Page 110 of Obsession

Aris suddenly jerks me forward; he hasn’t let go of me. This touch is different from how he used to touch me. Pinched like a vise, a slight increase in pressure would pulverize bone.

As he leads me across an overgrown lawn, I’m too busy keeping up with his long strides to consider his anger, or to fear my fate. It has hardly even occurred to me to try to struggle as he brings me toward one of the rooms split in half. A guest room, by the look of it.

He takes me in, a single step separating untamed ferns and soil from a fine floor covered in Turkish rugs. We walk through the room briskly and toward a connecting door. Before I can ask anything—where we’re going or what he’s doing—Aris opens it and shoves me inside.

I stumble onto the other side, almost slamming against a wall from the force of his push. With a gasp, I whirl, watching Aris step through the threshold calmly. He shuts the door behind him, and it disappears—or, better said, absorbs into the wall.

I lament on my exit disappearing, not liking where this is going, before turning to study where he’s taken me. It looks like… a hallway. An impossibly long hallway, as if two mirrors were held against one another to create a feedback loop of endless reflections. Beyond the many, many doors, all spaced about a foot apart, and its impossible length, the hall doesn’t seem too different from the other halls of the estate. There’s a long, endless red runner and dark sconces with a dim, yellow light—as infinite in number as the doors.

“Where are we?” I say, turning to find Aris watching me. His expression is largely empty, but there is a spark of dark humor in his eyes.

My voice is weak, almost a whine. I’ll be honest, I’m scared. I don’t know what version of Aris is confronting me.

“Where did you bring me?” I continue when he doesn’t respond.

He watches me for a moment longer, obviously enjoying my discomfort, before remarking, “I should have put you in a room.”

At first, I feel a sense of victory at having prompted a response, until I note how… off he sounds. His tone has shifted—a change so minute I recognize it only because of how deeply he’s burrowed himself inside me. The walls of my subconscious are painted the color of his eyes.

I spare a glance at the many doors, then at the empty space on the wall where the exit used to be. “‘A room?’” I echo, something churning in my gut. “What is this place?”

“My pet project,” he says, striding past me.

After a pause, I scurry after him, a few steps behind. “What do you mean? What kind of project?”

“It’s something like a zoo—I mentioned wanting to go to one.” He keeps walking, his back to me. “I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of a collection.”

I struggle to keep up with his quick pace while dissecting his words and their hidden meanings. Yes, he did want to go to a zoo. He was upset because he destroyed the world and was worried that there weren’t any animals left. What is he trying to say by bringing that up?

I’ve fallen out of practice playing verbal chess with Aris.

“So… there are animals here?”

“Something like that.”

I stop walking, irritated by his lack of answers. I’m afraid, yes, but not enough that I will bend. He’s angry—fine. Let him yell at me. Hit me. Destroy me. I welcome that, not this: following him around, begging for scraps like a dog.

He takes a few more steps before turning around. “You are frustrated,” he observes.

“Yes. I am. What is going on?”

Aris perks a brow. “Don’t you want to hear more about my project?”

I just stare. I don’t care about this stupid hallway. Of course, yes, I’m curious, but this is obviously some sort of distraction. I don’t know why he’s brought me here or what he’s trying to prove by doing it.

“What is it that you would like to discuss, Mary? ”

I grit my teeth, anger flushing through me. I’d throw a punch if my dominant arm wasn’t broken. He knows what I want. What’s the point in making me say it—so he can feel more powerful, to remind me how weak I am?

I should calm down. I should approach this more carefully, especially given Silva’s statements, but being treated like this again has torn me open. I feel like I’m bleeding all over the place.

“You know what I want to talk about. I betrayed you! I took your memory and we—” I cut myself off.

We were together. We were…

Aris says nothing for a moment, staring at me. Then, he sighs. “You’re all over the place.”

I’m all over the place? I feel like I’m about to explode.

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