“Open the door!” I hit my palms against it, repeatedly. “I’m not your prisoner! You can’t do this to me!”
But no response came. Instead, I heard his receding footsteps.
**********
For two whole days, I was locked in my room by
I didn’t have access to my phone to call anyone, su i was stuck here at his will.
The only time I got to see people was when the maids came with food and drinks, and each time, there would be two guards at the door, making sure I didn’t try to leave. They wouldn’t even talk to me. I guess Jaris must have warned them not to so I wouldn’t try to talk my way out of here.
I was frustrated and losing my mind. But I couldn’t say I was surprised. Everyone had always talked about Jaris being an emotionless monster. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice in this stupid contract.
When I heard the door going open in the evening, I figured it’d be one of the maids bringing me some snacks or something. Surprisingly, I was well taken care of. But it didn’t change the fact that I was a prisoner, and I hated it.
Unexpectedly, I found Jace walking through the door. Surprise filled my lungs in the form of a gasp.
“Jace?”
He opened his arms and I ran right in, feeling like an abandoned wolf who was finally meeting her family.
“How-How did you get access?” Jaris wouldn’t let me see anyone.
Just then, I caught Kael by the door.
“The bastard owed me a favour,” Jace clarified
Oh.
“And that bastard is gonna fuck you up if you don’t make it quick,” Kael grumped.
Jace tilted himself so he could face Kael. “I really pity you when you have too much confidence in yourself. You can’t fuck me up, dude. Get lost.”
“Right. You keep saying that and someday, you might learn the hard way.” Kael shut the door.
I shook my head. These two could never agree.
“Thank you for coming to see me,” my eyes were sad despite the smile I forced on my face.
“What the fuck is going on, Lyric? You never showed up, and I couldn’t even reach you on phone. And when I came here, that fucker told me you were locked up. Good thing he owed me a favor.”
I turned away from Jace, sinking my fingers into my hair. I told him what happened; how Jaris had caught me leaving. As expected, he was enraged.
“And so fucking what? You’re not his slave, Lyric. He has no right to lock you up,” he fumed.
“It’s actually a breach of contract.” He has the right to do worse to me.
“Please, spare me. This is nonsense. I could talk to my father.”
“Jace, please don’t. I don’t wanna complicate things.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at my non-manicurerd nails.
“I actually don’t want to leave again. I just didn’t have the time to tell you that night.
Jace looked at me like I’d just told him I was committing suicide.
“What’re you saying, Lyric? Don’t be stupid! These people are on your tail and will kill you when they find you. You can’t be serious about staying back.”
“I can’t leave the kids, Jace! On that night, while I was gathering my bags, the boy had one of his crises again. This time, it was worse. If I hadn’t been there to save him…” I shook my head, a chill running down my spine from the mental image of how much Xylon would’ve suffered.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll never be able to bear it if something happens to that boy when I could’ve been there to save him. That would have been selfish of me.”
Jace’s voice was softer now. “Lyric, it’s not selfish if you’re trying to survive.”
“I-I know. But I need to be there for him.”
Right now, it was beyond what Jaris and I shared. Jaris and Marta aside, the kids had become my friends and I wanted to be there for them.
LYRIC
Jace sat next to me, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
“At least, tell me what you did, Ly. Why are these people after you? I need to understand how I can help.”
I exhaled a long breath. He was right. If I needed his help, he should know what I did.
It was terrifying that I had to say this. I was letting out a very big secret, but I didn’t have a choice.
“Three years ago, I was in Mystopia.” It was where I met Penelope and had my twins. But I didn’t mention that to Jace. It wasn’t important.
“I got a job in a hospital, but I was under training and supervision. I hardly interacted with the patients there. Then, I noticed that the few times I did, the patients could easily get better.” I bit my lip, hesitating for what I was to say next. “One day, I stumbled upon a certain room. Before then, I’d noticed that room was always locked, and not everyone could be granted access into it. But on that very day, the door was open. So, I went in and found a young man on the bed.
“He was asleep, his face pale. He was in a coma.” I still got the chills as I remembered what it felt like.
“I was curious to know what was wrong with him. But I also suspected that this man was someone important who the others had been hiding. I went forward-stupid me-and I-I touched him. I don’t know; maybe I just wanted to know how cold or hot he was. But as soon as we made skin contact, he came awake.
“I was scared and quickly stepped back. And it was in that moment that my supervisor-Winnie-came into the room. The man went back to sleep again, looking pale like he didn’t just open his eyes. My supervisor was very mad at me that day and even threatened to get me fired.
“But the next day, she called me to her office and asked how I’d been able to pull him awake. She asked me if I could try to make him wake permanently. I wasn’t sure of what I could do yet, but when she promised me a lot of money-which I needed-I agreed to give it a try.
“I was led on what to get for the man. I held his hand much longer, and to my surprise, he did wake up. But I didn’t stay for long to hear what he and my supervisor said.”
I shook my head, feeling guilty and stupid. “I don’t know, but I think I made a terrible mistake, Jace. Something in me keeps screaming that that man was dangerous and was supposed to stay asleep. I don’t even know how I had the power to wake him up. But…” I swallowed around the lump in my throat. This was the scarier part of the story. “The following day, my supervisor ended up dead.”
I could still recall the fear I’d felt when the news reached me that she had been killed.
“Nobody knew who was responsible, but I realized that there was trouble. I had a gut feeling it had to do with the man that was awake. So, I ran. I ran to a different city and… with my discovery of my abilities, I worked on my scar and got them removed.” I shrugged. “That’s pretty much what happened.”
Jace was speechless for some time. He exhaled, wiping his hands against his face and propping them in his knees.
“Goodness, Lyric. You must’ve done something really dangerous. That man was clearly a prisoner, and you just released him when he was supposed to stay imprisoned.”
My throat turned to dust. The more I realized I was wrong,the scarier it got. “I-I didn’t know. And when my supervisor told me to-“
“Yeah, before she ended up dead,” Jace cut me off. “No wonder they’re after you. They want you to pay for what you did, just like her.”
I buried my face in my palms, cold crushing my bones. “I don’t know what to do, Jace. How do I make them understand it wasn’t intentional?”
Jace was silent for a couple of minutes. “Have you…tried to understand what you are?”
I lifted my face to look at him. “I have. Apparently, we have this thing in our family where some of us are gifted with these special healing abilities.”
“I know. But don’t you think yours is quite different?”
He was damn right. I’d been concerned about that as well.
Jace chuckled before revealing the heart-shattering truth vite pour Sphon.”
My head spun.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.