Chapter 28

I almost couldn't breathe.

The heavy footsteps were getting closer, and I held onto my phone tighter. I hoped it would slow down the pounding of my heart too.

"If He finds you..." Nick's voice sounded almost growling, "Run."

I wanted to answer, but I bit my lip hard to stop myself. I wanted to ask where He was, I just wanted to hear His voice speaking. Anything to lessen the fear gripping me right now. I pushed my body into the corner of the cube, into the darker part. I hid myself under the table, barely visible. The only way He would know my hiding place was by checking each cube on this floor one by one.

"Alice... you take the lift. I'll check the emergency stairs," Nick's slightly out-of-breath voice sounded again, it seemed like He was running. A little relief eased my fear.

"El—Ella?"

My heart almost stopped when I heard the voice echoing on this floor.

"Ella, I know you're here..." He repeated, but His voice sounded scared.

"Ella, please... He—He will kill me if you don't come out." He spoke, sobbing.

"Eleanor, don't do it." Nick's voice sounded warning, I think He also heard what was happening from the phone. "I'm almost there, just two more floors. When I say 'run,' run to the emergency exit. Do you understand?"

I couldn't answer.

Nick was here. He came to save me, everything would be fine.

"Ella, please... I beg you." It took all my strength not to move from my place. Most of me wanted to get out of here to save him, or at least not to switch places with him.

This was all my fault, Ellie shouldn't have been involved in all this. Maybe she came to the office to pick up Mr. LeBlanc who was late coming home and...

"Ella..." the next moment I heard His voice screaming my name, all the fine hairs on my back stood up along with His next scream. "P—please..."

I almost stepped out of my place to surrender when I heard Nick's voice from my phone, which I was holding, "Eleanor, run!"

Hope mixed with relief gave me a new adrenaline rush to run. I no longer cared about the noise I made, I forced my feet to run without looking back at all. My eyes focused on the emergency exit door. One of my hands still holding my phone, I pushed the heavy emergency exit door with my body until it opened wide.

My body froze in place as I realized what was happening.

Nick wasn't here.

I faintly heard Nick's voice calling my name from my phone. Then I heard a small feminine laughter behind me.

"Looking for Nicholas? He's not here." Her voice changed 360 degrees from before.

There was no one in front of me, just silence and the dim light from the emergency stairs. I slowly turned my body to look at the two people standing a few meters in front of me. "Ellie?"

"My name is Elizabeth. Don't ever call me Ellie again." A small smile on her beautiful face disappeared quickly. I was still in awe looking at her when the man next to her moved towards me, my gaze shifted to him. He smiled kindly at me, his dark gray eyes looked familiar.

He was the man who bumped into me this afternoon. Standing near me like this, he looked intimidating.

"What... What does all this mean?" I tried to stay calm. My previous fear doubled instantly.

Elizabeth blinked at me, "Didn't Nicholas tell you?" She stepped closer to me until we were only two steps apart. I shook my head hesitantly.

"Such a shame..." she murmured before pushing me backwards. I was standing at the top of the stairs before, the next moment my body lost balance and slid down. Every step that hit my body felt like a baseball bat hit. Maybe only 10 steps, but when my body landed at the bottom, the pain spread throughout my body.

"He didn't tell you my name?" She repeated, this time she looked slightly disbelieving. I tried to look up while holding back the pain. Her brown eyes looked slightly angry. "I am His Leech."

I felt a bit of blood in my mouth from the wound on my bitten tongue. "Y—you?"

"Of course Nicholas wouldn't recognize me with this hair color and contact lenses. I changed myself, or more precisely made myself as similar as possible to you." She descended a few steps then bent down to look at me. "It took me a few weeks to do it, to look convincing. But I didn't expect it to be this easy. I've given him many clues, I didn't even change my name."

One of her hands circled my arm and then pulled me roughly until I stood. But I couldn't stand perfectly, my left ankle sprained so I had to put my weight on my right foot.

"Nick will kill you." I muttered angrily mixed with pain.

"I hope He does it before I kill you, Eleanor." Her voice turned cold, the fine hairs on my neck stood up again. "Thanks to Miss Morrel, without her, maybe my plan wouldn't have gone smoothly."

My heart clenched when I heard Lana's name mentioned. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. She's not my main target." She murmured. "But Nicholas is currently in Miss Morrel's office, and He thinks you're there too. Maybe right now He just realized you're not there... Hhhh, I want to see His expression right now."

Now I understood why Nick asked me to go to the 7th floor. Lana's office building only goes up to the 7th floor, while my office building goes up to the 12th. He thought I was in Lana's office... Nick was in the wrong place.

"Elizabeth, I think we should hurry."

Elizabeth smiled and looked up at the man, "Alastair, I'm done. She's yours now."

The man replied with a friendly smile, as if they had just talked about something pleasant. Both of them made my stomach churn, partly because of fear and partly because of pain. The man named Alastair reached for my arm, which had been released by Elizabeth earlier, and walked while pulling me down the stairs. Elizabeth didn't follow us, she just stood at the top of the stairs, looking at us with a cold expression on her face.

Deep down, I would rather be with Elizabeth, who threatened to kill me, than with this man.

"Please—"

"My name is Alastair. Nice to meet you, Eleanor." He turned to me with a smile. My whole body felt like it was doused with ice water. "There's no use for you to resist, you already know that, right?"

We kept walking down to the basement of the building. He didn't pull me roughly, he even adjusted my pace which was a bit slow because of my sprained ankle.

"What did Nick do to you?" I couldn't help but ask, even though fear still gripped me.

"Nicholas Shaw? He didn't do anything to me. We've only met a few times," he guided me towards a black Hummer and opened one of the doors for me. My bare feet touched the cold floor, then a few steps and stairs before stopping. He removed the black cloth covering my head, "I hope you don't try to remove it."

Something was wrong with his tone, sending a wave of panic down my spine.

We didn't speak during the journey, my head filled with speculations. My strongest guess was that they were just keeping me hidden here. I tried to calm my racing heart, the scent of the car freshener making me even more nauseous.

After nearly 45 minutes, he stopped the car and got out. A few seconds later, he opened the door for me and led me, still blindfolded, towards a destination. My painful footsteps echoed in the silence.

"You might want to freshen up. I'll wait outside," he said, disappearing behind the door. I looked around, in the middle of a large bathroom. Next to me, a marble bathtub big enough for four, and across from it, two sets of marble sinks. The ceiling had a large crystal lamp with gold stems, but I didn't see any windows. The only door was the one I entered through.

I had no other choice. I cleaned my feet and washed my hands. My fear had subsided slightly; it seemed my initial guess was correct. They just intended to keep me here. I looked at my reflection in the golden-framed mirror, my hair a mess, my face as pale as the surrounding marble. I was sure there were bruises under my blazer.

I had dropped my phone on the emergency stairs earlier, and my bag was still in the cube where I hid. There was no way out of here; the only way now was to follow their demands. I took a deep breath to calm myself, knowing I just had to survive until Nick came to save me. I hoped.

My fingers trembled as I touched the doorknob, cold against my skin. Alastair, the man, was standing with his back to me as I entered the room, wearing the same black T-shirt and jeans as before.

The room was dominated by white and dark gray, like the color of his eyes. In the center, a king-size bed covered with a white bedcover that looked new. He only glanced briefly before bending down to do something in front of him, and I tried to walk as far away from him as possible, looking for an exit.

"I've locked the door," he muttered as if he'd just read my mind. A large door in the corner caught my attention. As I looked back at him, my heart started beating faster again. He was busy setting up a camera on a tripod, just two meters from the bed.

"Why... the camera?" I asked, trying to hide my fear.

"For you."

"I don't understand."

"Eleanor, get on the bed," he said calmly, almost like his expression. His slightly messy brown-blond hair framed his friendly face, but his dark gray eyes were cold and distant.

"Why?" I took a step back until my back hit the wall. He didn't answer but started walking towards me. "What are you going to do?" I said, my voice starting to sound panicked, even to myself.

"You know... I prefer women who resist when they're changed." He muttered, standing a step in front of me. "And you can scream as much as you want." His eyes slowly darkened, almost turning black. Before I could run, his hand grabbed my arm and threw me onto his bed. Every fiber of my being wanted to resist him, but he was stronger. I tried to crawl off to the other side, but his hand gripped my injured ankle, causing me to stop kicking. He climbed onto the bed, his foot replacing his hand in restraining me. I continued to fight him, even though he was stronger. I tried to push him away, but he just laughed, then he forcefully removed my blazer, leaving me in just my white dress. His hand reached for my hair, pulling my face up to look at him. "Don't touch me!" I hissed, trying to kick him, but with my face buried in the bed, I couldn't be sure if my kick hit its mark. He grabbed both my wrists, pinning them above my head with one hand, while his other hand crept up my back, trying to unhook my bra. In a moment of panic, I realized that Nick's face suddenly appeared in my mind. His fingers managed to undo my bra, then he pulled the string from my back, pressing his lips just inches above my heart. His fangs tore through my skin quickly, and I felt every bit of oxygen in my lungs rush out, replaced by agonizing pain.

Alastair let go of me and got off the bed, "I'll lower the room's temperature to match your body temperature. Nicholas will pick you up after Elizabeth sends this video, I hope. Until we meet again, Eleanor."

I would kill him, I repeated in my mind as I watched his friendly smile before leaving the room. I forced my body to crawl off the bed, but fell to the floor in pain. My ribs hurt when I breathed, and the burning sensation in my body intensified.

"Nick," I whispered before the pain overwhelmed me.