Simon shot up like a javelin only to meet total darkness.
A smothering darkness.
No, someone was actually smothering him.
With all his strength, Simon pushed hard at the offensive object, trying to smother the life out of him.
The material wouldn't budge.
In a panic, he pushed again and reached around to grab whoever was doing this.
Since that didn't work, he lashed out with a fist that connected firmly with flesh, and the swear he heard was so satisfying that he would have hooted if he wasn't struggling to draw in his breath.
The hold had relaxed though, so he jerked away the pillow and blinked for a moment at the slightly crazed eyes looking down at him with hatred.
In his hazy mind, he thought, "I am trying to kill myself?"
Then he snapped out of it as his image said, "Die, you bastard. You are here to ruin everything!"
When he saw the manicured hands reaching for his neck again, Simon punched the pampered face so hard this time that the man flew towards the door.
"You..."
The door opened before he could get off the floor and they both looked towards it.
Two women entered as Simon tried to breathe properly and quickly got off the bed before more people would have the idea of killing him.
"What is going on here?" said the woman who took the lead.
She was a petite woman dressed in a classy beige dress with pearl buttons down the front. Her gray eyes looked kind as they lighted on Simon and her hair was dark just like his.
She looked from him to the bastard who almost killed him as some dark-suited men went to help him up.
That reminded Simon of how he must have gotten here.
"Yes, what is going on here?" he asked angrily as he shook his fist at the men. "You made me unconscious and abducted me. And now he wants to kill me? What is wrong with everyone?"
"Mind your tone, young man. Who do you think you are to be raising your voice here?"
Simon finally paid attention to the other woman, who looked way older than the first. Maybe it was because of the frown on her face or her pinched mouth, she looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders and even though she also had an expensive looking dress on, hers was in a dark chocolate colour that didn't suit her at all.
Simon was sure the dress would have looked better on his ma. Hell, it would probably look better on Timothy's pigs than on her.
Before he could mentally scold himself for his unkind thoughts, the woman's mouth tightened even more as she said, "How dare you lay your finger on the heir of this family and run your mouth here? Men, drag him out and teach him a lesson!"
The men looked at the younger woman, and she shook her head as she said, "He is... my son. I just know it."
"Sister-in-law," the bitter woman called in warning as Simon was trying to understand what the kind woman had just said.
Her son?
And he had thought nothing could be crazier than almost getting killed by manicured hands? Just great.
"If... he is my son, then we need to clear up this misunderstanding and try to get along," she said carefully.
Simon wasn't sure if he heard a tremor in her voice or if the lack of air for some minutes was affecting his hearing.
Then she asked, "What happened here?"
"He tried to kill me!" Simon and his lookalike chorused.
Simon saw the woman blanched and for a moment, he almost ran to her because he thought she was about to faint because of the talk of killing, but then she shook her head and said in a near whisper, "You used to talk at the same time."
Then the pale look was gone, as if she had just finally realised what they had said, and she turned to the lookalike and said, "Jordan, you tried to kill your brother?"
"Susan, how can you say that? Are you taking the side of this outsider over your son? It is obvious that he is lying. He must have thought he would get you all wrapped up in his lies, but when he saw Jordan here, he got threatened and wanted to get rid of his competition, and now you are blaming Jordan? How do you want your son to feel that his mother takes the side of an outsider over his?"
"What? No, I wasn't..."
With a forlorn, pitiful voice, Jordan said, "Of course you will believe a stranger over me, Mom. It's not like this is the first time you have shown that I mean nothing to you. You saw him hit me! He was the one who hit me! Do you see my bruised lips? Even Aunt could see that he was at fault. Why are you blaming me?!"
Flustered, Susan looked from Jordan to Simon as she said, "No, of course not. I will never blame you unjustly. I just wanted to understand..." She sighed and said, "I am sorry, son. I am just so glad that..". She looked back at Simon. "You hit him. Look at his bruises. Why would you want to hurt your brother?"
"He is not my brother!" Jordan snapped.
"I have had enough of this," Simon said at the same time.
In the silence that followed, he got his sandals and bag, which were kept nearby.
Distaste and disgust showed on the faces of the aunt and Jordan, while panic showed on Susan's face.
"Where are you going? You can't just leave. It took us so long to find you, son."
"Watch me, ma'am. And I am not your son. My parents died."
She looked shaken again, but Simon was done with it all. He sidestepped them and didn't care that his duffel bag hit the aunt a little.
She squealed like he just branded her with hot coal, and her double chin jiggled as she shouted after him. "That uncultured lout!".
Susan hurried after him, followed by her aunt and Jordan.
Simon was amazed by the expansive decor when he came out, but then he was confused about where to go.
He saw a maid close by and asked tersely, "Which way leads out?"
She pointed wide-eyed towards the right, and he followed the path after thanking her, ignoring the footsteps behind him.
He saw some of the men approaching him from the front, and he said loudly, "I swear if you try to knock me out again this time, you will regret it."
"We never knocked you out, sir," said the men in confusion.
Simon supposed they were not the one, but at that moment, every dark-suited man looked like his attacker to him.
"I told you he is nothing but a liar. Now, he is lying on the help". That nasty tone came again and Simon promptly ignored it as he heard Susan say something in an annoyed tone.
The spiral staircase was the most beautiful design Simon had ever seen, and he couldn't stop himself from gaping as he saw a glimpse of the foyer it led to.
He would have liked to admire the grandeur around him if only he didn't have a wannabe killer, a hopeful mother, and a spiteful aunt on his heels.
He needed to get away very fast from these people and this city.
He was just on the last rung of the staircase when an older man dressed in a blue checkered shirt and white flannel pants, who looked like he had just stepped out of a magazine cover for the elderly came into view.
Behind him, a man dressed more sharply than the men who had knocked him out looked at Simon with scrutinising eyes even before the elderly man said, "What's going on here?"
"He wants to leave, Kendrick. Please, talk some sense into him." Susan said in a frantic tone that made Simon groan in resignation.