CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO;

One can't help but

 freeze in front of the thing 

that they fear the most.

 —

The wind was already chilling and freezing, Agnes thought that she will not experience a temperature colder than that night until he came with a gun.

The silver gun was pointed at her from the distance. The polished muzzle of the deadly cold weapon glittered against the light of the moon as if mocking Agnes who once again saw herself trapped like a mouse.

Leon was standing still but his eyes are sharp and active, ready to shoot anything that moves.

Agnes didn't dare. She didn't move and stood still while her pale face was illuminated by the moon's mocking light. She was disheveled, far from the gracious and precious image that she carried for almost 19 years. Her red hair was like a bird's nest with blades of green grasses and dirt on top of it. She has a small wound on her pale cheeks, corner of her right eye, and lips and they were bleeding. The red blood slid down slowly on her face, painting it red.

The white loose shirt she was wearing is also covered in dirt and because she was wearing short shorts, her legs were covered by small wounds, old and new. She was on her bare feet but she was wearing slippers a while ago. She lost the pair in her run after realizing that it was easier to run without them.

"Found you."

 Leon said in a low and manly voice. This kind of voice can make girls go crazy, she was no exemption. She will also squeal like a hyena and will even blush because of it.

 Sadly, that was before.

The voice that supposedly will give you goosebumps and shivers in joy and perhaps, temptation, made Agnes shudder and flinched in fear.

She was very scared. She wanted to turn away and run then hide in her room. But also because of fear, she froze and her mind failed to function. It was as if she forgot how to walk and run.

You will indeed freeze in front of the thing that you feared the most. Agnes feared him. She feared Leon.

Leon's smile deepen and he walked slowly, very slowly, towards her. He was like a beast that was slowly nearing its trapped prey in order to intimidate and dominate it. If he was really a beast, he would be growling and overflowing with saliva.

He was indeed a beast, a beast in human clothing.

Seeing him approach, Agnes stepped back until her back laid flat on the surface of a tree. She almost trips on her feet many times in an attempt to escape backward because of the roots and stones but glad she didn't fall which made him suddenly agitated and accidentally pull the trigger of the gun and shot her.

"Now, now, why are you walking away from me?" Leon laughed briefly but the sinister smile remained on his lips. "If I remember correctly, you were being too clingy to me months ago, so why are you running away from me now?"

He crossed the distance between them and lowered his gun to her abdomen. Agnes felt the cold mouth of the silver gun pressing on her belly. She almost shouted but she bit her lip in time. Her cry escaped muffled.

The pathetic muffled cry reached Leon's ears. His black eyes glittered and his smile widen even more. It was an alluring smile. A smile of a devil.

He hold out a hand and then reached for her face. He caresses her small pale face with his big palm and long fingers. He touched and tapped her cheek gently with his thumb. It was cold. Her face was cold and she was close to having frostbite. He frowned at the texture. It was unpleasant to touch.

His thumb went to her lips next. He rubbed it and instead of feeling the soft, delicate, and plump feeling he always felt before, his thumb felt a whole different texture. It was rough as sandpaper but as his finger wandered, he touched a sticky liquid.

His frown deepens. He forced her to look up at her. Agnes was ducking her head slightly and he can't see what was on her face so he roughly used the hand that was holding her face to look up by her chin.

Because of the force, Agnes gave out an involuntary small gasp and whimper.

Thanks to the light of the moon, he saw the cut on her chapped lips. His frown was wiped away instantly and he softly said, "You cut your lip? You are a lady, you need to mind your actions."

The whole time that he was holding her, she tried her best not to whimper again. She bit her lips so hard that the small wound open up more. She tried her best not to shed tears but a stubborn one fell out. It trailed on the side of her face and she felt that side dampen.

Leon watched the small tear and he unconsciously leaned in and kissed the water. It was salty but he didn't mind, rather he even trailed his kiss up to her eyes.

The feeling of the smooth and moist lips made her tremble and she tensed. Her breathing stopped and she stared blankly in front of her. If her brain was working even a little bit earlier, it now stopped fully.

His lips were warm and his breath that was fanning against her cheek was burning. Agnes felt like she was a candle melting under the flame.

Leon was emersed with his butterfly kisses that he leaned more on her. The gun was pressed even harder than before. Agnes snapped into reality and her lips paled.

"D-don't..." She managed to grasp a word albeit shakily.

Leon clearly heard it. He smiled and leaned back to look down at her. He saw his face reflected in her silvery pale green eyes.

"Hmm?" He asked, gently putting his hand on her waist. He gently touched the small waist with his thumb and the movement sent thousands of electric shocks to Agnes.

She suddenly snapped and slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me!!!"

 She shouted in fear. The hand that slapped away his was shaking so badly. She slapped him. She slapped his hand away!

 Her whole body went cold and numb when she realizes it and she panicked.

Leon's face darken after she did that. His features suddenly turned gloomy and the atmosphere that surrounded him turned murderous. His red as fresh blood lips were pursed tightly and his jet black eyes were sharp as a knife.

His eyes stared directly at Agnes', she flinched at the sudden contact. She once again tremble under his gaze and she leaned on the tree more in a futile attempt to support herself.

'Good god,' she can't help but cry in her mind. 'Please help me!'

Right now, there is only one word that she can describe the beast in front of her; death.

Leon's face was void of emotion but his eyes speak louder than words; he was furious. He was mad. In anger, he grabbed her hair behind her and yank it down.

"Ah—!!!" Agnes shouted in pain. Leon used too much force that she felt the scalp of her head was numb. She also almost cracked her neck in the process of yanking her red hair down.

"You had only run longer than the other times, yet now you're acting like high and mighty?" Leon slowly said, mockingly. In every word he uttered, the hand that was gripping her hair tightened and the gun on her tummy was getting buried deeper than before.

Agnes gasped in terror and her shaky hands were pressed on his chest.  The tears that she refused to show were now showing themselves. They fell one by one on her pretty small face.

 "I-I'm so-sorry...!" Agnes cried. "I didn't m-mean to!"

She received no answer but he removed the gun from her abdomen. She can't see since she was facing upward.

When the cold mouth of the gun left her body, she sighed in relief inside her mind. But what Leon said next and his action made her shout—

"Since I don't want to shoot you right now," he held the gun up then he smiled at her sweetly. Agnes' eyes widen as she stared at the silver gun in fear. "I'll hit you with it instead!"

"NO—!"

[London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady.]

The gun paused midway and they both paused. The handle of the gun was a milimeter away from her forehead, it almost hit her.

Agnes was closing her eyes and when she heard the familiar melody, the tense body she have almost melted on the ground. Her eyes were filled with tears but there was unmistakably joy in them.

Leon paused when he heard the familiar song. He pursed his lips and loosen his grip on her hair before walking back and leaving a big distance between the two of them.

Agnes' body went mushy and she sat on the ground, gasping.

He stared at his wife on the ground before sneering and walking away. "What an unlucky day." He muttered on the wind.

Agnes didn't move until he completely disappear from her sight. She gasped again and the sound of cries that she held back for too long resonated against the still wind.

It might be an unlucky day for him but she was in her luck. The song that was meant for the children was still there, singing along with her cry. That song, was the mark that means the end of the game.

She cried and cried her eyes out in joy.

'Thank god,' she said inside her heart. 'I have survived another day of the hunt.'

—