The weapon fell from Manuel's hand as if he had lost the feeling in it, and fear appeared in his eyes.
– Wik! – I shouted reflexively.
Manuel jumped to me and covered my mouth with his free hand, but only for a moment. Then he brushed my hair away from my face and cupped my cheeks in his hands.
– Paula, you won't leave me. I no longer have the strength to watch you waste your life with the wrong man. I don't have the strength to go after you. I've done everything...
– Manuel, stop – I moaned in a pleading tone, trying to drive him away. – I don't want to...
Heavy footsteps rumbled up the stairs, and Manuel panicked to the door, fumbling with the lock to close it for good. Then he swung and threw the key as far away from me as possible.
– Paula! – Victor's voice rang out, this time just outside the library door. – Are you there? Perez, you bastard, open the damn door!
Manuel jumped at me again and started to corner me.
– You can't not want to – he said, giving me a desperate look. – I've planned everything. Everything is as it should be. You'll fall in love with me again, you'll see. We'll talk, it'll be like before. We'll have a child. Tell him that.
– I will fall in love? – I said in a choked voice. – Manuel, this isn't the Sims. Locking me in here and talking to me every day won't make you erase the past.
Hearing this, Manuel jumped away from me like a man on fire, grabbing at his curly hair as if to pull it out.
– Do you hold a grudge against me? – he whimpered desperately. – I knew it. You hate me. You hate me!
– Of course, he resents you! – shouted an angry Victor on the other side of the door. – Anyone would have done that! Open the fucking door, for Christ's sake! Do you hear me?!
Manuel jumped to the nearest bookshelf and threw all the books on the floor. I watched him stunned for a few seconds. The key to the door was completely covered by a pile of literary works.
– Manuel, stop – I said as gently as I could. – We can't change the past. We just have to get on with our lives. Each to his own.
– No! – he struggled, still throwing books from nearby shelves onto the wooden floor. – You don't understand! We will be together if not in this life, then in death. You won't go away again. I've sacrificed too much already. I've done too much for you to be here without him.
He began to tear pages out of a book, then took a lighter from his pocket, lit the loose pages and threw them on the floor. Meanwhile, the sound of banging on the door from the corridor grew louder by the second.
– You're crazy! – I exhaled, staring in bewilderment at what Manuel was doing and feeling a growing cold in my stomach.
The fire between the books began to smoulder, and in a panic, I tried to use my eyes to find something to nip it in the bud, but there wasn't even a rug, let alone a real fire extinguisher.
All the puzzle pieces fell into place in my mind for those few moments. Manuel was behind it all. He was the one who had frightened me, Viktor, my sister, and even my father. He had Viktor's life in his sights, and there was every indication that he had mine in his sights as well.
– Perez, last warning! – Viktor shouted from the corridor on the other side of the door and began to bang on the library even harder.
Manuel acted like he was on some kind of rampage. He ran up to me and began to shake me violently.
YOU ARE READING
Butterfly's Year
Romance" - We are in a church, - I remarked sensibly. - Absolutely, - he agreed with a pleasant purr that vibrated between my legs. - Your parents are standing right there, - I whispered, discreetly pointing to his mom and dad standing in front of the alta...
