Ivyđź’Ž
Do you all know those characters in romance novels? The ones who get transmigrated into a particular character and have to live as the character. They get their happy ending eventually, don't they? So does that mean I will also get my own happy ending by the end of this story?
I glanced at Nathaniel as he paced around the room. I was back to being tied up, but this time, I was on the bed.
Hurray.
Yeah, I don't see a happy ending to this story.
Nathaniel stopped pacing to look at me, only to continue pacing even more frantically. He looked even more annoyed now.
"How the fuck does she remember?" he muttered to himself.
It was like the first time all over again, when he realized I just wouldn't forget no matter how many times he killed me.
I didn't bother counting how many times he'd killed me this time. And it was all with that fucking gun. Where did he even keep the darned thing? We'd been living in this house for almost two years and I'd never seen it.
So where the fuck did he whip it from?
I had time to think, though. And I noticed a pattern. Each time he killed me, I always ended up remembering everything, the one time I killed myself, he didn't remember. And if what he said earlier was true, he'd been looping by killing himself.
So what changed? Why couldn't he kill himself anymore to loop?
I was certain that if he did, I would forget everything.
Nathaniel finally stopped as he stood at the foot of the bed. He rubbed his forehead so hard that I thought his skull might have a dent in it.
"Kill yourself," I whispered. I'd rather not remember anything and live out my life with a false sense of security than keep on doing this.
He gave a low chuckle as he raised a brow. "You want me dead?"
"It's the only way I can forget. If you kill me, I'll continue to remember. And besides, you said it yourself, you've been looping by killing yourself."
He paused, then looked at me with a scary grin plastered across his face.
"When did I say that?"
My heart sank as I realized I had just made a silly mistake.
Of course he didn't remember. That version of him was dead and forgotten.
Think, Ivy. How can you get out of this? Think.
I let out a shaky breath. I couldn't think.
"Ivy, darling," his voice was low as he stepped closer. I kept my face down, not wanting our eyes to meet. "Did something happen that I don't remember?"
His face was now inches away from the side of my face.
"Ivy, darling," he repeated as he stroked my face. "Why don't I remember telling you that?"
I knew that I'd already zeroed my mind on forgetting everything, but if there was a one in a million chance that I could have these memories and use them to escape him in the future, I couldn't just give out my only leverage.
"Tell me what happened," he said slowly, his fingers stopping under my eyes.
I trembled, I had an inkling of what he was about to do but goodness me, I fearfully hoped that I was wrong.
"Please," I shuddered. I didn't mean to say anything, it just came out.
He smiled and pressed his fingers harder under my eyes. It wasn't enough to hurt, but it was enough to pass the message across.
I gasped as tears streamed down my face.
"Answer me," he murmured as if he was bored. "I hate repeating myself."
I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that it would somehow prevent my eye from bulging out of its socket. He laughed at me.
He placed his thumb under my eye, then three fingers above, and dug deeper. Stars exploded behind my eyelids as I let out a wail. My body jerked against my restraints, but once again. It was completely useless.
"Stop! Please!" I choked.
"Ah," he sighed. "So you do remember something."
I shook my head frantically, trying to escape his fingers but he held my head in place with his other strong arm.
"I don't," I yelled. "I promise you, I don't remember."
"Remember what?"
The pressure increased, and even though my eyelids were shut hard, the pain was throbbing.
My thoughts scattered and words slipped out of my mouth but all I could hear was the sound of my panicked breathing.
He hummed softly, making me shut up immediately. "You're lying."
I didn't know what I said.
"I don't remember!" I sobbed, my knees shook and my back ached. "Please stop!"
He withdrew his hand and I felt a sense of relief wash over me. My eyes burned but I kept them shut, I was too afraid to look at him. Then I felt his hand cradle my cheek.
"You should've stuck to that story earlier," he said softly. "You almost convinced me."
I gasped as I slowly opened my eyes, stealing glances at Nathaniel.
He turned away from me and walked to the nightstand, he picked up the gun and pointed it to his head.
"If you're wrong, and this doesn't reset…"
Oh, I folded pretty easily.
"... I'll just be dead."
That was kind of the point. And why was he asking me these questions when he was the one used to looping?
"Ivy," he said affectionately as his eyes became gentle. "I love you."
The sound of the gun was deafening, his body collapsed and his blood splattered to the wall behind him. The echo rang on and on, even long after his body hit the floor. I stared at him as I waited for him to stand.
It certainly couldn't be that easy.
All these loops, and he was finally dead.
I waited for the world to reset and for me to be thrown back to this morning, but nothing of the sort happened.
It was just me, and Nathaniel's dead body.
Then his final words hit me.
"If you're wrong and this doesn't reset…"
A hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest, accompanied by tears that burned their way out. My body shook violently as all my adrenaline came crashing down at once.
He was dead, that motherfucker was finally dead.
Now, all I needed to do was take my phone from the nightstand and call the police.
I was finally free.
After crying tears of joy and basking in my victory, I realized that I was still tied up. My phone was on the nightstand and it wasn't like I could just walk up and get it.
I twisted and tried to get out of my shackles. My phone was right there, Nathaniel was dead on the floor and yet, my body was still trapped on this goddamn bed.
"Okay," I whispered, trying to calm myself. "Okay, slow."
I strained against the restraints, trying to roll closer to the edge. If I could just tip over, and maybe get one hand free, then I could crawl, live, and forget this horrible nightmare.
I successfully slid off the mattress, but I hit the floor too hard and pain flared up from my side. But it didn't matter, I was on the floor. I laughed breathlessly, as relief bubbled up in my chest.
"I did it," I whispered.
The phone was still on the nightstand but it was just a few feet away. I twisted my body and dragged myself forward with my shoulders and hips. Every movement burned as the rope scraped against my skin, but it was welcomed. All that mattered to me was that I was finally free.
I didn't look at Nathaniel's lifeless body, I only moved forward. Perhaps it was the excitement that I was finally escaping Nathaniel's clutches that made me ignore the soft creaks I heard.
Before I could even reach halfway, I felt the crushing weight of something heavy. Glass shattered and embedded itself in me, and the impact slammed my skull against the floor.
My phone remained on the nightstand, and Nathaniel's body remained unharmed on the floor, but I was the one the chandelier had chosen to fall on.
Well, fuck me.