Trapped By Mafia Possesion

Milan, Italy.

Campo Marzio Motel.

Maura reread the name of the building on the piece of paper she was holding, then looked up to read the name on the building sign. A rough sigh escaped that instant. The building in front of her now seemed to have three levels, not too big but wide, minimal lighting, and dirty parts on the walls. There were only lights from about five rooms lit up on the second level and the first level. The rest looked like there was no life.

"Is there life here?" Maura asked herself.

With a heavy heart that made her sigh for the umpteenth time, Maura took another step. But having just reached the third step, the vibrate on her cell phone as well as the notification sound stopped her again. Maura flinched slightly before grabbing the phone from her pants pocket.

Client A:

Room 167, 1st floor.

Maura furrowed her brows. After raising her head, Maura noticed the building in front of her. The first floor was almost completely dark and there were no lights on. Isn't there no-oh, wait, there's the room!

Maura smiled wryly when she saw the only light on on the first floor. It must be room 167. She was just about to take another step, but the corner of one eye felt a silhouette flashing from the right side. When she turned her head, unfortunately Maura only saw a scene of darkness and silence. The only illumination was from the reflected light of the street lamp.

It just so happened that this motel was on the edge of the district road.

In the darkness, there were leafy trees with thick grass as high as an adult's knee. There was no one there. But Maura felt someone peeking out from behind a tree trunk, or perhaps among the bushes. Maura squinted to clear her vision. There was no one, but the grass near a tree was moving very slowly. Movement that seemed to indicate someone was walking among it.

At first Maura wanted to dodge. Strangely, only the grass on that part of the tree moved, the rest did not. Even when Maura tried to check the wind, the wind was not big enough to shake the tall grass.

Maura suddenly had a bad feeling. The thick silence blew a cold breeze down her neck. Maura's goosebumps bristled. The more she looked at the darkness of the tree-lined area, the more Maura was overshadowed by the figure of someone watching her.

For a few seconds looking at the darkness, Maura finally shook her head to drive away bad thoughts.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Maura again caught the movement of a person's silhouette through the tail of her eyes. The same direction as before. The movement of turning her head was not fast enough so Maura still only saw the darkness of the land. But at that very moment, her ears caught a sound like the scraping of shoes against grass. It was the sound of someone falling.

Her instincts began to sound the alarm. Her heart pumped rapidly as her breath caught. An ominous swish flowed with a sense of unease. The sound lasted for about five seconds, then silence returned. Furthermore, Maura's ears only heard the echoing sound of crows chirping that had been circulating since she arrived here. Maura's curiosity peaked.

She slowly moved forward while tilting her head. Her gaze remained fixed on the bushes. The closer she got, the more she felt a swish creeping into the crevices of her chest. The only sound was her own breathing.

Maura turned on her phone's flashlight and shined it towards the suspected bushes. Unfortunately, the sound of a message notification accompanied by five vibrations of the cell phone jolted Maura. Suddenly she glanced at her pants pocket, then snorted in disgust. No need to ask, this must be a notification from the client.

"It's so noisy. Just disturbing people," Maura muttered. She had to put her curiosity on hold and assume that the silhouette of a person was just a bad feeling.

Maura entered the motel building. The motel hallway greeted Maura's eyes with dim lighting. Maura wondered, could the Client really not afford to rent an expensive hotel? Or at least a better hotel than this even though it was not expensive. Maura felt like protesting, but her position as a servant of a hired lover prevented her.

After all, she was getting paid for this, and this client said he would pay a pretty high price. Who wouldn't?

Maura walked down the quiet hallway. Her footsteps echoed. She approached the reception desk. The reception desk of this motel had no attendant. Maura furrowed her brow and checked left and right, then checked her cell phone again.

Client A:

Just go in. No need to go to the front desk.

There were honestly three other messages, but Maura didn't heed the Client's call. How impatient!

Maura continued down the hallway. It was dim, soundless, and devoid of anyone's presence. Maura suspected that this motel had actually gone bankrupt and was being forced into operation. Maura judged from the appearance of the outer walls of the building, which had a wide spread slum stain. Unkempt bushes, shady trees, iron gates with wires twisting irregularly.

Who was the crazy person who wanted to stay at this motel?

"Rooms 164, 165, 166..." Maura muttered as she scanned the room numbers. Maura's steps stopped right in front of a door with a rectangular wooden sign that read 'Room 167'. "Room 167. Finally!"

In the next second, the smile on Maura's face faded. She bit her lower lip looking nervously at the door before her. What would the client who requested a meeting with her look like now?

Maura slowly opened the door. Lights emerged from inside the room as the door opened wider and wider. Maura craned her neck to the side, peeking out slightly. When the door was half open and Maura stepped inside, a man stood with his back to her. He was looking out the window. I don't know what he saw, but he completely ignored Maura's arrival.

Maura watched the man for a moment. He was tall and well-built, wearing only a white shirt under a suit with the sleeves folded. His hair was covered by a light brown hoop hat. Maura faintly saw smoke creeping to the side, indicating that the man was smoking. Maura exhaled roughly.

"Excuse me? You told me to come here," Maura said as a conversation starter.

The man didn't answer right away. It took a few seconds, then chuckled. "Yes, I ordered you."

The man's chuckle was deep. Mysterious. Maura remembered the sound of the villain's laughter in the thriller movies she watched. From the sound of his voice, Maura guessed that this man was thirty to forty.

"So, why did you ignore me?" she asked calmly.

"What should I do? Do you want to start right away?"

Maura's whole body stiffened. The man's word 'start' sounded very ambiguous. Maura took a deep breath, then let it out softly.

"It's not like that..." Maura's throat was suddenly choked with nervousness. For some reason the image of what this man would do to her flashed through her mind. Maura closed her eyes. "I mean, you were the one who couldn't wait to send me a bunch of messages. But after I came, you didn't say hello at all."

Wait, why did her words sound like she was impatient to 'give herself up'?

For a few seconds there was only silence. Maura played with her nails with her eyes still closed and shook her head repeatedly. It was always like this whenever Maura was dealing with new clients. Plus, the quiet atmosphere of this motel made her wonder what if something happened and she couldn't escape anywhere.

What a scary thought.

"Is it important?" The man's voice sounded very low. The man slowly turned around, but his head was still bowed. "Do you want to start the game now?"

Maura moved back sluggishly as the man before her raised his head while lowering the hat that covered his face. A grin curled up. His dim black eyes looked at Maura with a sharp gaze.

"Too bad, I wanted to wait a little longer."

Maura's heart was racing fast in time with her breathing. Maura's whole body stiffened. As if locked, Maura could not move her limbs. Her timid gaze looked straight at the mysterious man.

"Oh, there you are." The man shook his head looking at something behind Maura.

Maura's head spontaneously moved to turn around, then choked up at the sight of another figure in an all-black suit wearing a round hat. Half of his face was covered, but Maura caught a wide curved smile revealing his teeth.

"Welcome to hell, Maura."

Maura just turned her gaze forward. Her body gasped as she saw the mysterious man standing in front of her. Maura's breath caught as her entire face was now on display.

"You..." Maura's sentence hung.

"Yes, it's me. Long time no see, huh?"