"You want Lala for yourself! You take her away from me!" He punched again but did not make contact. Spike was not letting Due use him as punching bag.
"Due, you have to take a grip of yourself!"
"No! No! Where is my wakizashi? Where is my Lala?" Due was shouting repeatedly.
Spike was forced to put Due inside a small fortress. The stronghold had been part of the property when he bought it. He never imagined that Due would be imprisoned in it, together with the two men.
Every second and every minute of the following days, Due was screeching his hatred for Spike. He cursed their friendship.
"Your name is blasphemous, Spike! I deeply regret the day I met you!" Due repeated his swearing until he was hoarse.
Until the night of a full moon arrived...
When midnight came, there were howling in the cells. There was no more cursing but the yowling and shrieking were enough to raise goosebumps.
The security men guarding the fortress were alert the whole night. No one slept a wink. Everybody stayed awake in vigil.
But when morning came, the three prisoners had escaped through a hole on the outer wall.
"Sir, they are gone!"
"Sir, I found this!" Another guard was carrying a stone. There was something carved on the stone.
'Spike, you can never be happy! I will make sure of it! All your life...'
Spike's heart had received a double flogging. He lost his fiancee. He lost his closest friend.
But he gained the worst enemy...
"Demolish the fortress!" he ordered the men. "Flatten it to the ground!"
"What about this, sir?" The security man held the stone.
"Bury it!"
Spike gathered all of Celine's things: jewelry, wedding dress, shoes, and anything that would make him remember. The fire he created was seen to the next hill.
'I can never forgive you, Brantley Pendragon! I will never forgive you!' The wind seemed to whisper to Spike.
As the years went by, Spike had already forgotten Celine but he still grieved over the death of a long friendship with Due. He missed his friend very much...
Especially every time the exact date arrived, Due made his presence felt. He either burned down one of the factories or bombed one of the offices owned by Pendragon Group of Companies. Spike was not hurt financially. There was the insurance. The pain went deep into his heart.
'How did you find out about my growing interest to Qila Arrow, Due? How dare you on trying to poison her?' Spike muttered to himself. His eyes became sharp as knives. His knuckles became hard as iron.
He cared for Qila very deeply even though they just met. Even though she had similarities with Celine...
He remembered now that Celine looked at him but not seeing him. Qila did that, too. She seemed not aware of him as a man.
'Well, not surprising. Qila was unaware of herself as a beautiful woman!' Spike's eyes traced the face of the woman lying on the bed.
She was breathtakingly lovely! The perfect curve of the forehead, the winged brows above her closed eyes, the short perky nose, and the rounded chin combined into a delightful appeal. The bow-shaped pink lips that were artlessly pouty. Her lashes were surprisingly long and curly. She had luxuriant black hair that was straight as rain.
'Who wanted to kill you? And who wanted to kill me?'
After a while, Spike gave Due the benefit of the doubt. No matter how great the hatred, he could not believe that Due would resort on poisoning an innocent woman just to get back at him.
'So it is not Due... but who else would want to hurt Qila?'
He thought about the scorned woman, Dollie. The information about the woman was not good. She was notorious in social media.
In fact, some posts of hers were done yesterday.
'This woman, Qila Arrow, is a double-blade cheat! She flirted with me and she flirted with this man!' Dollie was smart because she blurred the face of Spike.
However, Qila Arrow was photographed clearly. All taken from the night in the bar. There were bashing comments. Almost all.
The woman on the photos was so different from the true Qila. She had thick mascara. Her lips were painted red. Her jacket and pants were tight-fitting. She left the first four buttons unbuttoned, showing her deep cleavage. She was depicted as a dominatrix.
'Does she have a whip?'
Dollie typed: 'Um... yesss...!"
'Oh, how sexy she looks!'
Dollie replied: 'Absolutely!'
'How long do you know Qila?'
'Long enough!' said Dollie.
'Erase these photos at once!' It was from an anonymous user.
'Who are you, idiot! This is a free world!' Dollie answered scornfully.
Spike had ordered one of his attorneys for the removal of everything about Qila Arrow. His attorney was a fast worker. In just one day, the social media accounts of Dollie were all suspended and under investigation.
Spike scrolled the websites to see if the gag order had taken effect. No traces of Dollie and Qila anymore.
But his blurred photo was shared to anyone interested.
'That is the perfect man for me!'
'Oh, yesss! I'd like to know him!'
'He is so wasted on Qila Arrow!'
'The Hunk! Please, meet me tonight!'
Spike studied the photo for any incriminating evidences. The original copy had been taken care of, according to his attorney.
He pressed the gallery of photos. He reviewed the 'shadow' for some characteristic that he had missed.
Spike sat on the chair beside the bed. He saw that Qila sleeping peacefully. He fell asleep thinking about the shadow.
He started dreaming. Qila was lying on the bed. He saw the shadow moving stealthily towards the bed.
Spike watched the shadow until it was beside the bed. Something tickled his mind because the way it shuffled was familiar.
The shadow pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small sprayer. He sprayed a copious amount to the sleeping Qila. Next, he rummaged about the flat. He was organized. After mixing the white powder to dry contents of each jar, he put the item where he got it. He was careful when he pierced the packed liquids in the refrigerator.
"Hold it right there," Spike shouted in his dream but the shadow continued without hearing him.
"I said, stop what you're doing!" he shouted once again.
The shadow was shuffling silently towards the door.
Spike struck the shadow on the head but his hand went through the shadow. When he held the arms, his hands were holding air.
He watched with frustration when the shadow went out of Qila's door.
Spike realized belatedly that he was just a spectator. He witnessed what really happened on the night Qila was poisoned.
Who was the shadow? What was the content of the sprayer? Poison or drug? It was maddening that he seemed recognizable with his shuffling steps...
The next scene in his dream, Spike was swimming in the lake of fire. He was in his dragon form. He spotted someone hiding behind a large rock.
"Who's there?"
"It's me!" A smiling Qila went out and showed herself.
"Qila!" Smoke belched from his nostrils as he grinned.
"Can you shift back to your man shape?" she requested with a lilt in her voice.
"Why? Am I not handsome to you?"
"You know that you're hot but--"
"Hot but what?"
"I can't hold you. You're so big!" she complained tenderly.
Spike laughed merrily. "I like it when you're talking like that. Do you really want to hold me?"
"Yes. So much!"
In an instant, he transformed in shape. He held her hand and led her to dance.
"I can't dance," Qila confessed huskily.
"Just follow my steps," he instructed in an undertone.
Spike winced every time she stepped on his toes.
"Sorry, sorry," Qila grimaced while apologizing repeatedly.
"It's okay, Qila," he murmured gently. He led her outside the cave. They found themselves in the courtyard. The tinkling of the water in the fountain was like music.
"Yes, just like that. You're getting the hang of it, Qila." He inhaled the fragrance of her hair as she laid her head on his shoulder.
She was wearing an off-shoulder blouse. Her cleavage was almost visible. Her hair was loose. Her wide skirt was knee-high. Her feet wore rubber shoes. She should be an eye-sore but to Spike, she was enchanting to look at.
Spike had his hand on her small waist and the other hand held her palm to palm. Her fingers caressed his shoulder.
"Qila, I've never been this happy! Do I make you happy, too?"
"Yes!" she replied with a cheerless smile. "But I know we shall be happy at one moment in time." Qila made a cryptic remark.
"What do you mean?"
"I can never be yours, Spike. I belong to no one..."
"I want you to belong to me, Qila!"
"No, you don't understand. I belong to--Mr. No One..."
"Mr. No One? What kind of a name is that?"
"I don't know. Let's not waste our time, my dragon. Dance with me..."