Chapter 6

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?" - John Lennon

"Bitch" His voice echo through the empty building sending ripples bumping against my skull. My feet comes to a pause and I grab my head with both my hands each on a side. Stop. I need the voice to stop.

Suddenly I fall onto the ground my face hitting the ground instantly. The sound of teeth clenching pain in my ear. An enormously heavy shadow crush me to the ground. I can't scream. I can't move.

The inner line of my mouth is plastered with the horrible taste of metal. Warm thick liquid wet my dry lips letting drops roll over my cheek to the ground.

I try pushing the weight of off me, but it is too heavy. My lungs heaving for air. I cant breath. I am suffocating. I loose control over my arms and legs. My whole body turn numb. I need to fight this. I need to.

My eyes start fogging up and my vision becomes a blur. Everything is growing darker until there is nothing but darkness. Nothing to see. Nothing to feel. Nothing to hear.

Peace fall over me. It feels better. Nothings hurt anymore. I am free of pain.

"Don't worry sweetheart. You won't remember this."

"Stop!" My eyes snap open. My body is trembling and my heart accelerating. I grab my head between my hands and pull my knees to my chest.

"Lilith?" A distort voice vibrate through my ripping thoughts. "Are you alright?" I don't answer I keep my position. Scared that if I move that weight will find me again.

"I am going to touch you, okay?" I wait to feel something, anything to prove he is real, but there is nothing. I am to scared of lifting up my head from my knees. "Lilith. I won't touch you if you don't want me to. I need you to give me permission." A soon as I rub my head against my knees Arthur pulls me onto his lap.

"Shh. Baby." Arthur's hand remove a strand of hair from my face. "Just a nightmare. You are save." He reassure me, but this was no nightmare. This is real. It might be in my head only, but that doesn't mean it's not real. My stomach grows tighter at my thoughts.

"Relax bby." Arthur feel my body growing more tense by the second. Drops of sweat break out on my forehead and then my whole body starts damping up. I need the bathroom.

I stumble to my legs holding on to anything that will keep me upright. The couch, the table. Arthur. The wall. I fall to my knees infront of the toilet as soon as I enter the bathroom. I choke it all out. The pain. The thoughts. The memories. The blood.

"Feeling better?" I nod at Arthur who keep brushing my hair away from my sticky face. My stomach is empty and settling. The pain evaporates over my body and my lungs seem to be filled with air.

What is happening to me. I mentally dismiss myself trying not to get hysterical again. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. I splash cold water onto my face then wash out my mouth when I notice Arthur standing behind me in the mirror, carefully watching me. He keeps a distance between us. I dry my face and drape the towel over a hook next to the mirror and leave the bathroom. Embarrassed and full of self doubt.

"I am sorry." I sigh when Arthur enter the room. He doesn't make a sound, but I can feel his presence. I am afraid of what he might think of me and scared boneless of what he might do to me when he grows irritated with me. I fiddle with my fingers laying on my lap.

"I have seen worse." He shock the hell out of me with his response. I was expecting a 'What is wrong with you?' Or 'Are you mentally ill?' Kind of question which I don't have the answers of, because I don't know. The last time I had experienced something like this I was in high school. All the pressure came down at me at once. School work, homework and my stepfather pushing all my emotions. Hiding the marks on my body, coming up with lame excuses for wearing a jacket when the sun burns redness to your skin or the 'I fell.' Excuse accompanied by the occasional blue eye. It all got to much and I don't like history repeating itself.

"Are you better now?" Arthur's hand on my knee pulls me from the disturbing memory.

"Yeah... sure. I was just..." I murmer placing my thumb between my teeth.

"Don't." He breath and I tilt my head to the side over my shoulder watching him. "Don't bite your nails and don't think so much." I frown jerking my hand back to my lap. "I don't know how to deal with this, okay. I have seen this happen before and I don't know how to handle it." He whisper more to himself than me his eyes turning a deep dark.

He saw this before. Who? Maybe they can understand what is happening to me. They who he clearly care deeply about and he couldn't deal with it then. He won't be able to deal with it now. Panick grip my mind and my body start shaking. I don't mean anything to him. I am just here, unsure what the reason for that might be. Maybe he is going to kill me.

"Relax baby..." Arthur's grip on my knee tighten, but he doesn't hurt me. "Please just calm down." He breath crouching infront of me. "Listen to me. Come back to my voice. Follow me." He whisper positioning a lost strand of hair behind my ear. "You are save with me. No one is going to hurt you." The darkness subside from my thoughts as I listen to Arthur's soothing voice.

I place my hand over his and a single tear escape my eye and roll over my cheek, but he quickly wipes it away with his thumb, but the unanticipated movement compel me to yank back my head.

"You are scared of me." Astonishment stick to his tongue. Yes. I am afraid. Why so surprised. The moment you stepped into my life after what happened my whole life started falling apart. There is people trashing my apartment, people shooting each other in cold blood and then there is the part of being kidnapped. All coincidence? I think not. "Look at me." He cup my chin arching my head up so I can see his face.

My green eyes meet another shade of blue. I have never before met someone who's eyes are so filled with emotions. What's that they say... Your eyes are the windows to your soul right. "Sometimes." I shrug. What else am I to say. If I say no he will detect that I am not being truthful. I am a bad liar. On the other hand I can't tell him that I am scared. He will have a field day ordering me around like he already does. Maybe even worse.

"I know there is no reason for you to trust me, but I am asking you to please try. See me as your temporary guardian. There is people out there who wants to take you and as soon as you are no longer of use to them..." He pause sucking in a deep breath before he continue. "They will kill you."

"But why?" I question. "What can I possibly give them?"

"Answers." He get up to his feet. Clearly he doesn't want to talk about it, but this concerns me. My life. I have the right to know why they are willing to kill anyone in their path to get to me. Either way I am going to die.

"Tell me." I order not recognising the sound of my own voice. I bounce to my feet. "I said tell me!" I grab his arm turning him around. Anger cloud my thoughts and fury claw it's way through my veins.

"No." No? He stare down at me. I grind my teeth together my nails digging into his skin, but he doesn't move, doesn't twitch as my nails get covered with his blood.

"You tell me!" I shout.

"You saw the person who killed his son." His voice is a mere whisper. His eyes emotionless. I stumble backwards on my feet. Flashes of the man on top of me that night flaunting infront of my eyes. I am the reason he is dead.

If I just stayed home that night like a planned to. If I didn't get mixed up with that man. This never would have happened. I thought I was being saved turns out that was only the start. "Who?" I question Arthur through foggy eyes.

"A man known as Junior Kuznetsoc. Son of Viktor Kuznetsoc." He take a step closer to me. "The Boss of the Russian mafia."