Damien's eyes widened in shock and fear as he struggled to breathe, Zayden's grip on his neck like a vice. He tried to remove Zayden's fingers, but they only seemed to dig deeper, making his vision blurry.
He managed to speak with great difficulty, "You... you can't do this," Damien stammered, his voice barely audible due to the pressure on his neck.
His legs couldn't touch the ground, and he was now hanging in the air.
Zayden's eyes seemed to gleam with a new light. "Death." He leaned closer, his breath cold against Damien's ear. "I can do whatever I want," he whispered, his voice dripping with danger. "And right now, I want to make you suffer just the way you did to Anna."
Damien's body weakened immediately, also since he was being strangled by Zayden.
He felt himself being lifted higher from the ground; Zayden's grip on his neck was the only thing holding him up.
Just as Damien thought he was going to be strangled harder, he was thrown back with an unknown force.
He hit his head hard on the wall, and his head began to spin as a pang of pain hit him like a bolt.
He lay there gasping for breath and held onto his head, which was throbbing in pain.
As he looked up, he saw Zayden standing over him, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
"Your father is full of greed," he said with a scoff.
"I'm going to get you arrested if I leave this place," Damien shouted, spit coming out of his mouth in annoyance.
"That's if you leave here alive," Zayden revealed, and a creepy smile curled up his lips, sending shivers across Damien's spine.
"Why are you doing this?" Damien asked, his mouth quivering in fear.
"Did Anna ask you to do this? You were the bastard she cheated with, right?" Damien shouted louder again. He thought if he at least spoke up, he might escape here alive, but then he heard Zayden's laughter, low and creepy.
"Don't you get your situation?" he paused and lowered his back to Damien, who was sitting on the floor with a battered expression.
"How do you want your pain?" Zayden asked.
"Ah, I know the right way," he said, without waiting for Damien's reply.
With that, in Zayden's hand appeared a small dagger, different from the one he had brought out before to threaten Damien.
It was small and glittered brightly.
Damien's eyes widened in terror as he gazed at the small, glittering dagger in Zayden's hand. He tried to scramble back, but his body felt rooted, his head pounding with a headache.
Damien's mind raced with fear. He tried to speak, but his voice felt void in Zayden's ears. "Ple...please," he stammered, "save me."
Zayden's smile grew wider as he leaned forward, the dagger glinting in the light. "Oh, but I'm just getting started."
With that being said, he pierced the small, glinting dagger into Damien's heart, ripping through it and pulling it back out.
Blood poured out, and Damien yelled in pain, clenching onto his chest where the blood refused to stop. He felt his head spinning, the world around him blurring, almost as if he were giving up the ghost.
"Don't worry, Damien, a pierce isn't enough to kill you," Zayden said, standing up.
Damien's breath was ragged and shallow. He lay there, his body unmoving, and his head throbbing in pain.
"Why?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, but Zayden was able to pick out his words.
"Because it's my job to catch naughty boys, and you know, Damien, naughty boys need to be punished," Zayden said with a wild smile.
With that, he bent down and reached out, gently tracing the edge of the dagger along Damien's cheek, the touch sending shivers of fear down his spine.
Damien's eyes went wide with fear as he realized that Zayden was savouring every moment of his pain.
"What are you... planning to do with that dagger... again?" he stammered, his eyes hanging open as he wished for an escape.
He noticed Zayden's eyes close, and a plan struck him.
When he thought he finally had a plan to escape, that hope soon crashed as Zayden opened his eyes.
"Time to take a little trip, Damien," he sneered, his eyes glinting with malevolence.
"A trip?" Damien asked, confusion evident.
"A trip down memory lane," Zayden said with a smirk that sent chills through Damien.
Damien's eyes widened in terror as he gazed into Zayden's blue, glowing eyes. The air around him seemed to grow colder, and he could feel a sudden surge of energy emanating from Zayden.
"A trip down memory lane?" Damien repeated, his voice shaking with fear. He clenched his throbbing chest, from which blood continued to emerge.
"What do you mean?" Damien barely managed to utter, the pain suddenly becoming more excruciating.
Zayden's smile grew wider, his blue eyes gleaming with an otherworldly act. He said, his voice dripping with command, "Remember everything. Every moment, every decision, and... every consequence."
He leaned closer and whispered coldly into Damien's ear, sending a chill down his spine. "Damien."
And like he was cast into a spell, the world began to blur, distort, and spin in Damien's eyes. He felt a strange sensation as if his memories were being pulled out of him, like threads from a tapestry.
Before he could utter any word, he was pulled into Zayden's world, where doom ruled.
As soon as Damien's eyes opened again, the throbbing pain in his chest had died down. His eyes darted to his chest immediately, and there was no injury, not even the slightest trace of one.
He chuckled softly and mumbled to himself, "Was it a dream?"
But if it was a dream, why else would he be on the rooftop?
He stood up, feeling like it had been ages since he had walked.
He staggered forward like a drunkard, his feet carrying him, but no matter how much he tried to find a way off the rooftop, he always ended up back there.
His head suddenly began to pound in pain, and he clutched it tightly. He could hear the echoes of Anna's screams, the whispers of her fears, and the mocking laughter of Zayden, like a staged torment.
He tried to lift his leg again, dismissing the throbbing pain in his head and the constant torment of Anna's laughter. Every step Damien took felt like he was being pulled deeper into his subconscious. Memories he had desperately wanted to bury deep in his heart began to resurface, each one more painful and traumatic.
And then he remembered Zayden's last words before he was pulled into his subconscious mind: "Remember everything. Every moment, every decision, and every consequence, Damien."
He covered his ears, trying so hard to stop the torment. But those words, that voice of Anna, kept taunting him about his deeds. He was going to go crazy, and he was sure of it.
And just when he pleaded silently for the voice to stop, it ended.
He looked around him and found no one. He heaved a sigh of relief and took another step when he heard the voice of the person he killed.
"Honey," Anna called out.
"Honey," she called out again, and Damien turned back once more.
Immediately, he was gripped with fear and fell to the ground, shaking profusely.
"Honey?" she called out again as she moved toward him.
"An...Anna," Damien stammered, his lips quivering.
She kept moving toward him, and Damien remained rooted on the ground in shock. She stopped in front of him and bent down to his level.
She lifted her hand and caressed his cheek. Damien's heart throbbed faster in fear and disbelief that Anna was still alive.
Their eyes locked, and the memory of that night echoed in his mind—her scream.
"Why did you kill me?" she asked suddenly, strangling his neck.