Chapter 8: Sacrifice

Narrated Aitana

The night felt too short, and it was no wonder, in the middle of the rain I had to flee the island, because my husband wanted to kill me. So, neither in the car, nor on the yacht they used to take me off the island, I couldn't sleep. 

When I arrived at the house where I thought I was going to rest, many questions flooded my mind, and I could not sleep no matter how hard I tried. Exhausted, I see how the weak rays of the sun, cross the fabric of the curtains, while I check that it is not a dream what I lived last night.

I look around and see my wedding dress that looks like anything but a wedding dress. I get up knowing I won't be able to sleep and using only my sheets to cover my nakedness, I enter the bathroom I refused to give myself last night.

"God, hopefully water is what I need to wake up from this nightmare" I ask in a whisper, as the water begins to moisten my body, as it mocks my naive thought of waking up from a reality where evidently, I won't be able to get out.

I finish taking a long shower and because of my weak defenses, I start sneezing over and over again. Frustrated that I'm going to get sick, I wrap myself in the extra sheets I can find, while waiting for my underwear to dry, so I can wear some clothes.

Being in such a large and unfamiliar room, I feel in danger, so, no longer sleep deprived, I start to wander around the room that might as well be an apartment in the city and there would still be room left.

Also looking for something to wear, I find men's clothes and seeing that it's not a good idea to be naked, I end up putting on one of the shirts I find, while still without underwear, for fear of putting on a stranger's used underwear.

Just as I finish getting dressed and step out of the closet, I spot a man who might as well be over six feet tall. His back, I find frightening because of how muscular he looks, but I don't even try to run away, because I know he could grab me and in one move kill me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask in an icy voice and that makes the man whose back I could only see, turn to me looking at me with surprise.

"You're alive" Helmut whispers in surprise and I look at him in confusion.

'Does he think he's seeing a ghost or something? Maybe he thought he killed me last night.'

'I'm alive. I'm sorry if that disappoints you' I whisper coolly and surprisingly enough, he sighs in relief and opens his arms to give me a hug that confuses me.

'Why is the man who had treated me in the worst possible way last night hugging me like he's glad to see me alive, could it be that he hit his head hard last night and the effects are just coming out' I mentally ask myself as he pulls away from me a little.

"Good thing you're still alive." Helmut whispers sighing deeply.

"Well, I hope I'm still alive for at least fifty more years." I say turning away from him.

It is when I follow his gaze, that I remember that I have no underwear on and that because of the cold, my aureoles have hardened, highlighting their shape above my shirt. Immediately, I cover my breasts, so that he notices that I have seen him being a pervert.

So, he clears his throat as he comes out of his reverie and I watch him as he is, a complete pervert who is not a little embarrassed about touching a woman who has not given him permission to do so.

As much of a husband of mine as he is, he is a complete pervert and that is something I have been sure of since yesterday. The man I married without even having a ceremony is a complete pervert.

So, I move a little further away from the man who has not yet earned my trust and it is at that moment that I sneeze so hard that I get scared and when I look up, I discover that I am not the only one who has been scared.

"You're sick" Helmut whispers coldly and I'm surprised at how quickly he changes from joy to anger.

"Yes. I think I've caught a cold" I whisper and that makes his gaze harden so much that the hatred in his eyes is positioned in just a small space of that gaze that would freeze even the sun.

"I knew it was too good to be true" Helmut says harshly and I look at him confused as I watch him get angry at something that is out of my hands to control.

"It's just a cold. You shouldn't be mad at me, when you know all the time I was in that cold rain last night. If I didn't get sick, it wouldn't be me," I say as I watch her bring her hands to her head, as if she's made a grave mistake.

"You're the only one who got sick, and we were all in the rain even longer than you, Baitana. That just explains that you're not what I was looking for," Helmut says tormented.

"Well, if you were looking for a woman who wouldn't get sick, you should have been looking for a girl who had a good defense system and not someone who had leukemia as a child." I tell Helmut and he opens his eyes in surprise.

"What did you say?" asks Helmut with obvious annoyance.

"I don't understand why you are surprised; didn't you do any research on your wife?" I ask curiously as he sits up in bed as if I had thrown cold water on him.

"How did I not know about that?" asks Helmut and I look at him confused.

"Now that's strange, because I was on the verge of death because of it, and it was your father who gave the money for my treatment and expedited the marrow transplant process. It's because of his help, that I'm alive" I say remembering that uncle wasn't always a bad man.

"Then that's why, isn't it?" asks Helmut smiling, as I confirm how his mood swings are the signs of his insanity.

"What are you talking about?" I ask confused.

"My father wasn't a good man who wanted to do a good deed by saving you. In fact, he was a monster who bought you as if you were a piece of meat that his precious son must eat to satiate his appetite a bit.

>> That's what you are. A foolish sacrifice that won't cure me, but it will give me a momentary relief, while the next victim arrives. That's what our marriage is all about. He saved you, so I could kill you at my whim." Helmut says walking towards me with a look that makes me recoil in fear.

"What are you talking about?" I ask in fear.

"And I was the fool who went along with his plans without realizing it. We were both led into a trap blindfolded, wife." Helmut says taking a bit of my hair to play with it and then look at me angrily "The only difference is that I will survive the trap" he says in an icy voice and then walks away.

My legs lose strength and I fall to the ground in a daze.

"What did he just say?"