Chapter 5

Aria barely managed to lift her head from the pillow The following morning. Every muscle in her body ached, her limbs weighed her down as if she were being crushed under an invisible force. Her eyelids felt heavy, her mind clouded with a sluggish fog that refused to clear. She groaned groggily, rolling onto her side, willing herself to move, but even the smallest amount of effort that she put in for this simple task drained what little strength she had left. It was like something inside her had been hollowed out, leaving behind nothing but exhaustion.

She wasn’t sick. She knew that. Not only that she was the type of person that rarely got sick, quIte frankly she just did not have the time to be unwell. But there was also no fever, no cold, no reason for the weakness that had wrapped around her like a vice. But something was definitely wrong.

For days now, she had felt herself slipping, growing weaker and weaker, more tired, more… empty. And the longer she carried those damn envelopes of money in her bag, the worse it seemed to get.

She hadn’t returned them yet. But it’s not like she hadn’t tried. She had.

But he hadn’t been there. It is like he has just disappeared.

And now every night that passed without him, she felt her body shutting down little by little. she could only put it down to some sort of placebo effect from the guilt and stress she was feeling about still being in possession of the money. 

The weight of it settled deep in her bones as she stared up at the ceiling, struggling to muster the energy to do something as simple as sit up.

She had to go to work. So she had to get out of bed.

Jade’s voice drifted from the doorway. “Aria, you okay?”

Aria forced herself upright slowly, gripping the edge of the mattress as a wave of dizziness threatened to pull her back down. She took a deep breath before answering, her voice hoarse. “Yeah. Just tired.”

Jade frowned, Letting herself into my room and stepping inside. “That’s more than tired. You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

Aria managed a weak chuckle, brushing her tangled hair out of her face. She knew she must look like absolute shit right now, she couldn’t deny it. “That’s probably because I haven’t.”

“You should call in sick.”

“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I need the money.”

Jade huffed, clearly frustrated. “Aria, you look like you’re about to drop. Just take one night off. The club will survive without you.”

Aria forced a smile, it wasn’t the club surviving without her that she was worried about. “I’ll be fine.”

Lying, that’s what she was doing. She wasn’t fine. She wasn’t even close to being fine. She had some crazy affliction that felt as though it was draining her very soul. And to top it off she had a bag full of thousands of dollars that was suffocating her like a pillow over face. But Jade didn’t know about the money. Didn’t know about the man. Didn’t know about the strange pull that had started tightening around her chest like a noose, suffocating her more and more each day.

And she couldn’t explain it to her, in part because she didn’t even understand it herself.

So she dragged herself to her feet, ignoring the way her vision swam for a moment, and started getting ready for work.

By the time she eventually stood in front of the mirror, after taking significantly longer than she usually would, she barely recognized the woman staring back at her.

Her skin had lost all its glow, her complexion now pale and almost grayish under the dim bathroom light. Dark circles hollowed her eyes, making them seem bigger, but not in a good way, they looked haunted. Her normally toned frame looked frailer, weaker, like she had lost weight without realizing it.

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably.

What the hell was happening to her?

She shook the thought away and reached for her makeup, attempting to cover up the signs of exhaustion. She wasn’t sure why she cared, why she was making an effort when she could barely stand, the last thing she should care about is how she looked, but some part of her refused to walk into that club looking as drained as she felt.

She didn’t know if tonight would be the night. Whether this was the night he was going to show his face again.

She didn’t know why she cared and she hated that she did.

Tossing her bag over her shoulder, wincing slightly at the ache it caused in her body and she headed out the door, feeling the weight of the envelopes inside.

The club was already busy by the time she arrived, the air thick with sweat, perfume, and the low hum of music vibrating through the floors. She stepped inside and immediately felt it, or she supposed the lack of something rather, she felt nothing.

He wasn’t there.

That strange tension that always gripped her when he was near was absent. There was no pressure against her skin, no shiver racing down her spine.

Just an empty, hollow void.