MUTUAL FIXATION || WINRINA

CHAPTER 14

Karina's Point of View

I drove to the nearby park as my soul yearned for an escape from the torrential storm that brewed inside. Reaching the park, I parked my car and walked to a secluded area in the hope of getting some solace in the quiet arms of nature.

I leaned back into the grass, hugging my knees with my arms, and silent rivulets of tears began to fall down my cheeks. My heart was heavy as I looked up into the vast sky, aching for my dad's presence, feeling his absence weighing upon my very soul.

"Missed you, dad." I whispered, and somehow the words came out drenched in sorrow as my mind wrestled with anguish that bothered my heart.

And although I tried to reach Winter for some comfort, her elusive absence left me all in a daze; her number was unreachable, fueling the sense of abandonment that pierced through me.

It was like frustration and anguish, two mighty opposing forces that whirled in a storm of emotion, threatening to sweep me away with weak resolutions.

Unanswered questions gnaw at my mind as if to throw shadowy doubts and fears over my thoughts, already ruffled by the wind.

As the burden of my emotions became too great to bear, desperation and possessiveness surged like a flood. The consuming nature of my feelings for Winter ignited an obsession so dangerous, one that whispered drastic measures to secure her presence by my side.

My emotions spiraled into madness; the line between love and possession blurred in the wake of my tumultuous thoughts. Just one touch of another, one brush of another's lips, and a primal rage is stoked inside of me—a possessiveness bordering on insanity.

"You belong to me, Winter," I said, my tone laced with deadly determination to mirror the depths to which my obsession ran.

I then wiped my tears away, a steely glint in my eyes born of the resolve of defiance not to give in to the turmoil within. The tears were not for the criminal mother but reflected the tumult that raged within my soul.

I got up from the grass and walked over to sit on an empty bench closer to the playground. The peals of children's laughter wove a tapestry of hope within the shadows that were my thoughts.

A vision of happy times with Winter ahead unmistakably brought a fleeting smile to my lips, like a beacon of light in the darkness threatening to consume me.

The stranger at my side, by his presence, pulled me out of reverie; I followed up on every utterance which he made for conversation with icy indifference. His continued intrusions into my space lit the flames of anger warningly as I bristled at the intrusive company.

"Fucking leave me alone," I spat, the anger in my voice like a whip-lash as I turned on the unwelcome intruder—a tempest of emotions roiling within me and threatening to consume all in its path.

He chuckled and raised his hand in mock surrender, a smirk playing on his lips as he played with the very thin fabric of my patience.

A deathly glare shot from my eyes and silently promised the brewing storm within.

"Testing my patience, are you?" I retorted with a voice laced cold, belying the inner turmoil.

"Don't be rude, I'm only trying to befriend you," he quipped, his smirk unwavering against my stoic facade.

A dry, sarcastic chuckle escaped my lips as my eyes betrayed the veil of indifference to his attempt at camaraderie.

His theatrics didn't budge my patience in the slightest, so I closed the distance, my knuckles clenched his collar, staring him dead in the eye, a frigid glare that made his blood run cold down his spine.

Fear tap-danced in his gaze, a silent admission of what I held over him.

"You're playing with fire," I warned. "If you value your well-being, steer clear of me."

Releasing his collar with a dismissive gesture, I wiped my hands clean of him, throwing the final glance before striding towards my car. Just as I was going to open the door, a strong grip on my wrist held me in place.

I twirled back around to face him.

I forcibly knocked away his hand from my wrist; my tone now shrill with exasperation.

"Are you dumb to my warnings?"

I snapped at him.

"You merely have piqued my interest," he persisted.

A mirthless chuckle escaped me. "Your interest means naught to me. Step back or bear the consequences," I warned, my voice tinged with anger that threatened to boil over.

His complacent attitude rubbed a hair up the wrong way, feeding the flames of my anger.

"You really get my blood pressure rising," I muttered under my breath, my feet heavy as I bridged the gap between us.

Standing face to face, I grasped him into a chokehold with a silent dare in my eyes.

"Leave me alone if you want to walk away unscathed," I growled with anger hanging heavy in the air.

His quivering defiance set off in me a surge of primary anger, which poured out as if what was held in for so long finally got out.

I held him in a vice-like grip, channeling my anger—resonating with murmurs of all the previous resentment. His struggles were vain as I asserted my dominance upon him, a storm of emotions raging inside of me.

"Fucktard," I spat, my voice a buzzing whisper as my grip tightened, the line between restraint and retribution thinning.

Just when the darkness really began to overpower me, that all-too-familiar touch drew me back from the edge.

"That's enough," that soothing voice broke through the film of anger, then her arms came around me in a gentle embrace that softened my resolve.

She was a balm to my raging emotions, her touch reminding me of compassion in that moment of darkness.

"You're not going to be a murderer," she whispered, the words a lifeline in that stormy sea of emotions. Her tender kiss on my shoulder did much to melt the icy walls around my heart, rooting me in her calm.