CHAPTER 26

"Calm down," Aiden said

I was sitting, and he was beside me, though he wasn't fully sitting.

He told me to calm down, but I couldn't; I was a mess.

Thank goodness, I don't put on makeup, somewhere in my sub-conscious noted

My breathing became ragged, tears were rolling down my cheeks, I was shaking

"Shannon, look at me" he held my shoulders

Still shaking I raised my eyes to meet him

"Calm down"

How could he be the one?

How could he have been beside her?

In all the places he could have been, in all the family he could have married into, why did I have to be into her family?

"Calm down!" he added a little more force this time

I shut my eyes and forced myself to do as he said

Closing my eyes was a bad thing. Maybe because I was fully on edge, the moment I closed my eyes, the images began to appear

I gasped as I opened them back

"I'm sorry," I told him

"I shouldn't have... I know I shouldn't have come here. I have no right to, but I had no other choice. You're the only person I could talk to. My..."

He cut off my rambling

"Then get out," he said

I looked up at him

"What?" I asked in disbelief

"You said that you know you shouldn't be here, didn't you?"

"I said that but..."

"Then, get out" he repeated

I opened my mouth to talk, but nothing came out

Before I made to move, he held my hand

"Or you can stop rumbling, and talk to me," he said in a rather different tone than I expected

I expected an indifferent, somehow harsh tone

I nodded

"What's wrong?" he asked

I took a deep breath before l opened my mouth. I looked for what to say, but nothing popped up

"I don't know where to start" I concluded

"You said you saw your dad" he stated

I nodded

"For the first time since when?"

"Since I was eight" I replied

"You should be happy if you see him after a while. Why, then, are you shaking?" he asked

I stayed silent for a while

"I'm scared. I was, and I still am" I said

I don't know why, but I felt like I was in a counseling session with a psychiatrist. Maybe it's the way he is asking the questions, or just the way I'm feeling

"Why?" he asked

I didn't answer

"Shannon, look at me"

He cupped my cheeks this time

"It's okay. You're safe. Whatever, or whoever, that's making you scared isn't here. Okay?"

What's wrong with me?

I nodded my head and waited

"I don't know what people think of their dads, but I wished I never had one" I started

"He was the worst. He always thought that he could do whatever he wanted to do since he was the 'father'. The head of the family"

I snickered as I said the last statement

"I remember several times when I heard my mom telling him that she wanted to get a divorce, but he always used me and my brother as his shield, so he won. He knew how much my mom loves us and wanted the best for us, so he used that against her"

"After some years, she finally divorced him, but the damage had already occurred. The damage that still torments me till now"

With resolve, I continued

"All of a sudden, the chairman of the company he worked for at that time arrived. For a chairman, he was quite young, maybe a few years, three to five, older than my dad. He was at a position that was very good, but that man is greedy, wanted to have more. He was going to do everything in his power to gain what he wanted, even to the extent of..."

I broke off there; I couldn't continue

"Shannon" he called my name

"I was eight, I was just eight" I repeated over and over again

My ears knew he was saying something, but my brain couldn't pick it up. I saw starting to see the images

All of a sudden, I was hugged. I pushed whoever it was away, but the person was strong

"Shannon. Focus on my voice" the voice said

After struggling for a while, I did what the voice told me to do

Aiden rubbed my back, as

"It's okay. You're safe" he soothed

I pulled back, but he stopped me

"Just continue. Stay like this and continue" he said, and I was grateful

"I was always cautious of my dad, but on that day, I was more skeptical. He told me to follow him somewhere, to visit someone, which was something he had never done. He was more attentive to my brother, though I didn't actually care. We never got along, we had an indifferent relationship; we never bothered about the other. Maybe it was because he knew that I had been suggesting divorce to my mom"

"He told me to dress very nice that day. Throughout the ride, I remember feeling uneasy, especially with the way he would look at the rear mirror to check if I was still there. He checked for and grumbled about him leaving his phone at home and stuff. There was this way his eyes looked that made me feel really scared. I told him to take me home, that I wanted mom, but he ignored me. When I started crying, he threatened me that he would make sure I never see mom and Edward again if I don't behave. I was so scared"

"Then we're pulled up in front of a building. I remember it as beautiful, but then, my mind couldn't appreciate anything. He rang the doorbell and the chairman opened it. I knew who he was since he had joined our family, once, for dinner. He looked at me the same way he looked at me when he was at our house, like a predator thinking of what and how to devour his prey. I begged my dad to take me back, but he dragged me inside the house. Then he took me upstairs into a dark room and told me to stay. He went back downstairs, and I heard an engine come to life before it started drifting away"

"What's happening? I thought to myself at the sound that was disappearing

The only source of light was the moonlight. I crouched down a few feet from the door. It opened. I stood up

"Dad?" I called

I couldn't see his face

The person didn't answer. He just approached

I took steps back, then gasped when I saw his face. It was the chairman

"Wh... Where's dad?" I asked him

"It's just me and you, sweetie" was his sick reply

"I want to go home," I told him

"No can do sweetie. You see, your dad and I made a deal"

"A deal?"

"Yes, for a position in the office that he craves, he had to give me something in return"

What does that have to do with me?

"What is he giving you in return?"

He smiled creepily

"You" he stated

"M... Me?"

"That was the price. You are not so precious to your dad, but don't worry. Soon enough, I'll make you my precious someone"

Mom, Edward. Help me

I continued my retreat

"Don't come near me" I said putting strength in my little voice

"Now come on dear, don't be a naughty one," he said

My breathing became more ragged, I felt suffocated

"Get away" I told him

He smiled mischievously

"No, can't do. Gotta enjoy the end of my bargain"

"I was never asked!"

In all that was happening, I wanted him to see reason

I read just eight for goodness sake

Someone, please help me!

"Because your opinion wasn't needed" he stated

I realized that there was no way I was getting to him

"Don't you come near me. Go away" I tried to threaten

"Don't make it seem harder than it is. You will soon start enjoying it, just don't resist. Who knows, you might thank me, and come back for more"

I was disgusted

"Go away"

He came closer

"Go away!"

He came closer. His smile made what I was already feeling worse

"Don't come near me!!"

I was so scared, but he kept coming closer

"Go away!!!" I shouted this time

I took off my shoe and threw it to his head. I used the time he was holding it in pain to hit the place that doesn't receive sunlight with the heel of my second shoe

Without waiting, I rushed past him

He had put off all the lights

The door, the door, I kept urging myself. Because I could reach it, I was pulled back to before a bitter sting came in contact with my cheek