History

Chapter 48

I run all the way by the crowds of holiday makers making their way along the walkway towards the villas. I'm almost gasping for breath but I don't stop, not even for a second,even with my legs turning to jelly beneath me I keep on running.

When I finally reach the terrace that hosts a few of the resorts bars I assure myself that it's safe to slow down a little. Almost instantly my eyes find Cristiano amongst the crowds and he seems to be heading my way.  

I come to a complete stop but before I can gather enough breath to call  for him I double over in two and rest my hands on my knees to steady myself, because if I don't then I'm afraid I might collapse and may never get back up. My mind is reeling with a million different thoughts right now and I can't seem to take hold of a single one of them.  What the hell just happened back there?

I take a few deep breaths then lift my head to check that Cris is still there and that's when he notices me. His face lights up with that wide, gorgeous smile of his, the one that makes me almost melt each time I see it. His pace quickens as he heads straight for me.

I watch the smile fall from Cristiano's face to be replaced with a look of sheer panic and worry when he notices the state of me. Not that I blame him of course, I can only imagine what I must look like right now and judging by the looks I'm getting from the sea of people around me, I'm guessing it's not often they see a crazy looking woman wearing a slashed shirt, sporting a bloody lip and half chopped hair around these parts.

Cris almost runs to me, his eyes dart down to the knife in my hand then flash back to me and I watch the look of sheer horror spread across his face. I somehow manage to stand upright just as he reaches me.

"Lydia" he gasps, "Oh god Lydia, Are you okay?" Cris reaches a hand out to take a gentle hold of me and lord knows I need his support right now because I seriously think I'm about to collapse. My vision can't seem to focus on anything for the yellow and black spots in my eyes. I take a shaky breath and try to convince myself that everything's okay, even if I don't quite believe it yet. 

"What the hell happened?" Cris asks. I can tell he's trying not to panic or scare me but from the undertones in his voice I can tell he's feeling just that. He lifts his free hand and gently places it on my shoulder as his eyes focus intensely on mine. "Lydia, talk to me. What happened?"  

I stare back at him and shake my head lightly then instantly regret it when a sharp pain rips through my skull. "I'm....I'm okay" I reply softly. "At least I...I think I am" I add and lift a hand to my forehead to where the pain is radiating the most. 
Now That I've stopped running the last hour all suddenly comes flashing back to me, flooding my mind with images of Sam lunging towards me, the pain of when he slapped me with the back of his hand feels all too raw, mixed with the horror of watching him cut my hair off in chunks and then there's the knife.

Oh god, the knife.

I shakily lift my hand to hold the knife up in front of me then gasp and let it drop to the ground and jump backwards out of Cristiano's gentle grip. It falls and hits the ground with an eerie clanging sound that runs through every inch of my body and I feel myself tremble from the inside out. 

My head instinctively whips around in the direction of the villa where I left Sam only moments ago and feel my heart almost burst out of my chest in fear that he might be coming after me. My eyes scan every inch of the narrow walkway for Sam, they're moving so fast inside their sockets that It actually hurts. Another sharp pain rips through my skull and I gasp in response and bow my head.

"Lydia." Cris says softly taking a step closer to me. I turn my attention back to him as he once again places his hands on my shoulders and ducks his head down to my eye level "You're clearly not okay and we have to fix that, but first you have to tell me what happened." he says then lifts a finger to my mouth, running it softly along my bottom lip .
His touch is enough to send a stab of pain rippling through my face causing me to sharply inhale. "Sorry, sorry" Cristiano quickly apologises, "But you're hurt Lydia. Please tell me what happened?"