Chapter 67: She Had No Choice
The short man nodded and went off searching the whole store, including the room at the back. He came back a while later.
“Only found 1, 000 bucks. But there’s a computer and a camera.”
“Take it all.”
The short man commenced with placing everything of value in his bag and then quickly walked to Selene’s bag. He picked it up, opened it, and emptied its contents into his bag, including her mobile phone and cash. Then, he suddenly stopped and picked up a bank card.
“There’s a bank card. She owns the store, so she must have a lot on it.”
“What’s the pin?” The taller man asked Selene.
”3, 7, 4, 2.” She replied.
“Tie her up.” The tall man lifted his head and looked at the door leading into the store warehouse. “Put her there.”
He then turned back to Selene, giving her a menacing look. ”If the pin doesn’t work, we’ll be back.”
Selene stayed silent. Luckily, she had given them the correct pin code. No money was worth her life.
They tied her up and left her in the dark warehouse.
As she sat down on the floor propped up against the wall, she suddenly heard the sound of the main door closing shut. Maybe the robbers had locked her inside in case she tried to call the police.
Her feet and hands were tied up, and she couldn’t speak. She did not know whether the two robbers would come back or not, so she tried finding ways to break free.
Soon, however, she found that the string that they had used to tie her wrists together was too thick and strong. She struggled for a long time in an attempt to untie them but to no avail.
After a while, she felt out of breath and was ready to give up, but she heard some noise again coming from outside the warehouse.
Her worn-out brain suddenly sobered up. At first, she thought that the robbers were back. But it didn’t sound like the robbers did earlier. They had been quite heavy-handed, whereas whoever made the noise now was moving very lightly. Besides, she had given them the correct pin code, so they had no reason to come back.
She suddenly felt anxious and wanted to call out, but the tape on her mouth prevented her from doing so. She then knocked at the door of the warehouse using her head.
The noise from outside suddenly stopped. But, after a while, the noise resumed. However, this time, she could tell that the person was rushing. Then, finally, there was no more noise.
Selene put her ear against the door, listening carefully. There was no sound, and she knew what that meant. There was nobody there, and most likely, no one would come to free her that night.
Out of frustration, she powerlessly fell to the ground.
She knew that she would be there for the whole night.
Lying on the cold floor, Selene soon noticed something very wrong. It smelled like something was burning. It was coming from outside the warehouse.
Just seconds later, the smell got very intense. Then, she started feeling a little heat coming from the other side of the door.
The tape on Selene’s mouth prevented her from breathing normally, but now it was even harder to do so.
At that moment, Selene realized that there was a fire in her store.
She did not have time to find out why there was a fire. Her priority was to get out of there.
Selene kicked the door with her foot as hard as she could. However, she couldn’t use her full strength, as her feet and hands were tied up tightly. She then used her head to hit the door in an attempt to open it, but unfortunately for her, it was locked.
The smoke was getting harder to stand, and the lights from the flames were peeking through the door crack. Though the fire was not in the warehouse, the heat coming from outside was making her sweat.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
She rolled herself on the ground and kicked any flammable objects she could find away from the door.
Luckily, the door of the warehouse was fireproof, so the fire outside would not get in. However, the smoke kept pouring into the room continuously.
Selene was afraid to breathe, but she had no choice.
There were no windows in the warehouse, and she was running out of oxygen.
She was too tired to move. But suddenly, she heard some noise coming from outside again… Maybe someone had seen the fire.
She mustered all the strength she had left and kicked the door again in order to make some noise. Maybe whoever was outside would hear her.
However, it was useless.
She doubted that people outside would realize that there was someone still inside, as they would be too busy with the fire.
It was the middle of the night, so there was no reason for anyone to still be at the store.
Blood ran from her head, but Selene did not feel pain, so she kept hitting the door with her head. Selene felt dizzy again. She didn’t hear or feel anything. But many images kept playing in her mind.
“When you’re finished eating the chocolates, mom will be back.”
“Selene, Mom will never come back. Dad will take care of you from now on.”
“From now on, my mom is yours too.”
“This is my parents’ business, not mine. So, breaking up with me is unfair.”
“Everything is on fire. It’s all probably burned.” Then, she heard a voice coming from outside of the store.
“Which store is this?” Another voice came.
“It’s a costume store. They have some good dresses. I wonder where the fire came from. Was it a short circuit?”
“Is there anyone inside?”
“This late at night? Don’t think so.”
Outside of the store, a car stopped. A man stepped out hurriedly and looked at the blaze for a few seconds, frowning.
Clint took out his mobile phone and called Selene. The call connected, and then it was dropped. So he tried again, and someone answered this time.
“Selene, where are you?” Clint asked quickly.