I realized too late of the blunder I committed.
The man stood there like a victorian warrior, in a black vest, a black trenchcoat and same dark hair. It was combed back, reaching right above the end of his nape. A light scruff shadowed the length of his jaw.
He was the definition of perfection, if not for the slightly askew shape of his straight nose as though it had been broken before.
"Leave," the word came out of his mouth in a low, gutteral command, and as soon it reached Nola and Tera, they took off in a heartbeat, leaving us all alone.
Perspiration ran down my temple as I gulped. My eyes latched onto the doorway, contemplating on running, escaping. Maybe, not far, but at least away enough from this menacing stranger.
In a slow, treacherous manner, his eyes turned to me, and all I could see there was raw, vicious hatred as though if he could, he would kill me again and again in the most excruciating ways possible.
What caused him to do that was a puzzle to me. I didn't even know him for God's sake. Never seen his face before to plant that seed into his head.
My mouth opened in an attempt to question him, but before I could even let out a sound, his body moved, shutting me up. In slow, predatory manners, he stalked towards me, making me take equal steps back. Ironically, I couldn't help but notice that with each step, his buff muscles flexed under his fitted cloth like it was struggling to keep his hugeness inside.
And it worried me, thinking of how helpless I was before him, thinking of all the things he could do to me, and I wouldn't even be able to fight back enough.
Since my luck decided to run out on me, my back hit the counter behind, sending a shiver down my back.
He tilted his head, his physiognomy devoid of any emotion.
"So you want to die." It was not a question, but a statement.
My eyes widened as his hand shot to me, grabbing my hair in a tight fist. He yanked at it, positioning my head to the side and leaned down to my height, his hot breathing as if scorching the skin of my ear.
"Let's grant you your wish then."
His whisper barely registered in my mind as he tugged me by my hair out of the kitchen.
"Stop. You're hurting me. Please!"
Pain stung my skull, and my aching legs struggled to keep up with his longer strides. On the way across the hallroom, my eyes met the ones of Nola and Tera; one frightened, another satisfied.
I sent a pleading look to Nola only for her to tear her eyes away with the most pained expression. Even she was helpless before this beast of a man.
We were going up the stairs now and soon enough an opening came on which I assumed was the roof of this building.
"Let go of me! I said let go!"
He didn't budge, not until we stood right at the edge with no railings to protect. At this side, the forest seemed to fall apart into a steep cliff before continuing on in the other side.
My throat dried just by the look of it. In my twenty-two years of life, there wasn't a day that I stood at the edge of a height and didn't feel the life sneak out of me.
Today was no exception.
But before the situation could fully register into my mind, in a swift motion I was whirled around, and a tip of his finger met the skin on my shoulder.
The ground from beneath my feet disappeared, and I found myself floating in the air.
A scream echoed throughout the woods which suspiciously sounded like mine. I thought that was the end. That was how I was going to die.
But then it registered I wasn't really falling. I was only floating.
My eyes opened, and I steered them up to meet his hard silver ones. He was holding me by one hand, his expression showing no sign of struggle. Rather he looked as though he barely delivered any vigor in it.
A whimper left me. My heart felt like it had constricted into the tiniest shape and hid deep into my ribcage. Even my tongue failed to produce any intelligible words.
"Should I let go?" he asked, mercilessly.
I shook my head, my vision blurring with tears. "N-N-No, p-please. D-Don't. Please, don't," I cried.
Acrophobia was my arch enemy, and he had it figured out somehow.
The corner of his lips curved cruelly. "Do you give in then?"
"No!" The word escaped me before I could even stop myself.
His jaw clenched, and I felt his grip loosening from around my wrist.
"No, no, no, please!" I reached my other hand to grab his or anything for support, but unfortunately, it stayed frozen to my side.
"Time is running, pet," he hissed the nickname my way.
The world around began to spin as I looked down at the blue crisscross in the pit of the cliff. It was at least five stories down, and the current was so rapid it'd swallow even the strongest of men. Falling down there would certainly confirm my ticket to heaven or hell.
Hell, I would get a heart attack way before I'd even hit the ground.
But avoiding it would only mean giving in to him, and that was the last thing I would like to do at the moment.
But the subject of liking didn't even matter in this situation. There wasn't an abundant of choices to choose from.
All that consumed my mind was the fact that I had to stay alive for my papa. He might need me. I couldn't even imagine his life without me. He had gone through the agonizing feeling of losing a loved one before. I couldn't do this to him all over again.
"I'm going to ask you one last time," he spoke above me, seeming to lose his patience to fractions. "Do. You. Give. In?"
With great difficulty, I bobbed my head up and down as a drop of melancholy rolled down my cheek. "Y-Yes. Yes, I do. I do..."
In another swift movement, I was hauled up and thrown on the floor, my shoulder burning from hanging onto it for long.
"Excellent choice of words."
"Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?" I hiccuped, looking at him.
His expression hardened. "Everything," he clipped. "Everything that ruined me."
Another day passed. Yet that was the last time I saw him when he put me in a spiral of perplexity from where I could find no path, no hint even to make even the slightest of sense. 'Everything. Everything that ruined me.' His last words haunted me the past nights, raking my head for even a sliver of memory to confirm I had indeed done something horrible that dismantled someone's life. But no. There was none. Even if I had a memory efface like I had before, I would at least remember tidbits from here and there. I'd at least remember his face. That face...So pulchritudinous, yet so minacious. Not a face one could forget just with the passage of time. Though not just his face, it were his eyes, his voice, his whole personality that held this regal, sporadic aura that one could hardly manage to obliterate from even the cavernous depths of their minds. At least, I couldn't. But then why...Could he mean something from my past life? Maybe I was a judge, and he was the criminal I
I looked through the mirror. The girl that stared back looked nothing like I remembered. Her bright blonde hair was in a tangle, and the electric blue of her irises almost faded to a baby blue. A small cut reddened the spot over her left eyebrow where the bandage occupied previously. It was healing. Sighing, I slid the worn-out shirt over my head and gasped from what I witnessed. There were bruises all over my pale skin, taking the shades from black to blue. Some even nearly matched the red crystal in my necklace that rested in between my breasts. They hurt when the tip of my index finger poked, making me hiss and lean over the sink. I thought about it. I thought about it all, since the day I first moved to the night my life changed all over again. Even three days ago I was a happy girl, partying with my short-term friends despite the fear of the unknown monster. I supposed what you couldn't see wouldn't hurt enough, but what you did see, what you heard with your own ears struck har
"Rule number one-" Tera circled me, "You'll call the Alpha by master." I sent Nola, who stood by the wall, a look as in to say, 'Was she for real?'She only looked away as usual. "Rule number two: You will do as he says, whatever he says." She stopped before me, crossing her arms, a small smirk played on her lips like she very much enjoyed this. "Without any delay," she added. I regarded her for a brief moment. She stood at a good ten inches taller than me with her heels, her toned muscles in the biceps flexed with her movements. Judging from that and her thuggish attitude, she was perhaps the hitwoman for their gang. Taking her down would be a difficult task. "Rule number three: no arguments or talk backs, or there will be consequences." "What about my questions?" I had still a thousand questions to ask from Hades who I had to apparently call master from now on. In which century were they living in? The 18th? "Bury them," she clipped, taking a few steps closer. "If you fear fo
"Ready my dinner." I heard him say while I sprinted out of his room in a lightning speed, both from embarrassment and fear. By the time I reached downstairs, my cheeks burned, and my heart hammered. I had been staring. I had never stared at a man like that before. Except at pictures of Henry Cavill, but that was another thing. And what was worse was that for a second, I almost admired his masculine beauty. I should hate him, loath him, abhor his mere existence for separating me from my papa and spewing bullshit about him. I didn't believe him. Not even the slightest. With each minute passed, and I thought about my father committing murder, I hated myself even more for letting myself get carried away into this. Letting out a sigh, I started towards the kitchen when from the corner of my eyes the mahogany front door caught my attention. A daring thought crossed my mind. Almost immediately my eyes shifted up the stairs. He was taking a bath. Undoubtedly he would require time. No
When my eyes opened the next day, the sun shone bright outside, the trees basking in it. I could even hear the sweet melody of birds chirping from the cracks of the leaves. It was a beautiful day. Only my life wasn't so. Dragging myself up to a sitting position, I groaned from the ache in my joints. Everything hurt, and I realized it became a daily thing. My nose scrunched from the stench my mouth and breath held. I looked ahead at the widened door of the bathroom. If the feeding session was a nightmare, then what came next was pure torture. All I could remember was bolting to the bathroom and vacating my stomach of the vile content I had forcefully consumed. After that everything was a blur. How many more times I threw up or how many times I fainted, I lost the count. Even my clothes smelled of that awful miasma. I glanced at the small clock that Nola left on the bedside table, and my eyes rose to my hairline. It was 11:27 am. Why did no one wake me up? Fear rushed through my vei
The tip of a hot finger traced along my jawline, before a masculine voice whispered into my ear, "Are you resting well, pet?" "Mhm," I responded, stirring in my sleep. "Well, that's not something I can let happen," he drawled. My eyes shot open and found two familiar silver ones staring back. They were hard, so much I almost missed the glint of dark amusement playing in them. I jolted to a sitting position on the sofa in the living room, sinking farther in as his hovering figure inched closer. I felt like the smallest creature caught in the headlights of a giant truck. He didn't say a thing, just stared. Though he didn't have to, because the daring aura surrounding him did all the talking on his behalf, and it didn't take me more than a braincell to know I got him pissed. I suddenly had the urge to chastise myself. How could I let myself fall asleep down here in the open? Then again I wasn't expecting him for another six hours considering he just left not two hours ago. Nonethe
"What?" I watched Tera wide-eyed, blinking. "You have exactly two hours to finish them," she said, seeming unfazed by my reaction. "Are you joking me?" Her lips pursed. "Do I look like I am joking? Get to it already!" I looked down at the piles of dirty clothes that must have come from at least a hundred people. Dried mud and traces of moss stained every single one of them. What were they even doing? Playing reptiles on the ground? Earlier Tera brought me to a new house. No, it'd be a mistake to call it a house. It was more like a mansion with four stories and probably two hundred rooms. Though its appearance was nothing compared to the beautiful hell I resided in now. Loud cackles came from the living room as a whole group of young men crowded there watching tv and snacking. Kids played outside, and women hurried around with their chores. Seemed like they all lived together in here. The pack house as they called it. This small town was as though a modern version of a tribe. Th
"Good luck."Tera's last words filled me with a dread so cold and edgy I had to stop myself from clinging onto her when she pushed me inside Hades' house and slammed the door behind.Turning around, I glanced around at the darkness, my heavy breathing filling the space.I thought Hades was already back. Then why were the lights turned off?Spreading my arm, I found the edge of the entrance table and tip-toed forward with its support. My other hand fumbled on the wall, looking for the switches. They had to be here somewhere.At that moment, I hated myself for not paying attention to them before.A feeling of something cold touched my foot, and I jumped a few feet away, a squeal leaving my mouth. Dread crept up my spine a little more, as I moved to the other side and groped on the wall once again, while sending prayers to the heavens.Appeared God finally paid heed to me when my fingers landed on the switch board, and overwhelmed, I pushed them all on.The house brightened up like the m