Chapter 29 #7
Lila bolts upright, gasping for air as she remembers the following struggle.
The smooth, thick bed sheets beneath her make her skin crawl.
During her brief stay at Max’s, she has become all too familiar with them.
Her eyes struggle to adjust. Her breathing comes in quick, ragged huffs.
His familiar voice still echoes in her ears, its mocking cadence bitter and joyless despite the singsong quality.
She squeezes her eyes shut, hoping this is just a nightmare, but it feels too vivid, too painfully real, so she opens them.
Her wide, terrified hazel eyes dart across the room, searching for her merciless tormentor.
Her brows furrow in fear, lips pressed tight to keep herself from trembling.
He doesn’t seem to be in the room, yet she can sense his oppressive presence coiling around her like a cloaked predator. He’s somewhere nearby…
Waiting. Watching. Ready to toy with her again.
She hesitates, then takes a deep breath. “…Max…?” she calls out tentatively.
A slight sound of something shifting comes from behind her, and she quickly spins around, her gaze immediately locking onto his towering figure.
Against the back wall, his tall, athletic frame looms, arms folded as he peers down at her with an unsettling calm.
The sight of him rips through her, and she lets out a piercing scream that shatters the dead silence of the room.
He steps forward and, positioning himself on the bed beside her, raises a finger to his lips in a silent demand for quiet.
“Shhh…” Some tiny things fall soundlessly from his wounded forehead onto the crisp white sheets beneath them.
Shards of glass.
He reaches out, warm fingers brushing her cheeks with unnerving gentleness. His dark hair, usually styled and fixed to perfection, is in disarray, matted with a crusted film of dried fluid. She gulps.
Blood.
Paralyzed with fear and unable to speak, she lets him continue petting her with eerie tenderness.
Her breath is so shaky she feels as if she could fall apart at any moment.
Daring to break eye contact, her gaze drifts slowly downward.
His white dress shirt is stained with sweat, dusted with splinters, and speckled with dried blood.
“Max,” she whispers. “What happened to you?”
“You’re finally awake, Lila—happy belated Thanksgiving.
I hope you ate well,” he says softly, tucking her hair behind her ears with bloody fingers.
She shudders, wondering whose blood is covering the hands caressing her.
“Sorry, we had to meet again like this, but I wanted to tell you something, and you wouldn’t pick up your phone, and I just couldn’t wait anymore. ”
He stands up and begins pacing in front of her, his movements restless and agitated.
As he strides back and forth, Lila’s eyes, finally adjusted to the darkened room, fall onto a shattered floor mirror nearby.
Dried blood streaks its surface, while jagged shards on the floor reflect fractured pieces of the room.
The room is a chaotic mess, every surface buried under debris and disorder.
Furniture lies overturned, and shredded fabric lies in heaps, adding to the sense of destruction.
What was once a familiar, neatly kept space now feels alien and hostile, its disheveled state reflecting its owner’s unraveling.
“I didn’t get to tell you how I felt before you left.
I was just so afraid of being vulnerable!
But I actually like you so much. You could probably tell I had my walls up, and I know now that that’s no way to start a relationship.
It’s just there has been a hole in my chest…
but I think you have filled it in for me!
When I hold you in my arms, it’s like we are two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. ”
He kneels in front of her, his dark, bottomless eyes locking onto hers with a manic intensity. “I think about you day and night. I can’t even remember how long it’s been since the last time I felt this way about someone!”
Taking her hand in a secure hold, he presses a deep kiss to her knuckles. “Oh, Lila, you’re in front of me again, and I’m so nervous I can’t even think straight. I feel like I’m blabbering like an idiot, but I thought you should know.”
“Max…” she whispers, her voice trembling.
“It’s okay, Lila,” he murmurs, standing up.
“Where did he touch you? Here?” He traces his thumb gently along her lips.
“Here? Here? What about here?” His hands move slowly, brushing lightly over various parts of her body before returning to cradle her face.
“These lips, this face, your entire body… Every part of you, every strand of hair... Everything is mine.” Bending down until his forehead rests against hers, he gazes into her eyes, his teary eyes and the chaotic turbulence behind them sending shivers down her spine.
“Everything was supposed to be mine,” he chokes out, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
“And you gave yourself away to another. Why? Did our month together mean nothing to you?”
He releases her face and straightens up.
“Did you let him fuck you, Lila?” he spits out, his tone suddenly harsh and venomous, causing her to flinch. “Did you open your whore legs and let him in between them? Did you let him come inside you, hoping that your body could forget the taste of me?”
She shakes her head frantically, her movements desperate and uncontrolled. Dread flashes in her eyes as she faces the deranged figure before her. Every fiber of her being screams for her to run, but she remains frozen, unable to move or speak.
“My heart feels torn apart,” he weeps, crouching beside the shattered mirror.
He stares at his fragmented reflection before burying his face in his hands.
Soft, muffled sniffling begins to replace the silence.
His tiny sounds of despair seem to echo through the upturned room.
Lila’s eyes flick to the closed bedroom door, her mind racing as she plots her escape.
But she knows it’s all futile. She won’t be able to outrun him.
“Max… Please... I’m sorry.”
He jerks his head up, eyes flashing with anger. His menacing expression makes her shrink back in an instant.
“Sorry for what?”
“I’m sorry that you are hurting. But please... stop this. You’re scaring me.”
He slowly approaches her, his eyes softening as he considers her words.
“Don’t be scared, Lila. I would never hurt you, baby.”
He leans in, pressing his lips to hers in a deep, demanding kiss.
She doesn’t respond, her body paralyzed against him.
Pulling back, frustration flashes in his eyes.
He moves to the television and switches it on.
“Don’t even think about running,” he warns as the room’s TV screen flickers to life, revealing a live video feed.
On the screen, Jake sits bound on his couch, his posture sagging in defeat. A sack covers his head, yet the familiar posters on the wall behind him make his identity unmistakable. The ropes around his wrists and ankles bite into his skin, holding him utterly immobile.
“Don’t worry, he’s unconscious,” Max says with a cold, clinical detachment.
“I can only imagine how terrified he’d be if he were awake right now, though.
He’s not in the best of company. You’re already familiar with some of Gunther’s lighter work, so I’ll spare you the details.
I had him bring you here first, then go over to your little boy toy to keep him company.
I knew you wouldn’t want to see him scared for his life, so I made sure he’d be out for a while until you woke up so that we could have this conversation…
See? Lila, I do consider your feelings.”
He kneels before her, his gaze devoid of warmth, his eyes as cold and hollow as his words.
“This is all because of you, you know. Actions have consequences.”
“What about your actions?” she replies bitterly.
“Let me rephrase. Your actions have consequences, Lila. I warned you that I don’t like to share.”
Her expression hardens. She meets his gaze; her eyes stripped of fear. “You told me it’d only be for a month. You’re a liar.”
“I feel so dumb right now. You played with my feelings. All this time, you were pretending to be interested in me, asking me questions under the guise of getting me out of my shell. Touching me whenever you didn’t have to, kissing me back…
I know we started things on the wrong foot, but I thought you were different and that in time, you’d be able to accept the real me.
You acted like you didn’t care for my money until it suited you, and then you abandoned me as soon as you could get rid of me. ”
His words catch her off guard. She frowns, brows knitting together in confusion. She hadn’t realized her actions had come across that way. Wasn’t the whole point of their arrangement to date with no strings attached?
“Max, you’re not thinking straight.”
“I wondered who it was that you were meeting that night while I waited for you to get back, trying to picture who it was that you were choosing over me. Is this really your type? To be honest, he’s not what I expected. I had a different image in mind entirely… Someone less basic.”
He chews on his thumbnail as he turns back to study the subdued man on the screen, his gaze intense and unblinking, almost trance-like.
Turning back to her, he says, “I think Jake here wanted to be a pediatric surgeon, like his dead dad. Did you know that? It’s so touching!
I read about it in the personal statement he attached to his fellowship application.
He kept going on and on about how much he wanted to make his mom proud, since she had supported him single-handedly throughout college.
But it was a real snooze fest to read. No mention of you whatsoever. ”
She exhales slowly, eyes narrowing as she studies him warily.