CHAPTER 03. Suffer twice as much,

— VITA.

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Derek throws me down hard on the couch, and I gasp in surprise at the way he’s treating me. I look around, recognizing this place...

My stomach twists, and I almost throw up as I remember that this is where I found Alice dead just a few days ago. Her body, lying on the ground, naked and bruised, is one of the sights I will never erase from my mind.

I try to get up, stunned, saying in a shaky voice, “Why... Why did you bring me here?”

He turns around slowly, his yellow eyes glowing with an intense hatred that makes me shudder even more. The bared fangs and long nails show me that Derek is on the edge of sanity, fighting hard against his wolf side.

“Derek... Why would you bring me here?” I ask dejectedly, the cry catching in my throat. “Why... Why here?”

“Didn’t I say I’d give you a taste of your own poison?” He approaches slowly but holds my chin forcefully, forcing me to lift my face and look him straight in the eye... But I can’t. I can’t see so much hatred in his eyes — I can’t see such hatred in eyes that used to look at me with love.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t do it!” I grab his shirt as if my foolish attempt could convince him. “How can you distrust me, Derek? I’m your fiancée!”

“The thing is, Vita... Those thugs are calling you an accomplice. There’s so much evidence against you.” His voice causes me so much surprise that I raise my eyebrows and hold my breath. “Are you surprised because they snitch you? These kinds of lowlifes who sell themselves for money are the easiest to break. And believe me, it didn’t take much... a few broken bones, and they opened their mouths and told me everything you paid them to do.”

“No way, I didn’t do anything-”

“You keep saying that, but all the evidence points to you. This room... it was in your name, wasn’t it?” Derek sounds sarcastic, and I find myself biting my lip because, at least, that’s true. The reservation really was in my name because Alice asked me to do it. She didn’t want her mother to find out and make her life more difficult. Besides, Alice was worried that her engagement to some unknown guy would be announced, and she would completely lose her little freedom.

And even though I really tried to stop her, she was excited for her first night out — as a normal young woman, as she said for herself.

Still...

“I didn’t set Alice up. I would never hurt her!” I say firmly, staring straight into Derek’s eyes, and notice that the yellow glow falters.

He lets go of my chin and walks back across the room, immersed in thought, turning his back on me... then he shouts loudly, at the top of his lungs. I shudder, hugging my own body and taking a step back.

I’ve never really seen him like this before...

But my movement seems to have caught Derek’s attention, who once again turns to me abruptly, his yellow eyes even more intense... “Lies! Lies and more lies!”

“Derek...” I try to argue, but he advances on me, making me flinch.

“In this room, they raped my sister. They beat her until her body was full of bruises.” I frown, listening to these painful words with resentful tears threatening to run down my face. “Why did you do it, Vita? Was it a prank? Or did you simply hate my sister enough to kill her?”

I purse my lips, and a heavy tear falls from my eye as Derek adds, “Everyone kept saying you weren’t worth it, but Alice was the only person who saw you as a light. She loved you. So why? Why did you kill her?”

“I told you... I didn’t do it!” I say angrily, my voice shaking with resentment, anger, and disappointment. Why doesn’t Derek believe me? He should know me — support me.

But all he does is laugh sarcastically and say, “Let’s see if that refreshes your memory.”

As quickly as his words, Derek throws water in my face, splashing it hard and making me gasp in surprise. I’m already wet from staying outside, but this act freezes me more than the pouring rain. Now, it seems that warmth is really leaving my body.

Derek slams the glass down on the table, and once again, I startle. His back seems really wide at the moment, but he’s so far away. We’re like oceans apart... And all I can do is let the sobs out of my throat.

I fall to my knees on the floor, but he doesn’t pay me a glance. I try to cover my mouth and suppress my crying because nothing good comes when they hear my sadness.

Heavy tears keep falling from my eyes like stones, and my body is shaking... I’m so cold... my head is getting foggy...

Derek remains silent for a few moments, walking in circles until he stops in front of a large bottle of a drink that I honestly can’t identify. He turns it all in his mouth and drinks so quickly that I feel dizzy and disgusted in his place. It’s almost like it was water, and he didn’t seem to feel a thing, perhaps because he was drunk enough before.

Suddenly, Derek throws the bottle down next to me, making me flinch.

“What’s it like coming back here after what you did?” He walks back across the room, but my blinks are slow, and I can’t keep up with him very well. I try to support myself on the couch, still sitting on the floor. “Do you get any satisfaction out of this, you psycho bitch?”

“No matter what you do to me, Derek...” I say with trembling lips, drawing his eyes to mine. And I hold his gaze, even though my voice and thoughts are slower and a little confused. “I’m innocent, I didn’t kill Alice.”

“Even though you were in the same room where you destroyed my sister’s honor and killed her, you keep up this facade?” He snaps, his yellow eyes shining brightly. “How the hell do you manage to keep your mind at peace after everything you did?”

My mind is at peace because I didn’t do anything. I’d like to say that, but my jaw is trembling so much... I also try to keep my eyes focused on Derek, but this seems like a really difficult task at the moment.

“Vita,” Derek calls my name, and I think he’s worried. Maybe his heart has softened, but it’s an illusion... Because soon his expression hardens again. “This is your last chance to tell me the truth... If you keep lying to my face, stepping on Alice’s grave like that, I swear to the Moon Goddess, I’ll make your life a living hell.”

I give him a sad smile. There’s no convincing him, is there? Even if I throw myself at his feet, cry, and beg for his trust, he won’t believe me. Derek’s mind has already been made up.

My silence causes him to growl and turn abruptly, throwing the bottles from the table onto the floor in a burst of hatred.

“I’LL MAKE YOU REGRET IT, VITA!” He shouts, turning to me with his fangs bared, and says with a hoarse growl, his voice so furious that it makes me shiver more, “I’ll show you, Vita... Everything you did to my sister, tonight you’ll suffer twice as much.”

As I struggle to understand what he’s saying, Derek calls out a name that I don’t hear, at least I can’t identify... and suddenly, the door opens, revealing a brutish man, tall and overweight, with arms that easily reach three of mine. I switch my desperate gaze from him to Derek, who doesn’t mind a bit.

“You can take her.” My fiancé’s voice saying such disgusting words brings a sudden awakening, clearing my mind and giving me a rush of adrenaline. “Just don’t kill her. If Vita will die, it will be by my own hands.

I look at Derek in horror, my stomach swirling and my body shaking even more... Seeing me like this, the man seems to hesitate but then starts walking towards me with heavy steps... so heavy that they seem to shake the whole room.

Funny, everything seems to be spinning and going dark now...

My consciousness is slowly fading away...

“Vita?” What is that... It sounds like Derek’s voice, but... worried? “No, no, Vita! She’s freezing, damn it, GET BLANKETS!”

Oh, I recognize that warm tone, this heat enveloping my body like a hug.

“Vita, please, you can’t leave me too... Why haven’t they called a doctor yet? MOVE NOW!”

Yes, I know what this is...

I’m dreaming of my Derek, the man I fell in love with...

The person that Derek used to be.

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[…] "Why isn't she waking up?" I hear Derek's distant, worried voice. My eyelids are heavy, and I can't open my eyes. In fact, my whole body doesn't obey me. At the same time as I can hear my surroundings, it's confusing and strange... I don't know what's happening to me.

Everything is dark... the shadows around me are swallowing me up, again and again...

My head feels heavy.

My senses disappear — and I black out again [...]

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My eyes finally open slowly. I wiggle a finger, regaining complete control of my body. I manage to sit up in bed, my vision still adapting to the darkness. There's an intense pain in my head, a huge weight on my body, but I force myself to look around, recognizing my cozy room, the large balcony door that also allows me to glimpse the moon.

How long did I sleep?

Oh, now I understand, it was all a dream...

"Did you sleep well?" Derek's voice, colder than the harsh winters in this country, startles me. I search for him in the shadows of the room, finding bright yellow eyes staring at me. He's sitting in my armchair, and I can't see his expression, but from the menacing look in his eyes and his harsh voice, I can tell that Derek is not happy.

"Derek..." I crawl across the bed towards him, stopping at the edge of the mattress, unsure of what to do. My legs have no strength to support my cold body. "I had a bad dream..."

"Did you? Tell me about it." Derek is still cold, and I swallow hard, my body shuddering. "Maybe my sister was raped and killed by thugs?"

"Derek, what are you saying..." My shaky voice gives away how cold and scared I am...

And he stands up, walking over to me, his body slowly revealed by the moonlight, showing me his face twisted in hatred, his yellow eyes shining with pure resentment, and his pace imposing and threatening, just like a wolf cornering its prey...

I am his prey.

"Perhaps in this dream, you murdered Alice... not with your bare hands, of course... you're too cowardly to get them dirty." Derek holds my face tightly, his fingers clenched tightly around my chin. "But I, Vita... I have no problem taking your life right now."

I try to break free, to pull myself away, but this only causes his hand to reach for my neck, his fingers around my throat, squeezing, stealing me of air.

I understand now. It wasn't a dream... In fact, the nightmare is real.