It has been a few days since that incident happened. Yet, the image of her stepfather’s dead body still stuck in her head. Melody tries everything to stop thinking about it, but whenever she looks in the mirror, she sees herself holding the gun.
Blood on her hands.
Somehow, this is hunting her. It might be fine for the others since they are born into this dark world, but Melody was born with love and delicate stuff. Not blood and gun.
Damian walks out of his study room. He saw the servant standing outside Melody’s door holding a tray of food. He furrows his eyebrows and walks toward her.
“Why are you standing here?”
The servant flinched, “I’m sorry, sir. But… I just want to send Mrs. Melody her lunch. She… she hasn’t eaten her lunch yet.”
“Again?” he frowns. This is the third time. When they’re eating in the dining room, she will eat a small amount.
“Yes. This today’s breakfast also, she didn’t come to the dining room,” the servant informs.
Damian sighs deeply. He looks at the door and then at the servant. He grabs the food tray, “It’s okay. Just let me handle this. You are dismissed.”
“Right away, sir,” the servant bowed her head before walking away.
He twisted the knob and thank goodness it unlocked. The door creaks open, and he takes a peak to see Melody sitting on the bed, staring out the window. She looks like she is in deep thought.
The way she clenches her bedsheets clearly shows what she thinks. Damian shuts the door and walks towards her. He put the food tray on the desk beside the bed.
“Why you didn’t eat your lunch?” Damian question.
Melody flinches and looks up at him. “When did you… come in?”
“Just now. I ask again, why you didn’t eat your lunch? This is the third time, you know?” he narrows his eyes on her.
“I… I don’t have appetite,” she mumbles.
When she says that, it only makes Damian frustrated. He sighs deeply and sits on the bed. He gazes at her hands, which are trembling.
“You need to eat, Mel. You will get sick if you don’t,” he says firmly.
“I… I don’t want, okay?” Melody says.
“If you don’t eat, you will get sick and die. Do you want to die?” Damian raised his voice, “I’m being nice here. Eat before I stuff that food in your mouth.”
“Do whatever you want. I don’t fucking care!” she scowls.
“Don’t challenge me, Mel. You know I will do it without a second thought,” he glares at her.
Melody looks at him with a sharp gaze. As if she was challenging him and wouldn’t even change her answers. He sighs and gets up. He reaches for the bread in the bowl before turning to her.
“What are you doing?” she furrows her eyebrows.
“I told you. Eat, or I will stuff the food in your mouth,” Damian says, filled with threat.
“No, mean no!” she yells.
“You ask for it,”
Damian pushes her to the bed. He tried to stuff the bread in her mouth, but Melody held his wrist. His hand pinned her other hand on the bed. He tries to push it, but Melody keeps fighting it and turns her head to the other side whenever he tries to push the bread into her mouth.
“Ugh! Let me go, old man!” Melody snaps.
“I wouldn’t until you take a bite of this bread!” he says, being stubborn along with her.
“No! Take that bread away from me!” she talks back.
She couldn’t lie but admit how good that food smell was. It makes her stomach grumble. But whenever she tries to eat, something happens.
“Why no!? It didn’t kill you! It will kill you when you don’t eat, dumbass!!” he yells, trying to push it harder.
“It just no, okay!? Can you just go do your work like an old man do!?” she grunts.
“I’m not an old man! Also, this ‘old man’ is the one who trying to save you!!”
Melody grunts when he doesn’t give up. She pushes him, and both of them roll around, putting Melody on top of him. She straddles his waist.
“I said no means no!!” she glares at him.
“Oh, you want to die by starving yourself, huh!?” Damian scoffs.
“I-I just don’t okay!?”
“Why!?” he pressed her.
“Just no!”
“Why!?”
“I said just no, are you deaf!?”
Damian gets frustrated, “WHY NO!? CAN’T YOU JUST TELL ME WHY NO!?”
“BECAUSE WHENEVER I TRY TO EAT, ALL I THINK ABOUT IS BLOOD ON MY HAND!!” she bursts out.
Damian furrows his eyebrows. She bursts into tears, gripping on his top. Tears dripped on his chest. The tension in the air subsides. Damian sighs, knowing that trauma still haunts her.
Melody cries so hard and leans to his neck. “I… I keep seeing blood on my hand… I just… I just can’t…”
She crying so hard. She buries her face on his chest. “Please… make it stop…”
Damian sighs deeply. He caressed her head while his other arms wrapped around her waist. He didn’t stop caressing her head thinking it the best way to calm her down. He didn’t expect her to be this bad.
“Hey… everything is past,” he whispers.
“But… I can’t… I can’t…” she whines, panting heavily.
He grabs his waist and hoists her up. Her forehead reached his lips. He kisses her forehead gently and continues caressing her hair. His lips make Melody stiff; it sends an electric shock through her body.
“I know it’s hard for you, but please… take care of yourself too. If you got a hard time with it, come to me,” Damian says, with a hint of affection and gentleness.
Melody doesn’t say anything and just nods. They stay in that position for a while. Damian couldn’t believe he was hugging someone for a second time. Not because he has to… he wants to.
He just couldn’t take it when she shed a tear. The pain in her voice is too much for him.
“You kiss my forehead…” Melody speaks up. Her tone was laced with teasing.
“Shut up before I throw you off of the bed,” he threatened.
“I know you wouldn’t,” she giggles.
“Is that a challenge?” he grins.
“Don’t you dare,” Melody lifts her head with a glare.
Damian just let out a low chuckle. “Whatever. Now, I want you to eat. If I come back and there’s still food on your plate, don’t do something nice for me.”
She rolls her eyes as she gets off from him. She leans herself on the headboard and brings the tray to her lap. The food looks delicious and she could feel her stomach grumbles even more.
Melody was about to grab the spoon but halted when the image of blood appeared once again. She gasp.
“Mel, calm down. It’s over. There’s nothing… no blood… nothing,” Damian reminded her.
She close her eyes and let out a sigh. When she opens it once again, it’s gone. “Yeah… it’s nothing.”
She starts to dig in. It felt like years that she didn’t eat so peacefully. Even if it is just a few days. Damian lifts himself with his elbow. He watched her eat, every move she made.
Melody munching her food, looking at him with a sour expression. “Can you stop looking at me? It giving me creep.”
“I have to make sure that you eat every single thing on your plate,” he says, not moving his gaze away from her.
“I will, okay? You didn’t trust me?” she arches her eyebrows.
“Me? Don’t trust you?” Damian chuckles, shaking his head slightly. “You got to be kidding me. Out of a billion people, you are the only person I didn’t believe in.”
Melody rolls her eyes at his sarcastic answers. She smiles a bit knowing he say that just to tease her. For the person who just met him, they will think he insulted them or meant it. But, Melody could see it.
It’s just he’s not good at showing it directly and clearly.
“Can I ask something if I succeed in finishing this food?” she grins.
“What is it you want?” Damian grunts.
She smirks, “A kiss on the forehead.”
Damian’s eyes widen a bit. He looks at her stunned. Then, when he saw her smirk, he glared at her.
“Don’t even think to tease me,”
“What? I’m just requesting,” she shrugs her shoulder. “I bet if I tell this to-”
He narrows his eyes on her, “No. Mel, don’t even think about it.”
“Geez, I’m just suggesting. I bet they will be shocked especially Matthew,” she laughs. “They will say like ‘Oh my God! The cold-blooded Damian is being a softie!!”
“Oh Lord, save me from this woman…” Damian rubbed his face with his palm hands.