4 - Intruder

Kate gathered as much pearls on her palms. Some had rolled away into the darkness and Kate inhaled before wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

She was on her knees and couldn't stop sobbing in the lonely quiet night. Harry had gifted her the necklace with so much love and affection, and Edmund had destroyed it in less than three hours. She didn't know what to do and hurriedly carried the pearls back to her bedroom.

She lighted a candle on her bedside table and rushed straight to her cupboard. She pulled out the first drawer and took out glue and some thread. She sat on her bed and frantically started to slide each pearl on the string. Her breathing was shaky while trying to put the necklace back together but failed miserably.

The pearls all came out and scattered all over her floor. The string was of high quality and a simple glue and thread couldn't fix the damage already done. Kate now felt ashamed and blamed herself for not taking very good care of Harry's gift. It was the first time Harry had bought an expensive gift for her and she allowed Edmund to destroy it.

She didn't know how she would face Harry the next day if he asked her about the necklace. With a heavy heart, she dropped all of the pearls and string into her drawer and closed it. She then looked into the mirror and her eyes widened when she saw the carnation flower petal sticking out of her hair.

She was instantly reminded of him. Those piercing gray eyes that always made her tense and shiver. That face that didn't want to let her go nor let her breathe, and she couldn't run to Mr Collin to inform him about Edmund harassing her all of the time.

She had hoped Edmund would stop bothering her at some point but it seemed that day wasn't coming anytime soon. And she was even more worried now because Harry was leaving the day after tomorrow, and Edmund would have more grounds and boundaries to run after her.

Irritation and anger flared in her cerulean eyes and she quickly removed the flower from her hair and threw it to the floor. She could never accept any of his gifts, forget the gifts, she couldn't stand the sight of Edmund being close to her. Edmund was a person who only spelled trouble and doom and Kate didn't want anything to do with him at all.

“Love, my foot.” she hissed as she stomped her foot over the flower a few times, making sure she squashed and flattened it under her foot. She then sighed and the sudden inspiration she had gotten earlier had vanished from her head. She was too distracted and sad regarding the necklace to even lift her pen into the ink jar. Instead she freshened up and got into bed to sleep and called it a night.

............

The cool night breeze sweeped through the opened windows and past the rustling curtains. The full moon's glow casted a pool of light into Kate's bedroom.

The door to her bedroom clicked softly from the outside before it slowly opened and a tall shadow peered into her room.

The sound of boots echoed softly against the floorboards with a clomp.

Kate was a deep sleeper, once her head hit the pillows, she wouldn't wake up until the rooster crows at dawn. She had no idea an intruder had invaded her room, and just not tonight but many nights before.

The looking shadow hovered over her sleeping figure.

He was upset at her and he wanted to hate her for what she had done to him, but after looking at her - her angelic face, her golden locks of hair that were scattered all over the side of her face, her lips that formed a smile while she slept like an angel, his anger had vanished in an instant.

“Harry cannot love you like I do, princess.” Edmund declared possessively, tracing his long fingers on her face.

Before heading to bed, he had always made one last stop before going into his room - her bedroom. It became his daily routine and he couldn't stop himself. He always needed to see her face before falling asleep, as only her face could make him not to have nightmares. Only she gave him peace.

“You really hurt me today when you rejected the flowers I sent to you with so much love.” He continued, his gray eyes burning into her skin as she slept soundly. “You disrespected my love, princess and preferred Harry's expensive gift over mine.”

He saw her smiling in her sleep and all he wanted to do at that exact moment was to grab her by her shoulders and wake her up immediately and to ruin her beauty sleep knowing she obviously wasn't dreaming of him but of Harry.

“Even in your dreams you still think about him!” Edmund gritted with raw jealousy. His hands balled into tight fists and his face hardened with rage.

He didn't know what to do. He wanted to really hate her, he swore, he wanted that more than anything else - to not feel anything for her and simply discard her in the same way she'd always done with him, like he was dirt and wasn't worthy of her. But every time his gaze settled on her, he couldn't help but fall more and more in love with her. Her rare and simple beauty, her innocence, her naive mindset and most of all, her kind soul - everything about her beguiled him and somehow it made the emptiness he always felt inside of him feel complete and whole in the blink of an eye.

Kate moved and stirred a little but didn't wake up. Instead she hugged her pillow tightly while smiling widely in her sleep and wrapping her legs over the pillow, like she was hugging someone very dear to her.

Edmund's jaw tightened, not able to bear the sight of her smiling so much in her sleep and was probably imagining Harry as the pillow, and hugging him so tightly. The scenario immediately played like a movie in his mind and he abruptly moved away from her.

“You are mine, princess. Only mine. Even in your dreams, you would only think of me.” He muttered before he stormed out of her bedroom, but not before moving some objects on her table onto the floor that were sure to make loud crashing sounds.

Kate's eyes fluttered open with a panic as she immediately rose up from her sleep. Her eyes frantically searched her whole room before they landed on her things that were now on the floor.

Kate finally relaxed after realizing it was her small antique box that fell and had caused the loud noise. She then turned to her window and felt the cool breeze seeping in softly into her room. She immediately concluded that it was the breeze that knocked off her things.

She then flipped over her covers and placed her feet on the floor. It was then a familiar woody scent hit her nose. Her whole body began to tremble once her brain had registered Edmund's cologne.

She didn't want to assume anything and her eyes darted to the door. She quickly rushed to the door and locked it from the inside. Her heart was pounding as Edmund's scent still lingered in her room and she covered her mouth as her eyes widened in horror and her mind wondered only one thing. Had Edmund been to her room while she was fast asleep?

The thought of Edmund walking into her bedroom in the middle of the night like a psycho just to bother her made her blood run ice cold.

Her instincts were sounding alarm bells in her ears as Edmund coming into her room was the only explanation for how his scent was still lingering in the air in her bedroom.

Her eyes scanned her door once again to make sure she had properly locked it before she rushed back to get into her bed and got under the covers, but her mind remained restless and sleep had now drifted far away from her.

Edmund had gotten what he wanted. That she only thought of him and no one else.