Despised Love

Chapter 9

The rain was relentless, soaking through my jacket and chilling me to the bone as I hurried home. The steady patter of rain hitting the pavement the only sound I could hear.

My mind had been a mess. Alex's proposal, Erik-everything was jumbled together, a whirlwind of emotions I didn't know how to handle. There was no one around and I was feeling feverish in that rain. I knew it was just the rage at my own feelings that was burning me.

But as I passed by the block where Professor Maxilini's house stood, something tugged at me. I stopped in my tracks, squinting through the rain.

There was four men there in front of that house. Two were looking like they were ensuring no one should interrupt their work. The other two were inspecting the lock on the door. I could tell surely that they intended to break into the house.

I didn't wait and started walking again as I was already sneezing. I couldn't do anything there.

Going back home, I changed my clothes and had a cup of coffee.

Something was wrong, and I couldn't ignore it any longer. I had to go back there. It was already evening but I had to. I really hoped that Erik didn't come to my house when I would be there. I giggled a bit as my mind had set his name Erik instead of Arrogant Blackwood. Erik felt personal to me...it made my heart fluttered though I hated it for feeling anything like that.

It wasn't raining anymore when I was walking to the house again. It was a calm and still evening with some people around who didn't bother to see their surroundings. The earlier downpour had cleared, leaving behind only damp pavement and a heavy mist in the air. The professor's house stood in front of me, dark and foreboding, the windows like empty eyes staring back at me.

I hesitated at the door. Something about this place was different now. There was no movement, no sign of life, but the energy felt thick, suffocating. The door was unlocked just as I expected. I didn't know what possessed on me to go there and what should I expect to find there.

The door creaked open, and a gust of stale air hit me as I stepped inside.

A bitter smell hit my breathing and a bunch of things occurred in a swift motion that my mind got hanged to process everything at once.

Someone pushing me from behind making me sprawled on the floor and the door behind got shut. Before I could turn, I saw smoke started filling the air.

Suddenly, a faint glow caught my eye, near the far corner of the room. My stomach dropped. -Fire-

Tiny flames were licking the edges of a pile of papers scattered across the floor. My pulse quickened. Someone had set this fire intentionally. It hadn't spread much yet, but it was only a matter of time before it engulfed the entire room.

Panic set in. My eyes stung from the smoke, and my lungs burned as I gasped for air. I pushed against the door, but it wouldn't budge. Trapped.

I slammed my shoulder into the door, my mind racing. No. No. I'm not dying here.

"Calm down Rose" Erik's voice told in my mind. In danger, his voice becoming my mind voice was constant.

I couldn't calm down. There was no way to go out.

My chest tightened as the acrid scent of burning paper and wood filled the air, and I could barely breathe, let alone think straight. The heat was unbearable, my skin tingling from its intensity.

I fell on the floor as I couldn't breathe anymore.

Suddenly, a sharp sound of shattering glass cut through the roaring flames, followed by a rush of cooler air. I turned, my body sluggish from the smoke, and saw a shadow moving through the flames. A figure. It crashed through the broken window, landing with a force that sent shards of glass scattering across the floor. I didn't know who or what came inside.

I couldn't open my eyes as they were burning like hell. Then I felt someone pulling me to chest wrapping arms around. I didn't have to open my eyes anymore to know. The sweet mint fragrance was well know to me.

Erik- his chest became my pillow to leanand his protective arms were around me saving me from the flames.

My head lolled slightly against his chest, and I could hear his heartbeat-fast, frantic, panicking. The thought of him panicking and getting afraid was a new term to me.

"Hang on Rose...please try to breathe", I barely heard him through the pounding in my ears. His voice was strained, rougher than usual, as if he was battling his own fear "Stay with me"

I knew my eyelids were fluttering to stay away though I couldn't. I realised him scooping me up in his arms as if I was so light.

He was making his way outside and was pledging me saying,

"Please Rose don't do this to me...please breathe"

Him telling me please. Even if that was a horrible situation but I badly wanted to tease him. I wanted to cherish the moment when the greatest arrogant was begging for something.

I didn't know the way he was taking me as I was still on his chest closing my eyes shut. I had trust on the person who literally jumped on the roaring fire just to save me.

The next thing I knew in my blurred mind was that we fell on the wet grass, the fire roaring behind us as if furious we had escaped. My chest heaved, my throat raw from the smoke, but I was alive. We were alive. I was trying to breathe properly but couldn't.

The cold, wet grass pressed against my back, soaking through my clothes as I blinked up at the dark sky but darkness overwhelmed me.

I could feel my pulse slowing down, but I wasn't sure if that was a good thing. I needed to sleep in that moment but I felt him stumbling to me.

His hands shaking as he patted my cheek, trying to keep me conscious. I wanted but couldn't drift of to unconsciousness. He couldn't let me.

The warmth of his palm grounded me, but I could barely respond. His fingers trailed down my face, brushing against my skin as if trying to coax me back from the brink. My head lolled slightly, and I felt the dampness of the grass against my cheek.

"Rose, come on, look at me", he pleaded, his voice thick with emotion. I heard him more clearly now, the intensity in his voice breaking through the haze.

I tried to open my eyes, tried to focus on him, but everything was so heavy. "Erik..." I barely managed, my voice a faint whisper to assure him.

I didn't hear his reply but just before I slipped into unconsciousness, I felt his lips brush against my forehead, a fleeting, desperate gesture that I wasn't sure I would've believed if I hadn't felt it myself. I was sure that it was just my mind playing with me. I couldn't be true.

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