WHERE IS GABRIEL?

BRIA

His close presence overpowered all my senses, and I found my breathing changing. I managed to hit him on his nose, but that man was too strong for me. He held me under him and pinned my hands above my head.

The position we were in made me uncomfortable, and yet it excited me and made me want to discover more of this unknown territory.

"You like to make deals. So let me offer a new one to you. If you managed to strike me five times then I will let you know where Gabriel is. But if you lose then get ready for punishment."

His words brought me back to reality.

Was he more insane than I thought? What the hell was he talking about?

"Come on, Miss Maxwell. How wrong it could go? Besides it's not your first time making a deal with me." He urged.

I bit my lower lip in contemplation. Maybe he was right! What could go wrong than what it already had?

Besides, I need to look at the bright side. If I won, then I could get a chance to meet Gabriel. And that was the only thought that encouraged me to accept his deal.

"Ok. Deal!"

Before he could say another word, I hit him in the forehead with my head. "Strike One!"

We both got on our feet. He kicked me in the side of my abdomen, and I cursed. He was about to punch me in the face when I blocked his blow with my one hand and thurst the other right in his throat, resulting him in coughing loudly.

"Strike Two!"

With every win, my confidence boosted, and I calculated my every move carefully.

Watching him busy with coughing, I held both of his hands behind his back and did the one thing I was best at- I bit his ear!

My teeth sank in the soft flesh, and yet I received no scream from him.

Unbelievable!

I could have torn it, but I was no animal like him, so I let go after managing good damage.

"Strike Three!"

He was like a wounded lion, and I knew better than to let him give a chance to pull himself together.

I turned and landed a kick right in his face, and a crack sound fell on my ears. I thought I broke his nose... but it was something better than that.

His goggles!

"Strike Fou-" The word stuck in my throat as I caught the sight of his eyes.

The thing that had me curious more than anything else!

I could only gawk at them wordlessly for a long minute before words left in a whisper from my mouth.

"They are... brown."

I saw the uncomfortableness growing within him. But It must be anger, I guess.

"The deal is revoked. You are dismissed." The devil turned away from me and began gathering his stuff.

He was angry, with not only a bruised face but also a bruised ego. And I knew how much of an egotistical punk he was!

It must be not easy for him to accept the defeat from a girl like me!

I would have danced and thrown a party if it was some other situation. But right now, my mind was only focused on his eyes.

"Your eyes... they are... brown." I repeated again as if he didn't know that fact about himself.

"Pretty huh?" He gave a sarcastic reply before turning to head out of the gym.

But I was not done yet.

He stopped in his tracks when my next words fell on his ears.

"They don't suit you!"

I tried to decipher his secrets through his eyes, only to realise that I was far away from unlocking the doors to his dark world.

"I mean... they are... normal. Very common." I narrowed my eyes at him.

For some reason, my mind and heart refused to accept that fact.

"So what were you expecting? For me to have eyes like a tiger or an elephant?" He crossed his thick veiny hands over his barrel chest.

"I-I don't know. But why do you always wear those ugly goggles?" I enquired.

"They cost more than your monthly expenditure."

"Your ugly face makes them look ugly. But let's not get carried away. Why do you wear them ... always?"

"That's none of your business."

"Answer me!"

"I am not obliged to do so"

"Why you always have to act so difficult?"

"Because that's the only language you understand."

"Fine. Don't tell me. I don't care! I won the deal. So where's Gabriel?"

There was no end to our bickering.

And I wondered why he talked so much with only me when with everyone else, uttering a single word looked like the world's most difficult task for him.

He ignored me and pulled out his phone to check for any calls or messages.

Since when did he begin using his phone in the gym?

I snatched his phone and held it close to me. "Pay attention here, you disrespectful donkey! I am asking you something important." I yelled loudly.

But his face remained unchanged.

How did he manage to do so?

"The deal is revoked. There's nothing to tell. End of discussion!" He declared unilaterally, just like everything else.

But I was not ready to give up yet.

"I scored four fucking strikes! You were the COWARD and WEAK man who called off the deal. I could have scored full five strikes if you didn't fuss over a goggle."

"Enough, Miss Maxwell. I don't have time for your silly games. I want my phone back. Right now!"

"And I want to know where the hell Gabriel is. Answer me or else I will throw your dear phone out of the window." I threatened.

After a minute of a heated staredown, he broke the silence. "He is at his home."

I stood there stupefied, and he got that opportunity to take his phone back from me. Before I asked him further, he left the gym.

No matter what I did, the devil avoided fulfilling his promise. So I decided to try again with Cameron, but it only ended up in our usual fights in which the devil didn't only need to pay more bills for the things we destroyed but also his laptop was sacrificed too!

When he appeared and watched all the losses, he decided to just blurt out the truth. He couldn't hide it anymore because somewhere he had realised that Gabriel's disappearance had something to do with it.

Mustering up all the courage, I blurted out. "I want to meet Gabriel and Adam. I know there is something wrong. He can't just disappear for his important work right after he... he helped me to- to contact my family. It was not his fault I swear. It was me who blackmailed him to do so. I am ready for any punishment but please let me see them once. Please!"

And what I got in return.

A pure long excruciating tensed silence!

Before I could understand anything, he was right in front of me and held my wrist tightly in his iron grip. I winced at the pain, but that heartless monster didn't give any shit.

He began dragging me out of the house while barking at Nora. "Remind me to not buy anything expensive for the next six weeks. And remove every valuable thing in this house."

I looked back at Cameron to see his panicked face, but as soon as he noticed my gaze, he masked it with a passive mask. The devil dragged me out and then stuffed me in one of his numerous cars.

His driver looked hesitant, but after one look from him- which his driver didn't see because of his goggles- the man dropped the keys on his palm and stepped away.

The devil got on the driver's seat, and without another warning, the car reeved out of the gates only to create havoc on the busy streets of the city.

That was the most terrifying journey of my life as I was left with a wildly beating heart and a hoarse throat after screaming the whole way because I feared either he would crash us into another car or would kill somebody crossing the road.

He stopped the car after fifteen minutes of drive, and it took me a whole minute to realise that I was not in heaven but on the earth and beside the devil himself.

He dragged me out of the car with force. I kept yelling profanities at him and asked him where we were but never got an answer. He climbed the steps to one house and rang the bell.

A minute later the door was opened and my heart leapt in my chest at the sight of that person.

Gabriel!

But instead of feeling happy, guilt and shock spread through me at his sight. He had a black eye, torn lips and a bluish-purple mark on his left cheek. His hand looked injured too, and as I looked keenly, he didn't put pressure on his right leg.

My hands shot to cover my mouth at his miserable sight.

Oh my God! What have I done!