Symphony of Death

Anastasia’s POV

Angie barged inside my room like a tornado with Nat hot on her tail. She stopped by the door and watched everything with grim expressions.

“Stop this.” Angie snatched my clothes and threw them on the bed before forcing me to face her. “Talk to us, please. Why are you doing this?”

“What do you want me to talk about, Angie?” I replied monotonously.

“Don’t give me this shit again.” Angie said angrily. “You came back unconscious and covered in blood. Laurel, she–” Angie gulped loudly. “You haven’t said a word since her funeral. You didn’t even tell us where it was held.”

“Your silence is scaring us now.” Her voice was laced with fear and worry. “What happened, Ana? Please, speak up.”

“The less you know,” I said quietly. “The better it will be for you two.” I ripped my hand out of her hold. “I’m moving out.”

“Ana!” Angie pressed. “What is wrong with you?”

“Believe me, Angie” I looked toward Nat. “It’s better if you two stay away from me in every way.” My throat burnt. “I cannot take more blood on my hands. It’s enough for a lifetime.”

“Ana!”

“Leave me alone,” I turned away from them. “Please!”

“I know things are hard but you are not being fair.”

“Angie!” Nat called after her when she ran out of my room. “For goodness, we are not kids anymore” She looked at me apprehensively. “I won’t push you, Ana. But I hope you have good reasons for your attitude.”

Nat left after Angie and I collapsed on the floor once the door closed and I was alone in my room.

How could I tell them what happened? What was I supposed to tell them where Laurel was buried?

She disappeared into the thin air right in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do. I barely remembered anything after that.

Who brought me home and how, we didn’t know.

Angie and Nat just found me outside our door. All I remember was her washing away like sand and Cain standing before me holding the sword smeared with her blood.

“It’s the only way I can protect you two.” I was so much defeated right now that I couldn’t even muster enough strength to shed tears.

I staggered back up and packed my things blindly. My throat clogged when I grabbed the photo frames from the table.

This moment made me realize how alone I was.

I had people I didn’t cherish enough. I lost them and I was left with nothing but a lifelong of regret.

I always considered myself an orphan. I never saw the one who was always there for me. I never realized that some relations could be stronger than blood.

Laurel gave so much for my sake. The troubles she faced to give me everything in life and to keep me safe from dangerous enemies. I was not her blood but she loved me more than her own child.

What did I do in return for her sacrifices?

Nothing. I gave her nothing but pain and hurt.

“I won’t lose anymore.” I steeled my nerves to walk out on my friends for good.

I couldn’t endanger them. I was not ready to lose them as well.

I walked out of my room with my luggage. As expected, Angie and Nat were in the living room. They stood up abruptly when they saw me with my bag.

“Here are the keys to my room and apartment.” I extended them toward Angie. “I know I’m being a bitch but I need space. I want to be alone.” I put the keys on the table when Angie made no move to take them from me. “I–”

“Just leave if that is what you want.” Angie turned away from me. “It would be better to save whatever gibberish you might have cooked up to outweigh your selfishness.” She went to her room.

Nat looked at me but I didn’t give her a chance to say anymore.

“It’s for the best.” I grabbed my bag and walked out of there. “I hope you two stay safe,” I murmured as I made my way to the elevators.

I lost my family. I lost my friends. I lost my job. I lost my home.

I had no idea what I was going to do or where I was going to stay. I only hoped for things to turn better because it was the only thing I could do for now.

****

“But!” I rubbed my temples to keep my temper in check. “How is it possible that you have no opening? Please!” I slammed the pen on the table. “Any place will do.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am but we have no open options right now.”

I threw my phone on the table and held my head with both hands. I was receiving the same answer from every big and small real estate agent.

It was ironic how there was no place available in the whole freaking city.

“Damn it,” I rubbed my face tiredly. “If this continued any longer, I might have to leave the city for good.”

I knew this was coming when I walked out of Allure but I wasn’t expecting that inhuman bastard to go to such extremes.

Cain blacklisted me in the industry and I was sure he was the reason I was unable to find any place to live. I couldn’t believe he was resorting to such despicable mortal means to mess with me.

But I was glad he was not going all supernatural on me.

I didn’t know what I would have done if Cain had decided to switch to his inhuman powers to get even with me.

The thought was bone-chilling.

As much as I was scared, I didn’t forget what he did to Laurel for his filthy agendas. I was not going to. He could do shit but I was not going to let him live peacefully with it.

I got up unwillingly to answer the door when it knocked.

“Yes?” I looked between the three members of the hotel management. Their looming presence didn’t give me a good vibe.

“I’m sorry, ma’am but you need to check-out right now.” One of them said flatly.

I scoffed at their smug expressions and the irony of the whole situation.

“So, now he is not going to let me stay in a hotel as well?” I slammed the door in their faces.

I was sitting by the bus stop with my bag in an hour.

He had to throw me out at this hour.

What a true man he was!

“Good things keep on coming.” I looked at the sky when it rumbled. “Are you watching, Laurel? I’m being punished.” I chuckled when a single tear slipped out of my eye. “I am miserable, aren’t I?” I whispered hoarsely. “I wonder how long this will go on?”

Another tear and then another until my sight was completely blurred.

“I’m so sorry for putting you through something so horrible. If it wasn’t for me, you would have been alive right now.” I wiped my eyes.

I was not at liberty to cry. I needed every ounce of my emotions in check to survive.

The sky changed colors within seconds and was now pouring down heavily. It only made me feel worse about everything.

I should be scared to be alone in the street right now. This bus stop was in an isolated part and the neighborhood didn’t seem safe at all.

I didn’t want to go to any motel. They never gave me a good vibe with their creepy and damp atmosphere.

But what could I say? My options were limited. No place was safe for me.

“I am going to become food for both hooligans and shadowed beasts,” I muttered.

“You should have known better.” My fists clenched when his deep voice vibrated in my ears. I didn’t look up when Cain stood before me. “For how long do you think you are going to survive like this?”

“Don’t know” I muttered off-handedly. “Don’t care. I never had much to live for.” I gasped in pain when Cain grabbed my arms and pulled me up roughly. “Let go.”

“You are too arrogant” he pulled me in his body, “too stubborn for your own good, Anastasia.” He whispered angrily. “You still don’t know where you are standing with all of this.”

“Aren’t you torturing me enough that you needed to stalk me as well?” I responded bitterly. “I wasn’t expecting you to stoop so low and go as far as asking people to shut their doors in my face.”

“I won’t call this torture.” Cain retorted coldly. “If any, I am being too gentle.”

“Aren’t you a caring one?” I sneered. “God knows how much disgusted I am feeling right now to have you this close to me. You murderer!” I wiggled in his hold to break free. “You were right. You are a true monster. You have shown me every bit of it.” His hold became deadly. “Get off.”

“I guess you don’t cherish the lives of your friends that much” I looked at him petrified. “And you call me a monster.”

“Don’t you-”

“Ssshh!” I held my breath when Cain put his finger on my lips.

His one arm went around my waist and his face loomed dangerously close to mine. I was forced to crane my neck back at a painful angle to put some space between our faces.

“You are in no position to act defiant, love.” He chuckled menacingly. “Not if you care a little about those ephemeral lives.”

I glared at him balefully.

“I don’t care what feelings you hold towards me. Murderer?” Cain brushed my hair behind my ear and cupped my jaw roughly. “Yes, I am and I will be much more if you keep on making me angry.”

“What do you want?” Cain smirked at my unwilling subjugation.

I didn’t want him to hurt my friends. That’s why I left in the first place. I could deal with the shit later but I need to make sure he was not going after them in any way.

“Just tell me what you want and get this over with.”

“It’s quite simple.” Cain let me go suddenly. “Do as I say and you can have their pretty necks saved.” My brows furrowed at his bizarre order. “As long as you will be a good little girl, I won’t touch your beloved.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked calmly.

“Stay with me.” Cain raised his finger to stop me from speaking. “I’m not forcing you, love. You come with me on your own and get the lives of your friends spared in return.” He smirked wickedly. “For now.”

“There is more?” I asked incredulously. “How can you make such brazen requests? What else do you want?”

“Let’s leave it at this for now.” He stated plainly. “I don’t want you dying out of shock.” He said sarcastically. “Not until I am done with my part.”

“Your wing that is,” I said flatly. “Of course.”

“You challenged me, love” I fisted my hands when Cain closed in on me again. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yes, men and their big egos.” I looked away from him. “It’s the same everywhere.”

“I won’t harm you in any way but I won’t guarantee the safety of those around you if you flouted me.” He completely disregarded what I said. “If you did something against my wishes, the outcomes will impact your beloved.”

Every threat was reflected in the darkness of his eyes.

“You have seen a glimpse of it already.” I looked away when Cain caressed my cheek with his knuckles.

“Try to behave a little, dear Anastasia.” I flinched when Cain turned my face back forcefully. “You won’t want to end up on the wrong side with your wrong decisions.”

****

I looked around the room for the twentieth time. I came with Cain in the end. I couldn’t do anything else but listen to him for now. Various factors added to my decision but fear topped all.

The fear of him harming Angie and Nat.

So here I was, sitting idly for the past two hours on the gigantic bed and looking around the lavishness of his room.

“I guess the supernatural have a thing for grandiose stuff as well.” I hugged the pillow to my chest and looked toward the door that led to the attached terrace.

I locked it and drew the curtains to block the view. His place was in so much solitude and was drowned in darkness from every direction. There was nothing but thick wilderness all around it.

I didn’t want to take chances on my safety. I didn’t have my pendant and Laurel to protect me from those Anima and many other things I did not know of.

“Well, at least he is not locking me up in the basement or something,” I mumbled absentmindedly.

I wasn’t expecting Cain to give me a room let alone make my stay comfortable in any way. He left me alone as soon as I entered this room.

I had no idea if he was still around or not.

His place was empty when we came. I didn’t see any servants this time as well and I was in a completely different part of his estate. The lack of people only made the serenity in this humongous place unnerving, uncomfortable and unbearable.

“I don’t think I will be getting any sleep any time soon” I buried my face in the pillow. “Or any at all.”

My head shot up when I heard a rustling on the terrace. I didn’t wait to decipher the source and was out of the room the next instant.

I was running aimlessly and blindly around hallways. There were so many rooms and I had no idea which belonged to Cain.

My paranoia increased when I felt a presence following me closely.

They can’t enter his lair, can they?

I came to the opposite side of the estate and checked every room I came across. He was in none. I was about to reach for the door of the last one when it opened before my hand could have made contact with it.

“What?” Cain asked while eyeing my frozen left hand in the air. My right hand tightened around the pillow when his eyes moved down my body.

I was wearing a nightdress and I felt so stupid for coming like this and bringing the pillow along.

What am I? A child?

This couldn’t get any more embarrassing, can it?

“You need something?” Cain inquired impatiently when I stood mutely before him longer than necessary.

My eyes roamed down involuntarily and my ears burned when my gaze stuck on his chiseled chest teasing out of his half unbuttoned shirt.

Stupid, Ana.

I pushed past him before he could have noticed my ogling and went straight to his bed. I sat on it reluctantly when Cain closed the door and came to me at a leisure pace.

“Let me sleep here” I cleared my throat when Cain cocked one brow in response to my demand. “This is a stupid favor but I can’t sleep anywhere.”

It was so humiliating but I would rather suffer his presence than be alone in that room.

“Is that your justification?” Cain crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. I could feel the heat intensifying in my cheeks. “Not very convincing.”

“I–It’s-” I was fidgeting nonstop under his watchful eyes. “I don’t have my pendant and-” I lowered my eyes. “They don’t bother me when you are near. Those Anima.”

“That’s why you were so desperately holding onto it.” I bit my tongue at his mock. “You can sleep with the lights on,” Cain said matter-of-factly.

He was waiting for my reply but I just kept watching him silently instead. I didn’t want to worsen my situation in any way.

“I thought you abhorred the thought of being in the same space as me.”

“I do, more than anything” I admitted, honestly and bitterly. “But my options right now are very restricted. You gave me a room on the opposite side of your estate. There is no one here and everything is just creeping me out.” I said in exasperation.

Cain just scoffed and went to the couch. He sat down with arms spread wide on the headrest. His hawk-like eyes were fixed on me.

“Can I sleep here or not? Just say it.”

“That’s not how you ask a favor.” My mouth turned down at his crisp response.

Monsters will stay monsters.

I was about to get up to leave when he motioned towards the bed.

“All yours.” Cain gestured to his bed.

“Thanks.” I crawled over and settled in the middle of the bed.

I couldn’t believe he was letting me sleep in his room so easily. I wanted to make sure but I also didn’t want to push my luck with him.

My gaze swept across his room for a quick survey. It was dark and black and on another level of being impressive and grand.

Just...Wow!

I looked toward Cain oddly.

This was not how I imagined it would happen.

The first time I was sharing a room with a man and this was how it turned out. Intimate or not, I was sharing my space and it was nothing but awkward and aggravating.

I was depending on him and I was hating myself for it.

Why did it have to be him?

Cain was out to kill me and here I was willingly coming to him to save myself from a few hours of agony.

I peeked at him again from the corner of my eyes. Cain was busy drinking and surfing through his laptop and phone. He was so engrossed in whatever he was doing.

I rubbed my left wrist softly.

I couldn’t sense any malice from him. The reason for assurance rested under my skin.

Cain might not be resorting to violence and force but he was not going to make anything easy either. If not physical, I was sure he was going to hurt me emotionally and psychologically.

It was disgusting but I was somewhat relieved to have some leverage in the situation. The spell wouldn’t let him hurt me even if he was dying for it.

I was sure he was loathing every second of it but he won’t be able to coerce me into anything unless I wanted to.

I was going to make sure I kept my brain working all the time around him so I didn’t fall prey to his evil tricks and manipulations.

I just needed to survive until I found a way to get rid of this whole situation for good. I was sure there was a solution to all this.

There has to be.

“I can take the couch,” I said after some time.

I came on a whim but I couldn’t bring myself to sleep. Not when he was sitting a few feet apart.

“I don’t want to impose on you more than I already am doing.” I took a pause. “Forcefully,” Cain smirked when I added the insult after a minute.

“I don’t sleep, remember?” He poured himself another drink and gulped it down in one go. “Sleep before I change my mind.”

I hurriedly got under the blankets and turned toward the other side.

“You are not going to turn off the lights?” He asked.

“I have never slept with the lights off,” I whispered back. “You will be here all night?”

“If that is what you want.” His tone was suggestive.

I buried my face further in the blanket. My face was going to have permanent burn marks at this rate.

Every light except the lamp by the couch side was switched off. Panic hit me full force and I pushed myself up while looking around the dark room wildly.

“They won’t come.” His deep voice sliced through the darkness like sweet poison. Cain poured himself another drink and leaned back. “Just sleep.”

I laid back reluctantly and turned the other way.

“So! You just sit like this every night?” I didn’t mean to pry but I couldn’t keep up with his overbearing presence. “Don’t you get tired?”

I turned reluctantly to face him after my question. As expected, his gaze was searing into my whole being like hot lava.

What have I gotten myself into?

“I find new hobbies to kill time,” Cain replied darkly.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t want to know.” I turned away from him again and closed my eyes tightly.

“Sweet dreams, dear Anastasia” His seductive voice ignited something in me.

My heart was not ready to slow down. My nerves were not ready to calm down and forget his presence for a minute. I begged the sleep to come and ease me out of this misery.

I wanted this night to pass.

I swear I would suffer insomnia but I would never come to him ever again.

Even if it kills me.