Chapter 24: Chapter 24

The car turned into the hospital area. After parking, we all gathered again except for Moorah. I tried to wake her up, but it was useless. The urge to throw her away from my existence was getting more solid. This woman was really troublesome.

"I'm gonna kill her!" I grumbled still with my body leaning against the door of the car.

"Be patient." Elsa giggled.

"Patient my ass!" My hands felt itchy too ready to punch her face.

Our gazes diverted for a moment Barra opened the car door, that was when Moorah woke up.

"Have we arrived?" She was acting all innocent in front of Barra who was now waiting for her to get out of his car.

His face looked so tired, "Yeah." Still he answered politely and waited patiently for Moorah to come out. She took her mini-mirror from her sling bag to see her appearance first. Repeatedly she checked on her appearance in the mirror. Her make-up, hair, and adjusted her clothes.

"I'll go up first." I informed everyone with an annoyed tone. Barra's eyes locked to mine in stare before his lips lifted one side, he smirked at me.

I walked in but a voice of the man next to me suddenly made me startled, "Holy cats!" I almost fell before I was completely taken aback, "Why are you here?! Aren't you busy with your lover?" Barra was walking beside me with his hands which he put into his trouser pockets.

I thought he prefered to be with Moorah out there.

"Do you know which room Jake's in?" He didn't care about my question instead he asked me back. And, his question made sense. I had no idea where he was being treated.

"Wait for us." I looked behind as Elsa waved her hands.

Ronald informed the room where Jake was being treated. He also said that Jake's wound was bad right in the stomach. The knife stab almost hit the internal organs. For a while Jake struggled to get up, because every time he moved, the stitches on his stomach were painful.

Seeing the lift door wide opened, I immediately rushed there, but Barra stopped me.

"We didn't need to jostle with other lift users. We took a special lift." Ronald explained to us as he chuckled. Barra just shrugged his shoulder like it was nothing. No wonder, that hospital belonged to the Ainsleys.

Jake was treated in room 202.

Only a few of us were allowed to enter, so we decided to enter on a rotating basis.

Me, Elsa, and also Moorah entered first. Jake smiled to see who had come to visit him. The abrasions on his face had started to dry. However, his stomach still needed further medical attention. I felt bad, he did his best to protect Alia but, what I said yesterday was really ashamed.

Jake's brows raised when he saw Moorah. This man was a typical playboy for real. Before this, he was eyeing the woman at Niki's party. Now, it was clear that he was looking for Moorah's attention.

As I looked around, Moorah was paying her attention in him too. Their conversation went smoothly, almost forgetting that there were still me and Elsa in that room.

They were too good in spreading their charm.

I excused myself when my phone kept ringing, I left the room to pick up the call. Exiting the room I did not find Barra or Ronald.

Where are they? I asked myself.

I glanced around to the right and left, before I finally chose to pass the right hallway, heading for the restroom.

"Yes, mom?" I answered my phone for a moment knowing it was my mother.

"You haven't contacted me! Do you forget that you have a mother?" My mother was yelling, made me keep my phone away from my ear, or I would be deaf.

"I think you're busy, mom. You also didn't call me." I explained in half sighed.

"I thought you were busy!" My mother sounded like she wanted to talk about something important, "So, I didn't dare to call you." She paused, "So, I'm just waiting for you to call me."

All right, so both of us were waiting for each other just to make a call.

"Have you seen the news?" She let the sharpest breath out across the line.

"News about what?" I asked in confusion.

"It's about you! And, it's all over the news." She was talking in a frustrated tone, "Somebody videotaped what happened at the bar that night."

My knees were shaking, "Why didn't you tell me you were almost raped?!" My mother was clearly so angry. "He's demanding hundreds of dollars on me to get the video deleted or he's going to spread it!"

I breathed, "No way!" I remembered when that incident happened there was no one around me. How could somebody else be in there?

It was clear that it was all a trap that had set for me.

"I'm not lying! You've entered the Sanders territory, Fayre Bar. Anything bad could happen." Worry crept into her voice.

I felt hopeless. My future and the good name of my family were depending on this.

"Jazzlin?" My mother called back but I ignored her. Dropping the phone call, I ran to find one person who could sort this out.

My tears came out without warning. I wiped my eyes as I ran down the hall looking for him, a few bumps making people grumble, but I could care less.

"Traitor." Barra's voice grounded in a quiet hallway, at the corner near the back door.

My steps stopped before they saw me. I hid behind the wall, trying to calm my legs which were shaking badly. However, their conversation continued, making me listen quietly.

"I'll make sure his life a living hell after this betrayal." He swore darkly, it was like he had probably been muting all this time. It made me tremble.

Ronald chuckled, "Your wish is my command." He spoke lowly, "Mr. Salvatore won't be able to breathe any longer."

"Good." Barra answered nonchalantly, "He must feel the consequences for hurting Jake and making Alia come back to Haytham."

"And, what about the scumbag? He's asking you thousands dollars so the video won't get exposed." Ronald cleared his throat, "He's messing with the wrong people by blackmailing us." He commented after that.

I closed my eyes shut, I knew what they were talking about. I agreed with Ronald for calling the-unknown-man a scumbag! Hell, he had been threatening my mom and now Barra.

"This is the petty method Haytham used to take me down even though he had failed many times." Barra laughed full of darkness.

Haytham? No way. He couldn't be that evil to trap me like this. His heart wasn't this sick! I knew him very well.

"From various information that I have found that night, he was there but he left early." Ronald's explanation making my memory sharpen and clearer once more.

Haytham was there. I realized the man I saw at the bar was him, when he was torturing Mr. Salvatore.

"He saw Jazzlin there, then he cruelly hired a bastard to hurt her. Before that wanker started his action, Haytham left the bar as if he didn't know anything." Ronald gritted his teeth, "They took a chance with Elsa too, because she became a hindrance."

The sound of someone hitting a glass sounded so loud, it made people curious.

People were wanting to pass me, to know what happened back there. But, I stopped them, "Nothing happened. Please minding your own business." I forced a thin smile to appear on my face which was now wet with tears.

I came out around the corner, Barra had slammed his fist against the window glass in frustration. My heart was pounding harder than ever.

My body was stiff looking at back of his hand covered in blood. That much blood seemed nothing to him. His face didn't show any pain or anything, instead he smiled in pleasure, "I'm gonna make him pay."

I was out of breath in silent tears. The heaviness in my chest was out of my control. I shut my mouth, holding back the sound that I could no longer hold before I finally ran outside. I needed fresh air to lighten the burden on my mind and also the wound in my heart.

Haytham did all this to me ... He was the one who destroyed my pride that night. That damn male tenant was him.

Our days while we had lived at the orphanage were still vivid in my memory. Not a bit forgotten. My orphanage had frequent blackouts, and I hated it when night came and the lights weren't on.

"Aaah." I shouted the moment a touch of the hand tapped my shoulder.

Haytham laughed at my over reaction, "Here you are. Clarissa said you ran away from the study session this morning." He whistled, looking at my face.

Study sessions ... I hated studying. School just wasn't my thing.

"No! I was there." I was replying honestly, because I didn't skip class. Clarissa often made mistakes when it came to our names. She kept calling someone the wrong name, so sometimes we got confused.

"Okay then, I bring you these." There were two math books in his hand, "You have to study after the lights turns on."

Somehow I didn't want the light to go on.

"Yeah." My flashlight was dim, so I didn't really know what was on my calf, "Can you point the flashlight at my calf?" Haytham nodded before I screamed to see a cockroach walking right at my calf.

"Aaaaah." Spontaneously I jumped so that the cockroach would fly away from me.

Haytham's laughter overflowed seeing me almost crying just because that cute insect whose like to scaring me.

"It's gone." Haytham slashed that insect out of my room.

Another sounds appear which I could tell there were other insects in my room.

"That things gonna hurt me." I sounded so overdramatic.

"I won't let anything hurt you, Janielle." Haytham smiled down at me sweetly.