Page 98 of The Heart of a Villain

A scream echoes in the air, terrified and agonized, and it takes me a second to realize it tore away from my throat while I shake my dad. “Daddy! No!” I look at the men who all just watch him, and I shout at them, “Why are you just standing there? Do something!” I order them and then put my ear to his chest, not hearing a heartbeat.

Sitting up, I start to do compressions on his heart, the wound still oozing blood, and Rush grabs my shoulders. “Aileen!”

“Get away from me!” I warn him and continue my actions, waiting for him to come back to life. “Dad, please.”

My feet tremble as I get on the ice, wanting to stand up straight, and almost face-plant on the ice, when my father catches my hood and keeps me steady. “Thank you, Daddy!” I grin at him and then sigh in resignation. “I think it was a bad idea to come here.” I glance at all the kids having fun on the ice, gliding so easily while chasing each other, and without thinking, I lean on his leg. “I can’t do it.”

Dad wraps his hand around mine, and we slowly start to skate. “You just need a little practice. And I’m here.”

Happiness rushes over me, and I grin at him. “Yes, you are!” Daddy is the best; he even took a day off just to come to the ice rink with me. “But you won’t always be free, Daddy.” Especially next week, when it’s Ellie’s birthday, and she wants to celebrate it here. One of the reasons I wanted to practice.

Everyone finds it funny that I’m a dancer but can’t skate at all.

“No,” he agrees with me and then winks. “I promise you, though. Whenever I’m gone, you’ll be ready to do everything on your own.”

“I’m not ready, Dad!” I whisper and continue to do compressions, all while silently begging my father to wake up. “Please, Dad!”

I fall on his chest, sobs shaking me while I cry my soul out because my father’s heart stays deaf to my pleas and efforts, the silence around me announcing the truth that’s too hurtful to comprehend.

My dad is gone.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“I always thought love required sacrifices.

How wrong I was.

Because love requires only one thing.

Courage.”

Aileen

Three months later

Aileen

Sliding the terrace door open, I step outside and hiss at the blasting wind whooshing over my form. Billowing my hair back while coldness settles over me, it breaks goose bumps on my skin.

Thunder shakes the sky as dark clouds gather together, threatening to send pouring rain to the ground and showcase the autumn season in its full glory, announcing chaos to the outside world.

The chaos that matches the storm in my soul, tearing it in two as different desires and needs course through it, one darker than the other yet with no solution in sight.

Because somehow without my consent and knowledge, I ended up being a damsel in distress where two men decided my fate for me.

And in this became collateral damage no one saw coming.

As soft music rings in the air, I notice my mother standing right in the middle of the garden, her silky black gown plastering against her thin body as she sways slightly to the classical piano notes, wrapped in a wool scarf as her hair flies in different directions. She pays no attention to it, but then again, my mother hasn’t paid attention to a lot of things lately.

Thunder grumbles once again, the lightning before it making the birds chirp soundly and fly high up, ready to escape the storm that would be merciless to whoever stands in its path.

After all, nature can be ruthless too, right? But it can also be compassionate, grieving right along with you and showing you support in ways you never anticipate, letting you find solace in her arms and temporary reprieve from unbearable anguish.

It rained on that night as well.

My heart pangs painfully, shattering inside me all over again, and I look up at the sky, closing my eyes as memories assault me, piercing into me like sharp knives and leaving scars behind that won’t ever heal.

Memories that remind me more of a never-ending nightmare.

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