Forest

Chapter Four

The moment I open my eyes, his icy blue gaze locks onto mine. I look away from him.  My head stings, and when I try to sit up, the pain becomes heavier, forcing a wince out of me.

"Careful. You're hurt," he says, his tone calm but laced with a hard edge that demands obedience. The contrast in his voice is unnerving, as if kindness hasn't found it's way to reach him. I raise a hand to press against my pounding head, desperate to make the pain go away.  He sits beside me on the bed. Who the hell is he, because of the pain I am unable te see clear. He is just a foggy shape. And where the hell am I? Or other way how did I get here?

"That's not going to help." His voice slices through the air, firm and cold. Like you know what is going to help me.

He rises from the bed with a steady movement, his towering frame dominating the space. My eyes follow him as he strides across the room to a dresser. He picks up something, and when he turns back to me and my vision gets a little bit clearer, I notice the items in his hands: a bottle of water and two white pills. A weird feeling is going through my stomach. Like it's trying to tell me something. I don't trust him.

"They're painkillers," he states flatly, extending the items toward me. Don't take them, they aren't painkillers, my head keeps telling me that it could just be some drugs. 

I hesitate, staring into his blue eyes. The thing that i do notice. He pushes the pills closer. "Take them. They'll help." His voice sharpens, and though he hasn't raised it, the threat is clear. Take them, or something bad will happen.

Dread creeps up my spine as a voice in my head screams not to trust him. Those might not be painkillers. They could be anything. My fingers tremble as I take the pills from his outstretched hand. The tension in the air is suffocating, the unspoken warning unmistakable: Don't defy him.

I swallow one pill, then the other, chasing them down with the water. His eyes never leave me, watching every movement I make, not letting his eyes rest for a second.

'Open your mouth.' He got me off guard. My eyes stare up at him, as I open my mouth for him. Questioning what he is going to do. 'Lift your tong.' Then it hits me, he is checking if I indeed took the pills and that I didn't hide them in my mouth, so I would be able to spite them out later.

'Good girl.' After I closed my mouth he turns back to the dressoir. I dare to take a glance at him, and that's when I see it—a black gun tucked against the small of his back, just visible beneath his black shirt.

Fear hits me like a brutal wave. My pulse races, and I fight the tears pricking my eyes, but they spill over anyway. He's going to hurt me. He will hurt you.

"Please... don't hurt me," I whisper, the words tumbling out before I can stop them. Please I have no idea why he would.

He turns back around and his expression shifts. His eyes darken, the icy blue turning stormy, and he steps closer. I instinctively push myself back, the bed's headboard pressing into my spine as if offering an escape. It's not offering any help.

"You don't even know, do you?" His voice drips with disgust, his words razor-sharp. "No idea where you are, or how you got here? Your little stunt—jumping from that cliff—what were you thinking? Did you actually believe you'd die and it would all just... go away?" What?  I jumped of of what?

The venom in his tone makes me flinch. 

"Do you understand how final death is?" He leans over me, his shadow swallowing me whole. "No reset button, no second chances. And yet, you still jumped. Pathetic." I wanted to die?

Tears flow freely now, my body curling in on itself as his anger pulses through the room like a living thing. He paces, his movements sharp and agitated, like a predator circling its prey. He scares the shit out of me.

"And you know what?" he snarls. "I didn't even care if you died. But I went after you anyway, because unlike you, I'm not a coward." His lip curls as he spits the last word. I'm a coward.

The weight of his anger is unbearable, pressing into me like a physical force. My chest tightens, and the room seems to shrink around me. Please let the room absorb me, so I can hide.

I have to get out of here. I think desperately, my mind racing. Anywhere—anywhere would be better than this. Even if their would be a dark forest outside it would feels safer than staying here with him.

"I should've died," I murmur under my breath, the words slipping out without thought. Then I wouldn't be here. My stupid descion brought me here.

His head snaps toward me, a grin spreading across his face. It's not comforting. It's predatory. He makes sure I know he is the boss here. 

"Go ahead. Try to run," he taunts, his voice low and dangerous. "You won't get far. This place is a maze, and I'm the only one who knows the way out." He steps closer, his grin widening. "But if you try, you'll find out just how much worse things can get."

His words wrap around me like chains, and when he licks his lips, the motion feels calculated, cruel. He makes me so scared, but so angry. 

"You'll stay here," he continues, his tone suddenly businesslike. "I'm giving you this room. Privacy, even. But if I so much as suspect you've left without a damn good reason—well, let's just say you don't want to find out what happens then." I'm not a doll you can own, or can play with.

I can't take it anymore. Despite the terror coursing through me, I push myself to my feet, my body trembling.

"You don't know anything about my life," I say, forcing the words out. "And you don't get to decide what happens to me." Stupid descension. Why am I being so stupid.

His eyes flash with something primal, and before I can react, his hand shoots out. His fingers wrap around my throat, lifting me off the ground with terrifying ease. Fuck

"Big talk for someone so small," he growls, his grip tightening. My lungs burn as I struggle for air, my legs kicking helplessly. I am going to going to die.

He holds me there for what feels like an eternity before throwing me against the wall. Pain explodes across my body as I hit the ground, gasping for air. Breathe.

"Defy me again," he says, his voice is low and dangerous. "and you'll wish I'd left you on that cliff to die."

He stands there for a moment, watching me curl into myself, my body racked with pain and sobs. Then, as if I'm nothing more than an afterthought, he shoves his hands into his pockets and walks out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

The world tilts, my vision blurring, and then darkness takes me.