his eyes away from me, and he stared at his daughter. She was too busy in her coloring to know that her father was constantly looking after her, but somewhere deep down, I’m pretty sure she knows. 

“You’re a good dad.” I told him.

“Yeah, but I could be an even better one.” He turned away and began to walk out the door. Before he left, he looked back at me. “If you ever have the time, come back to the bar. Bring Karina while you’re at it. She may be annoying, but she’s fun to hang around. Sometimes.”

He walked out of the shop, and the bell above the door rang. With Zihao’s suggestion, my mind wandered off. Where is Karina right now?

***

On the computer, a recording played. On that recording, a man was being dragged away by a woman. I stared in shock at what I had just witnessed, and all the out-of-place puzzle pieces neatly fit together. 

“Karina, what the fuck are you doing?”