The Disobedient Mate

Chapter 03- You Will Die Without Me

At first, my feet felt heavy to walk. I was frightened, with my eyes tightening to see the man lying on the ground. The man's mouth was gaping, and his eyes were wide open, facing upwards, as a form of him being in a lot of pain because his neck was strangled.

"Run, Hailey; you don't want to die, do you ?" I said in my heart

I gathered the last of my strength and ran away from the alley. I follow the direction of the wind. Leaving my breath gasping and swallowed by fear. When I arrived at my house, I hurriedly closed the bedroom door.

It was as if someone was chasing me from behind. I closed the window curtains and turned on my bed, headlight, and desk lamp. I hate darkness. Wearily, I sat down on my bed.

"Bastian! Geez, he's a murderer!" I said

My whole body shook violently, but slowly I regained my composure. The fear faded until there was a sense of tightness left. That's weird; I should be terrified.

"Apparently, I feel normal. It tastes bland!" I said.

I just watched someone kill someone else, but the fear was only as great as the shock I felt. When I was ten years old, I watched my mother hang herself in front of me. I saw the pained expression on his face and his body hanging in the attic of his room.

"Tomorrow, I will forget this incident!" I buried my body into the blanket.

My aunt worked as a cashier at the cinema. She had struggled to pay for my college and daily needs for us. I didn't want to burden her with anything else, so I had a part-time job.

An acquaintance at the library suggested I work as a waitress at the Silver Bar. It's only the fourth-ranked bar in town, quite far from my campus neighborhood. That's why I dared to take the job.

"Oh, God!" I was dumbfounded because Bastian was standing in front of me. I immediately asked him what he was doing here.

My heart just fluttered; the fear I felt just disappeared. I was standing before an assassin, but I didn't feel scared.

Bastian followed my steps; he interfered with my work. At first, I tried to ignore it. I assumed he just wanted to ensure I didn't tell anyone about the murder.

Suddenly, Bastian strangled Evan, who was the bartender at the bar. Bastian threatened me, and I had no choice but to drag his hand through the bar's back door.

"Bastian? Oh, sorry!" I immediately let go of my grip on his arm. I'm not that brave to play with a murderer.

Bastian, with a flat expression, looked at me. He put his hand in his trouser pocket. I know him because he is like an idol on campus. He stands out as a transfer student in his final year.

The women admired his calm demeanor, handsome and dashing. Would they still admire this man if they knew how terrible Bastian was?

"Listen! I accidentally saw what happened in the alley that time, okay? Looks like you guys are just playing around," I said awkwardly.

"He's dead!"

"What?"

"That man is dead! I strangled him to death! We are not playing games," said Bastian firmly.

How could it be? It was so easy for him to say that. It was as if he had no guilt at all. I stepped back. A shocking current ran through my body.

***

I try to think calmly. I have to sort out what I can ask. When I was very close to Bastian, I realized his handsome face had a cold aura.

"He really died?" I asked back in a stammering voice.

"Yeah!"

"Are you two fighting?"

"Not really! I don't know him, we're just fighting! Then he died!"

I swallowed my saliva roughly. Once again, he said the word die with ease, like human life is as light as cotton.

I took two more steps back. Bastian was still standing; he glanced at my feet, who stepped back. I took a deep breath and ventured to ask, to release my curiosity.

"Why did you kill that man, if you don't know him? I mean, that means he's not looking for trouble with you, right?"

"I can say he is the problem."

I pinched my temples. "Okay, I don't understand! Forget that for a moment! Then why are you looking for me? Oh, how did you find me here?" I asked, at the most surprising part.

I never met my college friends around here. They used to play at the first-rank bar in town, so I was very calm when I worked here.

"When you were in college, you were a nerd, right ? I'm surprised to see how you look now! You are not wearing your glasses. Can you see clearly?"

I sighed. "Mercy asked me to dress up like this because I work at the bar! She's the one who taught me to look like this," I said.

"Who's Mercy?"

"My boss, anyway! Whatever I do is none of your business. Yeah, I'm a nerd, but I'm not doing the dirty work here. I'm just a waitress!" I said firmly.

"Oh, you let male bartender hold your hand."

"Oh, God! Evan is my coworker! He didn't touch me, by the way! He just accidentally nudged my hand! Besides, why are you making such a fuss?"

"I said I was looking for you!"

"Yeah, you've said that many times. Why are you looking for me?"

"I want you! My wolf bead is with you."

It shocked me to hear his words. The more I talked to him, the more confused I became. I don't know where this conversation is going. I feel Bastian is a mysterious man. He spoke only according to his heart's desire.

"What are you talking about? Enough! I can't hear you anymore!" I was about to step back in, but my steps were stopped because Bastian held my arm.

"I said, stop working at the bar! And come with me," he said.

I threw her hands. "Why are you acting like this to me? If you mean to silence me for the events I've seen, then I won't say that to anyone. Why? You want to kill me too?"

I trembled when I said that. Even though my life is difficult, I don't want to die yet. I still have dreams of being a rich woman and buying all the mouths that insult my mother and me.

"I can't kill you even if I wanted to," he said

"Gosh!" I shuddered to hear his words. I chose to re-enter the bar, and I could still faintly hear his screams from outside.

"If you don't listen to me! Then your life will be in danger!" he said.

I rotated my eyes lazily. "To hell with your words," I said to myself

I came home from work at precisely eleven o'clock at night. I passed the road I usually take to get home. During this time, no one dared to harass me on the streets. Maybe because of my shabby face and my clumsy way of dressing.

"Why does tonight feel a little different?" I grumbled and glanced in various directions. There were still a few people passing by on the streets, but I felt lonely. I also think someone is watching me from somewhere.

I was walking casually into the alley I used to pass until suddenly, someone grabbed my hand.

"Arghhh!" I screamed, as my body slammed violently against the cold wall. The rough surface of the wall scratches my forehead and it stings.

I raised my head, but my eyes bulged at an impressive figure. A tall man with sharp eyes like a beast. He smirked with saliva running down his teeth.

"Who are you? Oh my God!" My mouth feels heavy to speak.

The man with the monster's face approached me. I stepped back, but the wall behind me cornered my body. Panic immediately overtook me. "Arghhhhh! Someone, please save me."

When my voice is swallowed up by the cold of the night and the terrifying loneliness, I'll die?

A man in a black hoodie jumped up, silencing this suffocating night. My eyes caught the figure of the man in the hoodie, Bastian.

Quickly, Bastian pulled the hair of the man with the monster's face and grabbed the man's neck.

Again and again, I watched Bastian kill a man in front of me, or that figure wasn't human either.

I cringed when I heard the sound of the figure's neck snapping, black smoke swirling around its body, and slowly its body turned to ashes. My irises trembled at the sight of it all.

Bastian turned to me, his almond eyes turning brighter. She smiled with a firm lip line, a soft pink.

"I told you, didn't I? You will die if you don't listen to what I have to say! Are you still not listening to me now?" he asked in my anxiety.