9 Gone

Days passed by and Melina and Dario started to bond. She came to know that Dario was brought up by a single lady whose husband died in a car crash. She often told Dario that he reminded her of her husband and cared for him just like how a mother would. She died last year from pneumonia and that broke Dario's heart but he was happy that he had made her proud by topping the university exams. He was just out of a business school and had applied for jobs in good companies. He even attended the interview and now was waiting for the response. Let's just say he's free right now, finally relaxing after years of hard work.

She received calls from Leonard now and then but he kept his profile low to keep Melina safe. She was mature enough to understand that though all she wanted was to stay in his arms and watch him smile, but she knew whatever Leonard did, it was to keep her safe. She had that certainty.

Just like any other day Melina got ready for work. 'I'm off to work, Dario! Call me if there's an emergency okay?', she said while opening the doorknob to Dario who was still sleeping. 'Okay, okay sis. See ya today evening', he replied and again drifted off to sleep. 'That lazy ass', she thought and set off to work.

She was seeing the files of her patients to track their progress when she received a phone call. 'Dario? Why is he calling me now?', she thought and took the phone. 'Hey, what's up? Is anything wrong?', she asked, concern evident in her voice. The call disconnected out of a sudden. She thought maybe something was wrong and then remembered a day when he pranked her into believing that someone broke into her house just to give her a surprise party for her promotion. 'Must be fooling around, that idiot. I ain't falling for you honey", she thought and giggled and then carried on seeing the files.

Finally, after her shift, she got home by 5. She opened the door using a spare key since she knew it was his nap time. She went to check up on her brother in his bedroom. To her surprise, he wasn't in his bed. She was alarmed. 'Dario! Where are you?', she shouted but there was no response. She searched everywhere and screamed his name several times but to no avail. She called her neighbors and his friends whether he's with them but he was not. Now the sudden phone call made sense. 'Oh God, how foolish have I been', she realized and started tearing up.

She tried to contact Leonard but since he kept an extremely low profile even to her, it was impossible to do so. She finally decided to go to the police station and rushed towards the door. Before she could even take a step she felt a cloth being forced on her by strong hands. She tried to fight him but the man was too strong for her. She tried not to breathe but she couldn't hold on to her breathe much longer and finally gave in. Black dots started to fill her vision as she slowly drifted into unconsciousness.