Chapter 9: Silent Reprobate
Even after the countless hits and slaps that I gave him, he kept on looking straight ahead and driving in concentration. I asked him countless times where he was taking me but it felt like I was put on mute, he pretended not to hear me. He looked really unbothered on whatever was going on. His words from last night suddenly resurfaced in my mind again...
{ So as long as you don't cross my line from now on I won't cross yours.. how about that?"}
"I thought you said you were not going to cross my line? What a man of his words.." I said making myself comfortable on my seat. One thing was for sure, It was like he enjoyed seeing me scared. If I had to win in his own game I had to pretend he didn't affect me anymore. I had to show him that I was stronger than he thought.
His fingers started tapping the driving wheel like he was agitated but was trying really hard to control it. At that point I didn't know if making him angry was safe for me but I was tempted to make him even angrier.
"Who would have thought that the great Mr Sebastian would be so clingy towards a woman, after saying multiple times that he 'didn't care anymore'" I scoffed knowing that final bit was obviously going to trigger a reaction.
"First of all, its Sherman. Get it right. I'm your husband don't you remember. Second of all It is you that crossed my line, not me."
"Seriously...? I- crossed your line-...? " I couldn't believe how foolish this Cow's words sounded.
"Well was it not you, that willingly got in my car when I didn't ask you to. I was going to head this way, away from my mum, even without you here so blame yourself for tagging along" I scoffed at the ridiculousness once again.
"Hold up!... you are acting like I got in your car like I was really desperately dying to get inside knowing really well that you were going to be in it. As far as I can remember Mother Lu definitely asked if you were alright with it."
"And I don't remember saying I was"
"And I don't remember you saying you weren't either." He failed to reply this time around. I seemed to have won. Lesson learnt. I was never going to be too scared to respond to the Lunatic.
"Tell me where you are taking me" I demanded for the final time.
"Say it right. Ask me where You are following me to." I turned my head facing him awestruck at how many fatally ridiculous words he had in store. "If not you won't get an answer from me." He added shrugging his shoulders.
At first, I thought he was just having fun playing mind games with me, but then I realised, he was really expecting me to say it for an answer.
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth finding it hard to say but I had to. "Alright, where am I following you to?"
"You'll see when I get there." He said proudly. I was shocked at the fact that I actually believed his words.
" Absolute Goat" I muttered.
"What?"
"You heard me." I was done being the scared little girl. if I had to, I'd fight him head-on.
For the rest of the journey, It was a silence that overtook. I made sure the whole time I was looking out the window not facing him at all, trying to remember the route we took. In case I had a chance to escape.
Finally, we arrived. We were headed towards a really tall building. It looked like a grande bougie hotel. This was my opportunity. There obviously was going to be a lot of people in there. That was a good thing because once we got there I would start shouting for help. Then, instead of me trying to run, It would have to be him who was suppose to run. Police are going to come, arrest him and then take me home. The plan was sorted I was finally going to be free.
Things started going south when I realised he was going inside some hidden parking lot. The gates opened just for him and closed right after. At first, inside was pitch black but after a few seconds of driving in, lights started turning on. This had to be a nightmare. It felt more caged than back when I was in the house in the middle of the woods. There were no doors no exits no windows. Everything looked so prison-like. My heart started to wander off again. I was definitely panicking but I had to keep it away from him. If not, that meant he wins again.
The car stopped and he got out of the car. Not long, two men with black suits and dark shades appeared greeting him whilst bowing. They both were dressed exactly like Mother Lu's driver. After a few seconds of greeting and talking one of the men opened the boot of the car and took out the luggage. The other, opened the back seat and took all the packed items and the remaining luggage and left. Me being dazed and wondering what was going on was startled shocked when the door beside me opened and his face just popped in front of me.
"Are you going to get out or are you planning to sleep here?" His irritating voice started again.
Ignoring him, I looked around wondering if I would rather follow him or stay here. But my mind was made up when I saw that the lights turning off from afar and sooner or later all, the lights were completely going to turn off. I wasn't going to wait for that to happen.
I got out of the car and followed him straight away. We reached what looked like a lift. He got inside and I followed straight after. He pressed on the highest number available,102. I squinted my eyes at him trying to understand why it had to be all the way up. Maybe there were fewer people up there and he didn't want anyone finding out about me. Escaping from here was going to be harder than I thought.
It took a couple of long silent minutes before we reached floor 102. And all along I was wondering why there wasn't one person from all 102 floors who wanted to use the lift. Not one. the door opened and I was expecting to walk into a corridor before entering his room. Instead, I walked straight into his room or should I say house. It was a room that took up all of floor 102. Right then, I realised this was a private house just for him and the lift must have also been a private lift just for him, that's why no one appeared to get inside of it.
I took only a step out of the lift and the doors closed behind me. He on the other hand casually walked inside and threw his jacket on the couch and headed straight to a room. With him no longer in sight, my heart that was completely stiff and stuffy, relaxed a bit. I took a toll to inspect this apartment.
At one end of the room, the walls were completely made up of glass. one could clearly see the view. I took a peak and the illuminating colours of neon lights on the buildings outside outshone a beautiful view. There was a huge black piano next to the window and modernised white couches. Everything looked so stunning. I wondered why a rich man like him would have to go through all efforts to kidnap someone like me. What did he really want from me?
The sound of a doorbell ring made me jump in fright. I looked in the direction of the room that Sherman walked into. it looked like he didn't hear. This was my chance. Whoever it was, all I had to do was tell them I was kidnapped so they would call the police and then I'd dash out of here. If I had to run down 102 floors, I would.
"Room service!" A woman in a hotel staff uniform, holding a trolley of what looked like a feast of food said as soon as I opened the door.
At first, she was smiling insanely but when her eyes met mine, the smile completely and drastically disappeared. She started giving me a weird look, a questioning and detesting look. Whatever she had against me I didn't have time for it. I looked back into the room to see if he heard or if he was coming. When my coast was clear, I held her hands desperately in a pleading gesture.
"Please, please call the police. I have been kidnapped. The man inside won't let me go.. please...." the sound of him clearing his voice echoed from behind me. I held my breath and desperate tears ran down my cheeks, hoping for the woman to do something. Instead, she looked at Sherman and smiled.
"Is she the one you have been talking about?" She said pushing me aside and walking in with the trolley.
"Yeah.. she's ahh.. she's something else." He said rubbing his forehead and laughing at the same time. I who was standing there was flabbergasted at this untimely situation. Another lesson was learnt. No matter what, I was not to trust anyone here. They may all be in this kidnapping thing together.
Moments after processing everything. I legged my way out of the door. I was running through an endless corridor with no doors to a room as all of it was owned by Sherman himself. I looked back and thought it was weird that he wasn't following me out but I didn't have time for that. I might be this close to escaping from him. I came at the end at last. Two doors awaited me one was of a lift and the other was a staircase. I pressed the button for the lift and waited with my unevenly heaving chest. My fingers started shaking when I heard footsteps coming towards me.
I couldn't wait for the lift any longer so I decided to use the staircase. I ran down not even thinking twice about looking back. My feet stopped when the two men from the parking lot stood there on the stairs as if they have been waiting for me all this time. They approached me, and with every step they took forward, I took a step back. I headed back running up the stairs. I was on floor 100 and I wanted to open the door to that floor but my hands were stopped and I felt myself being carried. It was that moment when I realised how gigantic they were. I started screaming for help but It was like I was screaming at an empty room on the other side of the door.
My screams and struggles didn't stop until they reached His door. They dropped me on the couch and headed straight towards Sherman.
"We will take our leave now sir." They said simultaneously.
"Sure." He replied not taking his eyes off me. They left leaving just the three of us in the room. I didn't realise that red-headed woman was still standing there gawking at Sherman. My eyes Shifted away from them to look out the window. That's when I realised it was already sunset. I gave up at that point. He was never going to let me go, and I was never going to escape from him.
"You never told me that it was that bad. You also never told me that you were going to bring her with you." The woman said sounding all facetious. Who was she even? And why is it that she sounded like she was really close to Sherman?
"Yeah it is that bad and I didn't know I was bringing her today either." He answered. "Hey.. can you like, leave the food in the dining area, I'm going to freshen up a bit. " He said walking into that room again.
There was something weird about their conversation. What was 'that bad'? And what did that have to do with me? The woman started staring at me again. Just like the way she did when she first saw me. Slowly, she started approaching me. It put me back a bit, but I was waiting to see what was going to happen.
She came so close to me making sure that her face was an inch away from my ear. "Just a warning to you. Little Miss Amnesia. You may have become his bride and all, but that doesn't mean anything now. He no longer loves you because his mine now. So make sure to keep your filthy little nails away from him while I'm away. You got that?" She said whispering. I was so clueless and lost at what her words meant. Everything was becoming even more confusing.
What bothered me the most was that I couldn't even reply to that. One thing was for sure though, She was out to make Sherman hers. She moved away slowly and smirked at me. Nothing has ever been so sickening than the look she gave me. What the hell was her problem?
She finished setting the food on the dining table and headed towards the room that Sherman got in.
"See you tomorrow? Maybe we'll have a little talk then?" She said giggling and giving a wink at Sherman. I couldn't really see him as the wall was covering his stance from me. However, that didn't stop me from being sure that he was smiling irkingly and being whimsical at her words. I scoffed at their childish behaviour.
She walked out the door making sure to give me one last dirty look. Sherman walked out and what I saw next made me look away shocked.
He was wearing nothing but his towel that covered only a certain amount of the lower half of his body. Water dripped from his wet body and hair to the floor. I looked back at him not realising. He stood holding his waist whilst staring at me with a smirk on his face. I knew he was shameless and all, but did he have to go this far. I chose to not say anything and crossed my legs and arms on the couch I was sitting. Just to let him know that I really couldn't care less about his childish tricks.
He finally stopped staring and headed to the dining table. When he faced his back at me I could see something all the way across his back. It looked like a wound or burn mark. Whatever it was it looked really deep and painful.
The foods aromatic smell whiffed passed my nose and my tummy couldn't help but growl. He sniggered and sat on the chair across me making sure that he could see me whilst he ate. His eyes did not leave me one bit as he continued deliciously eating the food. That's when I remembered. This was definitely his revenge from the food that Mother Lu gave me in the car. I ate everything without giving him any. Was he going to do the same?
My tummy continued growling as he continued eating and staring at me trying to study my expressions. Suddenly his phone began ringing. It was, fortunately, ringing from inside the room he kept on going in to. I tried stopping myself but I was definitely going to get a bite as soon as he left to get his phone. He sniggered once again and finally got up to get his phone.
I raced up to the table and shoved in a bunch of steak slices that he cut into pieces in my mouth. Next up was the shrimps and then the jerked chicken. I ran back when I heard his voice get louder as he was coming. I tried sitting back exactly as I was sitting and tried chewing off all the food in my mouth. But with all the pressure in my mouth, it was hard to chew everything.
I looked away and faced the window again.
"I already accepted going to the office, don't you think I needed a little bit of space away from you at least." He spoke to the phone, whilst approaching the table of food again. He looked at me straight away. He must have caught on. I cursed him for being so observant.
"Well I didn't ask her to tag along did I." It must have been Mother Lu. "Mum she's my wife, not yours, I'll take care of it." He said hanging up. he sat down looking at me. I tried hard not to chew even though my mouth was about to explode with all the food in it.
"You might as well just come and eat instead of stealing all the food." He said. I pierced my eyes at him even though I was about to die of embarrassment. I looked at the food and thought I wasn't ready to give that up because of him. So I slowly got up and sat on the chair opposite him. I finished chewing my food and grabbed a fork and knife.
I bit my lip at the fact that the food looked even more delicious than the time I was shoving it in my mouth. My eyes must have gleamed so much at the food that was once a fantasy to me. There was so much I didn't even know where to begin. Out of nowhere, he placed a piece of steak on the plate in front of me.
"Eat up and stop just staring at it." He said. This guy was becoming more and more mysterious to me every second of each day I've spent time with him. I did not take his words for granted as I ate to my heart's content. Every time I looked up, he was still staring at me. I tried ignoring it but it was becoming very annoying.
"Why do you even have me here? I just don't understand." I said dropping the fork and knife and staring at him the way he was this whole time.
"Don't you remember? You followed me here." He answered sniggering. He really should stop doing that It was getting even more annoying by the second.
"You know what I mean. Why did you kidnap me in the first place? What exact use do I have to you? You see, the thing is, I really can't think of anything right now. It really can't be that you want to kill me because you would have done that already. It also can't be about your sexual desires because you clearly have the red-headed girl to take care of that. I don't get it what do you want from me?" I was ready to have a conversation with him. At least if I was going to stay with him, I wanted to know why.
"Red-headed lady? What... you mean Elly?" He rhetorically asked before laughing his heart out.
"Elayne, are you being jealous right now?" He continued laughing.
"Elly..? her name is Elly?" That was what he used to call me. 'Ms Elly'. For some reason, I felt a tinge of pain in my heart. "I'm not jealous. Why would you think that?"
"Your face says it all, it's really obvious right now?" He said tittering once again.
"you are being delusional. I am not jealous and never will be." My words didn't stop him from teasing me. "And why would she call me Miss Amnesia. If it was a joke I really don't get it."
"About that.. erm.." He dropped his fork and knife as well. " Elayne, everyone here thinks you lost your memories and that you are suffering from a condition called... what was it again.. oh yeah TBI. traumatic brain injury." He emphasized. I got up from my chair drastically, obviously shocked at what he was telling me.
"What! You told them that.!!? You are crazy... so fucking crazy!" I said throwing my fork at him. He managed to dodge it, so I grabbed the glass cup that was next to me and threw it at him. He dodged that again. I was so angry I took my plate of food and threw that at him.
he got up dodging that again.
"Are you done?... My turn." He said with an evil smirk on his face. His turn? I understood what he meant when he started slowly approached me. My eyes widened at his attempt so I quickly dashed running away from him. I stopped behind the couch getting ready to run somewhere else.
"Don't you dare, come near me. You promised you weren't going to cross the line." I said with my voice shaking. With no words, his wicked smile was still plastered on his face. This was like some sort of fun game to him. He took my words for granted and kept coming after me.
I had no choice but to keep running. I ran inside the room that he kept going to, and regretting the minute I got inside. It was a master bedroom. I turned around trying to run back out but it was too late, he already got inside locking the door behind him.
"Good choice babe. We'll have more fun here. We didn't really get to consummate our marriage have we?" He chuckled coming closer.
My legs and hands were all shaking. It looked like he was really not joking. I kept moving back until my legs hit the back of the side table. I took initiative and took the bedside lamp and attempted to hit him with it. In all efforts, he held my hand stopping me. He took the lamp away from me dropping it. His other hand snaked my waist and in no time there was no space between us. My breathing became heavy and uncontrolled.
"I didn't cross the line, you did. I told you not to." He whispered slowly as his eyes travelled from my eyes to my lips. The more he got closer the more my heart began beating even faster. The hand that was holding my hand relaxed, his fingers intertwined and clasped between my fingers. I don't know why but I closed my eyes. In a matter of time, I could feel his lips on mine. He was kissing me like never before. This time it was gentle and passionate. I don't know what came over me but I didn't stop him. All I could hear was my own beating heart galloping to the core. We eventually both fell on the bed. That didn't stop him, but that did get me back to my senses.
"Stop" I whispered in between our intertwining lips. That didn't stop him either. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him away leaving us with heavily passive breathing. His face was still close to me and the breath that tickled my face exulted my heartbeat to its maximum. His eyes seemed dazed into mine. It didn't look like he wanted to force me, but it didn't look like he wanted to stop either. His lips were slowly getting closer again.
My mind was everywhere. I didn't know what I was doing. I had to stop myself. I pushed him away really hard this time and ran into the bathroom that was inside the master bedroom, locking myself in it. Whatever the hell was happening to me back then is unforgivable.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone