The sun sets tomorrow

      The darkness, the stuffiness, and the unpleasant feeling of dry mouth made the girl open her eyes. As soon as she opened her eyelids, a sharp pain hit her head and throbbed unpleasantly in her temples. Her whole body felt stiff, her bones ached, and her wrists and ankles were bound tightly with rope that scratched painfully at her delicate skin. Overcoming all the pain, Lyra looked around the room and had absolutely no idea where she was. The whole room was musty and poorly lit, the lamps occasionally flickered with white hospital light, the small window, which was closed on a strong bolt from the outside, did not improve the situation, gray uneven walls pressed their weight, in some corners rested mold, the smell of which unpleasantly seeped into the lungs, and the tiles on the floor froze the girl's bare feet. At one end of the room lay a dusty old mattress, and not too far from it stood a rusted metal toilet bowl with an equally awful sink. And on the opposite side was an iron door that blended its color with the wall, its presence distinguished only by its black handle. Even a maximum-security prison would have better conditions than this. Nausea rose involuntarily to her throat, the whole room swam before her eyes, and if it hadn't been for the creaky old chair she was sitting on, it was more than likely that Lyra would have fainted now. She resisted as best she could her mind's attempts to pass out again, but this time she failed miserably. Some time passed, and consciousness again decided to visit the brunette, who did not realize how long she had been sitting like that, but the stiffness of movements and sharp pain in her back made it clear that it was quite a long time. Slowly the realization of all that had happened caught up with the girl. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn't make a sound, her blue eyes that had once glistened were now as cloudy as a swamp. What had she done wrong? What had she done wrong? Thoughts plagued her already buzzing head. Thinking was all Lyra had left to do, but often thoughts lead us to unwanted memories. Her soul let out a wail as images of her best friend's death flashed before her eyes. He was dead. She would no longer be able to talk to him, hug the tiny boy, tell him a bedtime story. Would never be able to thank him for everything time after time, and would never hear his ringing laughter again. She was almost alone, only her brother could help, the hope of salvation warmly lit somewhere deep in her young heart. Ray, the Ray she knows, loves and waits for, would surely come and save her.       The brunette was brought out of her thoughts by a noise at the door and a long creak. A dark figure appeared in the shadow of the threshold, the girl tried to see a rather tall man, who was still digging with a rather weighty bunch of keys, but she didn't have to strain her eyesight for long. The man walked slowly into the room, and in the half-empty room the clatter of his shoes could be heard very clearly and echoed slightly. His face was quite unfamiliar to the poor girl. Light and in some places gray stubble adorned a malicious grin, brown eyes with a squint burned a sharp look. Digging through her memories, Lyra realized she hadn't seen him, he wasn't one of the men who'd broken into their house, and when they'd put her in the car, there'd been no one there but them. Though she vaguely remembered what happened next, but she certainly hadn't seen him. He looked too rich for an ordinary servant like those two. He wore a sleek, tailored beige suit, the same color vest, tightly buttoned with amber buttons, tightened around his trim body, and a brown silk tie neatly pulled down the collar of his snow-white shirt. On his right hand was a watch, obviously not a cheap brand, and a weighty ring adorned his ring finger. His almost gray hair was styled in a neat style. The man kept looking around, making a silly expression, occasionally snickering at his own thoughts. Lyra eyed the man warily, she didn't understand what he wanted from her, but she guessed that he was the one who had given the task to those ambassadors. Silence filled the room again, the man stood across from the girl, scrutinizing her from head to toe. “So that's what you are, Ray's little sister,” his low, husky voice made the girl wince. He looked directly into the blue eyes forcing Lyra to utter a single word, nervously swallowing the saliva that had accumulated, she still dared to ask the question. “Who are you?” from the long silence the voice was quiet and the words almost unintelligible, the man only smirked at the girl's question, but after a bit of thought, as if making up some story, decided to answer. “Who am I? I'm William, and what's your name?” after these words the brunette tensed even more, what was all this circus for she didn't understand and simply kept silent. Most likely this man knows everything about her for a long time. The smile of the interlocutor did not fall from his face, which caused a slight shiver all over her body. “Well, this is what I expected. You'll have to forgive my lack of hospitality, I just want my precious money back, you know? Your brother is a very bad gambler, always messing around. And now he has lost to me several times, and now he is not a small debt,” the man paused his train of thought to let the girl get a word in, but she decided to miss this chance, instead she continued to listen to him attentively. “You've been held hostage to a very unpleasant situation, Lyra. I always keep my promises, and I promised your brother that I would make his life a living hell if he didn't hurry up with his payments. As you can see, he didn't care. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting, but my patience broke, and that's why you're here,” William's voice was soft and velvety, his every word, every sound, like a snake coiled around her neck and strangled the girl. “I've been gathering information on him just in case, my subordinates have been keeping tabs on Ray, on his life. I know everything about him, everything about you, even that strange boy who lived with you, I know about him too. Speaking of him, I hope you can forgive me for this little misunderstanding,” Lyra visibly tensed when the man started talking about Lulu, which amused him immensely. “How much money does he owe you?” finally Lyra spoke up, all this time this question had been maturing in her mind. “Are you sure you want to know the answer?” the brunette remained silent, signaling that she needed to hear the amount. “He owes me about five hundred thousand pounds,” the girl's eyes visibly rounded, Lyra tried to inhale but unexpectedly to herself, she couldn't, her breath came out. She couldn't imagine that her brother was hiding such a thing from her, that he wasn't telling her anything. She knew Ray had debts, but it had never occurred to her that his debt could cost her life. “But he'll never be able to rack up that amount of money, he can't repay that debt!” even now, tied to a chair somewhere in the basement, Lyra wasn't thinking of herself, but of her brother. “If he doesn't pay you back, what will you do to him?” The smirk fell from the man's face, the first time someone's words had caused him genuine surprise. Laughter erupted in the room, William still couldn't stop, but what made him laugh so hard, Lyra didn't understand. “So you're worried about your brother who's out on the town enjoying his freedom? And yet you're not exactly in the best position. You're funny, Lyra,” the man's words made her think, because it was true. She doesn't know what they'll do to her, how long she'll be here, but she's still worried about Ray, not herself. “He should have valued your love, because he's bound to lose it.” “I still want to know what's going to happen to my brother.” “You seem like a smart girl, don't you have a clue yourself? I'm going to kill him,” William's answer lodged in the little head, her lips began to quiver in an attempt to say anything but it was as if her voice had left her, she couldn't lose another loved one but she realized that her brother could die and there was no way she was going to let that happen, the reflection was interrupted again by a low voice. “But you don't worry, you got so tense right away, I didn't even feel comfortable. Ever wonder why you're here?” the girl shook her head negatively. “I gave him conditions. Ray has exactly one month to find the money, if he pays back everything he lost, then I, in return, will give him you back. If he doesn't, you die, and then he dies. No offense, but I don't like it when someone or something interferes with my plans.” “You mean you're going to kill me..?” she was truly scared now, fear of death, fear for her life; Lyra didn't want to experience feelings like that, and it was all her brother's fault. “Well what are you so worried about? Your brother won't leave you alone and will save his little Lyra,” he leaned a little closer to the frightened girl and began to look her over. The man brought his wiry hand up to her face and gently squeezed her cheeks. The pungent smell of male perfume permeated her nose and the cold fingers felt unpleasant on her skin, but Lyra didn't resist, she realized that any movement she made might not cause the most positive reaction, though the urge to bite him was growing with every second. “I'd hate to kill such a pretty girl, you're very pretty, Lyra,” the man rubbed her head and in doing so fluffed up her not particularly neatly styled hair. The ribbon that held the thick strands finally fell away. “Oh, sorry, didn't mean to mess up your hair. I have to go, nice talking to you.” William headed for the exit, opening the door he stepped outside the threshold where it was still dark. “Hey thug, I hope you have the brains to untie her or do I need to remind you of that?” the man shouted a few words somewhere off to the side, clearly unhappy that his subordinates were doing the wrong thing. Another man entered the room, there were more visitors in this place today than at the Opera Garnier, but the performance here would not be as majestic as the same ballet or concert. The man was also unfamiliar to the girl, apparently there are tons of people and guards here. He came up to her and cut the ropes with a knife, which also hung on his belt, just like the scumbag who killed Lulu. Yeah, they're armed to the teeth here. Lyra finally felt free, she immediately began to stretch her arms, feeling a pleasant weakness spreading throughout her body. Finished with her release, the man hurried away and locked her “cell” with all the deadbolts. Now it was unknown when she would be able to talk to someone, but that was not important, more important was when she would be able to get out of here. Thoughts immediately began to swarm in her head, and each one was crazier than the other. “He'll definitely come.” - flashed through the girl's mind. All she had to do was wait for Ray to take her away, for him to solve all these problems and for them to be happy, to go somewhere far away from here and start a normal life. No debt, no danger, no problems. They've been through enough already. In one fell swoop, too much on the poor girl's head. Aren't they entitled to a good life? Lyra's only wish was to get out of here as soon as possible, and she was sure her brother wouldn't leave her so easily.