You can run, Elara… but you can't hide. I'll always find you"
.
The words clung to her mind, taking her back to her bitter past – the incident that occurred three
years ago.
The morning sunlight pierced through her curtain but she still carried the weight of the horror of
the previous night. Her hands quivered as she wore her earrings. That voice still haunted her.
"Is he really back? Or is someone else playing games with me?" She questioned.
She went out of her house, holding her bag tightly as her legs trembled as she walked towards
her garage.
Then…
Slow, dreadful steps emerged alongside a low chuckle.
"Miss me?"
Elara stopped. She recalled that voice.
It was Adrian Kane. The man from the past she'd thought she buried. A man she dreaded.
Her heart thundered against her chest, her body trembling.
Slowly, she turned. As her eyes met with his, her bag slipped from her hand to the ground.
"No… no. This isn't possible. You can't be…
"
, she stammered, fear gnawing at her chest.
"Alive?" He finished her sentence.
"Your biggest mistake wasn't trying to escape but… thinking
that I wouldn't return,
" he said, advancing his steps.
She staggered back, breath ragged.
"Stop there, Adrian… Don't you dare come close to me"
.
"Why? Do I scare you? Are you being reminded of the past?" Adrian laughed mockingly.
Her eyes widened. A cold chill ran down her spine. Flashes of her past assaulted her. Adrian's
tight grip. His deafening slap. His torture. Her plea. The accident.
"This isn't real. I saw you die"
, she said, her hands placed on her head.
" You thought I died, didn't you? Monsters never die, Elara. They wait. They rot. They return. Get
that in your head"
.
Her breath hitched.
"No! This can't be real. I'm hallucinating. I'm sure of it"
.
Adrian laughed mockingly. He stepped further and the light caught the scar above his brow. That
scar, she recalled.
"It is real. I am back"
, he said, tracing her face with his fingers.
A cold chill ran down her spine. Adrian was real. And he was back for her.
She pushed his fingers from her face.
"What do you want? Tell me. You should have died. Why
are you back?"
"Hmm, fiesty. I like that" he laughed dryly.
"Don't ask questions that you already know the
answers to. I told you before that you can't escape me"
. He touched her cheeks.
"The sooner
you get that, the better for you"
.
Elara's heart pulsed. She recalled that night she tried to escape. Her hand shook vigorously.
"You deserved every bruise. Every bleed. You're a monster disguised as a lamb"
.
"Wow! You've grown confident, my little bird"
, Adrian scoffed.
"You left me that night. Broken.
Burning. Bleeding"
. His voice darkened.
"But fortunately I didn't die. Elijah found me. I'm sure
you remember him. My cousin"
.
He seized her arms.
"He pulled me from the wreckage and hospitalized me while you ran.
Her brow furrowed.
"Elijah's alive? I thought he was dead. Adrian lied to me"
, she thought.
"Do you recall how you pleaded with me to set you free? How I tortured you, my little bird. How
you screamed my name and crawled at the door like a caged animal"
, Adrian mocked.
"How
many times did you cry? Five? Six? Seven? I can't even recall. You cried multiple times"
.
"That was the past, Adrian. I've changed. You do not scare me anymore, so let go of me"
, Elara
shot back, heart pounding.
"Oh really? You think you're brave?" he pulled her hair.
Elara screamed.
"You're hurting me!" she yanked his arm.
"Let go!!"
, she bit his arm.
Adrian roared, jerking away from her.
"How dare you!!"
, he raised his hand to slap her but hung
it in the air.
"I would have punished you but…
" he paused then patted her back with a sly smile
playing on his lips.
"I've got other plans for you, darling"
.
"You're still the same. A devil"
, She said bitterly.
"Yeah I am. And I'm back for what's mine"
.
"You're delusional"
, she spat back.
"Oh really? Is it because Damon Blackwood is in the picture?" His eyes darkened.
"Shut up"
, she rolled her eyes.
Adrian laughed.
"I bet he doesn't know about you. About the secrets you tried to bury"
, he ran
his fingers round her hair.
"But I know, Elara"
. He added.
Elara's chest tightened. Her heart thundered against her chest. She muttered to herself.
"How does Adrian know? Is he playing with me or is he truly aware?"
He smirked, voice low.
"Curious? Don't bother. I have my ways"
.
Her eyes reddened.
"What do you want?"
He gave a short, poisonous chuckle.
"To watch you break"
. He held her hand.
"You tremble
beautifully especially when I hurt you"
.
Her knees weakened. She tried to steady it.
"You're insane"
, she spat.
"I am… when it comes to you"
.
"I wish you died that night. You fooled me. Tortured me. Abused me"
, Elara said, voice carrying
regret.
"But I didn't. That's the past"
, He snapped.
"But now, I'll haunt you every single day until you
break"
, he said, voice venomous.
He left her hand and stepped back gradually, watching her trembling statue.
"And I'll not stop,
my little bird"
.
Her phone buzzed in her bag. She took it out. An anonymous message: "You've met him now,
right?"
Elara looked around. But then…
Adrian was gone.
"Elara?"
She stood still. Ryan called.
He stood paces behind her.
"Who are you talking to?"
Her lips parted but no words escaped. Ryan drew closer. She had forgotten the note Adrian
slipped on her hand when he held her. A note that read: "It's my turn to play games"
.
"What's in your hand?" Adrian asked.
She held the note behind her back, Ryan's suspicion increasing. She didn't want him to find out.
"Don't hide it. Show me. Where did you get it from?"
Elara gripped it tightly. Her breath hitched.
"Answer me"
.
She quivered and the note slipped out from her hand to the ground opening.
Ryan read the message. He whispered.
"Adrian?"