Integrity Of Violence

Chapter Three - Maya

Maya

His name is Hunter. I noted in my head. We stopped running as we came to the end of the huge corridor which led to a massive wooden door. I started breathing heavily after the run. My hands were on my knees and he was in the same position as he smiled. He looked at me as if we won the war.

Getting up, he went to the door and pushed it. Though it looked like the door was heavy it easily slid and opened welcoming a big garden filled with flowers. I was astonished. It looked like some sort of a secret place from the Cinderella movie. There was only the moonlight falling on the garden, the grass was softly blowing in the wind and the swing on the otherwise was moving by the breeze.

He went inside and signaled me to come in. As we were both inside he closed the door. I looked in front of me. It almost felt like we were in another world. I looked at him.

“What are you trying to do?” I was not going to trust him after what I did. He could kill me here and no one would know.

“Not kill you,” He smiled as if he read my mind. He walked towards me. Pointing at his scar, he looked at me as if it were his birthday gift. “I was thinking of returning the favor to you for giving me this scar.”

I frowned. “What favor?”

He let out a deep breath and sat down on the grass. “Thankfully I could tell people that I needed to go treat this scar. It was a simple way of escaping.” He looked at the sky.

This guy was weird. I could feel that he was not what he was showcasing. His smile was calm and composed almost making me feel as if he was the happiest person alive. I gulped. He helped me get out of that place at least. Good thing I did not faint. Baba cannot find me now. Even for a little while I want to forget about him and let my mind relax after what he did to me.

I sat down beside Hunter. The memories from before started circling in my mind again. I felt disgusting once again.

“Man,” He looked at me. “I just know that you don’t talk.”

“Why did you run away with me?” I asked, looking at the grass. I touched it. It was so soft that I wanted to lie down for a while.

He looked at the moon. I looked at him. There was a longing look on his face. “Because you looked like you wanted to escape.” He whispered. “Like me,” His eyes locked with me.

He was right. I wanted to escape from that place but did not have the strength. Something bad could have happened if he had not come. I looked down. “Thank you,” I murmured.

He chuckled. “You know, your father is a true bastard.” He said.

I bit my lips and looked at him. “How do you know?” I asked.

He stretched. “He is the only one who would rejoice on his wife’s death anniversary.”

I bit the inside of my cheeks. Scratching my nails I started swaying back and forth. I wanted to tell him to shut up but for some reason, I did not. I just shut up and heard him cursing the heck out of my father’s name. I wanted to forget about that man for a while but whatever he was saying was true.

After some time, he looked at me.”Do you want to leave?”

I shook my head. I had to go home to study but I did not. I stayed silent and gazed at the moon. Tonight was not supposed to be this chaotic and peaceful at the same time. “Will they find us?” I asked him.

He shook his head with a smile. “This is my very own kingdom. Everybody needs permission to enter.’

I looked at him. “And if somebody attacks?” I said, playing along.

He leaned closer to me. “Then we fight to protect what we have or else our monsters will rule us forever.” He pointed toward the direction of the banquet hall.

“Who are these monsters we are talking about?” I asked, not removing my eyes from him.

“The ones who would make us pay the price for their greed. Like lambs to the slaughter.” His voice was deep as if he was confronting the greater army.

Hunter was talking about our fathers. Our states were the same. We learned to cope in our own ways. We were born in the houses of these monsters to run for our lives to survive. And the ones who held the hunter were our fathers.

It has been a long time since I talked to someone for more than thirty seconds. I talked with Hunter without worrying about the time. His smile made me forget about the time. We talked about our miseries, It was nothing but a conversation about us, our monsters, our fathers. We both sneered at all of humanity. We talked about our agony like a recipe for a pie.

I could feel how similar we were.

Time fastened and my phone rang. My father ordered me to come to the main hall so we could leave. I did not want to leave. I shook my head. This is not what I should be thinking. “I need to leave,” I said to him, my voice as chilly as I could make it.

He nodded and showed me the way out. Outside smelled like rusted metal. I mean, that's what I would smell after coming out of that beautiful garden. I cringed at the smell but made my way to the hall with Hunter beside me.

Our fathers were talking to each other with a smile on their face. It was extremely rare to see my father smiling. Nonetheless, I did not appreciate the view. They noticed us coming forward as Mr. Barren plastered a big smile on his face as if it was very pleasing to see us both.

He got up as Baba got up as well. “It is so nice to see both of you bond so well.” He said.

I did not look at Hunter but I could feel him smiling like an idiot. Even though we were similar in some sense, he gave me nothing but the feeling of a psychopath. I wonder how people did not notice it.

Baba did not even acknowledge my presence. Bidding Mr. Barren goodbye, he headed to the car as I followed behind him. One last look at Hunter sent shivers down my spine. He was looking at me like a maniac with an ear-to-ear smile. For a while, he did not look like a human.

I gulped and got inside the car. The whole car ride was silent as always. When we reached the house, I quickly got out of the car and headed inside to my room. I did not want him to ask me anything because I could feel that he would ask me about Hunter. That was what he always did. Inquired me as if I were a criminal.

I do not want to look at him after what happened at the event. If I had fainted, he would have insulted and blamed me for being weak and embarrassing him in front of his business people. I went to my bedroom. I wanted to plop on the bed and just sleep in for the night but the dress was a bit too weird to sleep in.

I used all the strength in my body to push myself as I changed quickly. Should I study? I was too mentally drained to focus on anything at this point. I sighed. I will sleep.

But before I could make myself comfortable, a knock sounded on my door. My patience was decreasing. I bit my lips and hummed to let the person in. Alice came in with an apologetic face.

My face told her enough. “Mr. Ali is calling you in his study.” She said and left almost immediately.

I, once again, pushed myself and somehow went to his study. Even at night, he wanted to talk to me in his study because Baba never thought I was worthy enough to talk to him anywhere else.

I knocked and went inside. My eyes were droopy but I managed to keep a straight face as he looked at me. “I did not realize that Aiden would talk about your mother today.” He said referring to Mr. Barren.

My sleep vanished. Is he drunk? Why is he being empathetic?

He started coming close. to me. I did not faint though. I did not give him any reason to be mad with me today. “You were very strong today.” He said as he was close enough. His arms grabbed my neck as he hugged me softly.

—

A hug was not taken well, especially from a monster. So when I reached my bedroom, I threw up finally. All the junk inside me cleared up. After I was done being sick from his touch, I went to bed.