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A few weeks ago
I NEVER THOUGHT I’D be setting foot in this place again.”
I look up at the clear morning sky for the first time in ten years. The children’s park where I used to play is still here, but a lot has changed.
The slow creaks of the rusty swings and winds swept send shivers down my spine. The park is now barely visible as the moss and vines patched the surroundings. All memories of my childhood came flooding back.
This has been a place of joy, peace, and contentment. This is where we played, ran, fought. The once silver slide had bronzed. Now, this place could serve a set of some horror films.
“Are you really sure about this? There’s no turning back now,” Oliver asks.
“We are already out of the house, so let’s get started.”
Oliver smiles.
“See? What did I tell you? You can do things if you just put your mind to it. Look at you now. I should’ve searched for Alayna long ago and brought her to you.”
“I’m not just doing this for her. I’m doing this for myself,” I remind him.
“But Brandon, you can walk around the house, and you managed to come out. I see that you don’t have a problem in getting out at all,” he stated.
“It’s not that I can finally come out, Ollie. I’m still struggling. I don’t want people to see me. I don’t want to encounter them. I can’t even look at myself in the mirror because all I see is a dead man’s reflection. This is my insecurity.” I touch the covered part of my face.
“It’s not as ugly as you think. The world is even uglier, and yours is just skin.”
“I don’t want to see the world that killed my family.”
“But you found yourself again,” he says. “How else are you going to find justice? This is the answer, and you are finally getting there.”
“I know where I can find Annette now,” I inform him.
“You do? Does Alayna really know where she is?”
“Yes, but I cannot face her if I’m like this. You are right. I need to get better. You know that there’s no one I could ask but you.”
“I never turned my back.” Oliver steps aside and holds the whistle. “Take off your mask, Brandon. It’s a distraction.”
Gently, I pull the rubber tie around my ear and take off the mask, letting it fall on the ground. I shudder as the cold wind blows against my bare face. I cover my face with my hand.
“You don’t have to hide your face from me,” Oliver says kindly.
I tense up and slowly face the world in front of me.
“Now, can you see that tree over there? That’s about a half kilometer. I need you to run there and get back here. Don’t stop until you can’t run anymore. We need to work on how far you can go when you run. I don’t know if this is going to work, but we will still try. Even if it’s hard, I don’t want to hear ’No’ or ’I give up.’ Do you understand?”
I nod while holding my breath. As long as people won’t touch me, I can do this.
“Are you ready, Brandon?”
“Y-yes...”
“I said, are you ready?!”
“Yes, sir!” I answer as loud as I can.
“On my mark. Three... Two... One...”
I begin running as I hear the whistle blow.
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ALAYNA
“GOING SOMEWHERE?”
I look up at the man blocking the way. It is that mask, the same cerulean eyes, and melodious baritone voice. I’m still not sure if I’m dreaming or if the alcohol has already affected me.
How is this possible?
“Brandon,” I announce, still unsure. “No... It’s impossible.”
A deep groan vibrates in his throat, and his chest tenses up. He grabs my wrist, his thumb pressing on my pulse. I can feel the warmth of his palm on my skin.
“Do you not know when to stop or when to come home?” he questions, sounding furious.
I shake my head. “This must be a dream,” I murmur. “I must be dreaming. You seem so real!”
His jaw clenches. “Because I am!”
I gawk at him, still astounded. It’s him. He’s really here.
“Wait!” I jerk my hand away, but his grip tightens. “How are you here?”
“Is that important?”
I manage to pull my hand back and glare at him. “Why are you touching me? I thought you hated it so much.”
He leans closer and shut his eyes as he moves away. “Come on now. Let’s get you home.”
“It’s been a week since you last talked to me. Besides, I still want to stay here.” I cross my arms. No way is he getting away with being so moody.
“No, you’re coming with me,” he insists. He grasps my hand again and drags me out of the restroom heading to the exit.
“Hey, let me go right now! Hey!” I scream. People look our way, but they don’t seem to care. “How could you come all the way here just to tell me what to do after ignoring my calls and notes? You didn’t even say hi.”
“Hi,” he says, but he doesn’t look at me.
“You know, you can’t just disappear like that and appear when you want to!” I rant.
Brandon stops and finally faces me. “I can appear anywhere if I want to. So please, come with me while I’m still being nice.”
“I’m going to call the security if you try to force me,” I yell.
His eyes peer, stepping a little closer. “Do you know how things work around here, Alayna? I might fire the security first if they try to touch me. Everything you see here is mine. Do you understand?”
I scowl. “You own the club?”
“Yes.”
I roll my eyes. “I really don’t stand a chance, do I?”
“I don’t want to do this, but you’re leaving me no choice.”
Brandon wraps his arms around my waist, and like a sheet of paper, he carries me on his shoulder. My eyes widen as the world spins, turning me upside down.
“No! Put me down, Brandon! Put me down, please, please... I’m coming with you, okay? Just put me down,” I cry out, but he doesn’t listen and heads to the club’s exit.
Two security guards step in the way, but Oliver appears out of nowhere and stops the guards. They acknowledge him, then step back.
Brandon sets me down as soon as we are outside. I suddenly feel sick to my stomach.
“How could you do that to me?” I accuse, panting hard. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Let’s do this at home. Shall we?” He waltzes towards the white jaguar car and opens the door.
“What about Cassius? He’s still inside.”
He grimaces. “What about him?”
“Don’t worry, Alayna,” Oliver interjects. “I’ll talk to my brother. Get in the car and go home with Brandon.”
“Fine.” I exhale a breath of frustration. I turn to the other side and settle into the driver’s seat. I pull the door close, but Brandon stops me.
“What are you doing?” He scowls. “Move aside.”
“Alright, alright!” I move to the passenger seat. Brandon steps inside. “Wait. Can you drive?”
I mean, he locked himself in his room forever, right? There’s no way he knows how to drive this thing. I suddenly feel terrified for both of us.
“I wasn’t born three hundred years ago. Of course, I can drive.”
He buckles his seatbelt, then guns the car. He pulls out of the place like an expert.
I WAKE UP WITH A GENTLE squeeze on my shoulder. I groan as I feel the discomfort at the back of my neck. I massage the painful part lightly and gaze up at the window. It’s still dark. We are already on the mansion’s front porch.
“We’re... home?”
I shift my head to Brandon’s side, and his glacial eyes are watching me. “About thirty minutes ago,” he responds hoarsely.
“What time is it?”
“Three in the morning.”
“Oh.” I look away from his eyes. I’m already melting. “So, should we... should we get inside now?”
“Yes, but you and I need to talk.” He steps out of the car first. I follow him and head to the mansion.
The only shade of light illuminating the hallways are the warm lights mounted on the walls, and it’s very quiet. The only sound I can hear is Brandon’s light footsteps and the thuds of my heels as we stroll towards the twin staircase.
Brandon abruptly stops in the middle and looks over his shoulder.
“You are going to wake up everyone in here.”
“Sorry. I’ll take it off.”
“Hey,” he hisses, “I didn’t tell you to—”
I bend down and pick up my heels.
He exhales. “I said you didn’t have to.”
We stop in front of his room, and he lets me go in first. He walks straight to his bedroom and takes his jacket off, leaving only a black T-shirt. I notice how he is more muscular than I last saw him. He sits on the bed.
“Sit.” He taps the space beside him.
I slowly step closer and sit quietly. I can’t say anything.
“Are you just going to sit there?” he begins to ask. “Speak.”
I look up at him. He is already gazing at me.
“I didn’t expect this,” I say. I couldn’t exactly complain. I admit that I miss him, but I am unprepared for this. We haven’t talked for a month, and now he is expecting me to say something.
“I know you have a lot of questions. Now is your time to ask.”
“Well,” I cleared my throat, “...how did you come outside?”
“Oliver helped me. I wasn’t supposed to come out until...” he pauses.
“Until?”
He tenses up. “What’s with you and Cassius?”
“Didn’t Oliver tell you? He was occupied.” I try to avoid his eyes.
“I know when someone is lying to me, Alayna,” he says softly. “Do you like him?” he asks, his voice calm but dejected.
“No, it was nothing.” I shrug. “Look. There’s still a lot of things I don’t understand about you. You lift me up one moment, and then you bring me down the next. I am not ready for that kind of relationship. Cassius was already there to join me. He is available and—”
“Available?” He laughs humorlessly. “Interesting.”
I sigh hard and shut my eyes. “I meant he was there to dance with me—to talk, and I had fun. Something I know that you don’t do,” I say in all honesty.
“Ah, and what else is there that I cannot do? Touch you? Go out to the nightclub with you?” He shakes his head; a pinch of disappointment is marked in his eyes. “And to summarize it all—you like him, am I wrong?”
“I don’t like him,” I assert firmly. “He was just there, that’s all!”
Brandon reaches out, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. I jerk away. His fingers brought tingles of electricity all over my senses.
“You suddenly didn’t want to see me. Why?” I question.
He backs his hand away and stares blankly at the ceiling. “My world is dark. Cassius was probably right. You deserve better, and you deserve someone like him. It’s not even a surprise.”
“No, you’re wrong. I like you,” I say painfully, tears already building in my eyes. “I’ve liked you since the first time I saw you. You are strange, and you are far from normal. Everything about you is a mystery, but I can’t help it. I don’t know why or how... I just like you the way you are.”
He laughs quietly, and his expression softens. “I’m sorry, Alayna. It’s not that I don’t want to see you. I do. But there are just things I need to do.”
“Then... I’m glad to hear that.”
“And I like you, too, Alayna.” He gazes at me. “Everything about you.”
“You do?”
“I’m willing to give it a try. You don’t belong in my world, so let me belong to yours.”
Brandon stands, his eyes not leaving mine. Then he pulls off his black shirt over his head, exposing the scar on his chest before my eyes.
The scar was covering almost half of his left chest. The dry, yellowish, dead skin around it is almost painful to see, but I didn’t look away. I couldn’t. Instead, I gaze at his imperfection.
“Touch me, Alayna,” he says tenderly; it’s almost a whisper.
I swallow hard. “Are you sure?”
He didn’t respond, but I lift my hand and begin tracing the trail of his oblique with my forefinger. I slowly move to his rock-hard six-pack. I finally stand; my hands are still on the curves of his stomach.
Brandon let out a hitched breath. I stop in the middle.
“Are you okay?”
He nods. “Don’t stop.”
He holds my hands and brings my palms to his chest. I can slightly feel the texture of his scar against my fingertips.
Gently, I trace the scar with my fingers. The scar’s skin is oddly soft, but the surface feels thick. I shut my eyes and stop. I’m not sure anymore if I could carry on. He’s panting abnormally, and I can see that he’s only resisting it.
“Go on. I want this. Don’t stop, please,” he pleads.
“What if I hurt you again like the last time?”
“This time you won’t,” he murmurs. We stare at one another and he presses a kiss on my forehead. “I’m not supposed to do this. If I kiss you now, I won’t be able to stop. Oliver’s hard work will be for nothing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not done with fixing myself.”
“But you seem fine now. You can come out now, and you even maneuvered a sports car!”
“No. You’ll know if I’m completely healed. Besides, I may not know how to handle you with my situation like this.” He flashes out a meaningful smile.
“What? Are you telling me that you are a virgin, and you don’t know how to kiss?”
He let out a delicious laugh. “No, I’m not a virgin.”
“Okay, so you are not a virgin, but you lack experience?” I ask without trying to sound offensive.
He leans into my ear and whispers, “Alayna, I haven’t had a woman in my life for the last ten years, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know how to make my woman satisfied, especially in bed.”
“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “I see.”
“If I put you in my bed right now, you won’t be able to stand up for a few days because you won’t feel your legs anymore. I can be very gentle, but I can also be very rough. So, if you are not ready with this tiny body of yours, refrain from whatever you’re going to say.” He moves away, but the millions of tiny sparks remain and excite my senses.
“Alright, you’ve made your point.” I clear my throat nervously. “So...” I slip my arms around his neck. “Will I see you again tomorrow?”
“No, but you will soon. Just give me some time. It won’t take another month. I promise.” He kisses my nose. “It will kill me if I don’t see your face again.”
I smile.
“I can’t wait. It would kill me too. I’m sorry, by the way. I didn’t mean to—”
Brandon cuts me off with his thumb brushing on my lip, causing me to gape my mouth open. With a low groan, he leans into me; his mouth descends towards my neck, and his lips caress a sensuous path underneath my ear. His lips continue to move across my throat, to my chin, and finally claim my mouth in a domineering kiss.
It feels like a dream—so erotic, doing this with the most beautiful and enigmatic man in the world. His kiss drowns me, and he is hungry. He thrusts his tongue into my mouth, greedily devouring mine. All I can hear is the sound of our mouths. I feel dizzy from the demanding possessiveness of his mouth. I don’t realize his hand is already on top of my breast. He gives out a gentle squeeze.
“Ahh...”
“Shh...” he hushes. “Your reactions are going to be the death of me.”
I blush, clenching the fabric of his shirt. I’m being ultra-sensitive. There are suddenly pleasant tingles building inside my core. Apparently, he’s the only one who could make me feel this way. I’m already getting addicted to this.
Brandon pulls away first.
“It’s getting late. You need to rest.”
Oh, God. How could he leave me so turned on like this?
“Yes, Master.”
