Page 100 of Teach Me How To Fly

I opened my eyes when I felt my body draining from the last drops of vitality I had, and that was the moment a sound of a gun filled the entire room. My heart skipped a beat, but the man fell over me and his grip wasn’t hurting me anymore.

The tears rolled down my cheeks. I took a deep breath in now that I didn’t have anything stopping me from doing so, and themoment I turned my head to the door, I saw a tall man standing in front of it with a gun in his hand.

He offered me a smile as he came closer and the moment he reached the bed, he looked at the man above me and pushed him off of me.

Not ever for a moment did his eyes fall on my naked body as he approached me. His gaze was stuck on my face as he unlocked the chains around my wrists.

“He was getting on my nerves anyway. No man who is capable of such things deserves to live,” he spoke calmly as he put his gun at the back of his jeans.

I didn’t know who he was, but he seemed like a powerful man. His eyes were deep-set and his face was beautifully taken care of. He seemed the same age as Lukyan, but he didn’t seem anything like him. While Lukyan had the lightest color of eyes, he had the eyes of darkness.

He was intimidating me, and making me fear him too.

“Stand up, Annalise,” he said as he probably saw me gazing too much at him.

I gulped and pulled my hands to my body to fix the dress. Now that I was covered up, I felt safer. But then I rememberthat the man said he knew the one who was about to rape me, and nothing about him says he's rushing to help me escape. He could just as well be the man who kidnapped me.

I pulled my knees to my chest, wiping the tears off my face and thinking about a way to escape this situation. Nothing came to my mind considering that I had a man with a gun standing right beside me.

“You must be asking yourself why you’re here,” he started speaking as he positioned himself in front of the bed.

I could see his reflection in the mirror behind him and I could also see how bad I looked at that moment. I was just like a little lamb ready to be cut open.

I raised my gaze to him and gulped, hugging my knees to my chest. I didn’t give him an answer and he might’ve noticed that I wasn’t going to do it soon.

“Let me tell you my plan, Annalise,” he added, his voice filling the entire room and my heart too. “Your beloved father has turned into my enemy for the last two decades and he has pushed my limits ever since, but now has soared over them.”

I looked at him attentively and I noticed his jaw was clenched now. His wrinkles were much more pronounced now, as he seemed to be more angry than he had been just moments before.

Who is this man and why has my father turned into his enemy?

“What did he do to you now?” I finally found the courage to ask.

“He killed my son,” he continued, gritting his teeth as his hands were clenched on the bed’s frame. “Well, not him, but Maksen did it under his commands.”

Maksen killed someone.

Again.

I knew that was what he did, but it hit me in my heart now that I was hearing a father saying he lost his child because the man I was in love with killed him.

I gazed at him, feeling my heart rushing in my chest. My stomach twirled at the thought of Maksen killing that boy, but when I felt the wave of pain crushing into my soul, I wiped that thought off. I didn’t want to burst out crying now. It wasn’t the right moment for me to be vulnerable in any way.

“A-And why did you kidnap me then? Why should I be involved in this?”

“You were the only way I could’ve gotten Maksen to come here and talk to me,” he explained, putting his hands into his pockets.

The loud sound of a metallic squeal made us turn our gaze towards the window. The man grinned, taking a final look at me before heading to the door.

“And it worked, because he just arrived.”

34

MAKSEN

As I turned on the paved road framed by the tall pine trees, I felt my heart start beating faster in my chest. I could feel my muscles tensing and my palms were sweating more than usual.

The adrenaline was flowing into my veins, and the urge of taking out my knife and cutting myself grew even more.

---