Chapter 4. The Hard Truth

I stood there, my legs begging to buckle, but I knew that I could not even dare to do that. I couldn’t do anything to make me even more vulnerable than I already was.

I needed to do something. I needed to get the hell out of here, that’s what I needed to do. But how…?

Gosh, I hated this. The ONE time that I had finally found someone and we clicked, everything falling into place, they ended up being a psychopath!

“You’re joking, right?” I asked him, chuckling as I hooked some of my hair behind my ears. “This has to be a joke, it has to be!” I waited for a response, but he just stared at me. “It has to be, right? Tell me you’re joking. All of this, including the shooting of the man, it’s all a prank, yeah?”

His smile faded a bit, but remained nevertheless. “Jules, does it look like I’m kidding?” He scoffed, rubbing his palm over his lips in a swift movement. “Your dad destroyed your life. He left you and your mother for a f*cking sl*t. Trust me, he deserved worse than what I did to him.”

I proceeded to take a step away, my heart pounding in my chest. My breathing was getting so fast and deep that it felt like I was going to faint, but I didn’t. “I want to go home.” Those were the only words that could come out of my mouth.

He shook his head. “No, my love. You don’t get it, you still don’t. You are my soulmate, there’s no leaving. You are mine.”

“And you’re sick,” I replied in a tone that showed that I was disgusted.

“Am I?” He smirked, taking a step closer to me.

I tried to step back again but my back met the wall. There was nowhere to go or hide. I was cornered, the blue-eyed handsome devil staring into my soul.

“Please…” My voice was shaky. Tears ran down my face freely and I sniffled, making no attempt to wipe them away. “If you truly love me, you wouldn’t want this for me.”

My words seemed to affect him, but I don’t know if this was a good thing or bad thing for me. He made a face that I could not decipher, then he sighed freely.

“Um…Jules…you do know that I’m not a monster, right?” His eyes looked so soft and trusting. “I’m not. We have known each other for four months now. There were times that we even argued; times that we were cold to each other, but we did work through it all, yes?” He was gentle with his tone, and for some reason it made me feel a bit calmer.

“You killed a man…you killed my father.”

“Only because he hurt you and someone you love. I did it for you.”

“But I didn’t ask you!”

He closed his eyes and breathed out deeply. After a few seconds, he opened them and locked eyes with me. “Jules, my real name is Chase. I’m twenty-seven years old and I am truly in love with you,” he began.

“My parents are famous, that’s the reason I chose to use that app that hides our identity,” he continued, a look crossing his face; something that looked like pain.

I think I was calmer now. Maybe it was because of the way he was talking to me. Or maybe it was his eyes, how soft and trusting they were. Or maybe it was the crazy fact that I just wanted him to be a normal person so that I could…so that maybe there could still be a chance for the both of us.

I know, I know, it was stupid. But I just really wanted to experience love too. Didn’t I deserve it as well?

“Your parents are famous? Are they movie stars or something?” I asked in a small voice as I hugged myself. There was still a hint of fear and nervousness in me though.

“Nope.” He shook his head, his eyes getting teary. “Let’s just say ten years ago, they were all over the news. My Mom killed my dad after finding out that he cheated on her. And um…she also killed my little sister before ending herself. The only reason I wasn't killed was because I was at a friend’s house when it all happened. And imagine, that was where I found out about it all.”

My heart broke for him, but how do I know that he was telling the truth? How do I know that he was not manipulating me? “How do I know you’re not lying to me right now?”

“I don’t ever lie, dear.” He looked offended. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, handing it to me. “G****e my name, you will see everything. Chase Blackwell.”

I tentatively took the phone from him. “Are you not worried that I might call the cops?”

He scoffed. “I trust you, Jules. You may not trust me, but I trust you.”

“Hmm…” I breathed out a sigh through my nostrils before looking away from him and down at the phone. I clicked the search bar and typed in his full name. Everything came up in seconds.

I clicked the first article and the whole story came up. He was right. He was telling the truth. But he did leave out one detail, and that was the fact that he had lost his mind after finding out what had happened, and could not speak for five years.

But started getting better and it’s reported that he disappeared and was never seen again.

I looked back at him before handing the phone back. “Oh…”

“Yep.” He popped the p in the word. He pocketed his phone and then shrugged. “But when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? After it all, I changed my identity, moved here to New York and I became an assassin.”

“An assassin…?” My breath hitched. The fear started building up again.

“Do you honestly think a person can go through everything that I have been through and be normal?”