Vow In Blood

Chapter Four

Illogical Decision

When the stranger saw how rattled Zoey was by his reaction, he lowered his hand slowly and grunted. "I'm sorry… so sorry."

Zoey wasn't convinced, so she kept a safe distance between them. Up till then, she hadn't considered the possibility of the man being a killer who would wake up and gut her, too—seeing his reaction sent chills into her bones.

But she pushed it away slightly, seeing that he had calmed considerably. It was probably the fever and the shock of waking up after passing due to pain to find someone trying to touch you.

"It's… it's okay," she said, biting her lips right after. "How do you feel?"

He grunted. "Like I just rose from the dead."

She chuckled uneasily. "That's uncanny because you were…well, almost dead last night."

He winced and took a few seconds to look himself over, noting the bandages and absence of blood stains on his person and the floor. He looked up again, leaning back against the couch. "You saved me… thank you."

Zoey nodded and hesitantly asked, "Uhm…so, who are you?"

The stranger held her gaze momentarily, making her feel like she was shrinking back. She glanced back to be sure the door was close enough for her to reach in case she had to bolt.

"Alexander," he said, heaving a sigh. "And you don't need to cringe whenever I move. Considering how shitty I feel, I can't even hurt you even if I wanted to."

"Oh, good," Zoey said and then flushed. "No, I mean good in a good way, not bad. Like, you know good that I'm safe and—"

He chuckled. "I understand what you mean." He lowered his gaze, sucked in a breath to shove the pain back, and then asked, "And who are you?"

"I'm Zoey."

"Thank you, Zoey. I could say I owe you my life."

Again, she released another uneasy chortle. She didn't know why she suddenly felt small under his gaze. Indeed, this was the same man who'd been bleeding to death on the couch a few hours ago, and she'd attended to him.

Zoe shook the thought away, cleared her throat, and asked. "So, uh, what happened to you?"

Alexander dipped his head. "I told you I was robbed. They took my car, phone and everything else with me. when I tried to fight back, they shot me and…I don't know what else happened. I managed to find this place. Came in through the back. I thought I'd die."

"Well… you should report this to the police!" she said. "They can help…"

He shook his head. "It won't be that easy now. They've probably sold the car off to Nebraska or something. Plus, I was dying, so calling the police wasn't top of the list of things to do before I died."

"I have my phone now, so maybe you could—"

He shook his head. "I'll file a report when I get out of here, but I don't want the police to find…me here. I'm not strong enough for the interrogation."

Zoey saw how he struggled as he spoke, but she was burning with questions and couldn't stop herself. "Well, you can call family! You need proper medical attention."

He chuckled. "I don't have anyone here in Florida. I'm visiting."

Zoey paced, frantically trying to think of other solutions to his predicament. Nothing readily came to mind, though.

After a while, Alexander exhaled. "I need… a favor from you."

She stopped, facing him squarely. "Yes?"

"You seem to know what you're doing," he said, pausing momentarily. "Will you stay till the end of tomorrow to help me recuperate? You can leave afterward, and I'll find my way home and get proper treatment."

"I don't have enough supplies and no means to check your vitals!" she said, exasperated. "That's the point. I'm like a blind man trying to fix a broken wall!"

"I'll be fine." He grunted in pain as he shifted on the couch slightly. "Just till tomorrow."

Zoey paced for a while more, weighing the pros and the cons. First, she didn't know this man, and he could have been lying to her for all she knew. Second, if someone found them in there—mainly because bullets were involved and he'd removed them expertly—it would drag her into a bigger mess than she felt her family offered.

Then, he could be dangerous too, trying to keep her locked in till he was strong enough to strike her down. And she had a weekend adventure with her friends! What was more? She couldn't do anything for him. If the fever went too high and threw him into a fit of psychosis, what could she possibly do?

She had to turn him down. She had to leave immediately.

Finally, she exhaled. "Fine. I'll stay."

"You will?" he asked, surprised by her answer.

Zoey shrugged. She was surprised by her answer, too. The cons outweigh the pros, but she let that iota of doubt rule her heart. What if he was just a helpless visitor who got robbed, shot, and left to die, and she was his only shot at surviving, but she was too scared to do it?

Her decision was illogical, but she felt it was the right thing to do.

Alexander smiled at her warmly. "Thank you," he said. "You're like an angel sent to nurture me back to health."

"I wouldn't go that far to call myself that." She was sure that if he knew about her background and what her family was into, he wouldn't feel the same way about her.

Most of Zoey's friends had no idea that her family was deep into the underworld. They mostly thought their wealth came from the many investments and companies they owned. If they did find out, she wasn't sure if any of them would still want to be friends with her.

But not knowing was for their benefit. Zoey had seen her father order the deaths of those he felt were threats to their operations. It always nauseated her, making her hate the life she had more.