Tarnishing The Mafia's Image

California, San Diego.

Garnet avenue street.

11:05 pm

Her green eyes were transfixed on the screen of her laptop, punching speedily on the keypad as she dared not give in to the somnolence she felt. The articles needed to be uploaded that night, Magnus made the aspect clear. A yawn evaded her tired lips, giving rise to tears that welled up in her eyes. Her eyelids became heavier, making it impossible to see amidst the blurriness. Racheal finally gave in, relaxing her back against the chair, letting her brunette hair sweep the chair which she sat on as her eyes closed slowly.

Ding!

She heard from her phone. Out of shock, she jolted and sat up, instantly. In frustration, she snatched the phone. It was a message alert. Her heart sunk

“Don't sleep” it read

The text that struck fear into her was from Magnus, the devil who forced her into this mess. Racheal found it hard to believe, glancing around to see if there was anyone in the room. No one was there, apart from Chloe, her cousin who snored tiredly on the bed with her blonde hair scattered roughly against the silk bed and lips parted slightly. With shaky hands, Rachael dropped the phone and continued typing.

It was a one-time job, and she agreed to it, not knowing the nature of it. Now it seemed like she was forced into it. Magnus told her it was just an article, but she was stupid enough not to ask what the article was all about before agreeing to his terms.

Magnus, an infamous powerful, businessman, offered her a job, knowing she was a famous blogger to write about Xavier Callum, speaking badly against him and his company; Jexs. Rachael when she was told about this offer, felt chills instantly. Xavier was dangerous in fact, the Callum family wasn't one to toil with, but she had no choice because Magnus was particular about it. She knew if she didn't succumb to his will, he might do terrible things to her. He could ruin her, judging from how influential and powerful he was.

Now, she had to think hard enough, concort different lies about Xavier and his company to save herself

Staring at the blurred screen, she had just finished proofreading the article and was ready to upload it anonymously. Her hands were shaking with different thoughts clouding her mind. Xavier was too powerful. She feared what he might do if he finds the little rat who did this to his reputation.

She tapped on the upload button. Her sweaty overused hands decorated with glossy nails were withdrawn immediately, with her eyes darting around the room in fear

Ding!

Another message alert from her phone. /Good job/ it read.

Racheal dropped it angrily on the table, getting up from it. At least she was done with it. The moment she gets her pay, all ties with Magnus would be cut off.

           ****************

Racheal opened the Uber door, stepping out of it. A buzz was heard from her phone almost immediately which caused her to pause as she took it out of her bag. A credit alert could be seen at the top of the screen. Magnus kept to his word, but she did not feel the thrills she had expected herself to feel. Even though the money was quite promising, she still kept to her paranoid self. The only thing she prayed for was to see the end of the day without being hunted down by Xavier.

She took the elevator to her apartment; room. 132. A place Magnus ceded to her, persuading her into writing the article. She couldn't resist it because of her desperate need for a house. Especially when her past landowner had been on her neck. She took the offer without considering the odds of the situation and moved in immediately with her mum and her cousin, Chloe. Her mother who was down with cancer surely needed a more conducive place to stay while the chemo does its Job.

Racheal opened the elevator, walking towards her house in red heels, making audible noises with each stride she took. She got to her door and was thrown into shock. The door was wide open, the couch flipped to the floor, the television broken and her laptop smashed. A gasp escaped from my lips as she rushed in. The only thing she could think of was her mother.

She brushed past the flipped couch, rushing over to her room. Mrs. Britney, Rachael's mother wasn't there. Her eyes widened as she tried to process what happened.

With shaky hands, she reached for her phone, dialing Chloe's number as she breathed rapidly unable to get a grip of herself.

"Chloe" she called out the moment the phone was answered. "Have you been to the house recently"

"No, I haven't" Chloe replied. "Racheal are you okay, you don't sound...." she tried asking, but Racheal already ended the call out of apprehension.

"No no no, mum!" She cried out. Tears welled up in her eyes while scanning the area. She got back to the sitting room, pacing around, thinking hard about who could have done this. Was it Magnus? No. He knew she had the power to ruin his life with just an article.

Frustration, anger, bitterness. All these emotions welled up in her and it all summed up into confusion. She glanced around, hoping to find a clue and she did. It was a note kept neatly on the floor amidst the flipped couches.

She rushed towards it, and read the content. Her heart sank when she did.

Your mother is safe for the next 24 hours. If you want her Alive, then you have to come to get her

                          Sighed 

                       Xavier Callum

A gasp escaped from her shaky lips as she swallowed hard. The paper got scrunched under her tight grip. What did she think? Writing an article about one of the most powerful men in the whole of USA, expecting to get away with it. Her hands shook, and her lips quivered as she tried to calm herself, but she couldn't.

Racheal opened the scrunched note once more, copying the phone number attached to it into her phone. She took deep breaths, placing the device on my ear, hoping and crying inside as it rang.

"Hello Rachael" a husky voice was heard from the other side. She already had a feeling it was Xavier. What she couldn't understand was, why he would drop his number. Wasn't he scared she might turn to the police for help?

"Hello" she muttered under her breath. Her voice couldn't be recognized by her. There were indeed a lot of things fear and desperation could do.

"I knew you would come around, but I didn't know this fast. You must love your mother" he spoke softly and a cold shiver instantly ran down her spine. He was acting too relaxed, causing her to wonder if he acted calm towards his offenders at first, making them feel comfortable and then striking when they least expect it.

"Don't hurt her" Rachael spat with tears, rolling down my cheeks, grasping the phone tightly. For some reason, she wasn't angry at him, she was furious at herself for getting into this mess in the first place.

"You have 24 hours," he said coldly this time, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She gulped.

"Where can I meet you?"

"Good girl," he accompanied the statement with an inaudible snicker. "Be at Jexs Inc by 3 pm tomorrow" he instructed and immediately ended the call without waiting for her to speak.

Racheal flung her phone to the floor not caring if it was going to break as she slowly slipped to the floor. Her hand rummaged through her hair, crying out in frustration.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She cried out, hitting her head, hard on the wall. He was going to kill her and no one will question him.

All of a sudden, she remembered Magnus and ran over to where her phone was. It was broken at the top, but still working. She dialed his number, holding the phone to her ears. He didn't pick up. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She dialed the number again but got no response.

It was at that point she knew she was on her own