Chapter 22

That voice... I knew that voice... Cherry! Thank God! But...

Why is she gripping me so hard? Her voice. It's a bit husky? Holding me is not necessary, let's just get out of here, I want to say.

There are so many things I want to tell her but her hand is placed on my mouth. I try to loose from her grip but I couldn't. I shake myself to escape but there's no use, she's holding me too hard. Then the door opened. Two figures walking towards us, their bodies against the light of the room. Walking a few steps, I quickly recognize them both. It's the woman and...

Dave.

As they stop and look at me, Dave gestured something I don't understand. As I was blankly thinking of what to do, my arms are both tied behind me at a very fast pace that I didn't realize what was happening to me sooner. As my hands were being tied, I immediately turned around to face Cherry. Only to find her expression completely different from the Cherry I knew. It's Cherry... but the aura... is different. As if... she's a different person. As she saw the confused look on my face, she pulled my arm, turning me back from how I was before.

"Don't move." She says. As Dave and that woman are practically just whispering to one another and grinned at me.

But Cherry... this is not her... this couldn't be...

I turn around once again and looked into her eyes. Her gaze gives a fierce atmosphere between us. My entire body shaking from the fact she's acting differently. Tears forms from my eyes.

"Hey. Come on. Let's go home. Everyone's waiting for you." I say to her as I give her a forceful smile. I can get her home. I pray to myself while Dave and the woman are just watching us, as if they know what will happen and they don't need to interfere. She smirks.

"As if. I don't even know you." She says, making my mind confused. Pushing me to face the ground, she straddles my back. Then she took my purse.

"Cherry... Not my things... You never touch my things..." I say, refusing to hurt her. I won't hurt her. I won't. Tears are slowly falling as I realize she messed with my gadgets. I heard her groan a little and she suddenly took my hair with a forceful pull. With an irritated voice, she says. "Can't you just shut your filthy mouth?"

Hearing her say that, shatters the very reason why I'm here. I see she took the tranquilizer and thrust it on my neck. I feel the liquid drug flowing through my veins. The sleeping drug I put in the syringe is not strong, thankfully. I slowly feel my vision starting to become a blur. She stood from sitting on my back and turned me to face her. With an expressionless face, she gazes at me as if she doesn't know me.

"Thanks for making my job easier" She says. I couldn't bear my aching head and I unconsciously pass out.

After it seems like hours passed, I feel my body heavier than normal. I feel like I'm sitting on a chair, I guess it's a good thing. I slowly open my eyes to see the three faces I saw earlier this evening. My eyes open wide as I saw them and when I was going to stand, I couldn't move. I suddenly realized I'm tied on a chair. My arms on the handles of the chair and my feet tied to the legs. Realizing my situation, I also try to speak but my mouth covered with duct tape. While I try to free myself, I caught the three's attention and they look at my direction.

"Well, you're awake" Dave says as I glare at him. He stops what he's doing and slowly walks towards me. "So? How's my new hideout? Pretty awesome, right? Under a bar there's a certain someone who built their lair and in a few hours another someone is going to be one of my minions"

My eyes wide open, I'm shocked at what I heard. Someone is... going to be... his new minion...? I turn to look at Cherry and she's just standing there in the corner, lighting a cigarette. Cherry never liked the smell of cigarettes. She hated them!! Did he... do something to her..? No. Please tell me he didn't! I want to shout words but all I can do is mumble every word. Then Dave started laughing as he saw tears running down my cheeks.

"Oh wait" He said. "I forgot to introduce you to someone." He turned to the other woman, her mask was gone and her face is the exact same face I saw in my dream. She walks towards us and stands beside Dave. She smirks at the sight of me and immediately looks away.

"This is Jennifer." My eyes opened wide as I continuously repeat her name inside my mind. The 'suitress' Jennifer? No. This can't be. Dave chuckles as he encounter our awkward introduction.

"I found her in America a few months ago. In the streets, crying in the middle of a pouring rain. When I approached her, she was terribly hurt by a man named Noah." As I heard his name, there is no doubt that she was the girl in my dream.

"Dear, mind if you take the pills from the other room?" He asks her and she walks away. Then he chuckled as he turned to face me again.

"I recruited her because I knew we could benefit each other's needs. I needed protection for my experiment and in exchange she wants to become happy again. And when my experiment is a success, I'll genuinely make her happy for the rest of her life." He knelt in one knee in front of me, he chuckles mischievously. I furrow my brows as I continue to try and escape. I couldn't resist listening to every nonsense he says.

"You know. I kinda liked you. If only you were smart enough to understand why I want to do these experiments, then we would've become a great team. You could become happy with my experiment. No doubt about that. My experiment is going to give the world a taste of what happiness feels like. It might hurt at first, but eventually, you'll be craving for more of it, making you a happy person alive. This is one of the greatest projects I've ever created. And I want you to be the first one to be happy.." His eyes no sense of joking which makes me more furious. Some of my hair brushes through my cheeks and he put them behind my ear. I slap his filthy hand off me, making him laugh again. "You are one tough cookie you know?" He says before he stands again. I see Jennifer came back with the pill already dissolved in a syringe.

"Well, I wish you luck later on. This will hurt your head a bit but it'll fade away eventually. I really hope.. I could make you happy." He takes the syringe and the two women took grip of me, making me unable to move. The tension I keep feeling brings me into tears. Shouting and screaming through the tape, my tears bursting from my eyes as I feel my heart is about to rot.

Noah... I'm sorry...

I felt the stinging feeling of the needle against my skin. The pill already flowing through my blood. For a few moments after, nothing changed. But an intense headache comes bursting in my head. I can't help but groan in pain as my mind continuously bombarded by dizziness and headaches. I feel like I'm going to pass out. I countinue to fight the effects of the pill but I end up passing out without a single improvement in my mission.