His voice is deep, I can leave Jax to be with him right now, but I think he wants to kill me more than he wants to be with me.
“Hello.” My voice is confident because I’m trying so hard to sound confident, but my body is acting otherwise. There’s no way for me to control my body language and I think that’s what made him laugh. I’m offended. “Sorry, what’s funny?” now, I sound hurt.
“I was watching you from the guard house the moment you jumped in from the outside.” There’s a guard house? “It’s where we station, so no one will suspect or ask why this place have so many people guarding it.” He closes the door, locking us inside. Maybe I should knock him down and run as fast as I can, eh?
I’m looking up and down, planning my escape, I hear him laugh again. It sounds so sarcastic this time making me so upset.
“There’s no way for you to escape, I won’t let you.” He steps forward making me step backwards. “You already know what’s going on here, eh?” He’s getting near me and I’m getting near the other door.
“I don’t know what’s going on here—”
“Rufus.”
“…Rufus.” I looked down. Body language, he knows that I’m lying.
“Hello, Jess.” I can hear his voice clearly, his breath brushing through my hair making me shiver. I’m still looking down, afraid to make eye contact with him. “Did you get what you wanted from here?” I didn’t say anything, I just shake my head.
“Want to go Inside the tunnel?” I shake my head again.
“Come on, I’ll let you in.” Again.
“I’ll push this button for you.” He waves the button, I shake my head again, still looking down.
“How about we go together? You like that Idea?” again.
“I’m sure you heard about the Island. How about I let you borrow the boat, and you’ll go there?”
“I see. You don’t know how to drive a boat.” He leans down, facing me. “I’ll drive you there. It’ll be fun.” He gave me a smile.
“No, I’m not interested.” I deny, slowly lifting my head up.
“You seem very interested, eh? About what’s going on here?”
“It’s just—I need to!” I shouted at him, he’s pressuring me with his offers. He didn’t even flinch.
“Why? Why do you need to go here and find out?”
“For Kathy…” I look down again. I can feel his nodding.
“Kathy…”
“You know her?” I lifted my head. I’m so interested now.
“No.” He went from the sarcastic annoying guy to a cold one. That’s talent. Maybe he can quit this job and be an actor, he’s good looking.
I let my frustration out. “I know you do, you liar! I know that you guys are hiding something!” I grab his shirt. I am so frustrated right now, everything’s putting me on the edge.
“Where are you taking those poor kids? They don’t know what they are doing! They’re kids!” the idea of human-trafficking is making me sick. The kids, what if something bad happens to them? They can do so much more, they’re just kids. “You’re sick, you’re sick, you’re sick!” I’m punching his chest now while crying. I can’t see anything clearly; my tears are blurring my vision.
Punching him while crying drained my energy, so I stopped. I want to say every bad or disgusting words I can say to describe him but now, I want to catch my breath. What’s more frustrating is he’s just standing there, doing absolutely nothing. I look up to him, he’s…. just there, looking at me like I’m crazy.
Well, everyone’s making me crazy.
Including him and his secrets. I finally catch up with my breath, I grab his shirt again. “I know what you said earlier to those kids, that Mr. Bartley’s helping them, that’s a lie. You’re full of shit.” He’s saying nothing, I slap him. “Are you mute!?”
He smirks. “What do you want, Jess?”
“I want to know if this, whatever it is you guys are doing, got my Kathy killed.” I said, gritting my teeth by every word.
“Your Kathy?” he scoffs. “You’re willing to die for ‘Your Kathy’?” That got me, I slap him.
“She’s not just my Kathy you cold blooded human, she was my everything. She was my best friend.”
“I don’t understand you.” He little eyed me. What could he not understand with what I said? I’m being clear here. “You risk your time, your life for love? For a girl you cheated with?” Oh boy, is he trying to get into my nerves? “Don’t you care about your life!?” He shouted.
“I care about my life! That’s why I’m here! Because ever since I found out something I shouldn’t, ever since your old man, you and your buddy visited me at my work, you guys are bothering me so much, I don’t even have the time to care about myself or my career!” We’re arguing like we’ve known each other for long.
I’m not scared of him anymore, I want to beat him up only if he’s not muscle-y enough to stop me. I hate him, I hate his old man so much, I hate this mansion, and I’m starting to hate West.
My tears start falling again. “What did you do to my Kathy, huh? What are you doing to the kids? Are there more of them?” My eyes are begging him to speak to answer. If he say anything irrelevant to my question, I’m going to lose it. “Please.” No time for pride now, If he’s going to kill me, I need the truth first. I don’t want to leave this world with my Curiosity.
We were quiet for a minute then he grabs me by my wrist. He pushes the button, opening the door.
“What are you doing?” I’m panicking, we’re walking in an unfamiliar tunnel in an unfamiliar place for me. Maybe this is where my endgame happens. “Get off me!” He’s strong, I can’t let myself go from his touch.
I tried to fight him, but it seems like me pushing, punching, and kicking him, does not affect him at all.
He pushingly let go of my wrist. We’re outside, standing on a rock. I realized that the tunnel’s exit leads to a part of the sea. “Are you going to drown me?”
“No.” He said. “Only if I need to.” Then he walks to the edge then sits. He taps the area beside him. I’m too tired to argue so I just sit beside him.
He points at the boat down the stairs. “You can have the boat. You can go the Island and find out more.”
“I don’t know how to drive that.”
“I’ll drive you.” Is he serious?
“What if I kill you then steal the boat?” I ask him.
“You’re not going to do that.”
“And why?”
“Because--“ he stands up. “I’ll kill you if necessary.” He offered his hand.
I did not accept it and get up by my own.
“Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on in old man’s Island? That’s easier than us going over there.” I suggested. If he’s smart, he will agree.
“I want you to see it with your own eyes, so there’s something for me to hold your head.”
“What do you mean by that, huh?”
“If you see what’s going on over there, maybe you’ll be disappointed because it’s true that Mr. Bartley’s only helping the kids or maybe you’ll be surprised by what’s going on over there.” He pauses. “But whatever it is, you know that he is taking kids illegally, that’s something for you to think about, and be guilty about, eh?” He smirks. What an asshole.
“You are an asshole.” I step down the stair.
“Are we going or not?” He’s not moving or answering me, so I step inside the boat. “Let’s go, muscle man.”
Finally, he steps down the stairs. “Just remember that if you do this, you are putting yourself at risk. You are also putting me at risk.”
I laugh, he’s such a joker. “I don’t care about myself now that I know everything shit going on in my love one’s life, hah! Do you really think I care if I’m putting you at risk?” I signal him to come. I pointed at the wheel. “Let’s go, muscle man. Drive.”
He sighs. “If you decide to go there----”
“Blah blah blah blah blah.” I’m annoyed with his excuses, are we doing this or not? “Just please get in here.”
“You’re also putting the kids in danger.” He said.
That stops me, battling with my own mind if I should step out of the boat or not.