Page 15 of Nocturne

A tone that tests the rigid control I’ve spent my life perfecting. I say nothing as I stand a few feet from her, letting the wind bring her scent to me.

A maddening blend of hibiscus, vanilla, and something feminine, something uniquely hers. I grit my teeth, fighting the urge to breathe her in fully. The name siren is becoming more fitting for this woman with every second that passes.

We stand there, looking at each other for a few more minutes before she looks away. Abruptly. And with a shake of her head. An irrational part of me rebels at the thought of losing her attention.

It rises up, savage, clawing at me, demanding I close the gap between us. It wants to grip her hair, force her eyes back on mine, and make her scream my name in that sweet foreign lilt until she can't anymore.

But I bury that violent urge deep down and walk away. The heat of her gaze still burns on my skin, but I do nothing.

Five

Ara

“There is no part in this world where you can hide forever, doll. If you escape, I will find you. I will drag you back here, break your legs and then claim your soul like all others.”

A whimper breaks free from my lips at his words. Bapo is a scary man, but the man standing behind him terrifies me more. I’ve always known him as Papa’s closest business partner. And now I see his true side. The crueller, darker and unhinged side. The man doesn’t care that I’m terrified, he doesn’t care that I’m being tortured, given pain that I’ve never even known or deserved. The only thing he cares about is that I remain unsullied. Or, more precisely, one part of me remains untouched.

Where Bapo doesn’t dare touch me under his master’s presence, his master has no such qualms. The lunatic drops on his haunches in front of me, his dull brown eyes shining with an interest that I’ve always found disturbing. I shoved it away as nothing. I should’ve trusted my instincts. It could’ve saved my family. It could’ve saved me from this fate. It would have saved Papa.

I recoil when Vir’s hand stretches forward. My movement doesn’t deter his actions as he pulls out a leaf from my hair. His spicy cologne fills my nostrils, coupled with the stench that comes from my cell and the corpse that they dropped near my feet, it gets tough to hold in the contents in my stomach.Bile rises in my throat and I puke on the side, my whole body shivering in revulsion.

“I’ve known you to be a clever one, dear. Don’t disappoint me.” Vir caresses my hair gently.

The seemingly deceptive gesture lasts as long as I heave; until there is nothing but saliva that drips down my chin.

Vir produces his handkerchief, gently rubbing my mouth. I don’t know what I’m doing here, and I don’t know what compelled me to explore the jungle in search of Papa’s death, but the moment I stumbled into their grounds, they robbed my life.

They have plans for me. Plans which include pain, torture and depravity that no human should be capable of. And I’m helpless against them. Helpless against the army of men who guard this place.

Even if I do manage to run away from them, where do I go? Who would believe a girl like me who looks crazy at best? Bapo also said that they have, my sister, under their radar. He said as long as I behave, she stays safe. She stays untouched.

“Get her cleaned,” Vir stands up, giving us his back.

He exits the underground dungeon, leaving me alone with another kind of monster. If not for the crazy things Vir believes and connects to me, I’m sure Bapo would’ve chowed me raw by now.

“Let’s get you cleaned, kid,”

I scream when Bapo rips my dress that holds the last threads of modesty. He doesn’t wait for me to stand, he doesn’t let myscreams affect him. They spur him on, my tears bringing out a deranged smile on his wicked face as he drags me by my hair.

I try to gain a holding by my feet, but other than scrapes from the uneven ground, I have nothing to hold onto. The blinding pain from his grip has me wailing in pain, trying to scratch his hands that hold my hair. He laughs at my fight, his grip turning punishing as he drags me to another phase of this hellhole.

Nightmares aren’t unusual in my life. I’ve been living with them ever since I escaped, changed mine and Iyra’s identities. I live with the knowledge that I’m on borrowed time. If not for the upheaval I stirred, I need to pay for the lives I took.

The lives of innocents whose eyes still haunt me. I try to tell myself that I’m no longer that person, but I know it’s a lie. I am that person. A murderer. A woman who doesn’t deserve to live, but I do. I’m selfish that way.

I want to keep the promise I made Ma. I’ve already failed half of the promise I made Papa, but I cannot fail my mother.

And if I’m allowed, I would like to see Iyra happy. I would like to see her with a man who loves her like she deserves and, see her with kids that she has always wanted. I want to see her build a family. I want to see her happy. And maybe then, I can revisit the idea of letting my demons consume me.

“That woman’s poker face is immovable,”

Ivy’s voice breaks my thoughts as she takes a seat opposite me, happily grabbing the iced tea I’ve ordered for her. I smile at my pretty friend, who looks insanely beautiful clad in a form-fitting beige dress that hugs her slim figure just right. She lefther strawberry blonde hair loose, framing her face in a way that accentuated her sharp features. Her pale blue eyes shift to me and she raises a delicate brow my way.

“Something happened,” she notices.

I don’t bother putting up a pretence with her. She knows me better than anyone— next to Iyra— and she is all that I have here. We have bonded since we were in college, and both of our past stories have connected us more deeply than any normal friendship. We have peeked into each other closets, and seen the skeletons that we’ve buried there and we are still here.

“Nightmares,” I sigh, gently rubbing my palms on my eyes.

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