“Where are we?” I demanded as Jase gently patched up my side in this odd bathroom.
“I told you, someplace safe,” he stated boldly.
“Is this your apartment?” I demanded.
He just gazed up at me in amusement. “As is so happens, it is.”
I just watched him numbly. “Why did you take me here?”
“The answer to that question is obvious,” he said to me, pushing his hands on his knees and standing. “You’re not safe home alone.”
“I want to call Lizzy and tell her to come home, and then I go back,” I told him.
He just smiled. “You’re staying the night, Angel.”
That was a bad idea. That was a really bad idea.
Mainly because this was a one-bedroom apartment… and there was no living room. Just a small kitchen, a very tiny open space with a fireplace, and a singular bedroom with this bath.
There was no way in hell that sleeping with him in one room would be smart. Even if one of us ended up on the floor.
Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea.
He just smiled, eyes glowing in amusement.
I felt my cheeks heat in response.
Oh, shit. Right. He could hear what I thought.
I just looked away then, and he just lightly caught my arm, helping me stand.
“Would you rather go to the hospital?” Jase said then.
“No,” I responded quietly.
Not that I had anything against hospitals, but… I really, really didn’t want to end up in one of them again. It was cold, musty, and incredibly… boring. I was lucky I slept through the ER experience, or else it would’ve felt like ten years before I got to my room.
Jase said it only grazed me, anyway, and I believed him. If it went deeper, I wouldn’t be awake right now. I would’ve lost a ton of blood already or started going into shock.
After helping me into the bedroom, Jase guided me into his bed, and after sitting there, I propped my back up against the headboard.
“You’re not going to lay down?” He looked more amused than irritated.
“Not tired,” I lied.
He just chuckled and started getting in with me.
I immediately scrambled back, wincing slightly but ignored the pain. “What are you doing?”
He just smirked. “Going to sleep. It’s late. And I have work tomorrow.”
“Aren’t you going to sleep on the floor?” I questioned.
He didn’t seem shocked or irritated at my question, just laid down. “Nope. Don’t feel like it. Good night.”
I stared at him for too long, and his lashes just fluttered shut.
I started breathing shallowly as a sudden heat consumed me.
In the same bed… as Jase. In the same bed. IN THE SAME BED.
I tried to calm myself because I was getting way too excited, and I needed to chill out.
But, deciding I wanted to snoop, I quietly slid off the mattress.
“Where are you going?” he said then, not opening his eyes even slightly.
“Food,” I lied, “be back quickly.”
“You better,” he said then.
I just walked quietly out from the bedroom, sneaking into the main area as I searched around.
After glancing back to make sure he wasn’t standing behind me, I just stepped over to the kitchen and open and closed his drawers, quietly going through everything and seeing what I could find.
I was secretly hoping I would find stapled pieces of paper called “My Evil Plan” or something, even though it sounded ridiculous.
As I kept going through his things, I suddenly looked up.
There was a small little line on the wall in the center of the kitchen, and because I was curious, I stepped over to it.
Hesitantly reaching out, I pushed my hand against the wall.
And opened a small, hidden cupboard door made from the wall’s plaster.
I quickly glanced behind to me to see if he was following, and when I was in the clear, I looked back at the cupboard.
Sliding my hands in, I pulled out a small bundle of papers, and I blinked when I gazed down at them.
My eyes immediately rounded, breaths stilling.
How did he…?
It was records… records of me.
The first paper had an image of me, my name, birthday, age, current residence, phone number, parents… everything about me. Even my social! Where did he get these?
Hesitantly, I flipped to the next page.
It was more about me… the next three pages were.
Until I reached the last page, and I blinked, finding the consistency of this paper different… and it was lined paper.
It had a note written on it.
To Jase Deriek,
Emma Swells is the target.
She is the perfect subject that you and I talked about.
My brows drew together.
11234 Westside Avenue.
It doesn’t matter when you make the sacrifice, it will happen.
Go over there when you’re ready.
And kill her.
My breaths shortened then, and I dropped the papers.
They fluttered to the ground in a scrambled mess, and tears flooded my eyes as I tried to breathe.
I needed to leave.
RIGHT NOW.
I turned to exit the kitchen, trying to silence my thoughts as I crept over to the front door, latching onto the handle…
“Where are you going?” Jase’s voice flooded behind me.
“Uh…” I said quietly, not daring to face him, “I needed fresh air.”
He was silent for a moment.
I didn’t waste a second, I shoved open the door as quickly as I could, preparing to run.
He suddenly appeared next to me and slammed the door shut immediately, making me almost run into it.
I gasped for air, gazing up at him in shock.
His eyes were dark… dangerous… emotionless. The smile was gone… the shadows of his expression crept with anger.
He wasn’t happy.
“What did you find?” he said darkly.
I struggled to breathe for a moment.
Without thinking, I screamed and slammed my hands against his chest, and he tumbled to the ground in seconds, yelling out.
I then rushed over to the door and caught the handle.
It rattled in place, locked.
I shoved against the door and pulled at it, twisting it one direction, and the other.
It was stuck in place.
As panic swirled into my sight, blurring it, I kicked the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
Jase suddenly caught my wrist and shoved me back, making me scream.
I fought him then, kicking out my legs as he tried to capture my arms.
But I swung my fist at him, clipping him in the ribs.
It didn’t seem to faze him, he just came at me like a lion pouncing at a deer.
I slammed my fist against his chest, and he just caught my wrist at the action, making me cry out.
And seconds later, I was shoved down, collapsing onto the floor.
I let out a cry of despair as he pinned my wrists above my head, keeping me to the ground as I fought him desperately.
I just shoved my legs up, slamming my knee into his stomach.
He just hardened his muscles there and kept me down, immediately straddling my waist to render my legs useless.
It didn’t stop me, I screamed and thrashed from under him, my eyes blurring with tears as I kicked out my legs.
“Enough!” Jase yelled. “You’re going to hurt yourself! Emma, you were already shot! Enough!”
I stopped then, catching my breath as I gazed up at him hazily, tears slipping down my cheeks.
“What did you see?” he demanded darkly. “What did you find?!”
“You want to kill me!” I cried then, throat burning with tears.
His eyes suddenly darkened.
“I saw it!” I sobbed. “The note! My records! I saw it!”
He lowered his head in defeat, taking a deep breath. “Emma.”
“LET ME GO!” I yelled, kicking out my legs again.
He looked down at me then, breaths short and stiff. “No.”
“What?” I sobbed. “Are you going to kill me now then? Now that I figured it out?!”
“I’m not going to kill you, Emma,” he said gently.
“LIAR! That’s why you came at me in the first place! THAT’S WHY!”
“Emma, please… listen to me.”
“Let me go!” I said then, fighting him.
But the wound on my sight suddenly struck with fire, and I cried out, tipping my head back.
“I warned you,” he told me, “you’re going to hurt yourself, so stop.”
Tears burned down my cheeks then, and I breathed shakily. “Was this your big secret? I knew you were hiding something. I knew it wasn’t mere circumstance that a fallen angel came into my life!”
“Emma… please, listen. I’ll explain,” he told me. “Everything. I’ll explain everything.”
I didn’t say anything… mainly because I knew I couldn’t fight anymore. Not in this position, not with how much pain I was in… emotional and physical.
“I did want to kill you,” he told me, making the cold bury deeper inside me. “I did, past tense.”
I gazed up at him hazily.
“Before I fell…” he said quietly, “I was cursed by the angels. I disobeyed the orders to keep my family safe. In return, they cursed me… they cursed me to have no emotion.”
My brows drew together. “You do have emotion! You’re lying to me!”
“I’m not,” he said then, eyes darker than night, expression enclosed in seriousness.
My lips parted.
“For the longest time,” he continued, “I thought they were right. I noticed that I didn’t feel emotional pain anymore… that I didn’t feel sadness anymore. And I hated it. I despised it…” he was silent for a moment, “but that’s an emotion, isn’t it? I didn’t think of it at the time. I didn’t think it was possible that they never cursed me. I just felt different, and I was traumatized after I fell… my mind was tainted.”
I swallowed something hard.
“When I looked up how to break the curse…” he told me in a gentle tone, “it was… a spell. A sacrifice. I had to sacrifice the youngest twin three minutes apart… with a brother of two years older.”
My eyes immediately widened.
“You were the first one I found…” he continued quietly, “and… and I thought it would be so easy. All I had to do was to kill you, but… at the beginning, as I watched you and got to know you, I couldn’t do it myself. And you were so quiet, too… I thought maybe it would be easier if I got you to trust me, and then you’d do it yourself. For me. Because many high school girls are gullible like that, but…” he gazed down at me, his black eyes like a void of oblivion, “you were nothing like I expected.
“Slowly as I started watching you, I introduced myself to you, then I talked to you…” he was silent for a moment, “then things started changing.”
“Did you try to kill me?” I said uneasily.
“Yes, twice, but… I couldn’t do it.”
“What do you mean?!” I questioned.
“In the arcade…” he said gently, “I tried to kill you in the horror game, but it didn’t work. At your house… I came in. I was thinking about stabbing you, but… but I couldn’t do it.”
“Why?!” I cried.
“Because…” he sighed, looking slightly ashamed as if he hoped I’d never figure it out, “because I fell in love with you.”
My eyes widened, and I stilled from under him.
“Don’t you see now…?” he said gently. “I do have emotion. It’s just… some are more inflated than others. Which makes me good at hiding my feelings.”
My lashes lowered, and more tears slipped down my cheeks. “You’re lying. There’s… no, it can’t be. How am I supposed to believe you?!” I sobbed. “For all I know, you brought me here to kill me! You just want to see me break first! Well I’m broken! So just kill me already! Why couldn’t you do this before?! Did you have to wait THAT LONG?!”
“If I wanted you dead,” he told me boldly, “you’d be dead.”
My eyes widened in horror, bones chilling at his black, soulless eyes.
“If I wanted you dead,” he repeated, expression growing stern, “I would’ve slaughtered you a year ago.”
My breath immediately shook, and I just closed my eyes tightly. “I can’t breathe.”
He just leaned down, tone gentle. “Don’t cry. I won’t hurt you. I’m the opposite now. I want to save you.”
When he pulled away, I immediately attempted to get up.
But I cried out, pain shooting through me almost immediately.
And that when it happened, I broke, my face cracking.
I started crying.
Every ounce of fear, every burning pain that consumed me decided to come out… through tears… staining my cheeks with the gloss of sorrow.
Jase just leaned back down, scooping me up immediately.
I remained still, shaking like a live wire when I continued crying, and he carried me to his room again.
I didn’t know what to do… I didn’t know what to think anymore. I was scared. I was horrified.
He just sat on the bed with me in his lap, and gently wrapped a blanket around me.
My eyes immediately opened in shock, and I looked up at him, more tears slipping down my cheeks.
He just pulled me against him and brushed his fingers along my arm, trying to soothe me. “Shhhh…” he cooed, “take deep breaths, okay?”
I wasn’t sure what to think about this. Should I give in? Should I try to run?
I didn’t know anymore!
I started hyperventilating, struggling against him as he gazed down at me nervously.
“Emma,” he urged, “Emma, you need to breathe.”
My vision framed with white, and I felt my mind grow foggy and weary.
He just pulled me against him, making me still when he started rubbing my back. “Shhhhhh…” he soothed, “shhhhhhh… you’re alright. I won’t hurt you. I’ll never hurt you. Shhhhhhh….”
My breathing calmed as he kept rubbing my back, and I felt my body easing into him despite my clear fear of him.
He set his cheek atop my head, still rubbing my back with a gentleness I didn’t know he had.
“Shhhhhh…” he cooed as I eased further, breathing calming. “That’s it. Breathe, Angel. Deep breaths.”
The moment the panic inside me dissipated, I parted my lashes lazily and stared down at his chest… now stuck in a numb state.
“See?” he said gently. “I mean you no harm. No harm, Sweetheart.”
I just kept my position.
He didn’t move… didn’t tell me to move, just brushed his fingers through my hair and cradled me to him.
I didn’t… I didn’t understand him anymore. I don’t think I ever did.
How was I supposed to believe him…? How was I supposed to be alright with this?
And… why was I starting to be alright with this? Why was I still here? Letting him do this? Especially knowing he wanted to kill me only weeks ago?
Was I… was I in love with him, too?
How sick and twisted was this? How horrible could my mind be…?
Jase just pressed his lips to my forehead. “Please… don’t be afraid of me. I won’t hurt you.”
I just stared down at my chest. “If you want me to believe you… tell me everything.”
He just stared down at me with a darkness I had never felt in him.
But he pulled the blanket higher on my arms. “When we first met at your house, I was trying to scare you. It didn’t work.”
I gazed up at him, brows pinching together. “Why?”
“I was hoping to scare you away from me,” he said then, “but you just got curious… and it interested me into you further. That’s why I gave you my phone number. I suspected you’d try to seek answers, and I wanted you to get closer to me, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.”
I just stared at him, hoping he wasn’t serious.
“A while ago, I controlled your sister’s mind and made myself invisible to her, just to mess with you. But you didn’t get scared, you got curious. I also controlled her mind to give her the idea to invite me to your party so I could finally talk to you. I tipped her off to select me to play the ‘get to know you’ game with you. I got the teacher to change our seats, I created the assignment based off your lie you told me before. The ‘get to know me’ lie of the psych assignment. Once again, I did it to mess with you… it didn’t work. I chose my break times at work on purpose, I was leaving you in hooks to trigger your curiosity. And the more time I spent with you… the more interested I got. It’s just… you’re nothing like I expected, Emma. And it… fascinates me. Let alone, Emma… Your parents are stuck in New York because of me.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“I’ve been calling them and controlling their minds,” he told me in a dark tone, as if he regretted it, “so they’d cancel their flights and then think the flights themselves were cancelled. I did this because I thought it would be easier to kill you if I had access to you without the parental bodyguards.”
I glared then, disgusted. “How COULD YOU—”
“I stopped, Emma,” he said then, making my eyes widen. “I stopped weeks ago. I wanted them home. I wanted them to protect you. Someone else…” he whispered sadly, “someone else is doing it now. And it’s not me.”
By his grim expression… I knew he told the truth. Mainly because he never showed this side of him… and it was so confusing to me. It was… enlightening.
“Promise me,” I said then, “promise me you’re telling the truth.”
He gazed down then, eyes darker than I had ever seen them. “I am telling the truth, Emma. I have no reason to lie to you… now that you know.”
“How do I know… you mean me no harm?” I whispered.
“Emma,” he whispered, “if I wanted you dead. You’d be dead. If I wanted to torture you, I’d torture you endlessly. If I wanted to break you, I wouldn’t be comforting you right now.”
I felt the cold swell inside me at the less-than-cheerful thought.
If he wanted me dead, he would’ve killed me no doubt. It was horrific that he had that kind of power, that he wouldn’t think twice about it… that fighting was useless.
But… I did suppose he was a fallen angel. Although… it was hard to accept the fact that he had the capability and could definitely end me the moment he decided he wanted me dead.
I just gazed up at him, eyes glistening.
He just brushed his thumb under my eye, drying a single tear that dare escape. “Don’t be afraid.” His smile was… soft… and I’d never seen it so kind before. “I won’t hurt you,” he promised in a low whisper. “I want to save you.”
I just closed my eyes and set my head on his chest, unsure of what to do.
Should I stay here…? With a man that promised he wouldn’t hurt me when he was originally planning to? The same one who promised to protect me from demise when he was the original one plotting it?
Or… or should I leave and go home? While being hunted by a serial killer who just shot me? With no one to protect me? The serial killer who was possibly fallen, as well?
I closed my eyes, trying to think.
But I opened them again. “I’ll stay. Just for tonight.”
I could feel him smile, although it was soft, I knew there was some kind of satisfaction in there.
I just pulled the blanket off and got off him. “I’m going to go take a shower.”
He watched me curiously as I stepped into his bathroom and closed the door behind me.
I then sat my back against it, breathing slowly.
Oh, God. What was I coming to? How was I supposed to feel?
Should I have been scared? Should I believe him?
I just gazed into the brightness of the room, trying hard to focus on one train of thought.
Distantly clutching onto my bandaged side, I decided finally what I was going to do.
I could let him protect me, but it didn’t mean I had to trust him.
After echoing the words in my head countless times, I finally stepped further into the room.
After pulling off my shirt, I winced when the blood stuck to the fabric ripped the hairs off my side.
I just pulled it fully off, leaving me in a cotton bra and a skirt.
I just gazed down at the skirt, pulling it down my legs and picking it up, and staring at the blood-stained fabric.
Dammit.
I looked at my bandaged side, and then to the shower.
Was this a good idea?
But I closed my eyes tightly, trying to breathe.
I could ask him for a shirt later… he could patch up my side later. I just needed to get all this disgusting blood and sweat off me.
After turning on the shower, I peeled off my bra that had a small bit of blood stuck to the side, and then immediately stepped into the shower.
I decided to keep the bandage on… he put some kind of plastic coding on it, so I assumed it was waterproof.
I just tipped my head back as the warm water hit my chest, warming my cold skin.
It feels so nice.
I stood there for a couple minutes, just enjoying the heat and warmth… and then finally… I parted my eyes and decided to keep going.
I picked up some of his body wash and spread it onto my palms, running it all over myself and scrubbing off the dried blood from my skin and hands.
I finished with massaging some shampoo into my scalp, and then finishing with conditioner.
After rinsing off my hair, I ended up leaving the bandage alone despite it already being wet, and I turned off the shower, stepping out and catching a towel.
I wrapped myself in it, enjoying the steam that washed through the room…
But I then looked down to my bloodstained clothes, and I sighed.
I should’ve asked him for a shirt before I showered.
Because now all I could do was put on my bra and panties and that was it.
Everything else looked extremally uncomfortable.
And I did so, pulling on my undergarments, immediately stepping over to the bathroom door and cracking it.
“Jase,” I said then.
His voice came from the other end, his voice a low whisper. “Yeah?”
“Can I borrow a T-shirt…?” I said then.
“Of course,” he responded. “Give me one second.”
And he vanished.
Seconds later, a small fabric slipped through the crack in the door. “Here.”
“Thanks,” I said then, taking it.
Immediately, I closed the door behind me and took off my bra, pulling on the T-shirt seconds later.
Unfortunately, I realized it stopped about two inches from my mid-thigh, exposing the lower part of my buttocks.
I cursed internally.
And I parted the door again. “Jase.”
“Yeah?”
“Turn off the lights,” I said to him.
There was silence for a moment, then a low whisper, “They’re off.”
I quickly turned off the bathroom light and opened the door, quietly stepping out and finding his shadow standing beside me.
It was more menacing than I wanted to admit.
I then quietly made my way over to his bed and got in, shuffling to the side and pulling the blanket over myself. “You can turn them on now.”
“No need,” he whispered low, getting in on the other side. “I’m ready for bed, anyway.”
I stared at the ceiling then, the previous thought process echoing through me.
I’m in his bed. In his house. With him.
What was I doing?
This was insane.
But I remained in place, staring at the ceiling.
“Can’t sleep?” he said then.
I turned my head, finding him on his side, his expression as clear as day with the moonlight beaming on us through the windows.
His glittering eyes were on me and only me.
And the familiar, low smile curling his lips.
“I’ll survive,” I said then, staring back up at the ceiling.
“You wanna snuggle?” he asked me.
I froze immediately. “No.”
I hated myself because the word ended in a question, and I clearly wanted to, but I kept reminding myself…
Just protection… you don’t have to trust him.
“You totally want to snuggle,” he said then, chuckling. “What position do you want? The couple swaddle? The lap partner?”
“Those sound like sexual poses.”
“That was the intention,” he said then.
My cheeks burned a bright red, and I said nothing.
“Come on,” he said then, rolling toward me, “ease up and come here.”
I sent him a warning look.
His smile was genuine. “You’re scared. Let me help.”
“I don’t trust you,” I stated then.
“You don’t have to trust me,” he said then, smiling. “Just rest your head on my chest. That’s it.”
He made it sound so easy, like he asked me to add two plus two.
I just sighed and turned to my side, shuffling over to him and setting my head on his chest.
He just set his hand on my head.
“If that hand goes any lower, you won’t have balls,” I threatened.
“I won’t touch you.” He curled toward me, making my breath suck in when he pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around me.
My cheeks flushed immediately, and I stared down at his chest, breathing slowly.
And I hated myself. I hated how comfy I was right now.
“Go to sleep now,” he said gently. “You’re literally in my arms. No one can touch you.”
I just stared at his chest. “You won’t leave?”
“Never,” he whispered.
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