"We just want to ask some questions ma'am don't be afraid" The policeman said after he had knocked and no one had answered. Skylar opened the door and greeted the officer "Good day officer is there any problem?"
"We recieved information about a missing child and tracked the child to have been in this location last before we couldn't track further. So we wanted to ask if you've seen any young girl like this" Another officer explained and handed a photo of a frowning Melanie to them.
"No, but if we ever see a child like that we'll get to you immediately" Skylar said and turned to go inside when a female voice screamed and pointed at Havana "Officers arrest that girl!"
Havana's heart leapt into her throat on sighting Brooklyn and when Brooklyn told the officer to arrest her, she knew she was done for. The officer looked confused and asked Brooklyn why Havana should be arrested. "This young lady left with the young girl earlier and now she's no where to be found!" Brooklyn ranted. Finding Melanie was not something Brooklyn would normally do. When she got the news that Havana and Melanie weren't back last night she just assumed that Havana was dead and Melanie would come back the next day. What got her scared was when the tracking device on Melanie's clothes stopped working, she feared for her head if Mr. Marcelo was to come back and find his daughter missing. Now she had seen Havana she could just blame her but not without letting her suffer first.
Havana could see everyone confused and Skylar, who didn't know whom Brooklyn was, frowned at Brooklyn's words. Havana joined them in their confused looks and explained to the officers that they didn't know who 'the ranting lady' was or who she was talking about. Brooklyn left but swore to come back with some evidence. The officers apologized for the harassment and left. Havana laughed hard once she got inside and Skylar got confused. "That's the Chief maid. She'll be so frustrated" Havana explained. Skylar gave her a friendly punch and shook her head. Amused also that the police could be easily manipulated.
"What's your plan now that you have escaped that place" Skylar asked. Havana smiled in response, she had big plans for herself and her stepmother.
**************
"First we need to move out of this house. I've got some savings that'll be able to cover our rent in an apartment in another town for a month. We'll do our shopping in a thrift store for now. Brooklyn knows where we are, we need to move. I'll see if the employment I got some days ago still stands. I'll call the moving van. We'll find a way to drop you off Melanie" Havana explained.
"Speaking of moving, what happened yesterday?" Skylar asked. Havana gave her the gist on her cemetery visit and they both had a lot of questions for Melanie. "You shouldn't just go around announcing what happened" Melanie said. Havana apologized and avoided asking Melanie any further questions.
The day had almost ended and Havana never felt happier to be free from the Mafia's mansion. The moving van had almost carried all the belongings, it was remaining the upholsteries and beds. After Havana tucked Melanie in and wanted to leave Melanie held her back. Melanie felt guilty after coldly responding to their question with a sly comment. It could be seen that they had no ulterior motive and Melanie felt a longing in her heart for Havana, it felt as though Havana was a mother figure in her life.
"I got introduced to the Mafia at a very young age. I always struggled to get my father's attention as I never received one and joining the mafia was the only way. I'm satisfied with my life and all but sometimes I wonder what a normal family would be like. I guess my father only saw me as a tool, he only remembered I existed when it was time to go on a dangerous mission, I guess he always will" Melanie struggled to steady her voice "The mission we went on yesterday was an easy one. Some new weapon was created by the strategic weapon agency and the mafia was told to test it out. Of course everyone wanted to have it in their hands so my dad kept it in a secret base and sent me to get them. We were supposed to be alone and I was supposed to kill you after that because only members of 'The Sovereign Order' are permitted to know such locations. I had everything planned out until you shot the caretaker. That part of the cemetery was forbidden and all past caretakers knew their limit but this one followed us, turns out he was from another Mafia and you shot him just in time before he could call his cohorts. What we didn't calculate was that he came with backup robots. I thought they were humans until I shot one and it broke that's when I told you to jump off the cliff and one of the robots shot me in the leg and...you know the rest" Melanie explained. Melanie looked out the window and Havana saw a tear fall down, Havana followed her eyes and saw her looking at a man who was shielding his daughter from being attacked by some wild dogs. Melanie dived under the covers and sobbed. "It's okay. You can cry it all out" Havana encouraged. She remembered when she always envied those with mothers and constantly demanding a mother from her father which pressured him to remarry, at least her father paid attention to her and always tried to make up for a mother's love. If someone told her that there were people out there in much worse situation than her she wouldn't have believed but here was Melanie. Melanie's sobs soon turned into faint snores. Havana smiled while looking at Melanie, she judged Melanie right before she could get to know her but now that she knows she well she would protect her with everything in her. Havana was still thinking when the door creaked open and a shadow came into view, too scared to turn, Havana waited for the worse.