Pain.
That was the first thing I felt as I slowly returned to the present world. I rub my wrist on my eyes as a tired groan escapes my lips, pinching my eyelids even tighter as a gentle warm light threatens to blind me.
Shifting away from the light, I managed to sit up straight and take in my surroundings. The room was unfamiliar and strange, but what felt even stranger was the fact that I was butt naked in the strange room.
A wave of panic comes rushing into me, and I feel my heartbeat escalate. The memories of the previous night come crashing down, and I feel the urge to ball my eyes out. But that was when another thing hit me: my eyes were hit by sunlight.
Sunlight.
It was morning.
Fuck you, Chaya.
I managed to scramble up to my feet and grab the dress that was lent to me from the floor. I didn't even bother looking for my underwear, seeing as the entire room was in disarray.
Just as I pulled the dress down to my thighs, the door to the room opened as someone walked in. To my relief and surprisingly dismay, it wasn't Jedidiah. It was a short, bald man that looked like he had just stepped out of a sumo slam wrestling match. He had a deep frown on his face as he roamed his bloodshot eyes up and down my exposed legs.
Ew.
"You need to leave, Miss," he said; his voice was scratchy, and I didn't mean any offense, but it was irritating to my ears.
"Okay," I answered. My eyes roamed the rest of the room for my purse, and luckily, the man turned to leave just as I crouched down to grab it. Before the strange man was completely out the door, I asked, "Did you see a guy walk out of here recently?"
"I don't know anything," he deadpanned before completely vanishing from my sight. My head tilted to the side as I watched him exit. I sighed with frustration before grabbing the black stilettos Chaya had so graciously given me.
It took a while before I could navigate my way out of the club. The place looked so much different during the day, almost like a normal restaurant. The entire place was empty except for the cleaners doing their jobs—not a single face did I find from last night. No Chaya, no Faizah, no creepy bodyguard, no Samuel, no Jedidiah. And to think he offered to drop me off if Chaya left me behind. I felt a sharp sting in my chest when I stepped out of the building and was met by the sun's harsh gaze.
I meant it when I said I had no idea how to find Chaya's house from here; the streets were empty and all the nearby shops were closed; there wasn't even a single car passing by. I took out my phone, and the first thing I saw was the time.
11:32am
I was totally doomed.
My eyes fell on the only living soul nearby; it was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties. He was leaning up against a wall, facing the club directly; I won't lie, I was hesitant to ask him for directions; he appeared insane.
But honestly, what choice did I have?
Cautiously, I moved towards him, but my feet froze after hearing an unfamiliar voice from behind: "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Turning on my heel, my eyes fell on a pair of silver eyes. They were of the most beautiful shade.
Was everyone around here drop-dead gorgeous?
I had to crane my neck a bit to meet his eyes; he appeared to be 6'2" tall. He had what appeared to be a lollipop sticking out of his mouth, and he sucked it in a way that made his already sharp jawline even sharper. My eyes trailed downwards to take in his entire body; he was skinny but also fit, if that even made sense. The stranger continued to watch me as his dark bangs covered a fraction of his striking eyes. I knew that I was openly checking him out, but I could not be blamed; he was a Greek god.
"If you're done eye-fucking me, I would like to get this over with," His voice was the deepest I've ever heard, even deeper than Popsmoke's, and boy did he-
Wait, did he just say I was eye-fucking him?
Oh, God.
I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment and focused my gaze somewhere else as I spoke to him. "Sorry, I'm just lost."
"Yeah, I can see that." His profound voice found its way through my heart and into my stomach. Why did it feel like something was moving around in there? "Chaya sent me to drop you back home."
At the mention of Chaya's name, I immediately perked up and asked, "Where is she?"
"I don't think you wanna know," he said before taking out his lollipop; it made a pop sound as it left his lips. I had so many questions to ask, but he was already walking towards a silver Audi R8, and I contemplated whether to follow him or not. He could be a kidnapper or an organ harvester for all I know.
But then I remembered I didn't really have a choice.
So here I am, jumping into the car of a complete stranger before driving off.
●●●●●
Luckily for me, he wasn't a kidnapper or an organ harvester. The relief I felt when Chaya's house came into view was one I couldn't explain, but when my eyes fell on my aunt pacing the front lawn, I immediately wanted to go back to the club and never come back.
The guy, whose name I still didn't know, stopped the car directly in front of my aunt's house, and I saw her stop pacing the lawn. Her eyes narrowed in on the car as she tried to get a good look inside, but that proved to be pointless seeing as all the windows were tinted.
I didn't know how long I stood there in silence with the unknown guy until he said, "I have things to do, so the sooner you get out of my car, the better for me."
"Oh, sorry!" My hand quickly went to the car handle to pull it open, but then it froze midway. "What's your name?"
"Not important."
"I think it is."
"Your Aunt is coming this way."
And I was out the door in a flash.
My second foot was barely out the door when his car zoomed down the street. My jaw dropped as I watched the speed at which he drove. The door to the passenger side shut before he was completely out of sight.
"Nyx Octavia Christos!"
Good God.
I turned to my aunt, who was marching down the lawn with her face flushed with a bright shade of red. But it was the swelling and redness in her eyes that caught me off guard.
Had she been crying?
What have I done?
Her once light brown eyes were dark with grief; they roamed up and down my body, and it was at that moment I realized I left my stilettos in the stranger's car. I was standing in the middle of the street practically half naked and barefooted, and now that I thought about it, I hadn't even taken the time to look at my face this morning.
Heaven knows how I look.
"What is the meaning of this behavior?!" She practically screeched, and I winced. "We woke up this morning to find you gone! I even called your parents, and they told me you'd probably run off."
I winced again, only this time it was in my heart.
"Chaya and I were so worried! We called and your phone was unreachable, and I..." Her tantrum was cut short as she broke into a series of sobs.
But then my mind could only focus on one thing.
She and Chaya were worried.
Chaya was here.
It was a miracle I managed to put up a smile because I suddenly wanted to grab a knife and stab someone, and Chaya was the only face I had in mind.
"I'm really sorry, I was just upset about all of yesterday's events and I thought a drink or two would-"
"I don't care! You are still seventeen and under my custody. If anything happened to you, it would be a world-wide scandal!"
I should have known.
She was only concerned about her, not me.
She didn't care whether I got killed or possibly raped. I cringed as the image of Jedidiah's face suddenly showed up in my mind.
I looked back at Aunt Rhea to find her already staring at me with red, swollen eyes. It was scary. She raised a shaky hand and pointed a finger to my face, saying, "Make no mistake, if you do anything to disgrace my family, I will make what your father did to you look like child's play."
As she sent that deadly arrow into my heart, she turned on her heels and marched back into the house.
Yes, I know what you are thinking—that I should have told her Chaya was with me, but the smarter part of me knew that would only cause more problems.
Chaya was home when Aunt Rhea woke up.
Chaya is her daughter, whom she loves a lot more than I, for that matter.
The cards weren't playing to my advantage, but first I needed to understand the game, and Chaya was going to teach me.
●●●●●
By the time I was fully dressed and had changed to a gray crop top and joggers, a knock came from my door. After answering it, my aunt poked her head through the doorframe.
"I'm going to pick up Chaya from school, and I want you to come with me." It wasn't an offer, it was a demand. She left the room, and I didn't need any more hints to get the idea that she wanted me to follow her.
Tying my hair into a messy bun, I jugged right after her. She was already outside before starting her Ferrari 250 GTO. Yes, she has many Ferraris; no surprise there. What do you expect from one of the direct subordinates of Elon Musk?
As we drove out of the estate and towards Chaya's school, I got this sick feeling in my stomach.
Oh God, when will the torture end?