"I AM GOING TO KILL THAT ASSHOLE!"
Annabelle could hear a deep familiar voice yelling in the hallway.
Considering how there was no reply back, she concluded it was someone on their phone. She placed her ear against the door in order to listen clearly.
"You think I will let her go again?" The conversation continued. "I don't give a flying fuck even if they are dead. I am going to find each one of them even if I have to dig up their grave. They are messing with the wrong person!"
Goosebumps raised as Annabelle quietly listened to the one-sided conversation.
Is he talking about me?
Who is this man?
Who is he going to kill?
Is he a serial killer?
Is he a professional murderer?
Am I his next kill??
Without realising it, her body started trembling miserably. Unconsciously knocking the vase beside her, Annabelle froze. To say she was terrified would be an understatement. Her mind stopped working for a minute until she heard a knock on her door.
Fear crept in as she took a few steps away from the door, hoping the person behind would leave. However, there was another knock on the door a little louder this time. Knowing there was no escape this time, she mustered up her courage and walked forward. Answering the person the best she could.
"Y-yes?" her voice came out almost as a whisper.
"Open the door!" The deep voice demanded. Annabelle knew not to test the dominant's patience.
She slowly walked towards the door and turned the lock. The clicking sound indicated that the door was now open for the Mafia Lord standing outside. Albert swung open the door making Annabelle stumble backwards.
"What are you doing?" He asked coldly looking at the shattered pieces of the vase, that had littered the once-white carpet.
Raising his eyebrows in question he asked again,
"Are you trying to kill yourself?" taking slow steps towards Annabelle as if she were prey.
His eyes not once left her ice-blue ones. Intimidating as it was, Annabelle could not bare the other's gaze and looked down at the vase that was now scattered into tiny pieces.
"I- No... It..." Annabelle tried but failed to form a proper sentence. Her mind was spinning and her breath was uneven as she felt her chest heavy.
"I am asking something!" Albert slightly raised his voice sending chills down the poor girl's spine.
He was now so close that Annabelle could feel his minty scent fill her nostrils. As if her mind had stopped processing, Annabelle could hardly move her body away from the hungry Lion standing in front of her.
"I- it... wa- was a mis- mistake" was all she could say. Annabelle looked like a dying prey under Albert's cold gaze.
Saying that she bend down trying to pick up the shattered glass piece by piece. Surprised at her foolishness, Albert immediately bend down grabbed Annabelle's wrist and threw the glass pieces from her palm on the ground once again.
"Are you crazy? It's dangerous!" Annabelle was surprised at the sudden action.
She was not sure if it was worry or anger that she saw in Albert's eyes. But she swear it was not the usual expressionless gaze of his. It was rather a very soft look. Annabelle without realizing kept staring at the dark brown orbs of the handsome man kneeling down in front of her.
Albert himself found it difficult to look away. The innocent eyes of Annabelle held so much confusion that Albert felt guilty without even knowing the reason behind the tired eyes. As if his hands had a mind of their own, Albert reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Annabelle's ear.
He wiped the row of tears that without realization had made their way down Annabelle's cheeks.
"I don't like seeing you like this... Don't cry" Albert whispered softly.
He caressed her cheeks lightly moving his thumb in a circular motion. Breaking out of the stance, Albert abruptly stood up.
"I will ask the maids to clean the mess," he said turning his back to leave. "Don't try anything stupid. You won't like to test me!" He warned without even looking at the girl who was too shocked to speak.
She could barely understand the man's temper. One minute he was the sweetest and the other he treated her like a peasant. Albert left the room and shut the door a little to hardly bringing Annabelle out of her thoughts.
***
When the heart is in pain everything feels like a dead end. Annabelle was in pain. Not only mentally but physically too. Since her last encounter with the Mafia Lord, Annabelle had refused to eat her meals and was not ready to open her doors to anyone at all.
Noona tried many times to let herself in but Annabelle would never open the door. It had been 3 days already and she still hadn't had a single bite of anything at all. Looking in the mirror, Annabelle could hardly recognize herself anymore. Her once rosy lips were now replaced with chapped ones, her eyes lost their spark and her body was even skinner than it already was.
"Anna, honey you need to eat please open the door", Noona tried for the third time, but Annabelle still refused to eat saying she wasn't hungry.
Observing her closely, Albert got angrier with every passing second. He was sure that he made a clear warning. Taking matters into his own hands, Albert took the tray of food from Noona's hand and asked her to leave.
"Master please don't be harsh on her" she requested the angered man only to receive a death glare.
Not wanting any trouble for herself, she bowed and made her way down the stairs. Albert stood outside Annabelle's door and took in a deep breath. He sighed heavily and knocked on the door.
"Noona I told you I am not hungry, please leave me alone" Annabelle spoke in a hoarse tone, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence. She barely had any energy in herself to shout.
"Open the door!" Albert said in his usual cold tone.
There was no reply from the other side of the door. Annabelle was too scared to speak.
She thought she had been hallucinating and hearing things. Getting up from the bed slowly, she made her way towards the door when there was another harsh bang, making the girl on the other side of the room flinch.
"OPEN UP!" Being impatient as he was, Albert banged the door again. "Don't make me break through" he threatened.
Afraid he would actually do so, Annabelle rushed her way towards the door and unlocked it.
"I hate waiting!" Albert said as he walked inside the door. "Eat!" He demanded pointing at the tray he had placed on the table.
Annabelle looked at the man standing in front of her. Albert stood in the middle of the room with crossed arms, making his muscles bulge. He was in casual clothes, a white T-shirt along with a pair of ripped jeans. The necklace Annabelle had always noticed around his neck was tucked under his shirt. His slightly damp hair covered his forehead making him look less intimidating than usual.
"You done staring?" Albert spoke, smirking towards the flustered girl. Annabelle's eyes widened as she realized what she was doing.
"Now eat," Albert said once again in a calm voice.
Annabelle knew it was the best for her so she quietly sat down and stared at the food in front of her.
"You'll have to pick it up and place it in your mouth, it won't go in if you keep staring!" Albert said as he himself sat down beside the girl.
What if he poisoned it?
Is this how I will die?
As if reading her mind Albert blurted "You think I'd poison you?"
Annabelle looked at him shocked to which he just moved his chair closer to the table. Picking up a plate for himself he took a spoon of everything present on the table and ate casually.
"See... nothing wrong" and it was all it took for Annabelle to dig in.
Albert looked at the girl in front of him eating like a little child. He smiled to himself seeing how much of a messy eater she was.
*Am I that scary?*
He chuckled lightly at his own thought.
Annabelle looked at his direction, surprise written all over her face.
"What?" Albert asked raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner. Annabelle shook her head and continued eating.
"Did he smile? I think he did... am I going crazy?" she spoke her thoughts out loud making Albert smile even more at her cuteness.
"You... you are smiling?" Though she had properly framed the sentence in her mind, it still sounded more like a question than a statement when Annabelle actually asked.
Albert looked away immediately getting up from his seat.
"Don't trouble Noona anymore. Eat on time I don't want you dying."
Whether it was a threat or him showing concern, Annabelle could not tell. Albert walked out of the room without looking back leaving the door open.
Did I say something wrong?
Confused as she was Annabelle decided not to pay much mind to it and continued eating.
As much as she hated the place it had started growing on her.
Maybe it's not so bad. I have never felt like this...
Maybe he is not so bad. I think I can get used to this...