I run the stairs and for the first time, I'm so glad that his mansion is huge. I walk between halls, rooms, corridors, white and black doors, unlocked and locked rooms. I peek into a few of them, glare at the paintings that decorates the walls that are not glassy. I glance around the windows and glass walls around the garden that hugs beautifully this mansion. I even see many people working and hide immediately even though they're outside.
Successfully, I don't have any unwelcome acquaintance with any of the people who work inside. I wouldn't bear it to be seen in this place dressed in a t-shirt. I would run and hoping to erase my existence from the universe.
When I'm in the middle of nowhere and have no idea where I'm without ant signal of orientation, I do the only thing I wanted to do. I move towards the middle of an empty and quiet corridor and open a door. I find a spacious room with a big bed covered in white color. The blinds are closed and darkness is all over the room. When I shut the door, I slide in the back of it getting lost in the darkness.
Girls with Corbyn for Edward...
This is the worst idea in the worst he could come up with; I hate it with all my heart. I'm scared of Edward and the combination with girls that want to sleep with Corbyn makes it more hateful. Girls.
The words I knew one day he would say paid me a visit after the second I managed to convince myself that I didn't lose him. Seeing him with her was my worst nightmare becoming reality. The sight trickled something inside of me and freed all my fears and demons. I hadn't realized how easy is to get hurt or how much his presence really affected me.
It was the first time I imagined how it would be like if he moved on without me, leaving me alone to pick up my shattered and broken pieces.
Tears gather in my eyes before slipping down and caress my skin with their coolness. I wipe them away quickly and get under the covers. I hug tightly the pillow burying my head in it in my attempt to stop the tears. Sniffle and sobs wiggle my body as I try to ignore the sadness and anger that collide inside of me and I surrender to the darkness.
I hear the light sound of the door tickling and opening, softly and slowly, travel around the room. I keep my eyelashes shut as I listen to him walk towards me. The mattress deepens before I feel his arm slide around my body strongly and pulling me against his chest. We stay like this for a while, under the covers, blanked with silence and stillness. None says anything as I feel myself relax inside his embrace. I feel his warmth put my nerves and tension to rest. His breathing slows down and so does mine. Thought his grip of me doesn't loosen up even a bit, keeping close.
"I don't want to fight," He mutters after a few silent minutes. I unlock my eyes to meet the darkness that covers my room before I turn around to face him.
"I don't want to fight either," I confess and hide my face in his neck smelling his scent. His hand goes through my hair and plants a soft kiss on my forehead.
"Maybe you're right," he admits and a wave of relief that the anxiety of his words put in my shoulders earlier evaporates. A smile finds its way to my lips while I bring my arms around him.
"Why did you hide? Do you know how much time I spend searching for you?"
I giggle in response. "That was the point," He titles my head up and our eyes contact. I see his eyes hide uncertainty as his brow is bothered by a frown. "I was bad at you,"
"And I was mad at you," He says and it's my time to scowl.
"At me?"
"Yeah, we need to do this. I won't let him get away when he tries something with you again. Because he will." I gasp causing my lips to part in surprise.
"I thought you changed your mind, you said I was right," I murmur trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle that it's called Corbyn.
"No, I wasn't talking about that." I pull away immediately as the words slip out of his mouth and sit up pulling the sheets.
"So, you still want to figure out who his victims are?"
"For heaven's sake Amelia," He mutters looking around the room before he rests his sight on me. "Can you not understand? He's coming after you! I need to protect you and the only way we gonna do this like I said so many times before, is if can threaten him."
"What if he learns that you go around digging up his past?"
"We would have something by now."
"So that's where you base your whole plan? That we would have something?!" I cry exasperatedly. This is insane and I'll be damned if I put up with this.
"If I can threat him-"
"Threat him for what?"
"Fuck it!" He shouts and gets up. He starts pacing back and forth in front of me running both of his hands through his blonde hair. The light that he switched on make his hair distinguish like a sun in the room. Though what I pay attention to more is the speed he walks, the way his breathing is increasing, the way his hand and whole body are tensed. He's angry.
"What do you..." I start but he interrupts me by halting his movement.
"He wants to rape and he doesn't care if you would like it or not. He fucking wanted to before and now he wants to do it more. He lost his damn chance and now he's craving for the time he can lay his hands on you! Can't you fucking see the reality? He's a monster that doesn't give a shit about you or anyone! And instead of being helpful to put him behind bars or at least make him stay the fuck away from you, you start complaining and murmuring about bullshit! You want to get raped by him? Fine, but don't expect me to fucking save you this time!" He screams and my body freezes.
His eyes are burning as they throw knives and daggers at me. His words...I feel them sink in me cutting my skin in the process before they find their way to my heart and tear it up to pieces. The image and the feeling of disgust of that night, the way my blood run, my muscles were in pain, my eyes hurt from all the crying, the way I couldn't breathe due to the terror that was burning me. I feel my knees break like that night, my eyes widen at his words as I pull the sheets and cover my body that one day he touched.
This time the image of his face doesn't leave my face no matter how many times I blink. Tears sting the corners of my eyes and I do the best no to let them escape; but they do.
My vision clears for a second before it blurs because of the new ones and in that instant, I see Corbyn. His words still hurt and needless to say, they broke me.
"Fuck it," I see him coming towards me but I get up from the bed taking a step back when he approaches me.
"No,"
"Baby, I didn't..."
"Mean them?" I continue his sentence.
"It just came out," He apologizes but I turn and run out of the room.
"Where are you going?" I stop in my tracks remembering that I have no idea where I'm or where should I go.
"Where are my clothes?" I ask instead.
"They must be cleaned by now but can we just talk?"
A small ironic chuckle leaves my lips. "Where are they?"
He cocks his head to the right side gazing at me with caution. "If you want to leave, fine. But you are going nowhere until we speak and clear this out."
I try to speak but he does first stopping me from doing so. "This way,"
I walk around the house following Corbyn's voice while he speaks to the phone. I'm so disappointed in him and mad. The way his words escaped his lips so easily like he has performance them before countless times inside his head and was waiting for the right opportunity to say them to me. How could he say those hurtful things to me? He knows how much that night hurt and feared me.
I stop outside a wooden door that I notice it's unlocked. I peek through to find him talking on his phone walking. Even though I'm unable to see much, I can understand that his room must be the office. Wood fills my small window of vision as I glare at a big wooden desk, bookshelves filled with papers and books. The inside of it seems to be from another era compared to the contemporary aura of the rest of the mansion.
"What else do you need?"
I keep waiting for him to end his call while my mind revisits and analyzes his last words. I shake my head leaving fuming in annoyance. I walk around the mansion and once I found the entrance I entered last night with Corbyn, I head towards the gate.
In the daylight, everything seems different; differently beautiful. The trees are towering above me as the grass is all around them. The sun warms my skin as the light wind caresses my cheeks offering them a little color and help me calm myself down.
The man I remember winning the bet yesterday is standing in the small cubical. His hands are wrapped around a small screen and he seems really lost in what he's glaring.
"Excuse me?" His head snaps up and a small frown forms and disappears before I could be sure of its existence.
"Is everything alright?" His tone is severe showing nothing but professionalism.
"I know it might sound weird but...could someone take me home?"
As I hear my voice I internally slap myself. I sound like a girl dependent on her boyfriend but not so much as I ask nicely to leave his house without his knowledge. There's no way I would be doing this if I wasn't so mad at him. Thankfully, he nods and agrees without making any mean or offensive remarks.
"I'll take you," He vanishes for a minute and I hear voices before he returns with keys in his hands.
"This way," He points towards a big black jeep and I follow him.