Help from a stranger again

EPISODE 6: 

Nothing could be said to have been better than sleeping in the arms of a beloved one. But on this very night, Danica neither had that liberty or ability to wish that she could have Tristan in her arms. His voice had been on the other end of the line, even as she took her bath, and prepared for bed and so had her voice caressed his heart till they both lay on the bed. Though in different bed and in different countries.

Tristan’s voice cooed and coaxed her till she finally fell asleep, leaving behind the day’s worries and the events that had taken place.

However, the night was neither peaceful or beautiful as it should be. For the very first time in a long time, she had slept without Tristan beside her and the nightmares had returned.

*******

The night was dark and the beautiful sunny day was washed away with darkness and rainfall. The heavy down pour was loud and wicked. Thunder sounds threatened to tear the world apart and the skies sparked with the lightening that spooked the little girl who was hiding under her bed, scared out of her mind.

Tears were dropping from her eyes and her cries were getting higher and higher the more the rain poured, the more the thunder rumbled and the more lightening caressed the skies. Danica, the only child of her parents who was spoilt silly and pampered without restraint was already a high schooled lass, yet she was still very scared of the rain pour, the thunder sound and the lightening that came with it. It had always been that way since she was a child and it always spooked her. Her mother always did her best to come to her during this time and stay with her all night and her father, no matter how busy he was always made sure that she never felt scared if the mother was not there. The family of three was peaceful and loving and she was simply their brightest star.

However, this particular memory had always turned into a night mare for her. That night was in fact, one of the very nights that neither of her parents came to her. And she had hidden under her bed, where she felt safe and away from the sound and lightening. The thunder rumbled and the room vibrated and shook more thunderously and the very fact that her parents were not there on such a day only made her even more scared. They had never been away from her on such occasions. Her mother had promised to come talk to her immediately she was done having a shower and it was already an hour, yet no one was there.

Just as rain was coming to a stop, a different sound rose from a different part of the room and echoed loudly. The familiar sound of the gunshot made her scream and more came soon after. With the rain clearing up, the chaos from down the stairs became louder and clearer and rumbling and loud footsteps followed. A scream followed as someone was pushed into Danica’s room.

With a loud thud, Danica’s mother fell to the ground and the familiar blue eyes that she knew was always filled with warmth were now filled with fear and tears.

*****

Right before Danica could finish recalling such memories, a loud bang on the door spooked her up from her sleep and she jumped up with her heart racing inside her chest.

Opening her eyes to the bright morning, tears streamed down her eyes as a sharp pain pierced through her chest, almost suffocating her. She gasps and instantly placed her hand on her chest as she tried to hold back the pain, yet it had spread, making more tears stream down her eyes.

Whoever was banging at the door did not just stop and continued with the assault on the door. Her heart was racing too fiercely to even consider the door and so was her chest hurting too much. The pain was suffocating and breathing was more like a hassle, the fight for the fittest and she was not winning. With each second that passed, her breath was coming shorter and the pain within was growing. The pain from a past life, or the pain gotten from the lack of oxygen that was supposed to be circulating her body, no one knew. But one thing was for sure, she was hurting badly.

When no one came for the door, the banging didn’t let up, it instead grew fiercer and louder. There was a certain urgency to the way the door was being assaulted and with each minute she sat on her bed, the assault only increased.

“Danica….” A voice boomed fiercely when no one opened the door. she turned to the door, with tears covering her vision. She opened her mouth to speak and tried to gasp for breath, yet nothing worked and no words could form. It was just like the other day, where she needed help and ended up getting one from a stranger. This time, she was in the confines of her apartment and there was no way she could get help.

The violent assault on the door increased and whoever was at the other end started hitting and pulling at the door knob with more urgency. There was a terrible feeling in the air and getting no response from her would only mean that something was wrong.

Danica opened her mouth to try to say something, still, it was nothing but suffocating and for a moment there, her body went stiff. In her bid to get help, she pushed herself to get up from the bed, yet her bones and muscles didn’t agree with her. They had gone completely numb and with a loud thud, she fell to the ground.

The door was slammed off it’s hinges at this particular moment and in the matter of seconds, a familiar person came to her line of sight. His strange eyes held concern as he immediately helped her back into a sitting position, while squatting beside her.

“Shhhhh…”

“Came down,” his hoarse and breathy voice, accompanied by that familiar scent of him hit what was left of her senses. He ran his hands through her back in an up and down motion and pulled her closer to himself.

“Listen…”

“Take deep breaths….”

“You will count with me, okay.”

“Come on now….”

“Count with me,”

“One….”

“Now take a deep breath,” he ordered. And she immediately did as she was told.

“Exhale…”

“Two…. take a deep breath…” he continued.

“Come on, you can do this,” he coaxed and gently ran his hands through her back.

Danica listened to his voice, allowing it soothe her while she adhered to his instructions till, she could finally feel herself. When it seemed like the worse was over, weakness overcame her and her body leaned into his in complete exhaustion and fatigue. He neither moved away nor acted like a stranger and simply allowed her relax against his body, while his hands moved in an up and down motion at her back.

Silence followed the movement and the silent stretched for a very long time. Danica shut her eyes and tried to put herself together till her heart eased and the pain completely went away. The silence stretched for so long, but it didn’t matter neither was it uncomfortable. Not when the beat of his heart was loud and soothing. In a regular pattern, it simply cooed and called out to her, helping her own wary heart calm down as well. Till his scent became even more evident. Cinnamon and spice.

Like a blow and a wakeup call, she jumped up from his body, realizing that a stranger who she had only just met was right there at her room, holding onto her like his life depended on it.

“What are you doing?” she jumped up from where she sat and moved away from him, keeping some distance between them both. His lips twitched and amusement began to dance in his eyes as he stood up to his full height. He did not give her a reply at first and instead rubbed his nose, then he sniffed. Lilac, lilac, lilac. He had perceived that damn flower and had to tolerate being so close to her just so she could be fine and that was how she had to react. Resisting the urge to use a different spray to spray the entire room in order to push that scent aside, he moved away too, creating more distance between them both.

“I just saved you again,” his voice came with a grin. A grin that could brighten once day and take away the darkness and nightmares of her life. The grin on his face only enhanced his handsome face and made his eyes sparkle and dance with a certain glow.

Danica wanted to say something to refute this but shut her mouth in the next second. It was true that he saved her, however she looked at it.

“How did you get in here? What are you doing here in the first place? Are you stalking me?” she asked instead. This was the same man that she should be away from, the one that she had to wary of.

“I wanted to say hello,” he answered confidently, not finding it weird one bit that he was right there. How could he when he had intentionally come there to her. He truly had wanted to simply say hello. He was on his way to see his father in the Deane’s manor and since he was so close by, he thought of paying her a surprise visit. He was truly looking forward to seeing her reaction and had not mind anything at all. He did not mind the fact that she was a stranger to him. He made sure he passed through the lock door and even went ahead to check on a few things in the house. His assignment had started the moment he laid eyes on her and he was willing to go all out to have his fun. Just when he was about to knock hard on the bedroom door, he heard screams, whimpering, then a loud gasp.

She might mean nothing to him, but he could tell something was wrong and had made way to open the door. Only it was locked and she was not responding to him.

“You broke into my house,” Danica glared fiercely at him. Her voice going colder and harsher at his confidence.

“Don’t forget that I saved you,” he chipped in and ran a hand through his hair while he turned around and took a long glance at the room, he was in. He still did not care that he should not be there, neither did the angry woman affect him. He walked around the room casually like he had been a guest or someone who was inspecting something. He didn’t stop till he came across a picture that was standing at her bed side. A picture of her and Tristan which he picked up.

“I think you should leave,” Danica stormed towards him and snatched the frame that he held. He had no right to be there and she was scared that she would never get rid of someone like him. That thought left a terrible feeling at the pit of her stomach.

He turned to her, the grin he had earlier and the casual demeanor he carried falling away into something cold. His brown eyes were a little colder and darker and his face was in a very tight frown. The air suddenly turned tensed, making her heart skip and she took a step back from his threatening gaze almost immediately.

Without saying a thing, he turned to the door, where he had casually come through to save her and started towards it. When he got to the door, he stopped and stared at the hinges that he and his men that ruined.

“I will get someone to sort the door,” his breathy voice boomed with malice and coldness, it made her shiver.

“And for someone who always has a panic attack, go to the hospital and learn how to do the exercise that would help. I might not be there the next time this will happen.”