With brutal force, he shoved me into the room and swiftly locked the door behind him.
The impact of the push was so powerful that my ankle twisted, and I collapsed onto the floor with a sharp hiss of pain. My hands reached out to my ankle, which was throbbing in pain but not more than the heart in my chest. It was pounding so loudly that it hurt and it seemed like I would have a heart attack.
Abruptly, he turned around, and his eyes flicked down at me.
“Nara” he said, sitting down to come face-to-face with me. “You got hurt?” He asked with his eyes, searching for the area where my fingers were resting. “Oh my”
He picked me up and made me sit on the bed as if I were just a small baby for him before walking to the drawer, most probably searching for a first aid kit. The way he was reacting sent shivers down my spine, it was far from normal. It was as if something had taken hold of him, and he appeared to be teetering on the edge of sanity.
My skin crawled with unease, and I was more frightened of his behaviour than the pain in my ankle. I desperately wanted to hide somewhere safe, somewhere he couldn’t see me and reach out to me.
My throat felt dry, and my breaths grew shallow as my eyes darted toward the door. While he was preoccupied with searching for something, I mustered the courage to slowly shift my position, attempting to inch closer to the door and the possibility of escape. But before I could make a single move, he returned with a can of painkiller spray, his gaze fixed on me with an unsettling intensity.
He was behaving so normal in the morning that for those hours I thought that I had gotten old Ansell back but I was wrong. I kept forgetting that he had transformed into a devil, losing not only his sanity but his humanity as well.
The room was dimly lit but it appeared dark and scary because of the presence of Ansell. I had been in the same room with him countless times before, but today was different. There was an unsettling darkness about him that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. I couldn’t even breathe, and even though the door was in front of me, I couldn’t make a run. I was so terrified at the moment.
He sat on his knees in front of me and was about to grab my leg when I pulled it back.
“I am fine, Ansell” I said as I tried to move my leg away from him.
“No, you are not” he breathed out, determination in hid eyes as he seized my leg before I could pull it away completely.
With one hand, he held my leg firmly in place, and with the other, he gripped my foot. Once he was certain that I wouldn’t move my leg, he picked up the bottle and sprayed the painkiller on my injured ankle.
After spraying the painkiller, I thought that he would now leave my feet and me for my own good but that doesn’t seem to be the case. His hold on my feet tightened as he looked up, his eyes now red and his expression dark and scary.
I swallowed hard, horror washing over me.
I knew I needed to stay strong in front of him but the things he has done with my brother have actually scared me. I know he can actually do what he says and this time I don’t know what he has for me in his store.
I just hope no one else gets hurt because of me.
With one hand still firmly holding my injured foot, his other hand reached for my palm, which rested on the bed. I was so stunned by the sudden shift in his demeanour that I remained frozen in place.
He entwined his fingers with mine, his thumb slowly caressing the back of my hand with a bone-chilling intensity that sent shivers down my spine. It was a touch that felt more a threat, just like someone stroking a goat before shearing it. His eyes locked with mine, daring me to move my gaze away.
“What did my Nara do behind my back?’ he inquired, his voice husky and laced with a threating undertone.
He used the same tone that a mother used to ask her child about the day but it was threatening to the core.
My eyes widened at the realisation, and goosebumps rose in every inch of my skin. He knows it.
God!
But I still composed myself with te thought that maybe he doesn’t know the full truth and is playing a game to know everything from me.
“I.. I rested” I bit my tongue to stutter when I was supposed to react normally.
My chest moved up a d down with every deep breath I took, the more I was breathing, the more my lungs were getting out of oxygen.
“And?” He further probed with his thumb, which was caressing me, pressing deeply on my bones.
“And… Help Grace in.. ”
“In making calls” he interrupted me.
“Ahhh” a loud, painful yelp escaped my lips when, all of a sudden, he twisted my fingers back cruelly. “You.. you are hurting me, Ansell” I managed to say in between my pain because, at this point, it felt like he would break my fingers bones.
“Ohh!
Abruptly, he left my hand and feet and raised his hands in surrender.
“Sorry, sorry” he said softly, completely opposite to the rudeness with which he treated me a moment ago
I rubbed my fingers with the other palm, tears pricking my eyes from both the physical pain and the emotional turmoil.
“But what about the pain you have inflicted on me Nara?” He asked, his hurt him deeply when in reality, the situation was entirely the opposite.
Instead of saying anything, I just kept my mouth sealed, my lips pressed tightly together. I didn’t want to enrage him more.
Today, I was actually scared of him. He was looking and behaving like a complete psycho.
Slowly, he stood up, and I lifted my legs on the bed, crawling back slowly.
“What do you have to say about the pain that you have given to me?” He asked as his knee rested on the edge of the bed.
My heart was thumping loudly in anticipation. I don’t want him to come near me.
“It hurts” he said, pointing at his heart. “It hurts a lot”
My breath raced up as I quickly turned around to crawl out of the bed but before I could put my plan into action, he grabbed my ankle and pulled me under him.
As he hovered above me, his intoxicated breath washing over my face, I realised that he was drunk. My eyes widened with fear, for every time he had been inebriated before, things had taken a nightmarish turn. He couldn’t handle the effects of alcohol, it made him lose control.
“Please, Ansell, let me go” I pleaded, my voice trembling with terror.
Scared was a small world to say.
I was traumatized.
“I will not!” He roared into my face, and I trembled beneath him, shocked by his sudden outburst.
Slowly, the expressions on his face once again shifted and they became soft. His one hand was pressed beside my head, taking the weight of his body, while the other moved to my face. My body was in between his knees, trapping me under him and his mercy.
With his knuckle, he softly grazed my cheek before gently ticking the hair strand behind my ear. For someone, it may be loving gesture but my heart was pounding in my chest because it was anything but normal. His eyes followed his fingers before they moved to meet mine, freezing me at my place.
“Who is Jonathan?’
He finally asked the question, which I had been scared of for such a long time. His tone was calm but it held enough threats to make me run for my life.
This time I could see the devil in his eyes, the one who had been missing since I had gained consciousness. The one who allowed me to talk my brother and took me to the cafe was someone else and I am sure he had some selfish motive behind it.
Now he is back.
Now, that darkness was back in his eyes, and it seemed to want to consume me, to ruin me, to possess me.
“Please Ansell” I stammered, utterly terrified.
My hand slowly moves up to his chest to push him away or calm him down.
Anything that could save me from him .
“I was scared something Tereso”
A shiver ran down my spine at the way he said ‘Tereso’ because it was not filled with affection the way it always had but this time it held a warning.
“Who is Jonathan?”
He emphasized each word, his teeth were clenched together, and it seemed like he was struggling to control his anger, restraining himself from lashing out physically.
If I told him who Jonathan was, he would definitely go for him. I was such a fool that, in my haste to find the truth, I forgot that the person in front of me was Ansell, who was looking at every move I made.
Instead of making this action and involving Jonathan in it, I should have played his own game and gained his trust first when he showed me his softer side. Why hadn’t thought about this before?
I will not be able to forgive myself if something happens to Jonathan because of me.
And the beast hovering above me seems dead-set to ruin him along with me.