by Anna Collins
I reached out for my phone to find his address on Google.
12:15 A.M, I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was seeing the correct time. The vodka that I had consumed earlier had gifted me a blurred vision.
"Hudson Mansion," I read out the name clearly while handing the taxi driver a bill of $30.
"Robert Hudson I will kill you" I murmured, but my throat went dry as I saw his 2 bodyguards and 4 German Shepherd Dogs who were guarding the huge shiny silver colored gate.
Morons, I wondered how they could work for such a rude person. They would eat me if I even tried to get inside. I immediately discarded my thoughts of gaining entry via the front door and started looking for a back door or something like that; to my disappointment, all the doors were filled with security guards. The security was very tight; maybe someone had threatened to kill him. Well, I did not blame them; a disgusting person like Robert Hudson had no right to live.
Thankfully the guards were unable to get a sight of me as I had hidden myself under some heavy bushes. Mr. Hudson's house was situated at the far end of the town, there were not many buildings out there except for his big 4 storied mansion.
A white car halted in front of me and an elderly person got out of it. I was on the other side of the driving seat so he did not notice me, thanks to the darkness. When he was busy in talking over the phone I got an idea. I crouched down to reach the car and then got into the back seat. Thank God! The door was not locked. After I made myself comfortable on the floor mat of the car, the driver drove inside the main gate.
Holding my breath I lay still, waiting desperately for the car to stop.
Robert
"It's midnight, you can now give it a rest" Emily Watson bent down over the desk, offering me a view of her generous cleavage.
I liked it when women dropped their hungry eyes on me; it gave me a certain sense of confidence.
Emily was the part owner of a company that I was planning to take over. She was an efficient working woman, but her looks, figure, and skimpy dressing style told that she could also try her luck in the modeling industry. She looked like a mannequin and her attitude seemed robotic.
There was no life in her, she was trying to allure me for her own benefits and thought that I would fall for her trap.
"Just need to check the final report, you go ahead, I will wrap it up in a bit," I said.
"Okay, text me if you are free this weekend, we could have some fun," she pouted her lips to create a seductive look.
I nodded in return. There was no way I was ready to waste my weekend with a dumb girl like her.
I was workaholic, but today the case was different. I was trying to dissolve myself into my work to forget her. Freya, yes, that's what her name was, I had played my game with her, but still I was not able to get her out of my thoughts. Those pink lips, brown eyes and the glow of innocence of that face were constantly poking me and something inside me told me that I had made a blunder.
I leaned back in my chair to calm down a bit and all I could hear was the soft sounds of her pleading. I did the correct thing, everyone deserved to be punished for the wrong that they had done and she was not an exception. Probably she would hate me forever, I sighed. Why did that matter to me? I had nothing to do with it. She was nothing for me.
The newly formed knot inside my chest was almost suffocating. "Ugh! Seems like the man in me has taken a vacation" I grunted and stood up from the comfort that the luxurious chair of C.E.O was offering me. Discarding my blue Armani suit coat, I reached for my white linen shirt and tore away the buttons. I thought of doing some crunches; thinking that the adrenaline rush would divert my mind.
I was actually feeling pity for myself. Usually, people needed a distraction to forget me; I could not believe that the little creature had actually managed to rise up my stress level. My lips curled into a playful smirk when I thought how tiny she appeared when we were standing together in the studio. Her head barely touched my shoulder. Damn, Freya was an epitome of cuteness. Again? Again, I was thinking about her? Shit man! You need to consult a psychiatrist, advised my alter ego. No way, only mad people needed to go to a psychiatrist and not Robert Hudson. I could deal with my emotions as I have done all my life. I sighed deeply.
I was torn; I had no idea what I was feeling. A part of me was happy that I had shown Freya her proper place. I was happy as I had punished her for insulting me. If I was happy then why was I feeling so restless?
Chapter Five
Freya
Sneakily, I got out of the car, but then I got lost. The porch was so huge that I had no idea from where I could gain entry inside the house.
"Hello, can I help you?" out of nowhere a maid appeared in front of me. She was wearing a pink uniform combined with a white apron.
"I was looking for Robert, I am his childhood friend," I said without thinking.
"Friend? But you look much younger than him," she murmured in a barely audible voice.
Ignoring her slow murmur, I tried to appear confident "let me tell you he likes me too much if he ever found out that you were doubting on me then...he...might...fire"
Before I could complete my sentence she spoke up hastily "I did not mean it that way, please don't complain it to sir".
"Well, I will think about it.?" eeh, I was sounding like a snooty bitch.
"Please come inside madam," she requested.
Keeping my face straight, I followed her as she led me inside the house.
OMG! It was a freaking palace. That's all I could say when I stepped inside the Devil's den. Well, I knew he was rich, but I had no idea he was THIS rich. His place had to be at least 10 times bigger than the size of the apartment where I was living. The floor was sparkling with white marble tiles. The walls were filled with the classics from Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Claude, and Pablo. What amazed me was that all the elements of his house constituted only of two colors, black and white. Except for those paintings which all had silver colored frames around them, and the shine told me that they had to be either silver or platinum.
God, how could you be so unfair, you gave him everything and what did you give me? Holding back my emotions I remembered the cause for which I had gone there. "Umm...where is Robert's room?" I asked.
"It's on the 3rd floor" he quickly replied.
I nodded and took the stairs, "mam, please wait here, sir doesn't let anyone enter his floor. He is very private about it" the maid said hesitantly.
"I am not anyone, he has asked me to wait in his room" I snapped and turned to climb the stairs. The maid went away silently.
I had no time to taste the taste of my sweet victory; I rushed to kick the ass of Mr. Hudson.
On reaching the 3rd floor I saw that it was an apartment on its own. It had a gym, a library and another room which I supposed was his bedroom. The library and gym were empty, so I guessed he was in his bedroom. After spoiling my life he was taking his beauty sleep? I said to myself and barged into his bedroom.
"Robert Hudson, who do you think you are?" I shouted.
I had expected a reply, but all I could hear was the echo of my own voice. Oh No! He was not there. So all my effort went in vain? I held my head, feeling sad again. I wanted to get a bit of relief by bad mouthing him, but that idiot was probably sleeping with some dumb headed bimbo.
Maybe it was good that he was not there at that moment, what would have happened? He would have thrown me out of his palace or worse, he could have handed me over to the police for illegal trespassing. Damn it Girl! I could have landed in a big trouble. I frowned and turned back to leave when a huge black wall cabinet attracted my attention. It looked ancient and had rosewood designs all over it. I could not stop myself from reaching and opening it. It was so damn big, I had never seen a cabinet like that. I went curiously to know what he kept inside it.
Did he not lock it? But why? Then I got my answer, the cabinet had nothing special in it. It just contained his huge pile of expensive clothes.
He ruined my life,
now I will ruin his clothes, the wicked thought hit my head and I attempted to pull out all of his clothes. I had Kate's lighter with me, I wanted to burn his clothes. While pulling his clothes, a particular shirt got stuck to something. Thinking that it might be a loose hook I stepped inside the cabinet to see it. Either my head was spinning or I was hallucinating because when I touched the wooden back of the cabinet it moved slightly and then opened up like a door. And following the commands of my curiosity I stepped inside the mysterious door.
It was a small room filled with darkness. I reached for my phone and turned on the flashlight to see what the devil had hidden inside. The walls were painted in black; the room was empty except for a big leather couch. What does he do here? Is it his fuck pad? Or something like Christian Grey's red room of pain? All these questions were rising in my brain and I moved around to find the answers. But I could not find a bed or anything. The room did not have any windows, a ceiling fan or air conditioner the room was extremely hot.
My feet hit something "ouch" I gasped in pain, then moved the light towards it to see what it was. It was a long wooden box, I sat down to open it. After lifting the heavy lid all I saw was some big leather belts, leashes, stick, and blades. I touched the leather belt to take a closer look at it and I could see dried blood on it. I immediately dropped it to cover my hanging mouth. With my eyes opened wide in shock, hands shaking with fear, I managed to stammer the word "Blood!"
"You can't be serious about it, what if one of the CCTV cameras has captured your face? The police could be here any moment" exclaimed Kate.
"You think I am a fool? Why do you think I was wearing a hooded jacket then?" I smiled proudly. And secondly, I have not stolen anything from his house, so there is no reason for him to waste his time."
"You mad girl, you can get in serious trouble for this" she rebuked me.
"My turn is over, now it's his turn to get in trouble, look what I found in his secret room" I showed her the snaps of those belts and leashes.
Kate's face showed no signs of excitement.
"What? You are supposed to react" I pinched her.
She kept the phone aside and touched my shoulder "Frey, I know you are in shock but try to compose yourself. What is there to react to these hazy images of his belts?" she made a you-are so-dumb-face at me.
"The images are hazy because my hands were shaking when I took them and if you take a closer look you will notice that there is blood on it. Can't you match it? He is a damn bloody killer. He takes people into his secret room, assaults them with these belts, blades etc and kills them" I could hear the rise and fall of my voice as I explained it to her.
At first, she looked at me then burst into laughter, "you have gone full crack."
I squinted my eyes at her "fine! You don't need to believe me now. But you will believe it when the news will be shown on national television. And I, Freya Lawrence will unveil this truth to the world".
She nodded her head while laughing "go and get some sleep miss detective".
Robert
"I have no girlfriend, whom are you talking about?" I asked in confusion.
"She was a very beautiful girl, sir," replied the maid.
Beautiful girl, my friend, maybe she was talking about Emily. But Emily was not beautiful, she could be called sexy. Ah, what was I thinking, maybe she seemed beautiful to the maid or the maid was shy to utter the word sexy in front of me. I see, Emily could not get close to me in my office so she decided to show up at my place. Ahan, she was that desperate to see me. I guessed this could help me a lot with my aim to achieve her dad's company.
"Listen, if next time she comes around, treat her nicely, now disperse" she quickly obeyed.
"This house is getting out of control, there is no discipline in servants" the pissed out tone of Uncle Joe hit my ears.
Uncle Joe and his son Liam were my only living relative. Once his business crushed I took him and his son into my house, they somehow made the house alive. Truly speaking, I was happy that they were living with me; I was tired of my lonely life, now I had a family who expected me to return home.
"Any problem, uncle?" I asked while rubbing my face so that he could not see the prominent irritation on my face.
He was almost 60 years old and was a complete health freak. He liked to lead his life round the clock and expected us to do the same. All the staffs of my house were super irritated by his disturbing nature.
Uncle Joe never learned from his mistakes, due to his obsession of living round the clock and irritating nature, his wife had left him. Aunt Caroline was a very nice woman but she failed to match up with his demands and as a result, their marriage did not work. Uncle was very handsome in his early years, and he had done a good job in maintaining his figure.
"Your staff is going out of hand, they are letting strangers enter our house," he complained while rubbing his hands with a towel, he was in his white jogging suit.
"She was not a stranger and I have taken care of that, you just chill don't burn your old brains" I smiled playfully.
My answer did nothing to please him.
"Robert you must agree that these servants are getting out of hand because there is no one to supervise them. You and I spend all day at the office and Liam remains busy with his college; therefore, they have this big house all to themselves. You know, today I found bits of marijuana on the back side of the garden. Maybe some of them are taking these harmful drugs behind our backs" when he was speaking his face was serious like he was briefing about some grave crime.
I was having a hard time in keeping a straight face. Jeez! I did not care what my staff did in their free time as long as it did not affect their work "So, what do you suggest me to do?" I asked.
"We must get a reliable person to manage their work and to keep an eye on them. When they will have someone to watch over their actions they will learn to act responsibly" he stated.
"Hmm, not a bad idea. Handle it your way, I am off to catch some sleep" I yawned.
"Okay, son take care," he said and went away.
I turned to climb the stairs when Liam's voice attracted my attention.
"Ya, ya I will be there in an hour or so, just woke up man! Nothing will happen if I miss a single class of that boring professor," he was speaking to someone over his phone.
As he became aware of my eyes, on him, he cut the call and stuffed the phone in his pajama pocket.
"Bro, I did not realize you were here, and what's with this restless look and wrinkles on your clothes? Were you working in a field?" he laughed teasingly.
Liam was a good looking and smart teenager. Except for inheriting those bright blue eyes, golden hair and tall frame he was nothing like his father. He was a mischievous guy.
"Forget me, are you planning to bunk your class?" I adorned a serious look. As his big brother, I needed him to fear me as I knew that he took his father for granted.
The smile disappeared "no…bro" he stumbled.
"Good. Concentrate on your studies and if you manage to get above 80% in the finals, I will gift you a sports car" I announced.
His face turned bright "ok bro, I will try my best," he nervously uttered and excused himself.
I was jealous of him, I could make him happy in seconds, but there was no one in this world who could bring such brightness into my pale face.
Chapter Six
Freya
"What are you saying?" Rick's eyes fell wide open.
I and Rick were sitting on one of the wooden counters in Kate's kitchen while she was busy in making coffee.
"She is saying that she has lost it" Kate hit my head with her hand and handed me a cup of black coffee.
"I'm not mad okay. Rick at least you should trust me" I frowned.
"Hey Kate, don't make fun of her. Sis, ignore her. I am with you. We need to expose his black deeds. But, how?" Rick began chewing his nails.
"Rick, at least you show some maturity. I know Freya is not in a state to think straight" Kate snapped.
"Kate, I know you don't want to help her, but don't call her mad" Rick protested.
Kate rolled her eyes "fine! Do whatever you want; when Robert Hudson will send both of you to jail, then I will not be there to bail you out" she snapped angrily.
"Rick, I am not making things up. There is definitely something wrong with Robert Hudson. He is hiding something. You know when he said to me that he did not forgive I could actually see a shadow of a devil in him. That man can't be good, don't ask me why...I just know it" I could feel myself taking long breaths as I spoke.
Rick's face showed the concern I knew he had for me. He kept his hand on my shoulder to calm me down.
A newspaper hit my face "ouch, Kate, are you nuts?" I yelled.
"You bro-sis duo, stop this drama and Miss Freya, if you want to have this roof over your head then you better look for a job to pay me the rent." Kate pouted her lips.
God! Again she was back in her bitchy mode.
"Listen, I have not fallen down to the position of begging. I got my savings and I cam still throw the rent at your ugly face" I grunted, taking out my anger on her.
She twisted her lips and walked away.
"Sis! How can you even tolerate her? She is a bloody vamp" Rick said with an I-want-to-kill-Kate expression on his face.
I smiled while explaining "she wants me to move ahead and bury the 'Robert Hudson situation'. Actually, she cares for me a lot."
"Now will you just keep staring me? Let's find a job, then we will concentrate on our actual mission" I winked.
Rick nodded smilingly and we started to check the job section of the daily newspaper.
"Sis, can this Joe Hudson be a relative of that disgusting guy?" Rick asked, marking on a job opening with his pen.
"Joe Hudson, yes. He is an uncle of that monster I had seen his picture at the time of googling Robert Hudson's name." I wrinkled my eyebrow, feeling disturbed.
