•Word Count: 2,160
"I hope I'm not interrupting something" Elias says in his usual courteous manner, an unnecessary air of formality accompanying his lame excuse of a greeting.
I want to roll my eyes. If he was interrupting something, it would've taken me longer to open the door.
"Not at all; in fact, I just arrived from school. But you already know that, don't you ?" I test, referring to his goons, who made it their job to follow me and Clara whenever we're out, or play guard dogs when we're home.
I won't deny the sense of security that it brought me and Clara but, admittedly, despite their presence being ghostly, it grew uncomfortable. We've been coaching ourselves to lower our voices when laughing or even talking, especially when we're anywhere near the window.
The deep frown deforming his face is ephemeral, because a flicker of recognition flits through his eyes. A charming smile replaces it. And pop, goes the dimple.
I have to fight the urge to smile back.
"It didn't take you long to notice" He muses, sounding impressed.
His smile wavers when he notices my disinterested expression.
With an edgy throat clearing, he suppresses his smile and affects his usual solemn attitude.
"I would like to take you somewhere." He says, sounding only faintly nervous for the first time ever. The fact that he disregarded the 'asking' part gives me an insight to the arrogance I didn't know he fostered.
"I have a trai- work to do in a few hours, and I need a rest. Maybe next time ?" I tell him, only half regretful because this is the second time I turn him down.
It's either he overlooked or hasn't noticed my minor slip.
Besides, our last encounter wasn't exactly utilitarian, seeing as he got irked and flipped an imaginary switch at my need to retain my personal information.
I know I shouldn't have lied when I could have just passed the question just like he did, since I made the promise to tell the truth, but in my defence, it was impossible to tell whether I'm lying or not.
I have practiced speaking that lie forever, and it worked on everyone.
His attentiveness doesn't work in my favour, it seems.
"It won't be long, I promise. I just need to show you something. Please." It's not the way that he says it, nor the way he's looking at me that has me conceding.
But the belief this might be the business he wanted to show me that has me excusing myself to grab my coat and phone, and moving after him to his car.
I'm almost aware of the grieving session being held inside me, over the wishful thinking that was supposed to be my nap.
I type out a quick text to Clara, telling here I won't be home for a while.
The second we shut the doors to his car, a loud clap of thunder has me jumping in my seat and Elias casting the sky a brief glance before his jaw ripples on a few ticks.
I've never been afraid of thunderstorms but the loud sound never failed to shake me into a jolt.
It isn't until the rain begins to heavily platter against the windows that I realise today's training will probably be canceled due to the uncooperative weather.
My attention flits to the reason the car is still idle to see Elias just looking at the dashboard, hand hovering over the key in the ignition.
If I'm not mistaken, there's a slight tremble to his hand. I frown.
"We could do this another time" I suggest, since he seems troubled by something.
"No!" He snaps, turning the ignition on, making the car spur to life. My heart misses a beat at his attitude, despite my composed facade. His rapid change of demeanour never fails to perplex me.
What's wrong with him ? Is it something I said ?
Honestly, I don't care, nothing justifies him snapping at me like that.
Just as I'm about to come up with an excuse to leave, he drags his hand down his face.
"Forgive me. This is important, it can't wait." He says in an eerily modulated voice in spite of his former stance, bringing my anger down to a simmer.
The next 30 minutes of the drive passes by in a tense silence. Actually, it's not the silence that's tense, it's Elias.
Ever since he backed out of my driveway, he'd been stiff as a stick.
I, and anyone not necessarily apprehensive, notice the way he swipes at his sweat stained forehead, the continuous teeth grinding, and the rhythmic clenching and unclenching of the steering wheel.
When we reach our destination, I merely unlock my door, before a streak of lightning zigzags across the sky, the light almost blinding.
"What are you doing! Have you lost your mind ?!" A loud voice roars within the confines of the car. For it being only the two of us, his voice is unnecessarily loud.
"Why are you yelling ?" I ask him, obscurely incensed. He's acting so out of his character today; I think I got way too used to his well composed demeanour.
"Do you not see, hell, HEAR the storm out there ? Did you not catch that lightning ? Are you by any chance blind ?" He continues to erupt in his spot, eyes staring at me with a newly found animosity. I even catch the tiny red wires staining the whiteness of the sclera of his eyes.
This is the first time fear overtakes the rest of my senses when I'm around him.
In that second, survival instinct crawls in, and I council myself into riding his wave, going with his rhythm.
At my uncharacteristic silence, he pinches the bridge of his nose, before removing his suit jacket, tossing it in the backseat.
"Listen, I'm already going through enough, don't make this harder than it is." He says the words sternly, only this time, there's a trace of benevolence to it. I only nod.
He opens the door and climbs out. I have to do my best to appear unfazed, while I'm anything but.
I allow my calm exterior to mask my fright as he walks all the way to my side, opens the door so I can leave the car.
In utter silence, he guides me into the house, I'm well aware of my phone in my hand, weighing it down a bit.
I've clicked on the Emergency call button on my screen, ready to make the call any second if necessary.
I shouldn't have come here with him. Who knows what he might be planning to do to me once we're inside the house.
My thoughts torment my mind so much that I don't notice him guiding me all the way down to a basement.
That's it Mira. He's just gonna kill you and dump you in a basement.
I swallow past the growing lump in my throat, my eyes stinging.
The two men dressed in similar formal attires greet Elias with a nod before opening the door to the basement.
At first, I see nothing with Elias' body obstructing my vision as he stands before me with his massive shoulders and towering figure.
But the second he moves to the side, I'm stunned into a stop just by the door.
My heart is hammering against my ribcage, desperate to be free.
My brain is screaming at me to get out of here immediately before I'm made to be the occupant of the seventh chair that's only empty.
"What's the meaning of this ?" I feel myself asking but my voice is too foreign to my ears, I hardly recognise it.
My vision throbs as I stare at the six men from the other night, all tied to chairs, and beaten half to death.
My head begins to pound, reminding me that I haven't been breathing for the past few seconds.
Someone is speaking. I hear a voice speaking but I don't notice the words being said.
The face of the man in the chair closest to me is screwed out of shape, features almost unrecognisable. The only thing that gave them away was the clothes they wear. They're the same from last time.
"They got what they deserve" Someone says casually. That's all it takes to have me snap back to reality. It's then that rage slowly boils inside of me.
"What do you mean they got what they deserve ? Who are you ? An assassin ? An executioner ?" It's not characteristic of me to yell but the loud voice is a necessity to mask the tremble in my voice.
"Are you, by any chance, victimising them ?" Elias asks, a hint of disbelief in his tone.
"No! I'm condemning your barbarity! This isn't the way to do it! That's the law enforcement's job. You have no right to do this" I point an accusing finger at him.
"You're right. I don't often do this. In fact, I wouldn't have done that had they not imposed themselves on you" is his attempt at justification. At that, a humourless laugh escapes my mouth.
"No, Elias. Not here. Your charm won't work this time. This is sick, YOU'RE sick" I say. On shaky legs, I turn and leave. The first two steps were a test, to check if they'll follow.
When I'm guaranteed they don't, I sprint, at full speed. I need to get away from this madness.
I take the blame. I shouldn't have allowed his charm to get to me, shouldn't have agreed to come with him in the first place.
Crossing the doorstep, I walk into the curtain of rain. My shoes sink into the mud of the garden, but the second my foot hits concrete, the asphalt decides to show its smoothness off for the first time and down I go, feet slipping and gravity bringing me down, back first.
My eyes involuntarily close at the prickly downpour of the rain, as my head rests on the concrete.
"Mira!" A voice, belonging to Elias no doubt, calls.
Positioning my palms on either side of my hips, I use them to support my weight as I lift myself up.
It takes a few grunts to pull myself in a sitting position, another round to tuck my feet under me in an intermediate squatting position, before lifting myself up and onto my feet.
The sudden change of angle throws me off balance for a second or two, leaving me a swaying mess on the concrete.
"Mira-"
"Stay away Elias" I say defeatedly.
"Fine" He complies, keeping his distance; actually, he maximises it as he walks to the car, opening a door.
"Get in the car. Please" He adds the pleading when I don't move, ignoring him and moving in the opposite direction.
"You can keep the distance but I brought you here and I'm taking you back. Now, please get in the car."
"I'm not riding in a car with you" I tell him. In the distance, wires of lighting flash in the sky, followed by continuous booms of thunder.
"Mira!" He yells, his voice reverberating across the empty street, followed by a growl of frustration and the sound of metal being hit. He must've punched the car or something.
"Can you drive ? I'll let you drive, that way, you'll be in charge. Please just get in the car." He says -rather desperately- in a gentler, weaker voice now.
Comparing his voice now to his voice from a few seconds ago only categorises him as a schizophrenic.
But his words pique my interest, willing my once determined feet to stop.
Realisation slowly seeps in; I'm cold and I have no idea where I am. He's right, he brought me here, he's the only person who can take me back.
"Mira please" At this, I turn and walk back to where he stood, leaning against the car and looking exceptionally tormented.
Unfortunately for him, I'm not buying any of it anymore. His charm completely faded, and I find myself staring at a heartless monster.
When I stand directly in front of him, I extend my hand, palm up. He drops the keys in my hand with an exhausted sigh.
The car ride passes by in a tense silence, except for his monotonous voice giving off directions.
He's occasionally fidgeting, I notice. Only his version of fidgeting is either clenching and unclenching his hands or tapping his knee with his fisted hand.
The minute I park the car in my driveway, Elias decides it's the perfect time to talk.
"Listen I-" He attempts in a gentle voice.
"Goodnight Elias" When I say this, his head only hangs after nodding faintly, I notice that from my peripheral vision.
I don't bother looking at him as I alight the car, unintentionally slamming the door behind. I'm not a child to use the noise to express my displeasure but I'm glad for the effect it created.
••••
Why do you guys think Elias got all snappy like that ?
Let me know! I love reading through your guesses (=
P.s What do you guys think of the new cover ?
-Asia