Enemy Beloved

50 | revealed

"You bloody bitch!" he curses as I try to get up again but he is quicker and he grabs hold of my hair, tugging it hard.

"Ahh!" I scream as one of my hands reaches behind my head to grab his arm while the other twists around, grabbing his wrist.

I try to twist his arm but he is stronger than me. Much stronger and bigger. My few days of training wouldn't give me an advantage against him. I wish I was faster. I wish I had more time. I could have at least died fighting.

He suddenly lets go of my hair and flips me around so that I land on my back. He hovers over me, pressing the knife over my throat. His weight is on my thighs as he grabs hold of one of my wrists. I try to shove at his chest with my other hand to no avail.

"You know what?" he hisses in that harsh, inhuman voice. "I've changed my mind. I'm just gonna kill you and be done with it. He's going to find you anyway. He's going to see what I did to his love. He will know what it is like to lose someone because of someone else."

"I...I don't know who you're talking about. Please...let me go," I sob, tears spilling from my eyes as my head hurts from when he pulled on my hair.

"Shut up!" he yells, his voice seething with anger. "Time's up, little villain."

I shut my eyes when the sharp point of his knife is at my throat and his thumb is over the hilt, about to press, when suddenly, the weight over my body lightens as something pulls him off me.

I open my eyes and see Vaughn throwing a hard punch at the man's face when he turns. A sigh leaves me along with a sob at the sight of him and I don't know if it's a sigh of relief or fear. I am frozen as I watch them. Even in the dark, I can see them clearly through the frequent lightning strikes outside.

The man, even though appearing startled for a while, soon gets his wits back and stops Vaughn's other hand by grabbing it tightly in his hold. He twists it and Vaughn lets out a painful cry. However, he manages to use that very hand to grab the man's wrist, twisting it back. The man groans, using the hand with the knife to stab Vaughn with it but Vaughn kicks him hard on his wrist, making the knife fly from his hand. The sound of the steel is light as it falls somewhere I don't see.

The man screams in frustration as he turns and grabs Vaughn's collar, pushing him hard against a bookshelf behind him. The books fall from the shelf at the collision and Vaughn hits the masked man's nose with his forehead. The latter reverts at the attack. He lets out a maddening cry as he hurls himself at Vaughn again, grabbing the front of his shirt and shoving him to the floor.

Vaughn lands an uppercut on the man's chin and blood drips from behind the mask, the lightning making the drops visible on the floor.

There is nothing but the sound of hits and grunts as the two men embroil themselves in what seems to be a never-ending fight. They are both equally strong, equally built muscles, and both seem to be charged with anger towards one another. My frozen body starts to shiver as I watch them almost on the verge of killing each other.

Both the men grab each other's throats as Vaughn uses his leg to kick the man's shin. The man is pushed off Vaughn and the latter uses his distraction to grab him by his shoulder and push him hard until the man falls on the floor. Unfortunately, the stranger is fast too. His one hit lands straight on Vaughn's chest and blood spits out of Vaughn's nose.

"Vaughn!" I scream, coming back to my senses and pulling myself up on my feet as quickly as possible.

My legs are unsteady, and my head hurts but I try to go near them. The men are busy throwing fists at each other to notice me. While Vaughn had the upper hand a while ago, the stranger is at an advantage now. The man throws a right hook at Vaughn and jumps up to his feet as Vaughn falls face-first on the floor, using his palms to prevent his fall.

The man wraps his arms around Vaughn's neck, squeezing at his throat. "I couldn't save my love from you, Jackson. I'm not letting you save yours."

Vaughn struggles in his grip and I look around the room for the knife. Instead, I find one of Doris's flower vases placed near the bookshelf. I run towards it and pick it up.

Due to his back facing me and his mind occupied with Vaughn, the man doesn't see me when I grab hold of the neck of the vase and lift it high over my head. Without further thought, I slam it hard on the man's head. He screams, arms falling loose from around Vaughn as he grabs his head and turns towards me. The vase crashes when it falls on the floor beside his feet.

His mask comes a little loose and I wait for it to fall but it stays half attached to his face as the man stalks towards me, clutching his head between both hands.

"You fucking bitch!" he growls but before he can grab hold of me, Vaughn pushes him hard from behind, making his knees give out and he falls on his face near my feet.

I gasp as he drops near me, writhing in pain. Vaughn picks up the knife which fell on the floor before from somewhere near the bookshelf and with his other hand, grabs hold of the man's clothes, pulling and turning him around.

"Claire...get his mask off," he orders me, panting loudly as he holds the knife above the man's throat and the latter stills beneath him.

I quietly do as asked, crouching down and grabbing hold of the man's mask, curling my fingers around the edge, and pulling it off him in one go.

My heart leaps in my throat as I recognize the familiar face, the thunder outside lightening it with a menacing appearance as his blue eyes shine when they meet mine.

It can't be him. No.

Noah Striker never had blue eyes.