Obsessed

4

She coughed as she waved the smoke out of her face, slowly slipping off of the bed while her eye remained to the man that was standing on the other side of it. Her heart was racing and her eyes were filled with tears. "Wh-Why did you do it?" She asked as she slowly backed away to the door while lookind down at the floor. Flames were creeping at her feet and she quickly side stepped to avoid them. She looked back up and the man was right in front of her and she shrieked, stumbling back but she had caught her balance.

"Because they betrayed me, Iliana. Caused me pain. Took my life away from me. It's only right if I take theirs too, right?" He smiled as he slowly advanced on the small child while holding knife in his hand. He had such a sinister smile and cold, calculating eyes. His free hand twitched slightly.

She whimpered and turned on her heel to run down the vast hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. She looked down at her feet. She felt like she wasn't getting anywhere, just stuck in place. She heard his loud footsteps advance and a scream rose up out of her, but no sound came out. It caused the little girl to panic as more tears stream down her cheeks. She looked back to see the man reach for her and she broke out of her bind and started running again only to have him grab her upper arm.

"Shh-shh, sweet child." He whispered as he stroked her cheek with that crazed stare of his. "Everything will be okay..." He said softly.

~*~

Iliana slowly came to, feeling a tingling sensation on her cheek. The words "Everything will be okay" echoed in her mind and she slowly opened her eyes to find a set of blue ones watching her. She let out a muffled scream and scooted away, finding that her hands were bound and her mouth was covered with duct tape. She was in a decent enough looking room. Looked as if she had checked into an upscale hotel. The wall was a beige color with cream stripes and Victorianesque white trimmings around the base and top of the walls and a cedar wood chest was against the wall and a vanity and little stool sat against the other.

"Everything will be okay, my pet." He pulled her back towards him. She looked stricken with fear as she looked at the older man. The same man that she had seen at the mall. The same man that she swore she saw at the clothing store. He had a sickening sweet smile as he gazed at her. It was sort of mixed with awe as if she was a long lost artifact that had been long forgotten from history.

He reached out to touch her face but drew his hand bacl and she closed her eyes, praying that this wasn't real. She hoped that it was just some nightmare that she couldn't wake from. She cried and shook her head as she tried to scoot back.

"Oh no, you're crying." He said in a concerned tone as he stroked her cheek. "There's no need to cry. I'm not going to hurt you yet." He whispered and she whimpered and shook her head, not believing that such a thing could happen to her. She tried to scoot away from him and he continued to pull her back. "You know it took me forever to find you." He chuckled as he continued to stroke her hair with such delicacy as if she was going to break. She tried to stifle her cries as she kept her eyes closed tightly.

"Oh sweet darling, there's no need to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you. Now that I found you, I'm going to take good care of you. Like I could have done my Eva." He whispered as he stroked her cheek and her eye's widened at the name. A name that she hadn't heard in years. It echoed in her mind.

'My mother?' She thought as she stared at the man and the man chuckled and nodded. "Familiar name isn't it? Too bad she was a filthy whore. Left me... but now you look just like her. Same pale green eyes, the nose..." He chuckled and booped her. "The resemblance is almost uncanny. But who knew that I'd find you all the way over here. Last time I saw you, you were still in Santiago's care, hm? I heard he didn't take good care of ya. Too bad, isn't it?" He rambled as he laid on his back, staring at the ceiling.