Hadyan held Tasia's hands.
"I've chosen you. You must stay here with me. Live an eternal life."
Tasia shook her head again, crying even more. She didn't want to hear his words, "I want to go home! Please let me go!"
"No! From now on your home is in this palace!" He snapped.
Tasia flinched and winced, slowly pulling her hands away from the man's grip.
She still looked at Hadyan's angry eyes. Without thinking more, she quickly jumped off the bed and ran towards the door and opened it. If her request was not granted, it's better to run away with her own strength. Tasia ran as fast as she could without knowing her destination. What she was looking for was the exit from that very majestic palace.
Suddenly..
BRUGH!
Tasia fell to her butt as she bumped into something big and hairy like a bison. She groaned as her butt hurt from hitting the granite floor.
"Huh?!" She stuttered and dragged her body backwards, away from the creepy creature she had just hit. Her two-round eyes couldn't even blink in surprise at the figure.
Before Tasia could scream, Hadyan had pulled her up and hugged her. He hid Tasia's face into his chest, not wanting his future empress to be hysterical again.
Tasia just sobbed in Hadyan's arms that brought her back to the room. Then she landed again on the prince's soft bed.
Hadyan pulled Tasia's chin until he saw the girl's swollen face. He felt guilty and did not have the heart to hurt his future consort even more.
"Anastasia.. look at me." His command was soft.
Tasia opened her eyes and looked sadly into Hadyan's firm eyes.
"You really don't want to live with me? If so, may I know why?"
"I don't want to live here. Because I don't know you. Then my friends and my family are at home. I do not belong here. I want to go home." She sobbed.
"But we're getting married. Don't you want to stay in my palace? I'll give you anything you want. I'll tell all the demons here to change their form into humans so you won't be afraid anymore." Hadyan tried to persuade.
"Married? I'm only going to marry the man I love. Whereas I don't even know you, we just met. Even I'm not sure if this is a dream or not."
Hadyan sighed, "So, you really don't want to be here?" he asked one more time with a heavy heart.
Tasia nodded, "Yes.. I want to go home. Please."
"Okay. But remember, you can't escape from me. And in the end, I'll bring you back here."
"But .." Hadyan immediately covered Tasia's face with his hand, and at that moment she fell asleep.
Hadyan held Tasia's weak body. He massaged his forehead.
He looked at the face and wiped away the tears that were still flowing down Tasia's cheeks. "You are very beautiful. How can I take you without force?"
Then he removed Tasia's clothes. Then he licked her back with his snake tongue, until a mark was formed in the form of a tongue-like, with a fiery red colour on the back.
"Maids!" He shouted.
"Yes.. My Lord." Instantly, three ladies-in-waiting appeared beside the bed.
"Put my future empress in the clothes she wore before. I'll return her to the shore." His orders were impassioned.
"All right, My Lord."
***
It was dark. That night, once again, the stars did not dare to show themselves.
Hadyan coiled around Tasia's limp body who was still unconscious. He swam to the shore and released Tasia there. Near a rock that seemed to be the safest place, and then left the girl there with a very heavy heart.
"I'll pick you up. Again."
The sound of sirens from ambulances, fire engines, and police made the hotel atmosphere even more noisy and tense.
The nurses immediately rushed out of the ambulance and picked up Tasia's body, which was lying helpless on the beach sands.
"Yes sir. Right. Yesterday when we were playing banana boat, that was when Tasia disappeared." Jordi replied, his face was looking deathly pale.
"When we all fell off the boat, no one saw how Tasia disappeared. She was just.. just disappeared!" Mary told the police with a giddy look.
"Had there been any complaints from the victim about the not working life jacket?" Asked the moustachioed cop who was interrogating them.
Marya shook her head, "No Sir. Even as we know, everything was fine. Nothing odd or anything."
"Right. Thank you all for your explanation. More detailed explanations will be asked at the office after the results of the victim's hospital test come out. I'll excuse myself." The policeman walked away. Jordi and Marya looked at each other for encouragement.
They decided to go to the hospital in Jordi's car, following the ambulance that earlier had taken Tasia, Mark, Patra and Tata away.
After arriving at the hospital, the two of them went straight into the room where Tasia was laying weakly, unconscious. There were Mark and Tata who sat on the sofa and immediately stood up to greet them.
"How is Tasia?" Marya asked hastily.
"The doctor said she's fine. Just a little trauma from the shock of drowning. Her internal organs are fine. She doesn't drink too much seawater either." Tata explained.
"Thank God she's okay!" Marya breathed a sigh of relief. But her expression stiffened again when she saw the expression on Jordi's face.
"I know, Jordy," Tata said.
"Strange, right..?" He nodded.
"How come, suddenly missing and just founded after more than 12 hours. With no injuries, good lungs, and only got psychological trauma?" The bespectacled guy continued.
They stood in a circle and stared at each other in surprise. Knowing each other's thoughts.
"Since that night, there had been something weird. The night when Tasia went out to the beach. And then she came back with a strong smell like flowers." Tata said.
"After that, in the morning, she told me about a cute little boy she had met at the beach that night. The kid she talked about, was staying at the String ray block. And after we checked the little boy's room, it turned out that the room had been empty for a week or two. " Marya added, trying to remember while rubbing her arm which was starting to get goosebumps.
"What? Seriously?!" Jordi was wide-eyed.
"You mean that night, Tasia went out to the beach alone?" Mark asked quickly.
Tata nodded, "She came out when we were asleep. And returned with a scent of flowers that somehow came out of her body. I still remember the smell of the flower was very strong in my nose. But Tasia herself didn't notice it."
"There's already a ban on going out on the beach at night, right? We can't do that alone. What was Tasia thinking? She's clearly a coward." Only this time Patra looked very serious.
"You're right, Patra. I'm also confused about her behaviour. Could it be that she was followed by a ghost from the beach? The ghost of the little boy she was talking about?" Jordi said.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Tata nodded.
"Urgh .." Tasia started to wake up, and her friends immediately gathered around her bed. Mark quickly pressed the emergency button so the nurse could come to check on his friend's condition.
Tasia began to slowly open her eyes. She seemed confused and looked at her friends one by one.
"Where am I?" She asked hoarsely.
"Tasia.. you're in the hospital now. You went missing while we were playing banana boat. Then we found you stranded back on the beach." Tata explained slowly.
Tasia looked deep in thought and confused. Wrinkles were clearly visible on her frowning forehead.
"Missing? When? I don't remember. The last thing I remember is when we all fell from the banana boat." Tasia replied.