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S u n d a y, 14/4/19

Dear Diary,

A blur of light passed over my eyes. A tingling sensation wet my skin. My mind, groggy, blank and void of feeling and emotion, flickered slowly back from the brink of unconsciousness.

Voices. Loud voices. Muffled sounds. Scuffling feet. Bright, white lights. Chemical smells.

What was happening to me?

"Poprobuyte snova!"

Wait. I knew that voice.

Suddenly, it all came flooding back. The office door. The safe. The lock. Andrea.

"Andrea!" I gasped out and bolted upright.

I had to blink a few times before I realised that I had absolutely no idea where I was.

I was strapped down onto a reclining chair that been set up in the middle of the room. A tray of needles and vials was mounted on a metal table next to me. A swarm of white-coated, blue-gloved people, with masks over their mouths and hairnets over their heads, were standing around me in a mini semi-circle. A door - a huge iron grate bolted with a heavy bar, was situated opposite me and framed, right in front of it, was the tall, high-heeled figure of ...

"Andrea..." I whispered. Shaking my head to clear the cobwebs, I glared ferociously at her and yelled, "You snivelling dog! What the hell are you doing to me?"

Andrea sent me a sinister smile as she beckoned for the others to leave the room. As the door closed behind them, she began to circle around me, tapping her manicured fingers menacingly against the hard surface of her belt-buckle.

"I suppose you found the bug then?" I spat out bitterly.

Andrea shook her blonde curls back and laughed. "My dear, dear Josephine, did you really think that a teenager such as yourself could usurp the multi-task skills of an international embassy? Please. I have been in the force for over a decade. I know a spoiled brat when I see one."

"A - a spoiled brat?" I gaped at her. "You can't talk."

Andrea smirked. "Actually, yes - yes, I can. Being a rich bitch basically living in the pocket of your Daddy's overcoat wasn't easy but it was all a part of my cover and I was promised the world if I could pull it off."

"Pull it off? What are you talking about?" I spluttered. "Who the hell are you? Really?"

Andrea paused and tapped her index finger on her chin as if to contemplate my request. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to tell you?" Leaning forward, she placed both hands on either side of the chair's armrests and glared down at me threateningly. "You know too much, Josephine, and out of all the people in Hawaii, you were the last person I would've laid a hand on...But you've forced your way into a business that was never yours to tamper with and now, you have to pay the price."

"T-the price?" I gulped, trying to keep back the tears. "Andrea..."

"Why don't you just call me by my real name, Josephine?" she snarled. "Because I know that you know it."

"Please..."

"Say it."

"I can't..."

"Say it!"

"Andrea!"

"Say it!" she screamed, right in my face. "Say it to my face. Now."

"S-Sabrina," I hiccuped, trying to back away from her. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to steal my father's money!"

Sabrina guffawed. "You think I want your father's petty roll of bills? You stupid, stupid girl. I don't want his god-damn money. I want to see him and everything he loves destroyed. And that, unfortunately, includes you."

"Why? What did he ever do to you!" I shouted out desperately.

"It's what he didn't do," she returned sardonically. "He's notorious for breaking his promises, letting people down, abandoning the ones he should care for. I'm sure you're used to it by now, though. The lies. The deceit. The betrayal. The not-knowing why he left you. The feeling that you were never good enough...Not for him. To be abandoned by one's father is, perhaps, the gravest of sins."

This time I couldn't stop the salty flood that cascaded down my cheeks. Gritting my teeth and narrowing my eyes, I watched as Sabrina moved away from me and headed towards the door.

"What are you going to do?" I breathed.

"You'll find out soon enough," she returned in a low tone.

Before she could make a dramatic exit, however, the door burst open and a middle-aged man burst inside. "Something's happened, m'lady!" he yelped. "Something bad!"

"Well? Spit it out!"

"Earnest Marsden...he's back home early. He returned just now."

Sabrina's jaw visibly stiffened and her hands balled into fists. For a moment, she hesitated until she swung her gaze towards me. Then, she smiled. "Amp up the plan, Rodger. Tell them to start prepping...now. We need to send a message to Mr Marsden. Tell him that we have his daughter. Tell him that if he doesn't cooperate with our demands, he'll never see her alive again."

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