King of My Heart

12. "I-is he dead?"

(1016 words)

"What the fuck are you doing, Ana?!" Aaron barked.

"What did you expect? That I'll leave with you? I'd rather die than stay with a disgusting and sick freak like you!" I almost shouted as I pointed his gun at him that I had swiftly removed from his belt.

Knowing that he was capable of anything, I aimed for his leg and pulled the trigger before some other anomaly decided to take place. His scream echoed in the room as he fell to the floor.

I rushed to Ethan's side and hastily untied him. He stood up once free from the biting ropes and demanded the gun from me.

"If he lives, our lives shall be miserable." Ethan stated, pointing the gun at him.

"B-but you can't just kill him!" I said in fear.

"We did it for self defence." He responded and before I could register his words in my brain, he pulled the trigger, making me jump from the shock. I watched as Aaron's apparently lifeless body dropped completely onto the mucky floor.

I watched the scene with an open mouth. "I-is he dead?" I managed to ask.

"I hope so." He responded and headed over to Aaron's body to check his pulse. I was beyond afraid but somewhere, deep down I wanted him to be dead.

That sure was wishful thinking.

———

*ETHAN's POV*

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking in order to adjust my vision to the dim light.

Where am I?

I sat up slowly, wincing as I felt a shooting pain at the back of my head. For a moment I couldn't remember anything. And the next moment, memories came rushing to my mind. Aaron, the kidnapping, Ana... Anastasia...

"Anastasia?" I called frantically, getting up to my feet. My eyes scanned the room in a fit of desperation but the manky room was vacant.

Running out, I searched the small house for any clue of my wife, but she was gone. I couldn't find her anywhere.

———

"The police is searching, right?" Sophia asked as I sat on my couch with my head in my hands. Ahira and Ariana were also there, both equally distraught and anxious.

I nodded my head slowly in reply to Sophia's question.

"You two have been missing for a week. Now you're here and Ana isn't." Ariana said in a broken voice, sniffling.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I failed to protect her..."

"Yes, yes you did! You promised to always protect her, did you not? Do you recall your wedding vows? How could you let that jackal get away with her?!" She exclaimed at me.

"Whoa, that's enough. It's not Ethan's fault. He did his best to save her. Ana never should have left like that. She should've at least informed someone where she was going." Sophia spoke.

"Whatever Ariana is saying, is correct. I failed to save her and I take full responsibility of that. It's all my fault." I said, standing up.

"What do you mean it's all your fault?" Ahira, being my sister, happened to catch onto what I meant.

I pressed my lips in a straight line. "Ethan?" She pressed.

I let out a sigh. "We... had a fight." I revealed.

"What kind of fight? Why did you fight with her? You know she's sensitive! How could you not control your anger, Ethan?!" Ahira chastised.

"It was because of what happened with Caleb, wasn't it?" Sophia spoke up and I tensed.

"Who's Caleb?" Ariana frowned.

"Ethan's biggest rival..." Ahira answered her question. "Did you get mad at her because of those headlines?" Ahira demanded.

"Ethan, I understand it must've been hard for you to process that. We all know you love Ana so much. She shouldn't have done that." Sophia said and I snapped my head in her direction before squinting my eyes at her. "What do you mean?" I almost growled.

"Ana shouldn't have gotten so close with Caleb... or any guy actually. She's your wife after all. She wouldn't like it if you held onto some other girl like she held onto him, would she?" She responded and my nostrils flared in anger.

"What nonsense! I'm sure Ana had nothing to do with that." Ahira defended.

"Pictures don't lie, Ahira. I adore Ana; I don't mean to be rude but she just shouldn't have been so careless."

"That's enough!" I boomed. "Anastasia is missing and here you are talking about some ludicrous headline!"

"Ethan, I—"

"Save it. If you could all just sit down and pray that we find Ana safe and well, that would be great. I'm going to speak to officer David to see if he found any trail."

———

*THE NEXT DAY*

The cops were searching everywhere for my wife but she still hadn't been found. It was as if the ground had swallowed her up. My heart clenched in fear and worry with every passing second. Her beautiful face would flash in front of my eyes every now and then. Her innocent eyes looking into mine with the love and affection they held.

How could I lead her into the hands of danger myself? How could I hurt her? How could I even for a millisecond have the appalling thought of her being with another guy? And even when I had found her, how could I fail to protect her? To give her the defence I had promised her?

Aaron was a despicable person, capable of anything and everything. There was no knowing what kind of torture he was putting my wife through. The thought of his hands on her body, drove me to the point of insanity.

My phone rang, intervening my grieving thoughts. Officer David's name flashed on the screen. I picked up the call in haste. "Officer? Did you find her?"

"Mr. Woods.... we've found a dead body in sector 85. Her face has been burnt along with the rest of her body. If you could come and identify the body..."

It was as if my whole world had collapsed and there was no point of my existence any further.