52 Desperate Measures (1/2)

So the information I got from Irina is that her father is apparently her agent, which is the middle-aged man I had saw her walking with earlier. In addition, ever since she gained popularity and they've paid off the debt they had incurred, he became quite materialistic and blinded by wealth. That led to his neglect of his daughter and her depressed mental state. That's what money does to people. Without any checks in one's greed, money can be the greatest demon of this world.

I quickly formulated a plan in my head, knowing that I did not have much time. I need this plan to have an effect in the shortest amount of time possible, meaning that I am in a desperate situation. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I decided that it would be best if I ask Irina for her cooperation in my plan. Although she was quite hesitant at first, but luckily, she decided to trust me. She provided me with all the resources I needed, and all that is left for me to do is start the whole process.

I looked around the empty gym and decided that this will be the location where the plan will take place. Therefore, I found myself a foldable chair that was stacked behind the elevated stage and placed it in the dead center of the empty gym building. Next, I found myself some ropes from the storage area and tied Irina up in the chair. Next, I needed to contact her father and have him come here alone, which is what I did.

”Yeah?” a man's voice responded after I called him with Irina's phone so that he would know later on that this isn't a prank call.

”I have your daughter here,” I said into the phone with an intentionally altered voice. ”If you dare call the police, I will kill her right now.”

”Irina? What is this some kind of joke?” The man seemed to not be convinced. ”Have Irina pick up the phone.”

I looked at Irina in her eyes, nodded as I brought the device to her face. She seemed to understand what I needed from her by the way she looked back at me.

”D-dad?” she said with a tremble in her voice and a light sob. ”Help me.” As she finished, she began weeping. I gotta say, I'm impressed by how well her acting is.

”Irina?” I could hear the man's voice say from the phone. ”What's going on?”

”H-he's a stalker,” she continued speaking in a weeping tone. ”He got me tied up—”

”I think that's enough talk between the two of you,” I interrupted their conversation by bringing the phone away from Irina and to my ear. ”We're in the gym at the moment. Come here alone. If you dare let anyone else know, I'll **** her, post the video online, and kill her.”

”Y-you bastard.” His voice finally started sounding quite frantic. ”If you dare lay a hand on my daughter, I'll make sure you die. DON'T DO ANYTHING TO HER. I'm on my way.”

I then hung up the phone and slipped it into my pockets. I looked down at Irina who was tied to the chair. She's the key in this plan. Not only is she my only safety measure just in case things go wrong, she's also the reason why this mission might succeed. If like what she had told me and her father truly loves her, then I might be able to drag him away from the clutches of this demon called Geed. If not, then that'll be another story then.

”Where did you learn to do that?” Irina asked me as we waited. ”Changing your voice and speaking so confidently.”

”You have to learn?” I asked as I slipped on a face mask that covered the top half of my face in order to conceal my identity and make myself more intimidating. Then, I checked the prop knife and made sure that it appeared as real as possible.

My entire plan revolves around her father's love for her like I said earlier. Hopefully, it's to the point that I wouldn't have to truly do physical damage to Irina because that might be difficult with this prop knife. Actually, he might not want her have scars on her body for the sake of her career and money... Hmm... that route won't work then. I need to have something even more devastating to a father and not an agent.

”Most people have to take professional lessons to act,” Irina said to me.

”Did you?”

”No,” she responded.

”Neither have I.” I then calculated the time that has passed since I've hung up the phone and determined that her father will probably arrive in the next minute. ”Get ready,” I walked behind Irina, leaned closer to her ear, and whispered to her as I placed a clean handkerchief in her mouth to use as a gag.

Irina simply nodded to my words and started preparing herself for her role. It wasn't too long before her eyes started tearing up and became bloodshot once again. In addition to that, her facial expression appeared to be one of a genuine fear as well.

”Irina!”

The gym door opened with ferocity and the middle-aged man that I saw earlier stood there by the entrance with the setting sun shining behind him, making it so that it was his silhouette that I saw.

”Mr. Solis,” I calmly said in an altered voice and made sure to brandish the knife. ”Mind closing the door? You didn't bring anyone with you or let anyone else know right? Because then—” I leaned forward so that my left hand was gently on Irina's lower chin and lifted it slightly in order to show her neck and the knife up against it to her father. ”—things will get messy.”

”Fine! Fine!” He said with his hands out before him and slowly backed off until he was at the door. Then, he closed the gym door, cutting off the sun's rays and leaving the gym to be illuminated by the few rays of sun that managed to pass in through the windows up near the high ceiling.

”What is it that you want?” Mr. Solis then asked. ”Money? How much do you want?”

”I think you got the wrong idea, Mr. Solis.” I brought my face closer to Irina's while maintaining eye contact with her father. In the meantime, although I couldn't see her face, I was certain that Irina was acting her part of the victim perfectly. ”I want your daughter.” As I finished with my sentence, I gently licked the side of her face for effect.

”Stop,” Mr. Solis reached out his hand in panic and took a step forward towards me. However, he knew that I had the initiative in this situation and refrained himself from getting any closer. ”Anything other than that. Just give me a number. I promise I can get you that money.”

”Yeah,” I sighed as I stood up to my full height while still having my left hand on Irina's shoulder, close to her neck in order to remind him that her life was in my hands. ”Money, money, money. You know once you get her back you can just use her to earn more of it. She's just a money-growing tree to you.”