Chapter 31
The Prey
It felt surreal, too bizarre. I hadn’t expected Judas to let me go, or even let Kyle drive me to the dorms. Throughout the ride, I was staring out the window.
What do I do now? How was I going to escape from this damn country in four days?
Something about him told me he wasn’t bluffing when he said he would drag me back to him if I defy him.
And I didn’t know what was I to do anymore. I was out of options.
No legal authorities could save me, and I feared that anything higher than him existed.
Did that mean I had to sleep with him?
I shivered.
No, no, no.
I’d think of something. Where there was a will, there was a way/
Why was I even considering sleeping with him? That man was a psycho on the run. I had no resources, no alliances, and no one I could trust. Should I take Ivan’s help? No. Not him. Trusting Ivan felt like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
Kyle pulled up in front of the dorm, and I swallowed hard, shaking the image of those dead eyes staring right back at him. Why did he kill him though? To frame me? Did that mean he was framing me since that day? Did he follow- stalk- me right after humiliating me in front of those men?
Whatever it was. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to even think of him.
My skin crawled recalling the way he played with me.
Forced me to orgasm for the first time in my life.
No one had touched me this way. And this bastard touched the parts of me even though I was scared to explore.
I clenched my thighs. I wanted to scrub my body with rocks and nail my skin to get rid of his touch.
The worst, I could smell his faint scent all over my body.
“We’re here, Ms- “
“Why do you work for him knowing he’s a killer? You do realise you’re a criminal too for knowing and hiding, right?”
He looked at me with the same stony expression. “And what makes you think I’m just his alibi?”
I stared at him for a second and then scoffed. “I don’t know why I even bothered… make sure your boss doesn’t bother me for the next four days.”
“We’re here, Ms—”
“Why do you work for him knowing he’s a killer? You do realize you’re a criminal too for knowing and hiding, right?” I mumbled under my breath, fidgeting with my hands and looked at him.
Kyle looked at me with the same cold expression as if it were set to default. “And what makes you think I’m just his alibi?”
I stared at him for a second and then scoffed. “I don’t know why I even bothered… Make sure your boss doesn’t bother me for the next four days.”
He let out a dry laugh just as I was about to open the door. “Sure thing, princess. I’ll just tell the unhinged psycho to take a vacation because you need some peace.”
I narrowed my eyes. I hated how he used Russian in between conversations. “What did you say?”
“I would’ve used English if I wanted you to know. Now, don’t waste my time, I’ve got other things to do than babysit you.”
I slammed the door shut and walked towards the dorm entrance.
He did not deny that Judas was a killer.
I let out a shaky breath before walking into the building.
It was silent, and there was no sign of the commotion from the other day.
Did Judas bribe the college too to keep the news a secret? I hardly think so.
He would throw millions to see chaos breaking.
I walked to the stairs with difficulty; my legs gave out and exhaustion was finally taking over. The cold seeped into my bones as I walked towards the room, hoping all the while Alina was out with her friends and partying somewhere so I wouldn’t have to…
My eyes widened as I opened the door, and the next moment I was engulfed in a warm embrace. My body went limp as she held me close.
“Seraphina…” She warmly pulled me close to her, and I blinked away the dizziness. “Боже! Ты в порядке? Я слышала от некоторых девушек, что тебя затащила полиция—”
Alina said something I couldn’t decode.
I was numb, emotionless, and freezing. Her warm hands on my arms seeped their warmth into my flesh through the flimsy sweater. It was not enough. It never would be.
I felt it. The way her eyes took in my dishevelled appearance, no matter how badly I tried to mask it with numbness.
My eyes lowered to the floor; I couldn’t afford to look into her eyes anymore.
Shame, humiliation, and whatnot. I had never felt this way in my entire life; so useless and used at the same time.
I didn’t want her to look at me and think I was a scattered mess. I didn’t want her to look into my eyes and see the fear. Not the marks on my wrists or the swell of my lips.
I side-stepped her, her hands falling to her sides as I mumbled with the remaining strength. “I’m tired.” I didn’t wait for her to say anything. I slipped under the blanket and pulled it over my head as if it could shield me from the world. From him.
Under the sheets, I shattered into silent cries, afraid Alina would hear them. My heart pounded loudly, and the hollowness inside me widened into a black hole that ate me slowly. The Sea of memories of what had happened flooded my mind, crashing against the fragile shore.
I didn’t want to believe it, but the marks on my body stated otherwise.
A game he played, and I lost.
My chest ached with a pain that words couldn’t describe. I was drowning in a sea of emotions—fear, shame, anger, and helplessness—all swirling together in a storm I couldn’t escape. A storm with pale blue eyes and a haunting smile.
My tears soaked the pillow.
I wanted to scream, to cry out for help, but fear paralyzed me.
What if no one believed me? What if they blamed me?
I felt like a prisoner in my own body. He had connections, too many of them; he was a potential murderer, a stalker, a psychopath and, above all, he enjoyed being all that. There was no soft bone in his body.
His cold eyes, a chilling blue that seemed to see through me, stripped away my defences.
It wasn’t fair that he moved with a predatory grace, always calm, always in control.
He thrived on fear, feeding off the terror he instilled in others.
His smile was a cruel twist, never reaching those icy eyes.
He had a way of making you feel small and insignificant. He could charm a room with his smooth words and confident demeanour, but there was always an underlying threat. The bastard breathed violence.
He looked at me like I were a toy, something to be played with and discarded.
I had seen glimpses of his true nature: the way he relished control, how his eyes would light up at my fear. He was meticulously evil.
But I couldn’t let him destroy me.
I had to fight back, even if it seemed impossible. I promised myself that I would survive this, that I would reclaim my freedom and my life. And I didn’t know how I’d do that.