Floating aimlessly in the waters, Emma stared at the painted ceiling in a massive room decorated with glass-stained windows displaying beautiful events. Soon cracks appeared in the glass-stained mirrors and the ceiling as the room shook violently.
Emma watched with dull eyes as pieces of the ceiling and walls fell into the water around her. Then the room shook more violently creating huge chunks of falling debris but she continued to watch doing nothing about it.
“EMMA!”
Time halted all movement and paused everything in its path. Emma blinked twice as footsteps splashing through the water approached her and a pair of strong silhouetted arms picked her up in a warm embrace.
“It isn’t over Emma! You need to keep fighting!”
Emma recognized that voice. “You.”
“Don’t fall into despair.” The silhouetted figure held her tight. “Don’t do it! Stay strong.”
She blinked twice and the room filled with light. Squinting her eyes, she tried to sit up but groaned as the sudden pain spread through her body. A strong arm pinned her back to the bed.
“Stay still Beloved. You are still in pain.”
She turned to the left and groaned inwardly when she saw him.
Jake on the other hand gave a warm smile and took her right hand in his.
“I am sorry,” he whispered while kissing it. “I am so sorry.”
As he kissed her hand Emma looked away but felt the pain leave her body. She sighed in relief and closed her eyes as Jake lay next to her. When he turned to his side, he touched her face but she didn't respond.
Meanwhile, in the tangles of her mind, Emma relaxed in the stranger’s embrace.
“Give him what he wants."
She looked up at the silhouette in shock.
“If you don’t, you will be stuck here forever,” the stranger tipped her chin and wiped tears from her face. “I promise everything will be alright.”
Emma stared at it for a while before closing her eyes and settling back into his embrace.
Then he vanished leaving her alone in the ruins of her self-consciousness. Standing up, the room shakes but the walls remain intact. Confused, she gripped her head in pain but something was wrong because the pain was familiar.
Then she heard a huge ticking sound. Emma opened her eyes and found herself in a bright room. Before her, a huge hand holding an antic hand watch moved in a simple harmonic motion and it moved. A slow soothing voice echoed these words through the room.
“Relax, …, receive. Relax, …, welcome."
“Beloved?”
“Relax, …, receive,”
“Beloved wake up!”
"Relax. ... Believe."
“BELOVED!”
Emma’s eyes flew open and the first thing she saw was Jake grasping her shoulders with a worried look on his face.
“Beloved?”
“J…Jake?” she looked around and noticed she was tied to a chair. “Wha…what happened?”
In response, he crouched down and hugged her as tears of joy flowed from his eyes. “I am sorry. I am sorry I took things too far! I am sorry! I am so sorry!”
However, Jake’s voice only reassured her of one thing; she was still trapped inside the labyrinth he created with him.
And there was only one way out.
Emma’s POV
“How long have I been here?” I asked.
Jake looked at me and smiled. “For three weeks.”
“It feels like years to me."
“Yeah. I made it that way. It’s nice, isn’t it? Look,” he snapped his fingers and the scenery changed to an ancient Japanese garden complete with cherry blossom trees.
“See, I can change the scenery to whatever you like Beloved. We can stay here forever without problems."
I kept my face neutral until he got the message. Sighing, he snapped his fingers, turning the place into the dark gloomy room I was not accustomed to.
"What do you want?" he asked sitting down on the chair behind him. "Do you desire a modern setting, an ancient Japanese setting? I can create a school setting if you wish, or perhaps an apartment setting. So, what do you want?"
My face looked defeated. “Jake?”
“Yes, Beloved?”
“Let me go.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What?”
“Let me out please,” I bowed my head. “I can’t take it anymore!”
I heard him sigh. “I am sorry Beloved but I can’t let you go.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Why?”
“Oh come on, Beloved. Don’t you like it here?” he asked and when I shake my head he scoffed. “Of course you do. Don’t lie.”
I looked up at him expecting a grin but got a pout instead. “You are selfish."
“Sorry Beloved but if being selfish is the most effective way to show my love to you then yeah, I am selfish.” He smiled. “Besides, it’s perfect here! I get to pamper you, talk to you, play games with you, and get to know you better. I get to have you all to myself.”
When I looked at him with pleading eyes, he sighed and remained silent for a moment.
“Alright tell me, why do you intend to leave this wonderful place I created for you? I can change it however I want so why do you want to leave?”
“I think I am going insane! ” I cry.
He stared at me for a moment before reaching out to grab my face. “Then let’s go insane together.”
The last defense I had in me was shattered once I heard that and with a twisted grin on his face, he tightened his grip.
“You said I was crazy and now you are going crazy.” He giggled. “So let’s be crazy together! Let’s both go insane! It shouldn’t matter, should it? At least we got each other in this strange world I created for us. We can both go mad without consequences! Isn’t that great?”
Everything he said sounded like a fate more terrible than death! I didn’t want to go crazy! I didn’t want to stay here with him! I wanted to leave.
“Besides,” he frowned. How can I be sure you won’t run away again? You always do that and it makes it very difficult to find you.”
My eyes lit up at that. “I promise not to run away from you again.”
He laughed manically and grinned. “Why should I believe you? You ran away from me twice! TWICE!”
“I swear! I won’t do it again!” I scream.
“LIAR!”
“I won’t run away! I swear!”
He hummed for a while then looked at me with tender eyes. “You really want to get out of here don’t you?”
A glimmer of hope welled up in me and I nodded.
“You really want to leave?”
I nodded again.
“Then say you love me.”
There was a part of me in my body that said, "No," but I suppressed that urge and said it anyway. “I love you.”
“Hmm?” He cocked an eyebrow. “I didn’t hear that.”
“I love you, Jake,” I said.
He blushed but looked away while looking at me. “You don’t sound sincere.”
The pit in my heart erupted, and my stomach churned, but I opened my mouth and spoke. “Jake Othello Brandon. I love you from the bottom of my heart.”
His blush deepened and he reached out to kiss me on the lips. “I love you too darling. That’s why I can’t let you go.”
I burst into tears and he laughed.
“I am kidding sweetheart.” He let me go. “I am kidding.”
But I increased the tempo of my cries until the whole room echoed my wails. Suddenly he grabbed my face and kissed me again, stopping me.
“I’m sorry Beloved,” he hugged me. “I am so sorry and I love you too but…”
Then he whispered into my ears, “…I see right through you.”
My eyes widened in shock and he released me from his embrace with a sly grin on his face.
"Did you really think I would fall for that crybaby stunt, Beloved?" he giggled. “I know you very well, sweetheart. You would never do something like that without a desperate need to do so."
He sat back on the chair, covering his face and chuckling.
“Forgive me Beloved but,” he passed his hand over his face, “You look sexy when you are desperate.”
A pit formed in my stomach.
“We can leave but…” he parted his fingers showing me his golden eyes. “I want to make a deal.”
I swallowed saliva, “What deal?”
Standing up, he put his hand into his pocket and took out a small box. Giving me his sweetest smile, he got down on one knee and opened it revealing a ring with a purple gem.
My eyes widen in horror and I shake my head.
“Why?” he asked with a frown and before I could respond, he added, “We aren’t too young for marriage Beloved. I know it's awkward with me being nineteen and you being sixteen but who cares? Teenagers nowadays get legally married and thanks to the fact that our, I mean my parents are dead, there is no one stopping us from getting married.”
My heart beat rapidly in horror.
I didn’t want to marry him.
Just the idea of me marrying or having children with him sent shivers up my spine.
But…
“What’s this Beloved?”
I snap back to normal and notice he was close to me. His glowing eyes pierced my soul.
“Do I see fear in your eyes?”
My eyes watered as he laughed.
“You know darling, if I was a bastard I would have forced you to do this but I am not a bastard,” he put the ring back in his pocket. “But I have an alternative. Do you want to hear it?”
In my mind, a great conflict erupts, but I nod in desperation.
"Great!" he shouted as he crouched down and began playing with my legs. “You will treat me the same way you treated Agatha.”
“What?”
“Treat-me-the-same-way-you-treated-Agatha-while-you-two-were-dating.” He repeated while playing with my baby toe.
“I…I can’t I…!”
Before I could say more, he grabbed my thighs.
“Why can’t we start over like a normal couple huh?” He squeezed them together lovingly. “We can forgive each other for all the things we did to each other and start over. Why can’t we just do that hmm?”
As I wondered what his intentions were, I revisited the obedient, naive, dumb version of myself. Looking back at my actions, if not for the confrontation with the guidance counselor, I would have been dead already. However, I swore to never act like that again.
Now I am forced to revisit that part of me because of him but it is way better than marrying him so I nod my head.
"Great!" He stood up and wrote something in the air. He flicked the purple symbols toward me, creating a tingling sensation inside me after they solidified in the air. Pain shot through my body as something was engraved on my back, and by the time it subsided, I was sweaty and panting.
“Wha…what did you do to me?” I asked in between breaths.
“I cursed you,”
My head snapped up in shock.
“I know, I know. We both wanted things to be normal between us but this was the only thing I could think of since you are scared of our future together. Besides," he frowned. "How am I sure you won't run away from me?"
I was shocked. “So you cursed me?”
He nodded.
"But I gave you my word."
"I know Beloved but I don't trust you after what you have been doing."
When I bowed in despair, he tipped my chin upward.
“Relax, Beloved. It’s just a curse to seal away your powers and the catch is, it can only be broken if I kill you or harm you with my hands.”
I see the glint in his eyes and frown. “So this means I can’t die unless you kill me?”
“Yep! You are practically immortal until I kill you which I won’t.” He said.
Logically speaking, this doesn’t look like a solution to the problem because this 'curse' worked heavily to his advantage.
“Is there anything else I need to know about the curse?”
He put his hand on his chin, hummed, and smiled sadistically. “You will have to figure it out yourself Beloved.”
Nothing was said for a few minutes.
“So I am bound to act like this for the rest of my life?”
“Well, I am not forcing you to act like this forever. I just want you to act like this until I trust you again and who knows?" He crouched down and drew circles on my thigh. “I might change my mind.”
Then he stopped and looked at me pleadingly, “Do we have a deal?”214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIM7wWqBwQy
