Beneath Pleidus' Sky- Chapter 6

They were strolling around the park but did not walk in a group to avoid suspicion from the public. Vlasis and Daphne who was both in their forties walked together, keeping their eyes to the surrounding.

Zoe and Linus who were in their twenties kept a close look on Alexis, who was intently scanning as many people’s mind as he could to find a clue on Rhea’s whereabouts. They pretended to be in a deep conversation while watching the children playing at the playground. To the public eyes, they would look like a couple of lovebirds.

Alexis was sitting on the park bench, alone. He had been scanning the people’s mind for hours now.

The five of them, who were the Council’s Legion, had arrived in Exhorea (name given by them for this dimension) since last night but they were locked in a battle with the Resistant. Zoe, Vlasis and Alexis were injured but they managed to recover over the night, thanks to Daphne’s expertise in dealing with normal injuries and also poison- tainted injuries.

Alexis lost his focus as he recalled last night’s incident.

Alexis, Vlasis, Daphne, Zoe and Linus had just walked through the portal from their territory. Vlasis was the team leader for this operation. The tracker device was in his hand, the tool to search for the coordinated location of Rhea’s current house.

Being the only Reader in the team, Alexis was required to scan the surrounding people’s mind of any clue of Rhea’s whereabouts. They knew Rhea was known as Lilian Tanner here, the daughter of Jeremy and Maria Tanner who were actually Rhea’s guardian.

They were walking along the street about a hundred yards away from the location, shadowed by the big trees along the streets. They did not take the paved street; instead, they walked on the soil and grass, keeping attention away from them if anyone passed by the path.

Suddenly, five figures emerged from the darkness and ambushed them. Three of them jumped down from the trees while the other two came out from the bushes. They were quite fast. One of them shot a bullet at Linus. Although Linus tried to dodge the bullet, he could not entirely avoid it. The bullet grazed his shoulder. Blood seeped out from the wound.

“It’s poisoned!” said Linus angrily, putting pressure on the wounded shoulder. The Legion was already on the move, running away from the Resistant in search of the loophole to counter-strike them. The Resistant were on their heels, shooting more poisoned bullets from their guns.

“Alexis, status!” said Vlasis. Alexis understood right away. As a Reader, he was the only one who could easily determine whether anyone had their mind shielded or not.

“They are all shielded, sir! Though the level might be different from each other,” Alexis briefed the team who were still on the run.

“Zoe, now!” Vlasis commanded to Zoe. Zoe nodded and broke away from the team and was instantly consumed by the darkness. Zoe was the Keeper but had been trained to also become the Cracker, a learned ability to crack the mind shields. She was ordered by Vlasis to crack the mind shields of the Resistant first before the rest of them could put their ability to good use.

Seeing Zoe disappearing into the dark, one the Resistant member followed her but Alexis would not allow it. He stopped him and locked a fight with him. His opponent was already pointing a gun at him but he was faster. He drew out his own gun and shot his opponent’s hand, causing him to drop his gun to the ground. Swiftly, Alexis darted towards him and gave him a kick on the stomach which sent him backwards, panting and groaning.

Meanwhile, the other Legion members were also locked in a battle with the other Resistant members. They were actually buying time for Zoe to do the ‘cracking’. Vlasis was fighting two opponents at the same time.

Engaging in both mind and physical battle at one time could be tricky but that was what they had been trained for. Alexis read the Resistant members’ mind again, all at once.

Zoe had been doing a good job so far. The shield which looked like a vault to a Reader was cracking and some parts melting away. Alexis could already peer into their unprotected minds.

“Linus, now!” shouted Alexis. Linus squinted; his forehead wrinkled as he invaded the Resistant member’s mind and pulled the strings. They stopped abruptly.

Now, Linus was controlling them, pulling the strings as if they were mere puppets. Slowly, they surrendered their weapons which Daphne collected and put them at a distant. The weapons include guns, swords and knives, all of them already poisoned.

The Resistant members stood in a line up in front of the Legion, staring blankly into an empty space. Their eyes clueless although one or two of them had their muscles twitched which indicated that they were trying to break free from the ‘puppet string’ held by Linus.

Alexis played his role again. He scanned the minds of their hostages but was rudely shocked by his findings.

“They already shot poisoned bullet at the guardians. By now, they might be dead already,” Alexis told the others.

“How about Rhea?” Daphne asked.

“Their leader, a captain, had taken her into custody,” the revelation also shocked Alexis.

“Can you find out who is that captain?”Linus asked with a sudden grim interest.

“Wait, I think I get it,” said Alexis, squinting as he dipped deeper into their minds. “One of them mentioned about ‘Captain Zephyr’,”

“Zephyr,” breathed Linus.

“You know him?” asked Vlasis.

“He’s the youngest captain among the Resistant. But most importantly, we could be rest assured that Rhea will be kept alive if she stays with him,” explained Linus.

“I don’t understand,” said Alexis. Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock. “I sensed a strong shielded mind around here!” he exclaimed, turning around, searching the darkness.

“Zoe!” called Daphne. There was no answer.

“I can’t reach her mind,” hissed Alexis frustratingly.

“We split,” Vlasis directed. “Daphne and I will track Zoe down. Alexis and Nilus stay here. Alexis, keep in contact with our minds. Nilus keep the hostages in your control,”

“Understood,” Alexis and Nilus responded in unison before Vlasis and Daphne disappeared into the darkness.

After that, everything that happened became blurry and vague. They heard the clashing sound of swords from the distant and Zoe’s yelp which echoed through the night. Then, Alexis saw that their hostages’ minds were building up their mind shield back. Clearly, Zoe had lost her touch.

From the information Alexis obtained from Daphne’s mind, Zoe was injured not severely but enough to cease her ability for the time being while Daphne and Vlasis were fighting with two other Resistant members.

“I’m losing control,” muttered Linus through gritted teeth as he fought to keep his hold on the strings of their hostages’ minds. Alexis could see the hostages’ eyes started to blink. They fingers stirred against Linus’ order.

“We are retreating. Meet at the neighbourhood park,” Alexis read Vlasis’ order with his mind. He turned to Linus who was struggling to keep in control and also battling with the poison in his wound.

“Vlasis ordered us to retreat to the park. There will be many people there, so they won’t do anything to attract people’s attention,” Alexis told Linus. Linus nodded. With the last bit of his control, he severed the strings from their hostages’ mind and both Alexis and Linus fled the scene, leaving the hostages free but still confused and fighting to pull themselves together.

They met Vlasis, Daphne and Zoe ten minutes later at the park. There were a few people strolling around the park at the time. They sat under a tree, where the shadow hid them from the brightness of the spotlight around the park.

Zoe and Vlasis were wounded. Zoe was shot on her arm while Vlasis had a long slash wound across his back. Nilus had begun to feel the effect of the poison from his wound on the shoulder.

Daphne treated their injuries using the antidotes she brought with her while Nilus manipulated the minds of the people around them so that they could not see them there.

“What happened?” asked Linus after Daphne done treating them. They sat leaning against the tree to rest.

“There were two more Resistant members came attacking me from behind. They shot my arm and I lost focused. Luckily, Daphne and Vlasis arrived one time,” Zoe narrated.

“We’ll track Rhea tomorrow,” said Daphne. “Your injuries need to heal first. You will need at least overnight to recover,”

Vlasis nodded. “I think the Resistant did not didn’t follow us here because there have other duties as well. Maybe they are guarding their portal,”

So, they stayed and slept under the tree with Alexis and Daphne taking turns to stand on guard while the others were required to sleep to recover faster.

                                                       

Alexis looked around. He sighed, Lilian Tanner’s name were almost on everyone’s mind since this morning because most of the people in the area had seen the news about Jeremy and Maria’s murder and the mysterious disappearance of their daughter, Lilian. This could be more difficult than it seemed.

Alexis tried again. This time, he expanded his perimeter, scanning people’s mind again and again. Then, he heard it.

“Lily, where are you now?” the voice was genuinely worried. “Is she in trouble? Is she OK? What if something bad happened to her?”

Alexis rose from his seat and started to walk towards the voice. Zoe noticed Alexis’ action and so as the others. They trailed him at a non-suspicious distance like normal pedestrian.

After ten minutes, they found themselves in the compound of Pinewood High School. Alexis walked alone to the compound. It was lunchtime, so there were quite a number of students around the school compound. Vlasis, Daphne, Zoe and Nilus did not follow Alexis as he walked further out to the back of the school building.

Alexis arrived at a lake behind the school building. He walked directly to a boy who was leaning against a tree near the lake bank.

Alexis saw flashes of what the boy had seen. Two dead bodies sprawled on the carpet of a house; the frantic phone calls to the police; the police patrol cars’ arrival; the fear he had for the girl named Lilian.

“Ryan Thomas,” Alexis called out as he was standing beside the boy. The boy turned, the miserable expression still lingered on his face which was slowly replaced by curiosity.

“Yes?” Ryan replied.

“Do you know a girl called Lilian Tanner?” asked Alexis.

Hints of shock spreaded through Ryan’s face as Lilian’s name was mentioned.

“Yes,” he answered hesitantly. “What do you have to do with her?”

“I’m her old friend from her former school,” Alexis quickly concocted a lie. “I came this morning to see her but was told about the tragedy. I came to this school in the hope I could find anyone who know her personally. Do you know anything about it?”

“Yes. I drop by her house yesterday but it was dark and the door wasn’t locked. So I entered the house but her parents were...,” his words trailed off but Alexis could see what he wanted to say in his mind.

“And Lily?”

“She is still missing. The Police said she might have been kidnapped or she managed to escape but there was no trace of her or her kidnapper,”

“You are a good friend of Lily?” asked Alexis.

“She’s one of the most important persons to me,” said Ryan. “Or so I hope,”


-End of Chapter 6-

Beneath Pleidus' Sky- Chapter 5

It was the dream again. The same dream she had since she was 10. The same dream she just had yesterday. She was so determined to know who that boy was that she refused to budge as the usual strong wind threatened to blew her away from the scene. She closed her eyes tightly and let the wind raged passed her.

Then, almost abruptly, the wind stopped. She opened her eyes. She was not in the meadow anymore. The boy and the girl had vanished from the completely different scene. But she knew the place in front her very well.

It was the elementary school she went to when she was nine. There were kids running here and there and she caught sight of a car which just pulled over along the driveway not far from the school compound. Maria came out from the car and went to open the passengers’ door. 

A little girl hopped out jovially, swinging Maria’s hand.  Maria walked her to the school’s entrance before kissing her forehead and waved her goodbye as the little girl entered the building.

As she walked towards the girl, the scene dissolved and was replaced with another scene. She stopped dead. The familiar looking house loomed over her. She was in the living room. Bright sunshine lit the house.

The house was still quite empty but she could hear laughter coming from the kitchen. She followed the noise.

There they were, around the dining table. The 16 years old Lilian sat down at the dining table while Maria and Jeremy were standing behind her facing a medium chocolate cake lit with sixteen tiny candles. As she looked Maria and Jeremy kissed the two years younger Lilian, she touched her own cheeks as if she could feel their kisses.

Then, without warning, tears streaked down her cheeks. She felt into the darkness, falling further down but she did not care. If even the darkness wanted to devour her, she would be ready. She just did not care anymore. She closed her eyes again.

Suddenly, she sensed bright light penetrating her eyelids. She opened her eyes slowly. She was lying on the bed, the thick cosy blanket pulled up to her chest. The striking afternoon sun ray pierced through the small opening between the curtains. Lilian stayed motionless, blinking with an empty mind. She felt a bit light-headed.

                                                    

“You cried in your sleep,” prompted a familiar voice.

Lilian jerked awake. She turned to look at Zephyr who was sitting on the couch not far from the bed. Senses flooded into her mind.

Lilian touched her face. It was wet with tears. She wiped it dry with her sleeves. She realised that she was in a small single room. She felt perspiration forming down her neck, so she pushed the blanket away. She was still fully-clothed, saved the sneakers which were placed neatly at the side of the bed.

Zephyr got up from the couch and went to the wardrobe at one corner of the room. There was a pillow and a piece of thin blanket on the couch. He must have been sleeping there over the night.

Lilian stole a glance at Zephyr. This was the first time she had the chance to properly look at him since that their first face to face encounter was in the darkness of her living room.

Zephyr looked quite young. He must be in his early twenties. His hair was dark brown, slightly wavy and was parted in the middle. He had lost his hat and jacket. He was now wearing a simple dark blue t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. He definitely looked much younger than he did last night. His skin was nicely tanned and his eyes were blue like the sapphire.

And she noticed a necklace, probably handmade, dangling around his neck as he bowed.

“Checking me out?” teased Zephyr, turning away from the wardrobe to stare at Lilian.

Lilian froze for a second. “Am not,” Lilian denied. “I just want to make sure that I know my kidnapper well!”

Zephyr snorted without looking at Lilian. “Good luck with that,” he was completely cynical.

When he managed to find what he was looking in the wardrobe, he walked back to Lilian with some clothes and a weird-looking bottle in his hand. He sat at the edge of Lilian’s bed. Mechanically, Lilian edged away from him.

“How did I end up here? Did you make me fainted?” Lilian braved up to ask the question.

“No. I just put you into a trance. Do you expect me to carry you all the way up here?” The question was more like a taunt for her. “You went to sleep just after I gave you the antidote,”

“My parents?” asked Lilian hesitantly. She did not know why she was having this kind of conversation with her kidnapper but she felt like she needed someone to talk to badly to keep her sanity after her dark ordeal last night and Zephyr was the only one there for her to talk to.

“Take your shower first,” said Zephyr quietly, handing over the clothes he had in his hands just now which turned out to be a purple short-sleeve blouse and a pair of light brown Capri-pants. “And you will need to dye your hair. The colour of your hair is too obvious,”

Lilian sprung from the bed and looked into the mirror. Zephyr was right. The flaming red colour of her hair was so obvious it even overshadowed the original black colour of her hair.

“I don’t know what colour girls like you would prefer but I think auburn will look good on you,” said Zephyr, musing the white crystalline bottle he was still holding.

“I don’t think dyes would work. No dye sticks on my hair more than an hour and I’ve tried every dye I could laid my hands on since I was 10,” said Lilian, still looking into the mirror. Zephyr’s reflection appeared behind hers.

“But you never try this one. This hair dye is from Pleidus, exclusively for the use to cover up the changing colour of the hair caused by serious mind activities,” he said, swinging the crystalline bottle slowly behind Lilian. Lilian spun around. She took the bottle from Zephyr’s hand.

“Pleidus? What is that?”

“Pleidus is your homeland. Our homeland,”

“Where is that place? I never remember any Pleidus when studying Geography in school,”

“Of course you never remember it. Pleidus is in another dimension different from this world,”

The crystalline bottle slipped from Lilian’s hand. Zephyr caught it midway before it reached the floor.

“Different world?”

“Yes. I know this is too much too swallow. So, let’s take this one step at a time. First, we have to make you less recognizable so that we can move around a bit freely,” said Zephyr, taking Lilian’s right hand and placed the crystalline bottle carefully into her hand back.

****

Lilian just stared at her sandwich. Her stomach seemed to oppose any food now. She sighed. They were sitting at a small square dining table in the room of an inn.

“The sandwich won’t turn into beef steak even if you stare at it for hours,” prompted Zephyr.

“So, you do have some sense of humour,”

“And you don’t,” he replied.

“Do I look like I’m in the mood for jokes?” said Lilian, annoyed.

“You look like you don’t have the mood for anything,” replied Zephyr simply.

“Of course I don’t. Tell me why should I even smile when I’m with my parents’ murderer? I feel like I’m fraternising with the enemy,”

“I did them a favour,” he replied earnestly.

“How?” she felt her anger burning when she heard Zephyr’s thoughtless reply. “By killing them? That’s what you call a favour?” said Lilian angrily, her hand now clutching Zephyr’s t-shirt collar. She was standing now, looking down to Zephyr.

“I don’t expect you to understand,” he said idly not bothering to remove Lilian’s hands. “Killing them at the moment is the best thing I could do for them. Or do you prefer them to suffer for almost an hour and died because of agony? Do you know what they were feeling? They felt like their bodies were torn apart and burnt from the inside. They begged me to end their suffering, so that you would not need to see them agonizing till death,”

Lilian let go of her clutch slowly. She slumped to the floor. No, she doesn’t want to cry. She promised Maria she would try not to cry. But she knew all along that it was hard to keep the promise. She sobbed lightly, burying her face in her hands.

Zephyr went to kneel beside Lilian.

“For someone who is holding a grudge against me, you are incredibly cooperative,” said Zephyr frankly.

“I’m physically worn out and mentally distressed. What do you expect?”

“Hmm...Let’s see. I expect to see some determination from you to know what’s going on and why are you with me now,”

“I do want to know, but I’m afraid that I’m not ready for the answers, not after what I had seen last night,”

Even hearing about the ‘other world’ brought shivers down her spine, Lilian thought. She inhaled and exhaled as calmly as possible before gazing into Zephyr’s eyes.

“What do they (whoever they are), want with me? If they want me, why kill my parents? Why not just take me away?”

“It’s more complicated than you think. To us, if we encounter people like you, we have to kill them right away, if they proved to be no use to us,”

“People like me? What do you mean?”

“You are one of the Gifted Ones, or the Cursed Ones according to us. Your people are considered as abomination, signs of revulsion towards the Mother Nature.

“The Gifted Ones,” she quoted Zephyr under her breath. “Who are we actually?” she asked, confused.

“Each of you has the so-called great power which is related to your mind ability. Your guardian-,”

“Parents,” Lilian corrected.

“Jeremy and Maria as you knew them; they were both The Readers, the most common ability among the Gifted Ones,”

Lilian looked clueless. Zephyr grunted in exasperation.

“They could read mind,” said Zephyr curtly.

Lilian eyes widened. “So, they could read my mind?”

“Well, apparently, you have been trained to shield your mind since you were born. So, they could not read your mind,”

“What about me? Can I read mind?” asked Lilian, showing grim interest.

“No. You are not the Reader. You are The Manipulator, a rare gift among your kind. There are only three living Manipulators currently in Pleidus, including you,”

-End of Chapter 5-

Beneath Pleidus' Sky- Chapter 4

“Captain Zephyr,” said Lilian’s captor who was apparently known as Commander Phrixus. He bowed slightly as a gesture of respect to the young man without easing his hold on Lilian’s arm.

Zephyr, thought Lilian. It rhymed well with ‘Sapphire’. Realising she was in great danger, she shook off her muse. She looked carefully at ‘Captain Zephyr’. He was wearing a hat which he just took off and placed it on the sofa.

Lilian raised her eyebrows. He was the figure he saw outside of the cafe! These people must have been spying on her family for quite some time.

“You understand that the General won’t tolerate any defiance, right?” said Zephyr with an air of strong warning.

“I understand Captain, but this girl had lost her memory. She is useless like this,” said the Commander, defending himself.

“Of course she lost her memory,” said Zephyr, walking towards Jeremy and Maria. “The Keeper has her memory, right?” the question was clearly directed to Jeremy and Maria.

“We don’t even know who The Keeper was. Only her parents knew about it,” said Jeremy, slightly struggling but was kept motionless by his captors.

Lilian froze. Her parents? What did her father meant?

“Dad, what are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry, Lily. There are so many things we can’t tell you,”

“Lily? What kind of name is that?” teased Commander Phrixus. “Do you know that your real name is Rhea?” he directed the question to Lily.

“My name is Lilian, you crazy monster!” snapped Lilian. She felt Commander Phrixus’ grip tightened on her elbow and the sword’s blade skimmed lightly on her neck.

“I’ll take her,” said Zephyr, nodding towards Lilian. “The Council had sent their legion here an hour ago. Stop them while I sort things out with this girl. There’s information I need before I can bring her to Pleidus,”

Commander Phrixus groaned in disgust and shoved Lilian towards Zephyr who caught her by the waist. “Be careful with her, Captain. You know who she is,” warned Commander Phrixus.

“I’m well aware of that, Commander,” Zephyr assured.

Suddenly, Commander Phyrixus made a simple gesture with his hand and his men who held Jeremy and Maria pointed their guns to the couple. They pulled the trigger. Lilian gasped. There was no sound, as if their used silencer with the gun. Jeremy and Maria fell to the floor, groaning in agony.

“Commander!” prompted Zephyr furiously. “What do you intend to prove with that action?”

“They won’t talk. They might as well be dead,” said Commander Phrixus simply before leaving the house with his team, leaving Jeremy, Maria, Lilian and Zephyr in the house.

Lilian broke free from Zephyr and knelt beside Jeremy and Maria. She burst into tears almost instantly when she saw that they were bleeding from the wound on their chests. She held both of their hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Mom, Dad, what is happening?” she wept. “Why do they make us like this?”

Maria reached out her hand to touch Lilian’s cold cheek. Maria was shaking, her skin burning. From the look of her face, she was in an extreme agony. And so as Jeremy.

“I’m sorry, dear,” Maria forced herself to speak. “You will know the truth sooner or later, but we want you to know that whatever happens, we will always love you,”

The words burnt Lilian’s heart.

“I’m sorry,” she said guiltily. “I’m sorry. I promised I won’t complain about moving anymore but please don’t leave me. Please...,” she pleaded. Jeremy shook his head slowly.

“It’s not as easy as that. We won’t make it. This is not normal wound. These are poisoned bullets,” said Jeremy, holding Lilian’s hand even tightly as if he was fighting with pain which was in his body now.

“They only have about fifteen minutes to talk,” Zephyr interrupted as he leant against the wall, watching the drama which unfolded in front of him. “After that they would not be able to talk because of the pain and they will only die after half an hour later.”

“Then do something!” Lilian half-yelled to Zephyr. “Please...,”

“I can’t do anything. The poison has no antidote. It is burning their internal organs now,” said Zephyr gloomily.

Lilian burst into a fit of cries again.

“Don’t cry, Lily. We know that you are a strong girl,” soothed Jeremy. “Just listen to what I want to say,” his voice dropped into a whisper that Lilian moved closer to Jeremy to listen.

“In one of the drawer of my study, there is a medium wooden chest. You will find a letter in there and several other items for you to treasure. You will also find a pouch in there. If by any chance you would meet a boy called Leon, give him the pouch,” said Jeremy slowly and with great difficulty between his bloody coughs. Lilian just nodded willingly.

“Tell him we love him,” said Maria. Lilian nodded again.

“Promise us you won’t cry anymore,” Lilian cleared her throat and wiped clean her tears with her sleeve.

“I’ll try,” said Lilian.

Jeremy turned slowly to Zephyr. “You...”

Zephyr edged nearer to them and bent near them.

“I don’t know who you are but please keep her safe,” said Jeremy as he coughed out blood again.

“Dad, don’t! He’s evil!” said Lilian, shaking her head. Startlingly, Zephyr nodded once. He pulled Lilian away from Jeremy and Maria. She felt helpless as she let go of their hands reluctantly.

Suddenly, Jeremy reached out to hold Zephyr’s jacket sleeve.

“Please,” begged Jeremy as he pulled Zephyr’s sleeve. “Please...” Both Jeremy and Maria were breathing heavily, traces of suffering and agony lingered in each of their breath.

Zephyr let out a sighed. He slowly backed away from Jeremy and Maria. Lilian just watched them in dismay, unable to understand why Jeremy would beg Zephyr for anything. 

Suddenly, Zephyr grabbed Lilian’s waist and spun her around so that she was to face the kitchen instead of the dying couple. Zephyr took out something from inside his jacket and...

Both Jeremy and Maria’s heavy breathing seized abruptly. Lilian felt as if her heart stopped for a split second before beating rapidly as her worst nightmare came true. Zephyr let go of her as he went to the senseless bodies of Jeremy and Lilian and closed their eyes.

They were dead!

Lilian did not feel like crying for she had promised Maria not to cry. Instead, anger fuelled her. Anger for the man who had unceremoniously shot her parents to death. Anger for herself who was unable to understand anything that was happening around her at the moment.

Without thinking, Lilian charged towards Zephyr who was still bowing low, looking down at her parents. She searched for Zephyr’s neck and tried to strangle him. He reacted almost immediately, turning around to face Lilian to remove her hands from his neck roughly. He gripped her wrists firmly, pushed her backward and pinned her hands to the wall. Lilian tried to free herself but he was much stronger than her.

“Don’t you try to make me angry! I won’t easily forgive you next time,” he whispered menacingly. “And I won’t even hesitate to shoot you if you scream,” he continued. Lilian was shocked by his remarks. She did want to scream just seconds ago but she suddenly felt silent. Her body was trembling with fright and fury. She hated the feelings.

Suddenly, Lilian heard footsteps outside of her house. Zephyr too was intently listening. The footsteps ended in front of the door of her house followed by a knock on the door.

“Lilian?” Ryan’s voice floated from outside. Lilian’s heart raced faster. What was he doing here? She remembered his text message just before her cellphone battery went out. Maybe he wanted to inform me that he was going to drop by. Maybe he was worried that I did not return his text message or call which made him decided to check me out.

Zephyr swiftly covered Lilian’s mouth with his hand and pulled her to the kitchen. They crouched beside the kitchen cabinet. Lilian was determined to break free from Zephyr and run towards the door- towards Ryan but Zephyrs grip on her hand was so firm.

“Remember what I said just now. Not a sound,” he hissed slowly. Lilian grunted frustratingly. How could she make a sound when his hand was covering her mouth?

Minutes passed in silence. It felt like a lifetime to Lilian.

Then, she heard the doorknob turned. The door creaked as Ryan pushed it opened.

“Oh my God,” Ryan gasped, as he stumbled backwards out of the house.

No, don’t go yet. I’m still here! Lilian was dying to call out to Ryan but she could not move. Three seconds later, he was gone. Zephyr uncovered Lilian’s mouth. As much as she wanted to scream, she just could not do it.

“He’s calling the police. They will be here in a few minutes. We must go” hissed Zephyr into Lilian’s ear. He gripped her wrist and pulled her to the back door.

“I’m not leaving my mom and dad!” Lilian hissed back, wringing free her hand from Zephyr’s grip. They stared at each other furiously.

“They were not your parents and I’m not compromising with you. This is an order,” said Zephyr angrily. His eyes were red, shone by the moonlight which penetrated trough the curtains of the kitchen’s window.

“Who are you to order me? Do you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to go get Ryan and get his help. We’ll call the police and they will sort out the rest,” said Lilian nervously, unsure whether she meant anything she said when she was very sure that she would not be able to escape from this young man.

“I gave my word to your guardian that I will keep you safe,” said Zephyr, stepping closer towards Lilian. She stepped back slowly. “Besides, they want you alive. Till then, I will keep you breathing at the very least,”

“Who are ‘they’? I don’t understand at all. Why is this happening?” asked Lilian nervously as Zephyr edged nearer to her. Lilian was already standing still, leaning against the kitchen cabinet.

“You’ll understand soon enough. You just have to follow me,”

Lilian shook head. Tears brimming in her eyes again. She stole a glance at the lifeless bodies of Maria and Jeremy sprawled on the carpet of the living room. Maybe if she stays here for a while, the police will arrive and she will be saved from this psychopath, Lilian thought.

“Or maybe, I will have to kill that boyfriend of yours. What was his name again? Ryan?” Zepyhr whispered menacingly into her ears. His warm breath tickled her neck in an eerie way. He looked into her eyes. Fears. He could see fears.

“No, not him. Please, no more killing,” Lilian was practically begging him. She shook her head and tears started to trickle down her cold cheek.

“I couldn’t help it if you are being stubborn like this,” said Zephyr, playfully raising his eyebrows.

You cold-hearted creature! Lilian screamed in her head.

“I’ll come with you,” she breathed.

“That’s my girl,” Zephyr said tonelessly, wiping her tears with his gloved hand. Lilian did not resist because she dared not move a muscle. He smiled threateningly. “But I have to give you something just to make sure you would not get cold-feet midway,”

Lilian did not understand what he meant. For a moment, she felt Zephyr’s left hand wrapping around the back of her neck before a tiny prickling pain descended on the sensitive skin of her neck like a needle drove into the dermis.

She could see Zephyr’s fading smile and his worried eyes in her blurry vision before she fell into unconsciousness.


-End of Chapter 4-