Once a Dare leads to Love (BOOK 1)

|57|Past Dreading Pictures|

Skylee P.O.V

I stared at the ceiling of the dimly lit but cold room. The window was open, displaying the half-moon and letting the cold wind enter inside. My mind was getting haze with the incomplete dreading memories of the past. I cuddled more under the duvet but keep on staring at nothing in particular at the annoyingly plain wood ceiling.

We arrived 3 hours ago at the farmhouse. It wasn't a lavishly big farmhouse with all kinds of farm animals stuffed in it rather a small and cozy one-story house. It was all wood furnished from doors to the floor to everything. It only had three rooms and a big lounge attached with the main door and the kitchen. A back door that attached to the stable, only place with animals, specifically 4 Galiceños horses of Burak. Well, practically this was his farmhouse and I didn't know as to why this was the only safe place my father came of.

Maybe the secure thing about it was the walls around it. This little farmhouse was covered with big walls at some 1km distance as to where the house was located. This whole forest around the house and under the walls was owned by Kingston. Right now, almost dozens of bodyguards were guiding the whole area to protect me.

I slept the whole 5-hour ride here. I was tired, mentally and physically. Today had been a very long day. After coming here, I only did one thing. I came to this room, opened the window, locked the door, and lied down flat on the bed. Since then I was lying there and it had been hours but sleep was nowhere around me.

It was the late hours of the night. There was no clock so it was hard to keep track of what exactly the time was. I tried but couldn't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, the incident in crumbled pieces kept on playing in my mind. And I end up again staring at the ceiling.

I couldn't help but wonder, just to distract myself. If things didn't fucked up as they had been then I would probably be in Eric's arms right now after our perfect date and after telling him about me being a Kingston. Sometimes, things wouldn't work out as we plan.

I sighed and again tried to sleep. I close my eyes when the broken pictures again appeared. For a moment, I just let them come. Perhaps, they would go away if I stop fighting them.

It was a memory of us - me, Clara, Baba, and Uncle Edain. I supposed we were going out somewhere, I didn't remember where. I would be surprised even if I did, I barely remember things, and I was only 6 back then.

It was incomplete pictures of us, happy and all too perfect. Then I remembered myself standing at the Istanbul port, overlooking so many Ferries. I remembered Clara beside me, I guessed we were laughing at something while looking at the Herons. That's when it happened. That's from where it was so clear, even the thought of it was enough to make me shudder.

It was the sound of gunfire and it came from behind us. I still remembered the sound vividly - a very loud terrifying thud. It made all Herons startled along with sea eagles. They made so much noise. Screams of people were heard around us as they ran from here to there. I knew I held Clara's hand so tightly before we glanced back to look for our fathers.

It was a big mistake.

Because as soon as we looked back, the scene was too terrifying for any 6 years old. My Baba was held back by some men as the people around them ran here to there to save their lives. Uncle Edain was on the ground with too much blood coming out of his body. I couldn't look away from the blood. I held my breath as my eyes seemed to fix at the dark redness of it. Then my eyes moved to the other man who was holding the gun, smoke came out of it as he again shot Uncle.

"You coward! Fucking bastard leave me! I'll sue you!" I remembered my father yells as he struggled but those 4 men kept him in place, over his knees with his hands held backward. Even now my breath seemed to stop only remembering about it.