A Prey For The Mafia King

Nicole:

The room was dark and the bulb did not flicker.

My chest heaved as I tried to adjust my eyes to the pitch darkness, failing miserably and returning to square one.

I had to get out before that happened.

I scrambled to my feet, feeling my legs give way underneath me, searing pain jolting through my being. That was true, he had cut my heels with a knife the day before.

" Nicole...." A voice called.

It sounded too familiar, like his voice, but distorted.

"Get away from me" I screamed in my head but no words came out.

" Nicole?..."

No..no.

I could hear the scraping louder now, it was getting closer, I would surely die this time around.

No!

" Nicole!".

A furious hand jolted me out of my reverie, pulling me back into the present.

I was not in that den anymore; I was back to my normal life, trying to lead it all over again.

" Are you okay?" My co-worker, Ashley asked.

Sweat clung to my brows.

" Yes... Sorry, what were you saying? I just zoned out."

I tried to go back to work to prove my worth.

My thoughts blurred as I stared at the photographs of the man in black and the bruises he had left on his victim, fresh and jarring, some parts of her arms having the burn of a cigarette.

" It's getting late Nicole. Maybe we should call it a day? Personally, I'm already strained from having to look at these documents over and over." Ashley said.

I grimaced.

Even though I still wanted to keep searching until I found a reasonable clue, I knew I could not keep this up for their sake.

It was almost seven now, two hours past our closing time, the clock that sat in the west wing chiming with every turn as though to remind us.

I closed the evidence files almost angrily.

" You are right. Let us go home now and come back with a clear head tomorrow," I said to Ashley.

She gave me a small smile that did not reach her eyes.

" You know you are doing it again right?"

" Doing what?"

Her eyes landed on my hands that still had a tight grip on the pages of the evidence file.

"Obsessing over a case. You know it's tricky but that doesn't mean we won't figure it out. But you need to cut yourself some slack and stop being too hard on yourself.”

I hummed, staring back at the name of the case file.

Roberta Jones.

Found dead in a shed after being stabbed to death with little to no evidence about the killer save for that blurry photo of him all hooded up.

I pulled out my phone, taking a few pictures of the file and nodding at her.

" I will...thank you. For now, you should head home. I will put the file back in the evidence box for you"

She gave me a grateful look just as she gathered her belongings.

" Thank you, really. Lawrence is sick and I'm sure the nurse will be waiting for me to come take care of him now"

I returned her smile, waving her goodbye as I packed up the files and headed to the evidence room.

At the back of my mind, I could still see the case of Roberta Jones seated firmly in my head as I tried to shake off those thoughts and failed woefully.

The evidence room was filled with cases labeled in order of importance and mystery, my eyes searching for the particular box that would be marked with my victim's name.

I found it at the last row of the pile, huddled somewhere between a man who was killed by his wife and a woman mauled by a bear.

I reached in to place the files when something caught my eye at the corner of her box.

Another piece of evidence that was not brought out for our examination.

It was wrapped in a thin bag but I could clearly see that it was a bloodied knife, most likely the one that had been used to kill my victim.

My heart skipped a beat at this breakthrough and I reached in to pull the knife.

My hands had barely grazed that bag when my eyes shut tight.

A man in all black, grinning ear to ear as his hands grazed a small knife that he held closely to his chest.

"Oh Nicole, look at you being a naughty girl again.”

My entire body went numb at this vivid memory that I remember all too well.

I took one pathetic step back, trying to keep as much distance from him as I could.

" Don't fucking run from me!" He yelled, moving towards me in haste, knife still in hand as his eyes glinted with that horror of mischief.

I screamed, cowering to the floor, my hands guiding my face as I tried to calm myself down.

It was not working. I could feel his hot breath on my face now, his worked-up expression whenever I did not behave, his anger that was hotter than a volcano, so easy to erupt.

" Nicole" I heard him yell my name now and tears had begun to well up in my eyes.

" Please leave me alone," I whispered over and over, hoping that my fear would be carried to him and he would stop his assault.

A hand grabbed me, shaking me violently, forcing me to open my eyes almost immediately.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in that dark room that smelt like must and rot, I was no longer cowered up in a corner begging for help before the knife hit me.

I was now back in the evidence room, amidst the boxes of people that had not gotten their killers brought to justice and the hand that had been shaking me was Mr Coleman, our group leader.

He stared at me, with worry etched in his eyes, his hands still grappling onto my shoulders.

That was when I realized I was curled up on the floor, clutching the evidence files.

Embarrassment flooded through me.

I got up, dusting my body as I hummed.

" I'm sorry, I must have disturbed you," I said.

My legs gave way underneath me, clearly still too shaken up by the incident to stand on their own but luckily, Mr Coleman caught me, holding me upright.

" Are you okay?"

That question cracked the mask of strength I had always worn to work.

I was not okay. I definitely wasn't.

Around me, other workers stared, pity in their eyes as small whispers flowed amongst them.

I bit my lips.

They must think of me as some sort of freak right now.

" Forget I said anything, let's get you to my office first" Mr Coleman said.

He shooed the staring workers away, leading me slowly into his office, his hands still positioned around my waist to help me stand.

I felt the mortification grow.

Was I really that much of a wimp now?

His office has always been the calmest and neatest place in the crime department. I loved to joke that he probably lived with undiagnosed OCD because of how spick and span he requested his office to be kept.

But now that I sat in his chair, I could not be any more grateful for the neat space.

He handed me a cup of water, a small sigh leaving his mouth as he lowered himself into another seat.

I gulped it all down gratefully, head finally spinning slower.

" Look Nicole, I did not want to be the one to say this, but you are not fully healed yet from the kidnapping."

My heart paused. I hated when the conversation shifted to this topic. I hated being reminded of the fact that I was unable to save her from the hands of those creatures and she was no more.

" I'm fine," I said stoically.

He shook his head.

" No you are not. On a normal day, I would ask you to go and come back when you are better but you are one of my best detectives and I know the last thing you want is to be idle at home."

He was right. That would only make the thoughts grow.

“I wish I was able to save her. Danielle would have been here and we would have worked on the case together.”

“I know, but you cannot keep living with this guilt when you did nothing wrong. You tried your best Nicole.”

He reached into his pocket, handing me a business card plated all gold.

"Call this number. He is a friend of mine. A physiotherapist. Trust me, if anyone can help you, it's him. Just give him a try and get lots of rest"

I stared at the card for a long minute before collecting it and pocketing it in my back pocket.

"I will Mr Coleman, you don't have to worry about me," I said, giving him a light smile.

He sighed again.

" And please don't work over the weekend. I mean it. If I see you stressing yourself out, I will be forced to put you on mandatory leave"

I grimaced.

So now I'm being forced to rest on command?

Just great.

~~

The best part of my day always had to be coming back home and meeting my roommate now turned sister, Olivia.

After we met in high school, we just knew we had to do life together.

“Hi,” she beamed when I walked in.

“Hey,” I hummed as the smell of freshly baked pie hit me.

" Start talking? Why do you look like shit?"

I scoffed.

There really was no hiding anything from this woman?

"Nothing much, just had another episode at work"

She did not need me to talk much. She already knew what I meant.

Her face fell as she claimed the distance between us, pulling me into her slowly.

" Oh my pretty girl..how did that happen again? I thought you said it wasn't as frequent again?"

I shrugged, trying to play it off as cool.

"Well I'm fine now, plus Mr Coleman gave me a number to call from a physiotherapist."

Her eyes lit up.

"You should definitely do it! I'm sure it will help you get better, especially now."

" Well, what's the use? I think I can survive,”

Her eyes turned stern.

"You will be going to see him, no questions asked." There she goes again.

She turned to stare at me as though remembering something.

" Also! You should not be cooped up this weekend at home working. You will be going out.”

She seemed to think for a while before her face finally lit up again.

"Like that wedding you were invited to, isn’t the venue close to where you grew up?” She asked.

“Um, I think so. However, I don't think I..."

"Nuh uh...no words from you. You will attend it.”