"La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas."
("The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.")"
Charles Baudelaire
Jasper lost his temper, throwing punches at Loki not feeling his surrounding, the sudden joke they started both turned into a huge fight
'Look what you made me do' He said to himself punching the shit out of Loki who did nothing but receiving everything Jasper had to offer with delight, enjoying the mild torment and pain, yet his eyes didn't leave hers what made Jasper even psychotic
He resurrected the monster he long killed inside, uncaging the devil leashed between his ribs to the light, and then he realized the power that lies under her fingers…
Through Ander and Norah's flop effort to separate the two, Rumina just stood in the middle of the war staring at Jasper another version that she hardly recognize and to the past she long erased from her records, which side? Which man would she choose?
At the sight of blood, she recalled the darkness, the cold, fear that was planted through her spine and the crimes she had to commit for the sake of survival…
"Stop…" A tear fell on her white porcelain cheek, as the room gained her silence back and her word echoed through the chamber, both stopped like if she pulled a spell on them two
Jasper stared at her for a while before realizing that she was on the verge of breaking down, so he stood up like if nothing actually did happen and took off his jacket covering her up, bringing the warmth back to her soul
"Let's go Love" Jasper whispered to Rumina and they both walked through the crowd, Norah followed them as well as Ander…
"Hello, room service can you send me a med kit to the room 1801" Norah called, Jasper's face and hand were bleeding she couldn't do anything more to calm the situation but to heal his wounds, knowing already that Rumina is not really fond of it
"Jas, day after day I discover new things about you" Rumina stared at the splashed blood on Jasper's face and said, looking all calm yet disappointed about what he did
"Rumi, c'mon he didn't mean any of this" Norah who felt the tensed air in the room tried to smooth the things out between them two
"Orah, let's not interfere in between them, finish your work and let's leave" Ander said looking all stressed out about the situation, earlier while they were fighting Ander saw Jasper's gun and took it off before anyone could notice, yet he couldn't say much in front of Orah who didn't quite understand the reason of all the chaos, interpreting itas a mere jealousy, they both excused themselves but Ander came back a few minutes later, his face looked pale like if he saw a ghost
"You are back" Jasper said with disbelieve more like mocking the situation where his suite turned into a metro station, he always knew that Rumina had a secret lover so he always kept Ander as a prime suspect, he never liked the defensive person he turns to whenever both of them are around
"Yes, I came to turn this back to you" he took the gun from his bag and put it on the table, "Pull your shit together Jasper, guns and threats are normal for people like us, but the man I saw earlier seemed in a deadly need for a psychiatrist" he added as his eyes turned dark and blurry, his voice tone was more scarier than his face
"And to whom I owe this advise, the Mafia man or the famous neurologist" Jasper smirked sarcastically making fun of it, hardly can believe what he actually did say
"The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist" Rumina said looking through his eyes, her face pale, she felt the world collapsing but no one actually understood her, they both stared at her not realizing what she really meant, now she have a new life to protect and a beating heart that screams for help inside, which one would she choose?
Jasper who couldn't say much dozed with all the painkillers he had devoured, Rumi and Ander kept talking in the huge balcony, both were the quiet type yet they certainly had more to speak off whenever they were around each other, like if they were each other's secret keeper
"She is going on a date with some loser" Ander with a dim and tired face looked down at the sunset and said avoiding any possible eye contact
"How do you feel about that?" Rumi glanced at him trying to study his reaction, yet she couldn't comprehend what is he still waiting
"frustrated" He said looking at her, "Angry, damaged maybe heartbroken" He added all of those words like if he was trying to find the perfect one to describe his state of mind, I'm human too' the look in his eyes roared
"Your love for her," She replied to his comments and swayed her head slightly, "I have never seen like it before" she added with a small comforting smile," You love her so much that you refuse to be with her, afraid that you might break her fragile heart" She said with a sigh
In the middle of all of this, there was Jasper in the inner room, slowly gaining his conscious and fitting the wronged and misplaced puzzles into their rightful place
"I'm no good, I'm satisfied, only looking at her face is the world to me" he said with an unstable voice, shaking like if he was in a battle that he was afraid to lose
"What if she is in the hands of someone else? What if she loves someone else? What if looking at her face stopped satisfying you one day?" She questioned him, more like if she was trying to wake something inside
Indeed her words span him into a typhoon of emotions, and a golden chain of memories, all he have is her, she was the air he breaths, the light house of his dusked oceans, without knowing the big tough emotionless guy has disappeared, only the little boy who lived inside came out, tears flew down his face, the wide expanded world turned narrow, tighten all over him
"I cannot live without her Rumi" Ander said as he allowed himself to hug Rumi, his only friend, hi only true consolation
"So don't "She answered as she hugged him back
.............
"Uncle Zach, I'm so happy, you don't have to buy me a birthday gift" Dahlia said to Zach who was just near her gazing the clouds from the small window of his private jet
"Huh, really?" Zach asked with a little smile, raising an eyebrow to her little smart mouth
"Okay then, I'll turn back the encyclopedia that you kept asking for" Zach added
"Well, if you bought it already " She said looking at him with her puppy big cute eyes , sometimes he wonders is she really happy or it is just pretend
"Have some sleep bunny, there is still plenty of time for our arrival to New York" Zach couldn't think more of a way to think
Few hours later they reached the airport, Dahlia was so excited that she got lost between the passengers, slowly vanishing, Zach who was busy on his phone didn't realize her disappearance
"Hello little one, long time no see" A huge shadow of a man that she couldn't recognize anything but his voice though to the light that abolished his features
"No, they are waiting for me at the counter "Little Dahlia seemed a bit tensioned and confused, 'This world must be really small' she thought to herself
"Little one, this young yet trying to fool me, I'm impressed" The guy with the blurred face smiled and enjoyed the moment
And there was Zach, perplexed stuck in a crowded room with a lost 4 years old kid, knowing that she is even more precious than his own life
"Max, Antonio search for her she is still in the airport, use the GPS on her watch okay, keep in touch, spread and inform the security here and the police "
On the other hand this world was small indeed, Angelika Blackwater landed at the same airport as Zach and Dahlia, her wronged sense of direction worked this time to everyone's benefit, On her way out she caught a glimpse of a little girl that she thought she knew, her curiosity burned the little Angelika so she thought she would say hello
"Dahlia! You are Dahlia right?" She hurried at once especially when the airport management announced a statement of a lost kid; she lowered to her level ignoring that man that was standing in front of the little Bunny
"Jelly!" Dahlia said and jumped on Angelika hugging her so tight that her face turned red from the lack of air
"Are you okay? Where is your mum and Jas are you here with them?"Angelika asked and when she was about to turn around and talk to the man who was there, a hand grabbed her arm tight and pulled her away from the little Dahlia
"What, wait you are hurting me" Angelika said
"Uncle, let go of her please, she helped me, it's Jelly" The little Dahlia said, acknowledging the sever situation that they were in
"Angelika Blackwater! What a lovely coincidence" Zach said with his deep husky voice shaking her pillar from inside, somehow he brought her fear
"Are you stalking me or something?" Angelika said when she felt that she was ready for the fight
"Not really, not today" He said smiling in irony of the situation, ' they say if you think of someone so much he shall appear' he thought to himself staring at her funny little cute gestures and attitude
"Uncle, Jelly how come you are always tensed around each other, it's very stressing" Dahlia said holding into Angelika's hand
"Anyway, I don't have time for you princess, C'mon bunny time to go" Zach said recalling what really just happened, if something bad have had touched Dahlia, Rumina would have had killed him
"Neither do I" Angelika said rolling her eyes at him, he always made her feel unlike herself, while Dahlia who sounded more mature than the two of them kept watching with two sparkling eyes
"Jelly, why don't you ride with us? You could be my play mate" Dahlia grinned and hugged her even more to make it more convincing
"Okay, okay if you promise me that mummy Rumi won't know anything about today" He surrendered to the two beautiful ladies
Through the long ride Dahlia dozed in her sweet dreams between Zach's arms, while Angelika sat uncomfortably never letting her guards down as if there was a monster waiting to eat her up
"Stop staring, "She kind of hid her beautiful face with her loose golden locks of hair avoiding his eyes
"HH, sorry I just can't believe how beautiful you are" He admitted his feelings somehow ironically, even the driver used the mirror to see his face with disbelieve
"Oh, thanks. You are not bad yourself" She said with a small smile, he wasn't the bad guy she thought him to be, especially with Dahlia in his arms, he looked just fine
"Boss, El Senior is calling "The driver said waiting for Zachariah's orders, When they reached this empty uninhabited road
"Stop the car, and hand me the phone" Zach replied suddenly the gentleman has gone, and this cold gangster arrived with a dim hollowed atmosphere
"They are following you" Senior Ilyas said managed to say these few words before he heard the gun shots coming from his son's side
"Papa too late, Damn I can't believe that work is following me even here " Zach replied sarcastically avoiding the guns
"Listen to me, I want you and Bunny safe, if anything happened to her I swear I would slaughter you" His father screamed a thing that El grand senior don't usually do
"Jelly, hold Dahlia and lay down, don't be afraid I'll get you two out of here" Zach's last words before closing this black big SUV door on them, after that all they heard was gun shots, and curses in Italian and something like Russian
"Jelly don't be scared uncle will get us out of here" Dahlia who was supposed to be frightened patted Angelika's hair assuring her that everything will be just fine
"Hand us the Blackwater girl and everything will be just fine" A man with a tick English accent spoke very confident in his well-built body
"Over my dead body" Zach replied his gun rained bullets, Pak pak a lot of men fell down Zach and his loyal subordinates kept around him trying to protect his precious body and the car, yet his reckless raged behavior got him injured. He got shot but his black clothes covered all the gushing blood , he rode the SUV and left his subordinates to wrap it up
"Clean this, I'll be heading home, and keep quiet about this matter "He said all dark ad furious trying to endure pain
"Bunny we are changing plans for the moment are you okay with that?" Zach asked Dahlia who did nod at him
"You princess?" He stared mocking her frightened little face and enjoying more, sarcastically he kept picking up on her the whole drive trying to hide the fact that he was shot, bearing all the pain , 'How did father know? And why they were after Jelly?' questions that kept bothering him
.............
On the other side of the city
"I'm leaving aren't I going to have a goodbye kiss" Ida said wearing again the old her back, her fancy skirts and shoes and little -lady for- gloves, all shinny and clean
"Where? " Gabe asked, he knew that goodbye is a must, though he didn't want to stay alone, for once he felt comfortable around someone. Being himself and not something else
"Well, some of us have work to do, I can't just sulk here all day long" She answered his question, with a bright smile on her face, like if she received a million dollar on breakfast
"When ...?" He asked though he didn't finish his question, Ida jumped and answered him
"I don't know, my brand is expanding in New York, probably I'll stay there for sometime" That's all she has to say before vanishing leaving behind a warm fruity smell a broken heart of a man that couldn't understand what was to her, for him to hang up to her like a puppy wanting his loving master back …
Gabriel felt something missing all day long, her presence actually meant something to him, He kept playing his entire time being alone building these small models and houses and gardens, a guilty pleasure that Gabe was ashamed to reveal, other than holding guns and spelling blood, there was a common man who loved peace and clarity
The sun sat under killing its rays for another sleepless night to rise, this time the moon and the stars were covered with thick -gray slowly turning to black- clouds, the wind had blown these freezing currents, his heart felt more cold more paining, his friend through the night has gone leaving him alone in his soaring hell
The next few days were nothing but a copy of each other, there he stayed alone, hoping that one day he'll be able to come out of the misery he has written upon himself, of this prison he had built with his own hands…
"Ida what are you really doing here?" Her best friend Kiki asked worrying about her
"I can't be in New York, I really can't right now" She answered with her swollen eyes and damaged vocals
"What are you running from? You were always strong and feisty and now you are scared" Kiki said patting her hand trying to understand this new state of mind that her friend had reached lately
"I think I'm in love" Tears formed on her eyes as her heart ached and pained for this new thing that she can't seems to control
"You spend 4 days locked up in this room, for love, you are always in love what make this one different?" Kiki asked as her eyes widened showing off the curiosity of a cat
"This one is real "Ida justified her actions to her friend gulping hard, "This one made me want to be myself again, I felt that I his eyes cruised deeper into me, like if he hears my unspoken thoughts" She added more
"Oh, but what's the problem? He doesn't like you?" She asked still unable to comprehend the gloomy mood that her friend is diving in
"He loves someone else who left him I guess, he is deeply wounded that I don't even dare to approach him more, his world is all about her" She said hugging her squared pillow and crying even more, like if every word grazed her, like if her soul cracked under the sound of her own words
"Look, take it easy on yourself, you just feel emotionally attached to him, maybe because he resemble the boy who saved you from those bullies years ago that's why. Love is more complicated than what you described, relax your mind and think through it, I'm sure you'll find the answer you are looking for" Kiki who was more than just a friend smiled and hugged her may in her embrace Ida finds relief
"Maybe" She said as she cleaned her red eyes from tears
.............
Back to Norah and her late night date
"Let me say this first," The tall blond man said with his greenish eyes that couldn't stop staring at Norah, "You are so beautiful"
"Thank you," She smiled a bit embarrassed blushing
Through that long dinner the man tried everything to empress her, from literature to sciences and poetry, complementing her, wowing her yet her mind was somewhere else
She would participate in a dialogue but the majority of time she was having some kind of lucid dreams where she replaces this man with Ander and they would speak of everything they missed all of these years
"Norah, are you listening to me" The man asked her when he realized that the woman in front cared less about his talk
"Yes I'm here listening to every word you said" She replied with so much sadness and agony, she straightened her back drinking her wine and enjoying her dark black chocolate mixed with the puffing and b the boasting that her companion had to say
Out of the blue her phone rang, awaken her from the bitter sour reality that she was facing, maybe she was trying to kill the flames of love that were burning her alive, trying to move on
"I'm sorry" She apologized to him when she realized that it was Ander's number yet she refused to answer
"It's okay, you can answer it if you like" The charming and well educated man said, looking at how sad and awkward she felt, to him she was always a dream that he longed for since college days, yet he couldn't bear her sadness he knew of her story from his cousin and respected the love she had for this mysterious guy
When her date was about to excuse himself to the toilet, a furious man entered the front door, heading with all his wrath toward Norah
"You are coming with me, right now" Andrea said pulling her from her wrist not hearing a word she would say, his eyes were soulless, an empty shell controlled by this demon
"Ander, what are you doing? Let go of me" Norah was ashamed in front of all those people staring at her and this new abusive man that came from nowhere
"Take your hands off of her right now" Norah's date angrily screamed at Ander who neglected his small shouts that looked more like pleading to him
"Matt stay out of this, his going to hurt you, he is out of his mind right now" Norah pleaded her date to stop, Ander like a zombie kept dragging her out of restaurant
At a moment when she refused to continue, Ander carried her on his back like a sac of potato and dropped her inside of the car, madly driving out the speed limit, her heart nearly stopped from the huge amount of adrenaline that her body produced out of fear
"Ander, stop the car right now, stop it" She screamed time after time but the emotionless body next to her heard nothing
"Ander please, I can't, stop the car" She pleaded again and again maybe this time he'll hear her out
"Ok" He finally said looking at her face losing color with fear and her wet teary eyes her trembling body
............
"Good morning dear wife" Jasper woke up with a terrible headache yet smiling at the sight of his wife that couldn't sleep the whole night afraid of this new man that she just got to know
"Don't call me that" Her eyes piercing into his, her wrath was greater than her word could express, yet her body language exposed her
"Shuh, stress is not really good for the baby you are carrying" Slowly walking toward her with a psychopathic smile and a killing calm attitude touching her red lips then her stomach
"Who are you really?" She asked again in disbelieve hoping that all of this is just a nightmare that will end in the morning
"This is me, just the dark side of me, the one I killed the day I lost my Mina" He said still as cold as ice, "You say that you are not her, but I can remember everything about you, skin tone, voice, face and every mole in your body, your curves, smell , everything " He approached her and played with some of her hair smelling it dozing deeper ," Now the beast is here looking for his beauty" Rumina under his word her heart melted couldn't move as if he was a magnet that kept on pulling her closer, the touch of her skin drove him crazy something inside started to heat up like a fire burning within, closer and closer Jasper put his hand on her waist slowly to her hips, as she throw both her arms around his cervix, not breaking the eye contact, only 1 cm away feeling each other's breath kissing one another madly, at that exact moment everything meant nothing, cause the space that they created was nothing their fear of getting close, but it all broken under the sense of a cold material on Jasper skin, Rumina held her gun close to his heart and smirked "We all had that dark side in us" and she smiled before letting go as well as he did
" baby, I like you even more now" Jasper declared with a grin bitting his lips smiling at all facts emerge day by day .....