Just as Richard got down from the school bus, he switched on his earbuds so that if Niko had anything to tell him, they could easily communicate without him having to pick a call. A loud rock song began to boom from it and Richard put the music on repeat since he wasn’t particular about the song and just needed some distraction.The blaring beat of the song helped to distract him from his environment. He stood under the morning sun as his eyes raved the entire expanse of the schools. There were flashy cars parked almost everywhere. Students bustled about with lively energy while a few moved about in solitude.He began to move towards the building where his department was. As he pushed through the surging crowd of students at the entrance of the building, he suddenly remembered that the previous day, an announcement had been passed on to the students through the public address system that had been fixed overhead where he stood.The announcement had been a short and concise one ; it

Both men, Richard and Niko, breezed through the wild crowd as they headed to the bar of the hotel where drinks were sold. The school had paid for the first drink of every student and any other drink afterwards would be on the students personal bills.Almost everyone at the party was given a name tag with some funny line underneath. Richard , still maintaining his blank stare, approached the bartender. There were some vacant high stools in front of the counter and both men sat immediately .The bartender flashed a quick smile at both of them as he hurried about trying to pour out drinks for the students that were gathered at the counter, waiting for him.The men, Richard and Niko , were watching the wild crowd of dancing students and the way each person pushed against the other in frenzy. The colored bulbs overhead were revolving and the lightening inside the hotel was not quite bright.Richard squinted as he closely watched the crowd. It occurred to him that he had not seen Elise. Did

Richard was not moved or affected by what was happening. He paid them no attention. It wasn’t a surprise that there was a clique of guys in the university that could walk up to him and try to provoke him to anger.He was determined to disappoint them by not even acknowledging their presence. Instead he reached out and pulled Laila closer to him in an warm embrace she seemed to enjoy it and she hugged him tighter."Is this not the reason you are here?" Justin threw his question at him in sarcasm. "You need a rich girl to get a drink for free. Something that you obviously cannot afford"Richard was almost finishing up the content of his glass when he heard what Justin said. He paused mid air with the drink in his hands and that was when Justin edged forward shook with his hand. The glass was upturned and its content spilled on Richard's shirt.He slightly pushed Laila away from him and he jumped down to his feet.“Yes you heard that very well, it’s not possible” The second guy repeat

Elise’s mother’s eyes fluttered open as she turned over on her side. She frowned at her husband and asked him, “What’s going on?” She stretched her body and turned to look at the small table clock besides her on the cabinet. She broke out into a small yawn and clasped her palm over her open mouth “Were you talking to someone on the phone?”Elise’s father remained quiet as he thought of his next line of action. He knew that he had enemies as a political figure and business guru that he was. What he didn’t get was why these people would choose to attack his young, innocent daughter instead of him.“What Is the problem? “ His wife asked, now she was very concerned and she pushed herself up into sitting position besides him. “Why do you seem like you were just slapped in the face? "Elise's father sighed again. He knew the kind of woman that his wife was she would raise dust in both heaven and Earth if anything bad dared to ever happen to their daughter."Elise" gasped, shocked. He s

James was reserved and distant from everything ever since he woke up from his troubled sleep that morning. When his morning coffee was brought to him in his work room, he turned it down. He had locked himself up inside his workroom for fear that his wife might come to him and begin her rant on how he was the reason that their daughter had been kidnapped.They had tried their best to contact their daughter’s number that had called them the night before but it was no longer going through. This frustrated him the more and he paced the room several times , trying to figure out what he could do about the situation without putting his daughter in more danger. Soon, his phone rang. It was a call from his daughter’s number. The familiar male voice that had spoken to the night before said, “Hello?”“Yes!” James replied. His wife stood up from where she was to meet him. There was a faint look of hope in her eyes.“You are to pay the sum of 3 million dollars before we release your daughter.