Chapter Fourteen
I put my hand inside and pulled out several pictures of me. My eyes wide as I flicked through them, they were taken few weeks ago.
"What the hell?" I muttered as I continued to look at them. They were taken in different places, at the café, in Uni library, shopping centre and even in front of my house. Thankfully there wasn't any of me inside my house.
Not knowing what to think I pulled my phone out and began to dial Leah's number. After what felt like forever Leah finally picked up.
"Hello." Her groggy voice reached my ears.
"Leah."
"Nina? Urgh why are you calling me in the middle of the night?" She groaned and I could hear her shifting around in her bed.
"I'm in Gabriel's house." I whispered to her as I sat down on his bed, the pictures still in my hand.
"Yeah I know, he told me what happened with that wanker. Go back to sleep." She grumbled through the phone.
I didn't know her and Gabriel spoke to each other, shrugging it off I got to the reason why I called. "Leah he has pictures of me!" I whisper-yelled.
"Who does?"
"Gabriel!"
"Okay, what's wrong with that?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper as she reached the end of the sentence.
"Are you even listening to me? I found pictures of me in his bedside table."
"Oh, ohh." She repeated, sounding more awake. "What kind of pictures?"
"Pictures of me from a few weeks ago." I told her looking down at the picture. "Of me around town, the library, etc."
"Okay."
"Okay? Don't you think it's a little creepy?" I asked her in disbelief, she didn't even sound surprised. "Why would he take them?"
Leah suddenly began to laugh hysterically making me pull the phone away from my ear.
"He probably...-" Leah started to say pausing inbetween laughs. "Uses them for...you know."
I frowned trying to think of what she's trying to say. "For what?"
"Oh come on." She giggled. "You found them in his bedside table. What do guys usually keep in there?"
"I don't know." I muttered slowly trying to think of what Josh kept in his.
"Oh come on Nina!" She yelled through the phone as she laughed. "He probably uses them to jerk off!" She told me before laughing hysterically through the phone.
"What?" I yelled forgetting that I was supposed to be whispering. I dropped the pictures immediately. "Ew, what the hell Leah, that's not true!"
"Haha, could be true. Why else would he have it?"
"I-I don't know okay, that's the reason why I called you."
"And I told you what I think." She laughed softly before sighing. "Relax Nina, they're just pictures."
"Relax? How can I-"
"Nina, what are you doing?" A deep husky voice interrupted making me snap my head to the door.
As soon as I saw him I wish I didn't. "Oh my god." I moaned turning away from him. "Gabriel, what the hell!"
"What?" He grumbled, I could hear him coming closer.
"You're naked!" I screeched, blinking rapidly as I heard Leah's loud laugh coming through the phone, I had forgotten she was still on the line.
"Leah, I'll call you back." I muttered into the phone not looking at Gabriel.
"No, no, no don't hang up. This sounds very interesting!"
I groaned. "Bye." I ended the call before she could mutter another word.
I looked at Gabriel from the corner of my eye and I could see he was still standing there without any clothes on. "Put some freaking clothes on!"
I heard Gabriel grunt something before I heard him walk away. After a few seconds I heard him walk back towards me, I quickly glanced his way to see him in only a loose shorts.
"Care to explain these?" I asked him, pointing to the pictures on the floor.
He looked at the pictures and looked at back at me with a blank expression. "Not really." He shrugged walking to the door.
"What do you mean not really?" I asked him in shock as I followed him. "Gabriel, where are you going?"
"Do you want anything to eat?" Gabriel asked me once we reached his kitchen ignoring my question.
"Why don't you ever answer my questions?"
"Nina, stop asking me questions I can't give answers to." He said before he walked over to the fridge.
I sighed and inspected him closer, my eyes falling on the wolf tattoo across his back. I don't remember him having a tattoo, then again there's a lot of that night I can't remember.
"You can give me answers, you just choose not to. Tell me the truth Gabriel."
"I can't." He muttered as he pulled out a carton of orange juice. "Not yet."
"This is pointless." I told him as he poured the orange juice into a glass. "We keep having this conversation over and over again."
"Then stop! Stop asking questions." Gabriel came over and handed me the glass. "Drink."
"I'm sick and tired of this Gabriel! I can't do this anymore."
"What are you saying?" He muttered, his eyes narrowing.
"Either you tell me the truth and answer all of my questions or you don't come anywhere near me until I give birth." I said firmly, putting the glass onto the counter.
"You can't do that." He snarled coming closer.
"Watch me."
He moved closer until we were inches apart. "If you try to do that, you'll regret it. I'll make you regret it."
"You don't scare me." I whispered, trying to make my voice sound strong.
"You have no idea what I am capable of Nina. I'll do more than just scare you." He growled, his eyes darkening.
"Are you threatening me?" I asked, swallowing harshly.
"Do I need to?"
I stepped back and shook my head. "I mean it. I want answers and until you're ready to give me some, leave me alone."
Gabriel didn't answer instead he looked at me for a couple of minutes as he clenched his jaws. He growled ferociously and stalked towards me. "The door is locked so don't try it. I'll take you home in the morning."
Without another word he stormed off leaving me alone in the kitchen.
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"Stop being so grumpy!" Leah exclaimed as she put placed two cups down on the table.
"I'm not grumpy." I muttered reaching for my cup.
"Sure you're not. You've been moody since that day." Leah said as she took a sip from her cup.
I could smell the coffee she was having which was making my mouth water. I used to drink coffee a lot and I always get cravings. I was told I could have caffeine in small doses but I didn't want to risk it. I know if I drink a cup of coffee I won't stop.
"I don't want to talk about it." I muttered blowing into my cup of hot chocolate.
It has been five days since we had that talk and after two days of me ignoring Gabriel he finally realised I was being very serious. For the past three days he hasn't called or popped over to the house. I thought I would be relived or happy but instead I was left feeling slightly empty.
I glanced around the same café trying to find something to say before Leah begins to talk about Gabriel. My eyes fell on a dark haired man who was giving Leah a glare from across the room.
"Don't look but right at the back near that painting there's this guy and he's giving you evils." I told Leah who automatically turned to look at him.
"Leah! I said don't look." I hissed at her, she ignored me and winked at the guy. "Who's that?"
"He's a guy who was in the same group as me during placement."
"And?"
"He thinks I'm racist." She shrugged looking away from him.
"What? Why does he think that?" I questioned. "What did you say?"
"His ego got a little wounded when I turned him down and then he called me racist. Apparently that's the reason I turned him down." Leah explained.
"Okay?"
"He said I don't want to date him because he's White, which makes me racist." Leah rolled her eyes and shook her head. "He think I only date Black guys."
I tried to think back to all the guys Leah has dated or been on a date with. "Well, the last four people you've dated have been Black. But you're White, you can't be racist to your own kind without insulting yourself."
"Well you know what they say." Leah said with a wink.
"What do they say?"
"Once you go Black, you never go back. You never go White, even if you could!" She sang in the tune of Change your life by Iggy Azalea.
I couldn't but laugh when she said or shall I say sang that. Leah joined in and we both laughed loudly for a couple of minutes.
"Finally! You're actually smiling."
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."
"If you miss Gabriel so much just call him and talk to him."
"I don't miss him!" I protested looking away from her eyes.
"Righhhht. Of course you don't."
"I don't."
"Stop being so stubborn."
"I'm not being stubborn." I told her as I crossed my arms.
Leah rolled her eyes. "Fine."
I sighed. "I need answers Leah, he never tells me the truth."
"I know but maybe he's waiting for the right time or he doesn't know how to te-"
"He gets weirder and weirder by the day. When I think back to everything that's happened since I told him about the baby, it's crazy! He broke into our house, he kidnapped me, left me in a house that doesn't belong to him and then I had a gun pointed at me by his friend. Then he somehow switches my doctor, brought 'us' a house and he took pictures of me. That's not normal!"
"Yeah, you're right about one thing. He's definitely not normal." Leah muttered giving me a weak smile.
"He's not normal, this situation is not normal. I-I think there's something happening to me." I whispered, rubbing my hands nervously.
"What do you mean?" Leah asked hesitantly.
"You're going to think I'm crazy but I can prove it to you. Remember that day when I had a mini panic attack and you said I cut my hand?"
"Yeah, yeah. I er think that was just my imagination. I was panicking and all over the place. I don't know what I saw or if what I saw was real." Leah said with a nervous laugh.
"Okay, but I don't think you imagined it. I believe you. I- you know I bruise really easily right? Well when I punched Josh I should have bruised my knuckles or something right, but my hand was fine. Not even a little mark. Then I got a paper cut and an hour later it was gone. So I decided to check, 'coz I kept thinking I'm going crazy or blind. I cut my hand with a knife and-"
"You cut your hand with a knife on purpose!" Leah gasped looking horrified.
"It wasn't deep, and I took a picture and put a bandage on it. A few hours later I took the bandage off and it was gone. Leah, there was nothing there!"
Leah's eyes widened and she swallowed. "I-I don't know what to say."
"What's happening to me Leah? I whispered.
Leah shook her head. "I don't know what to say." She repeated.
Neither of us spoke after that as we both processed what I had just said. I have the pictures on my phone to show Leah if she didn't believe me and I wouldn't blame her if she didn't. This doesn't happen. After a few minutes of neither of us saying anything, my phone vibrated and the small LED light at the corner of my phone lit up indicating that I had a new message.
Leah cleared her throat. "Are you going to check that?"
I grabbed my phone and unlocked it. "It's Gabriel." I muttered as I saw his name. I wonder what he wanted after being silent for three days.
"What does he want?" Leah asked.
"He said he wants to meet me." I told her before looking up to meet her eyes.
"He said he's going to tell me everything."
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