She blinked her eyes gently open as terrible pain surged through her body and into her head,her weak eyes scanned the entire room wearily and she could make out his silhouetted figure sitting on the reclining chair and smoking gently from his pipe without a care in the world.

She tried raising herself up from her elbow and realized one of her arm was numb, totally numb that she could not feel anything her sharp cry of pain pierced the still night that made him turn in surprise.

A smirk on his face"I would advice you stay quietly"he drew from his pipe and exhaled thick smokes.

She gently lowered herself back as hot tears cascaded down her cheeks "what did you do to me"she asked,her voice almost in a whisper.

He chuckled"are you seriously asking me that question?".

"What the fuck did you do to me you son of a bitch!!!"she yelled.

He looked surprised,so surprised that his face looked pale and suddenly his throat became dry.but he got out of the shock in a split of seconds and started a sarcastic deep throaty laughter.

Using his right palm he cleaned tears from his eyes"did you just talk to me?"he was now on his feet walking towards her

She shivered in fright and with one hand tried to drag her aching body as far away from him as she could,he climbed beside her on the bed and started stroking her cheeks while she fought so hard to keep as far away from him as possible. His hands danced on her neck as he choked her.

"You remember you belong to me,I bought you with my hard earned money when your father was willing to give you out,the earlier you come to terms with that the better it will be for us"he spat angrily exerting more pressure on her neck.

She felt life slowly ebbing out of her while struggling to pull his large palm off her,her eyes had started diluting and she only saw a dusty figure as hot tears streamed down her face. In her struggle her hand held onto the lambstand which was beside the bed, without thinking twice she hit him hard on the head sending him sprawling to the floor.

She coughed so hard holding to her neck,his palm had left a red semi circle mark on her neck. She went down beside him where he fell and vented all her anger by hitting him continuously with the stand till it broke into shreds. She cried herself to sleep beside his death body.

The early morning birds chirped from tree tops as the sun rays rising from the horizon broke into the room through the blinds,she blinked her eyes open while using one arm to shield them from these days. She looked around her in surprise her brain too numbed and tired to think. Her hand came in contact with a sticky liquid fluid which sent her mind flying to the events of the previous night. She stood up with a surprised springly gait,she looked at his lifeless body and felt Satisfied,though there was a deep knot of fear sitting comfortably in the pit of her stomach,what will happen to her if his men found out would be an history.

She opened the blinds and sighed in relief as cool hair brushed her hagard and tired face,she desired to bask more in this warmth but then,there was work to be then. She opened the wardrobe and brought out a neatly washed and folded duvet,spread it a few feet away and rolled the lifeless body in there,his head was badly bashed and he bled more from there so she added a pillow before rolling the duvet on the body.she found a rope and wrapped round to hold the fabric and the body in place then she proceeded to push him to the wardrobe,made him stand and propped him in there.

She took a final glance at the hunter now being the hunter,she marveled at how desperation as suddenly made her so powerful with a contented smile on her face,she banged the door shut and retired to the bed awaiting her doom.

She woke up covered in her own sweat to the persistent bang on the door,she was frantic and swallowed hard wondering what to do,Maria had never thought hard in all her life like she did that moment. The heavy drumming of her heart in resounded with the constant bang on the door her hands shook visibly and unfortunately,her teeth began to chatter like one who had caught a cold. Suddenly her body could not take the weight any longer and she went limb as she collapsed before the door in a fainting fit.

She opened her eyes to the most caring face hovering above her head,he smiled down at her as he used his cupped finger to clean the single tear which had found its way to her cheeks.

"You are fine now"he spoke in such a quiet and loving manner that nobody had ever used on her in a long while.

She smiled with all her heart and huge butterflies flapped their wings in the pit of her stomach, finally she was in heaven and the God she had often heard about who was merciful had decided to accept her soul and slowly she drifted into the most satisfied slumber of her life.
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"...where is she?"his cold voice broke into her riverie.

Her long lashes fluttered in surprised confusion while her mind ran a quick background check on what was said last "ohh…right…your property"she took a sip from the glass.

"I will not ask again"his voice was now laced with anger.

She nodded,grabbed a bunch of keys and led the way while he followed suit.heavy silence laced between them as they proceeded from halls to rooms and finally to another room,a guard gave a quick salute before opening the door. The duo stood by the entrance looking at the tired sleeping body tied to the bed,he bit his lips "how did you get her?".

She took a sip "I don't need to tell you that I have my people around"she replied not taking her eyes off the body.

"Send your men to take her to my car,I will be waiting".his voice was filled with arrogance as he passed an order not making a request.

"You owe me one"

He stopped in his tracks having his back to her "I decide who I owe or not".

"Well in these cases,I bet you have made your decision or I retain my…"she shrugged "...your property".

He gave her the deadly stare and bounced off without looking back.