Chapter 4

I realized too late of the blunder I committed. 

The man stood there like a victorian warrior, in a black vest, a black trenchcoat and same dark hair. It was combed back, reaching right above the end of his nape. A light scruff shadowed the length of his jaw. 

He was the definition of perfection, if not for the slightly askew shape of his straight nose as though it had been broken before. 

"Leave," the word came out of his mouth in a low, gutteral command, and as soon it reached Nola and Tera, they took off in a heartbeat, leaving us all alone. 

Perspiration ran down my temple as I gulped. My eyes latched onto the doorway, contemplating on running, escaping. Maybe, not far, but at least away enough from this menacing stranger. 

In a slow, treacherous manner, his eyes turned to me, and all I could see there was raw, vicious hatred as though if he could, he would kill me again and again in the most excruciating ways possible. 

What caused him to do that was a puzzle to me. I didn't even know him for God's sake. Never seen his face before to plant that seed into his head. 

My mouth opened in an attempt to question him, but before I could even let out a sound, his body moved, shutting me up. In slow, predatory manners, he stalked towards me, making me take equal steps back. Ironically, I couldn't help but notice that with each step, his buff muscles flexed under his fitted cloth like it was struggling to keep his hugeness inside. 

And it worried me, thinking of how helpless I was before him, thinking of all the things he could do to me, and I wouldn't even be able to fight back enough. 

Since my luck decided to run out on me, my back hit the counter behind, sending a shiver down my back. 

He tilted his head, his physiognomy devoid of any emotion. 

"So you want to die." It was not a question, but a statement. 

My eyes widened as his hand shot to me, grabbing my hair in a tight fist. He yanked at it, positioning my head to the side and leaned down to my height, his hot breathing as if scorching the skin of my ear. 

"Let's grant you your wish then." 

His whisper barely registered in my mind as he tugged me by my hair out of the kitchen. 

"Stop. You're hurting me. Please!" 

Pain stung my skull, and my aching legs struggled to keep up with his longer strides. On the way across the hallroom, my eyes met the ones of Nola and Tera; one frightened, another satisfied. 

I sent a pleading look to Nola only for her to tear her eyes away with the most pained expression. Even she was helpless before this beast of a man. 

We were going up the stairs now and soon enough an opening came on which I assumed was the roof of this building. 

"Let go of me! I said let go!" 

He didn't budge, not until we stood right at the edge with no railings to protect. At this side, the forest seemed to fall apart into a steep cliff before continuing on in the other side. 

My throat dried just by the look of it. In my twenty-two years of life, there wasn't a day that I stood at the edge of a height and didn't feel the life sneak out of me.

Today was no exception. 

But before the situation could fully register into my mind, in a swift motion I was whirled around, and a tip of his finger met the skin on my shoulder. 

The ground from beneath my feet disappeared, and I found myself floating in the air. 

A scream echoed throughout the woods which suspiciously sounded like mine. I thought that was the end. That was how I was going to die. 

But then it registered I wasn't really falling. I was only floating. 

My eyes opened, and I steered them up to meet his hard silver ones. He was holding me by one hand, his expression showing no sign of struggle. Rather he looked as though he barely delivered any vigor in it. 

A whimper left me. My heart felt like it had constricted into the tiniest shape and hid deep into my ribcage. Even my tongue failed to produce any intelligible words. 

"Should I let go?" he asked, mercilessly.  

I shook my head, my vision blurring with tears. "N-N-No, p-please. D-Don't. Please, don't," I cried. 

Acrophobia was my arch enemy, and he had it figured out somehow. 

The corner of his lips curved cruelly. "Do you give in then?" 

"No!" The word escaped me before I could even stop myself. 

His jaw clenched, and I felt his grip loosening from around my wrist. 

"No, no, no, please!" I reached my other hand to grab his or anything for support, but unfortunately, it stayed frozen to my side. 

"Time is running, pet," he hissed the nickname my way. 

The world around began to spin as I looked down at the blue crisscross in the pit of the cliff. It was at least five stories down, and the current was so rapid it'd swallow even the strongest of men. Falling down there would certainly confirm my ticket to heaven or hell. 

Hell, I would get a heart attack way before I'd even hit the ground. 

But avoiding it would only mean giving in to him, and that was the last thing I would like to do at the moment. 

But the subject of liking didn't even matter in this situation. There wasn't an abundant of choices to choose from. 

All that consumed my mind was the fact that I had to stay alive for my papa. He might need me. I couldn't even imagine his life without me. He had gone through the agonizing feeling of losing a loved one before. I couldn't do this to him all over again. 

"I'm going to ask you one last time," he spoke above me, seeming to lose his patience to fractions. "Do. You. Give. In?" 

With great difficulty, I bobbed my head up and down as a drop of melancholy rolled down my cheek. "Y-Yes. Yes, I do. I do..." 

In another swift movement, I was hauled up and thrown on the floor, my shoulder burning from hanging onto it for long. 

"Excellent choice of words." 

"Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?" I hiccuped, looking at him. 

His expression hardened. "Everything," he clipped. "Everything that ruined me."