Chapter 4

...Aunt Sally...Aunt Sally: a game played in some parts of Britain in which players throw sticks or balls at a wooden.Because of this game, the term Aunt Sally became known as a person who's a target for something not good.Which is the perfect word to describe Ivan as of now?The info given to Max about Ivan was the truth, but that was pretty much it. Since Max thought it was the perfect time to seize the opportunity to at least get something from Ivan, everyone thought he would at least tell at least me something or just anything.These are just things I was thinking about while in the car with Max and Dante, hoping that maybe when we get there, an answer will come to us.I looked out the window to see many murals of religious leaders on different buildings.'Come on, God, at least give me some kind of sign. At least one of you can.'"Aisha," Dante called out to me, and I turned to him."I'm sorry for everything I said to you in there. I just got mad when I saw the predicament I was in," Dante apologized."I was just being an idiot and acting on my emotions."I looked up at him, confused. "Acting on emotions?""Yeah, I was acting a fool when we needed to be serious, and I let past drama influence my work," Dante further explained."Oh, I get it. You're not sorry for what you said to me, you're just sorry that it could've impacted your work," I confirmed with him and just leaned against the windowsill, going back to looking out the window.Everyone was quiet. Even Max was looking through the rearview mirror, thinking we were about to fight again."Aisha... you have said it before. You won't ever forgive me no matter how many times I apologize, and that I should just give up," Dante recalled the memory of what he said.'Here, this lady, this one actually listens.'I didn't know it was even possible for me to get pregnant, but then she was there, my little miracle. She was something I didn't even know could exist, and there she was, growing inside me, and then that stupid mission happened, and I got hurt. Dante saved me and chose to get rid of the child.I don't know how my baby will ever look, how my baby will feel, or how her hair will smell, just who my baby will become in general. I wanted to have fights with her, see her rebel, go through the stages, watch her grow up, take her to prom, watch her get married, and just be able to see her kid, the life that I could've made successfully, the beautiful and joyous life I made for her.Even if I died then, I would've lived to be a happy woman, watching over her in the afterlife, seeing her beauty while she was with Dante.But no...He took it all away from me. I would rather be dead right now than experiencing this pain right now that I have to deal with forever, never knowing if it's even possible to get pregnant again."Would you rather me and your baby experience the pain instead of you then? Did you want us to be miserable because we both lost someone so cherished to us to have our baby believe they caused this, causing everyone to be depressed while you are gone forever? For me to become a maniac, all cause I couldn't choose between both of you, only one," Dante sternly asked under his breath.This was the first time I'd ever seen this robotic man crack like this. I've never thought of it like this. Was I really the selfish person here? I was the one who carried the baby, no, he has no right to cry. I've already had some kind of bond with her before he ever could have.And he got another woman pregnant while I was pregnant because of him. We're divorced right now. It was never my fault, to begin with, it was always his."We're here," Max stopped our conversation at its climax.The silence that followed his words was deadly, especially the one between me and Dante. When we all came out of the car, it was like a breath of fresh air. The way the wind blew on my face was very comforting compared to the situation I was in just now.The building we were going to interrogate him in was an abandoned warehouse practically in the middle of nowhere.As we entered the building, some lights were on leading towards the back room, and there we saw Ivan talking with the other B-ranked agents and all of them listening so intently."I'm telling you guys, Blackdoll was so good her mouth was incredible, and when she was—" Ivan stopped his past conversation as soon as he saw me. "Blackdoll, hey, we were just talking about you," Ivan waved at me with heart eyes.I was in shock cause he was just sitting there having a full-blown conversation with the other agents and was blatantly talking about me sucking him off."We're kinda dating now, so like—" I interrupted him."What the hell is wrong with you? Even if we were dating, why would you just say something like that?" I asked Ivan, completely disturbed.Ivan put his cuffed hands to his face in shock and ran over to me to hug me. He threw his arms over my head and pulled me into his embrace."Oh baby, I'm sorry. I'll learn to keep those things to myself. I cherish this moment to the end of time," Ivan apologized, while I tried to push him away."Get the fuck off, my sister," Max ordered, and Ivan obliged."Oh right," Ivan got flustered and went on one knee, bowing."I, of course, need your blessing before we get married. Will you accept me as your brother-in-law?" Ivan had his hand out as if Max was actually going to give him his blessing, but Max slapped his hand away."Get back to your fucking seat!" Max said loudly, and Ivan apologized to his seat. "And everyone else LINE UP!" Max orderedDante tried to ask if I was ok, but I threw his hand away from me. I don't need his fake comfort, anyway.Max stands before Ivan, arms crossed, his expression grim and unforgiving. He looks at him with disgust in his eyes."Listen up, you Russian fuck," he growls, his voice dripping with disdain. "You're going to tell us what we want to know. Now."Ivan was rocking from left to right, barely listening to him."I've already told you I don't know anything," Ivan says with no emotion, still rocking.Dante shifts forward, his fists clenched at his sides. He takes a step towards Ivan, his eyes showing his annoyance at his arrogance."Don't test us, Ivan," he fiercely started. "If you do not negotiate, we will use force to get whatever we can out of you."As I watched the scene unfold, I crossed my arms and sighed to myself, thinking this would not end well.Ivan lifts his cuffed hands to tap his chin as if he were thinking about something."Hmm," Ivan hums, "Maybe I'll tell you something if... Blackdoll gives me a massage."'EXCUSE ME!' I thought to myself at his words."You're pushing it." Max stopped Dante.Max holds up a hand, silencing Damian. His gaze remains fixed on Ivan, not in the mood for this at all. Max starts by sighing and looking at Ivan sternly."Blackdoll, give him a massage," Max ordered.Of course, this man wants me to massage him. He's my fucking stalker, so he'll never leave me alone.I went to him and massaged him, and I could see the anger in Dante's eyes. Was he...jealous?He wasn't jealous when I sucked a man off, but he's jealous now that I'm massaging him—or maybe he was and he was just hiding it well."Your hands are incredible." Ivan looked back at me."Of course they are. I've always been incredible with my hands," I said to him seductively."Yeah, in more ways than one," Ivan agreed. You could practically see the heart's eyes while he said this.The guards were eating this up, and I was eating up Dante's reaction."God, all of you are annoying," Max says, his voice low as he rolls his eyes. "Tell us what you know about Apex."Ivan thinks to himself about what he should admit and what to keep quiet."So the only thing I can say is that no one knows how anyone looks because, for some reason, I honestly forgot. I'm the only one who doesn't have to wear a mask because they use me to blame for stuff or whatever, but I knew that coming in and... oh yeah, something about getting rid of everyone's specialty, I think," Ivan told us absolutely nothing.The only thing we learned from this was that nobody in Apex knows how anyone looks except Ivan. Their scapegoat."If you're not of any use to them other than as a scapegoat, why even join?" Max asked, making Ivan's smile go away.I pulled away from Ivan as he changed completely."Because at the time I thought they were spreading the gospel, but they were manipulating us," Ivan started.I noticed one agent had their heads down, among the others, with their heads straight."Because of me, someone I love right now is being held captive, and the only way for them to not get hurt is... to keep on getting hurt myself," Ivan admitted.I kept on looking at the agent. I noticed he was crying.I saw a string underneath his vest."Aisha," Ivan called, making me look at him.Ivan grabbed Max and Dante's hand while he was leaning his head on me."Let's all go to a magical place together," Ivan suggested as the agent pulled on the string, making everything go white."BOMB!" I shouted and went to run, but Ivan bit my wrist.A magical place, huh?....A Hellish Paradise