Bullets And Roses

Chapter 11

CHAPTER-11

It was him. I couldn't decide whether I felt sad, angry or happy to see him. Seeing him after all those years and in the most unexpected place was definitely surprising. I felt an urge-an urge to slap him and embrace him at the same time. I did neither. I couldn't. It felt like my mind and my body had separated. I couldn't get my muscles to move. The only muscles that moved were those of my face as different series of expressions took charge but there were none in Neil's. Even the shock that I had witnessed earlier had disappeared. He gazed at me with no recognition.  

Overwhelmed- that's how I felt. I was already shocked enough to find out that I had been abducted by the Duncan Barrows himself and then another bomb dropped before I could have recovered from the previous one. Unable to decide what my reaction was ought to be, I laughed. My humorless laugh echoed in the gigantic room and the eyes of all of those present in the room, rested on me with awe.

"Oh for God's sake Neil, get her out of my sight. She already ruined my bloody sleep by causing so much trouble early in the morning." Duncan's right hand was moving across his forehead in an attempt to smoothen the creases, without wasting any more time, Neil knelt down and grasped my arm tightly, lifting me off the floor. "Go catch up on your sleep, I've got this handled." Neil assured Duncan by patting his back and dismissed the guards that had gathered around in the room by telling them to go back to their respective positions. 

It was surreal. I had witnessed my fair share of coincidences in life but this one topped them all. What if Anonymous knew this all along and that's why they chose me to carry out this mission at the first place? But that seemed unlikely considering, they had no idea that Duncan had an assistant at the first place. It was impossible for them to get information about Duncan in such depth.  

The room cleared immediately after Duncan left. The apprehension I felt kept on increasing as I saw the guards walk out of the room one by one. You see, I didn't fear Neil. I feared the truth. For once in my life, I didn't want to know the whole story as I knew whatever it was; it would end up leaving me devastated. Questions kept popping into my mind but my mouth couldn't find the courage to say it aloud. It was Neil but it wasn't him at the same time. There was something different about him. His face used to be my safe haven but now it radiated something else, something fierce, something dangerous.

What do you do when your worst nightmare comes to life? How should one react? Do you scream? Do you curse? What do you do? I was asking these questions to myself as I walked with him; he refused to let a single word get out of his mouth. I wasn't sure if I even wanted him to speak for I feared that I would not like what he said. I didn't want the memory of the Neil I knew to be destroyed by the Neil who I was walking with.  

I opened and closed my mouth attempting to ask something but I didn't quite know where to start or what to ask first. I couldn't frame my questions properly I was overwhelmed by what was happening. It had been a long time since I found myself at a loss for words.  

We walked and walked and at some point I had lost focus on where we were headed. I didn't even care. The silence that surrounded the environment between Neil and I was interrupted by a phone call. Neil answered without a change in his tone "Yeah?" and after a few more minutes of keeping his ears firmly planted to his phone, he hung up and finally glanced at me with an expression which was beyond unreadable.  

"The slut that you came with is now in the red room and before you ask me what the red room is- it's a room where not even a demon would want to be in. And don't forget that you were responsible for this." I was definitely right about the fact that something had changed in him. Not something, everything. The man I knew seven years ago was not even close to the man who stood before me. Who or I should say what stood before me- was a monster.