Chapter 7 – Stay Away From Me
Chapter 7 – Stay Away From Me
Present
I did not reply to his rather rude comment of me being his property, and started walking again, only stopping once I was standing at the main door. A moment later Shadrach joined me, and opened the door using the keypad. I tried to see the pin code, but he had completely blocked my view before typing it in. The door swung open, and Shadrach gestured for me to enter first. A chill ran down my spine, and I took a deep breath, before stepping inside.
I was in a large, beautiful, extremely well-lit room, with a crystal chandelier and two swirling stair cases leading to the upper stories of the mansion. Awed by the beauty of the place, I unconsciously walked further inside, my heels clicking on the marble flooring.
"You like it?" Shadrach asked, as he closed the door.
"It's... Frightening," I lied, hugging myself.
"Frightening?" Shadrach asked in disbelief, walking up to me. "This place is exquisite, Aliza. Suited for a Queen, just like yourself."
"I'm no Queen," I muttered, still scanning the place.
"You're my Queen, whether you like it or not," Shadrach replied. "Anyway, this isn't even the best part of this mansion. Wait till I show you our bedroom."
Hearing his words, my blood ran cold. I looked at him, my eyes wide, an expression of pure terror on my face.
"What's wrong?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Our room?" I asked, hoping I'd have heard incorrectly.
"Yes, Aliza. Our room," Shadrach repeated, crossing his arms.
"I'm not sharing a room with you!" I exclaimed, taking a step away from him.
"You don't seem like you have much choice in the matter," Shadrach replied, stepping closer to me.
"Yes, I do. I am not entering any room with you!" I replied, stepping back.
"Yes, you are. And you're not just entering, you're staying!" Shadrach announced, his tone much louder. He took another step towards me, and I took another one back.
"No, I'm not!" I yelled back, even louder than him. He clenched his jaw, and in a few seconds, he had strode up to me, catching hold of both my wrists, and twisting them behind my back. My body was completely jammed to his, our noses only inches apart as I stared into his eyes defiantly, while he stared down at me in anger.
"You will do as I say, Alizabeth, or the consequences won't be good for you," he warned, his voice low and threatening.
"You already know that I won't, Shadrach," I replied, squirming to get my wrists free. It only resulted in him tightening his hold.
"I've been warning you, Alizabeth. Don't take my leniency for granted. Just because I've never hurt you doesn't mean I am not capable to!" He yelled at the top of his voice, his hold tightening on my wrists even further. I hissed in pain, my eyes tightly shut.
"My-my hands," I whispered, trying to get free.
Shadrach instantly let go of me, and I stepped away from him, massaging my wrists one by one. He sighed loudly, and took a step towards me, but I instantly took three steps backward.
"Stay away from me!" I yelled at him, my eyes glassy with tears. He looked at me, regret evident in his eyes, but before he had the chance to speak, I ran away from him, up the stairs.
Five Years Earlier (16th June 2013)
"I'll drop you home," Shadrach's deep voice said from behind me, making me freeze.
"That would be amazing, thank you," Klara said to him, not allowing me to speak.
"No, I don't wa-" I tried to argue, but Klara quickly closed the door of the car and asked the driver to start driving. "Wait!" I yelled, but the car sped away, leaving me alone with almost twenty or so men, each of whom had guns in their hands. Goosebumps covered my entire skin, as my heart paced, knowing that Shadrach could do whatever he wanted to me, that I was completely at his mercy.
"Let's go," he said, making me jump slightly. I gulped and turned around to look at him, noticing how his eyes not so discretely scanned my body. They didn't linger anywhere, thankfully, and his eyes were back on my face. "Come on," he said, gesturing to his Rover.
"N-no," I said, taking a step away from him. "I-I'll call my bro-brother," I said, taking my phone out. Sure, I would hear an extremely long lecture from my family about crossing my limits and wearing 'indecent' clothes, and I'd probably be grounded for life, but it would be better than to get into a car with a complete stranger. A stranger with guns, if I may add.
"Hey, it's fine, I'll drop you," he insisted, but I ignored him, ready to call my brother. Just when I was about to click on his contact, my phone was snatched out of my hands, startling me. I looked up at Shadrach, my eyes wide, as terror filled my heart. He even took my phone, the one way I could have asked someone for help.
"Relax, I'm not doing anything with your phone. I'm just trying to explain to you how stupid it'd be to call your brother," he said when he saw my expression. "Now, where do you live?" He asked.
"Wh-why should I tell you?" I stammered, instinctively stepping away from him, even though he hadn't come closer to me.
"Just tell me. Okay, I'm guessing wherever you live, it's at least a good hour away from here, right?" He asked. I didn't reply, just broke my eye contact with him. "So you see it will take your brother a whole hour to come here, and obviously, I won't leave you alone here, so you'll have to spend that hour around me anyway. So instead you can just save your brother the time, the sleep, and the fuel, and allow me to drop you," he suggested.
"I-I don't wa-wanna go anywhere with you," I whispered, hugging myself.
"Why are you so scared of me?" He asked frowning, taking a step forward and I instantly took one back, my eyes on his revolver. He sighed. "Okay, fine. I know you don't trust me, but trust me on this, love, if I wanted to do something to you, I could have. Even if I wanted to kidnap you, I wouldn't be standing here trying to convince you to go with me. That logical enough?" He justified.
A chill ran down my spine, as I thought over his words. That didn't sound like a reassurance to me for some reason; it sounded more like a threat. He was literally telling me that he was free to kidnap me, or do anything he wanted to me. But he was nice enough not to. Why, thanks.
"So? You coming?" He asked.
But I was too stubborn.
"I wanna call my brother," I insisted. "Please, give me back my phone," I requested, extending my hand for it. He looked at me with his eyes slightly narrowed, as if he was thinking over something. Then he sighed.
"You're stubborn," he muttered, and instead of handing me my phone like I'd hoped he would, he caught hold of my hand, pulled me towards himself and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I let out a loud scream, and thrashed and kicked, trying my best to get him to drop me.
"Let me go!" I yelled, crying.
"Just calm down," he said in a bored tone, and put me in the passenger seat of his Rover. He leaned in towards me, making me completely back away into the back support of the seat. As he extended his hand in my direction, I tightly shut my eyes, praying that he wouldn't touch me. And it worked. He only buckled my seat belt and moved away. He walked around the jeep to get inside himself, while I considered running out, but his armed guards were glaring at me, making me stay rooted to the seat, as I shivered in terror. Shadrach got in as well, and revved the engine up to life, which was for some reason was followed by loud bangs, sounding like gunshots. I screamed and covered my ears, bending down.
"Hey, it's okay," he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I instantly moved away from him.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please just let me go!" I sobbed. "I-I won't do anything, please tell them to stop firing," I begged.
"Hey, they're not firing, love. It's the sound of my Jeep's engine. I can do it again," he tried to calm me down and pressed on the accelerator again, the same sounds being produced. Once again I flinched. "See? It's just the engine," he said.
"Why?" I sighed, looking at him with the saddest expression ever.
"I got it modified. The cars move away when they hear this sound. It's cool," he shrugged, but I shook my head at him.
"No, I mean why are you doing this? Please, please let me go, Shadrach," I pleaded with him, my face stained with tears.
"Why are you so afraid? Calm down," he demanded, his tone and frown showing how bewildered he was. "You're safe with me, Alizabeth. I promise."
Now I chose not to reply. I knew arguing was of no use, so I just sat there, silently praying, hoping he'd actually fulfill his promise.
"Hold on tight," he told me, and for once, I did as he had told me to. I had heard the drift when he had arrived on the scene. I could very well tell how rash his driving would be, and once he began driving, it felt like my soul would leave my body any second.
The way he swerved his huge ass jeep around cars, as if he were riding a motorbike, almost caused me a heart attack. But I chose to remain quiet, silently praying to God to let me reach home safely. I held onto the seat as tightly as I could, as the rolled down windows blew my hair with the wind. The cold air made me shiver, but I was too focused on the road. I had to admit, though, that although he drove very rashly, the guy had full control of his car. He could easily be a racer, but he ought to know that the road was no racing track. It could easily lead us to our deaths.
"Now, where do you live?" He asked.
"I... I don't wanna go to my own place," I replied. There was no way I could go home wearing that short, revealing, blood red dress. I had only worn it because Klara had insisted me to, and if my parents were to see me wearing that shit, I'd be grounded for a year. Plus I was an utter mess after the whole incident, so I had to go somewhere else. Shadrach slowed the car down, looking at me.
"Then where do you wanna go?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My cousin's place, it's near Nirvana Mall," I replied, hoping he'd actually take me there, and he wasn't planning something.
"Okay, I'll take you to Nirvana Mall, and then you can tell me the directions. Is that fine?" He asked in a soft, calm voice, as if he was consoling a lost, five year old girl. I nodded in reply.
"Ca-can I have my phone back?" I whispered. "I need to inform Rachael that I'm coming to her place."
"Of course," he replied, handing me my phone. "I'm not kidnapping you," he chuckled. Technically, you already did.
Although it was not the best timing, his chuckle was the best sound I'd ever heard. It sounded so perfect and soothing, that for some reason it made me feel at ease.
I instantly called Rachael, waking the poor thing up from her sleep, and told her I was coming. I promised to answer all her questions when I got there and then hung up. I involuntarily glanced at Shadrach, taking in his features properly.
The guy's jawline was sharp as a knife, his nose well-defined and cheekbones perfect. He had long, thick eyelashes, too pretty to belong to a guy, almost making me feel jealous. There was not a single flaw in his face, except a tiny little scar on his forehead, probably due to some childhood adventure. His light stubble was well-aligned and in only the right places, making him look even hotter.
But his eyes were hands down his best feature. Despite being a simple dark brown (because I had heard black eyes did not exist, although I could easily argue that his eyes indeed were black), they held so many different depths of emotion, that they intrigued me. They were the kind someone could actually lose themselves into, too captivated by the almost ebony swirls of darkness.
After that, realization struck me like a brick, and my eyes widened.
I could see his eyes. I was looking into his eyes. Which meant he was staring back at me.
I had been caught staring at his face.
And then I had stared for even longer, shamelessly maintaining eye contact.
I'm screwed.