Page 126 of Encounter

“How ‘bout I cook a proper meal tonight?” he asked as we got through the door. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed me to his hip, making it awkward to walk up.

Laughing, I barely stopped myself from slipping down one of the stairs. “You’ll cooka meal?” I asked mockingly. “Not just pita bread with some meat? What’s gotten into you?”

“Hate seein’ you all gloomy,” he whispered, brushing his lips over my ear. We were lucky there were only two floors, otherwise Chast would’ve probably started undressing me in the hallway.

He was about to pick me off my feet in an exaggerated, romantic gesture, a wide grin brightening his face, but he halted abruptly when we got in front of the door, and I noticed it too.

“Shit.”It’s open.“Did... did you forge—”

“No.” Everything about his voice shifted, darkened. Like flipping a switch, Chast’s shoulders rose, his back straightened, and his hand went right for the gun in his holster, standing firm and ready in position.

I stepped away, blood running prickly cold in my veins as I watched him carefully nudge the door with his foot, making it squeak as it opened.

No sounds came from the inside.Maybe he really forgot. Maybe it’s nothing.

Chast moved in, his steps quiet and calculated. When his body didn’t block my view into the apartment anymore, I noticed the mess on the floor. Everything was displaced, thrown around, broken. The chilling realization shot through my spine—it wasn’t a mistake. Someone really did break in.

Sweeping through the small place, Chast relaxed his posture when there were no more rooms to check for intruders. He was about to turn back to me but froze halfway, gaze aimed toward the wall between the balcony and his work table.

“No...”

My insides cramped hearing his tone, propelling me to go after him.Something is horribly wrong, a voice in my head rang the alarm. With the gun dropping to his side, he stared ahead.

“What’s—” The smell hit me before I even managed to reach him. Barely suppressing my gag reflex, I faltered.

I forced myself to make a few more steps, until I was finally met with the view Chast was captured by.

“Oh my god.”

Blood ran down the wall over Chast’s table. My eyes widened in horror, tears already rushing in, as I saw Kitty’s lifeless body, nailed against the wall with some sort of a Japanese looking dagger. Gasping, I blinked, and kept blinking until that image would go away, but it didn’t.

I felt shell shocked and like my brain barely processed it, but all I could think about was Chast. I turned to him to see his face completely devoid of color; his eyes empty and glazed over.

Fuck. Fuck, this isn’t happening, this—

He drew in a sharp breath, and something shifted.Like the unsettling pressure before a storm, the air turned heavy, and Chast’s face... It transformed into something completely terrifying. As if he vanished and there was nothing behind his eyes anymore, his expression was now marked with uncontrollable, lethal rage.

“Those Yakuza fucks did this...”

My heart dropped hearing his voice. For the first time since meeting him, I was truly terrified next to him. He barely sounded like himself...

“I’m gonna kill and carve up every fucking single one of ‘em.” The sentence was more of a growl, rather than human speech, making me twitch and back away. Chast charged toward his table, but instead of going for Kitty like I expected, he knelt and opened his weapon safe. More dread flooded in.

“No! No, no, no. Chast!” Sheer panic overwhelmed me—I knew what he was going to do. He was going on a murder spree, completely blinded and irrational. He was going to get himself killed! “Listen to me!”

He wouldn’t falter. In fact, I didn’t think he even heard me.Pushing everything off the table, he started putting his guns out on it, loading them and putting another holster around his waist.

“Chast, this is exactly what they want you to do!”Oh my god, he’s not going to listen to me.“Chast, you need to stop!” I gasped for air, chest pulsing with panic as he continued to ignore me.

When Chast stood, I ran toward the door, closing it and standing in front of it as a desperate last-ditch attempt to do something. He had to look at me. Hehad toacknowledge me. But instead of finally making him pause like I had hoped, I was faced with his terrifying glare as he dashed toward me. There was nothing there. My presence meant nothing—he was like a raging bull, ready to break through that door no matter what.

“Get out of my way.” He growled, baring his teeth at me. Even though I trembled with fear, I didn’t move, only stretched my arms to the sides to prop myself against the wall, showing him my determination.

It didn’t help.

Without hesitation, Chast grabbed me by the shirt and pulled before pushing me back into the door with full force. Before I could stop him, he wrapped his hand around my neck, squeezing briefly as a warning. “Step the fuck aside—now!”

No. No, I had to bring him back! I had to make him snap out of it.“I know you want to let the anger take over so you don’t have to feel anything else, but please! Please, look at me!” I was close to breaking into tears. This person terrified me to my core, because he wore Chast’s skin, and I knew the real him was deep down in there somewhere. “This won’t bring her back. Going out and getting yourself killed won’t bring her back, Chast!”

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