Chapter Nine: The Miller's Argument
1265 Words
Della was frightened the more. She tried to run away but it was of no use. She was already with Aiden. Running away would only make her look stupid. Aiden chuckled and said, " You should put yourself today. You look like a piece of......"
"What on earth do you want, Aiden? You have done so much harm to Ava already and she is in a terrible condition. What else do you want?" Della asked.
"One more word from you and you will go extinct." Aiden said with a sudden change of mood. Immediately, Della kept mute.
Aiden sighed heavily and said, " You know, y'all think I'm a monster but seriously, I'm not. Everyone I meet just happen to cross my boundary. That's unfortunate." Then he smiled and laughed loudly.
"Alright, you got me. I was the one. So what will you do? Report me? You dare not. Well, I'm going to be very good boy now. We will have an agreement. None of us will regret anything if we both stick to the agreement. Normally, I can get away with anything without having any agreement with you but I just wanna try something new." He said this, smiling weirdly. Della fretted.
"Wh....what agreement?" Della stammered. Aiden stared at Della and bursted into laughter as she shivered with fear.
"Follow me to the roof top." Aiden said. Della was uncomfortable. She knew that place wasn't a good place to be with someone like Aiden alone.
"I'm not going anywhere. Whatever you have to say, you can say it right here and now." Della said with a surprising confidence.
"Well, I applaud your confidence. Now, follow me. I'm not kidding this time." Aiden said. Della was seriously frightened than ever but she had no choice but to follow Aiden up to the roof top. When they finally got there, Aiden was silent.
"He is not gonna throw me down there, is he?" Della asked herself within her.
"Ai..Aiden, what are we here for?" Della asked. Aiden paused and kept on looking at the sky.
"Good question. Della, look up to the sky. What do you see?" Aiden asked.
Della was puzzled. "Is this a joke?" She asked herself.
"Birds flying around." She said aloud.
"Great. So great. You see, the birds seem very free, right? They are free here because of course, no hawk can be here but it will unwise of a little bird to get close or cross the boundary of a hawk." Aiden said. Della kept mute.
"You are supposed to get the message by now. Look, if you really want to be free like these birds, do not, I repeat, do not ever reveal the secret. It's not going to end up funny. That's not just a threat but a promise. You know me. I always stick to my words." Aiden said, fearlessly.
"Aiden, what are you doing? Please, I'm begging you. Stop all of these. This isn't fetching you any good, is it?" Della pleaded. Aiden began to laugh loudly and said, "You are begging me. For what?"
Then his voice became louder and angrier, saying "Why are you begging me?!! Not everyone listens to pleads. He didn't listen to my plea for years. I was been pounced on for years, pleading for help but no help came. So why should I listen to your disgusting plea?"
Della paused for a while and said, "He? Who is he?" She said this fearlessly, not minding what Aiden would do to her for asking such a ridiculous question.
Aiden held the railing so tight and said angrily, "Get out! Scram! Go away!" Della ran as far as she could. After all, it was already too late to be in school.
*. *. *
"I'm doing very well here. There's nothing to be afraid of." Ava said on a phone call with Della that night.
" Ava, there's something I need to tell you." Della said.
" I knew there was something you weren't telling me. Your voice sounds unhappy. So what's the matter?" Ava said.
"Ava, I know..... I know it was Aiden that did that to you." Della said.
"Della, stop. Just stop there." Ava cut in.
"Ava, what's the problem? Don't you want to get justice for what he did to you?" Della asked.
"This topic really irritates me. Let's just change the topic." Ava said.
"Oh really or has Aiden threatened you too?" Della asked.
Ava was puzzled. "Excuse me? I don't understand." Ava said.
"Ava, I found out myself that it was Aiden that did that to you. He listened to my conversation with Sophia and Ocean about the way I found out that he was the one that did that to you. He later came to me after school, alone in the whole school and threatened to deal with me if I ever spill the tea to anyone Oh, Ava. You should have been there to see how terrified I was. He took me to the rooftop and said some scary things about birds and freedom. Aiden is mysterious and weird and scary and dangerous." Della narrated. With a much lower tone, Ava said, "Wait a minute. I'm so confused. How did you find out?"
"On my way back from signing up for the competition, I thought you were out of the bathroom by that time. I searched for you everywhere but I didn't see you. So I decided to check the classroom.Who knows, you might be there. Then on my way there, Aiden bumped into me in a hurry. He came directly from the bathroom and after wondering what was going on with him, I went into the bathroom, only to find you lying unconscious on the ground. It's obvious it was Aiden." Della narrated further.
"To be honest, what happened was all my fault. If only I didn't eavesdrop to his conversation he had on the phone with his mom, all this wouldn't have happened." Ava said, blaming herself.
"Things are falling apart, Della. I'm not even sure I will return to Grayson High. My mom was very furious after hearing the news."Ava said.
"Ava, I noticed something awkward about Aiden earlier today. There's something about him. I feel he is going through something and maybe he is transferring whatever is going through to everyone around him." Della said.
"I think he is going through whatever he is doing to people in the hands of someone else and making him transfer aggressions to his peers." Della said.
Ava understood what Della was talking about but she played clueless.
"I don't understand." She lied.
Della sighed and said, "I think he is a victim of a form of abuse. He said something really scary that made me see him in a different light. For a second actually." Ava chuckled.
"Aiden said something after I begged him to let me go. He was like, "He didn't listen to me after pleading so why should I listen to you." Trust me, he really sounded angry and very scary. I tried asking him who that "he" was but you know Aiden. Asking him that just shows how much of an audacity I have." Della explained.
Ava kept mute for a second.
"I wonder why he said that but he was so angry. His eyes was as red as blood. I had goosebumps all over me because I was with the psycho on the rooftop. You should have been there, Ava." Della continued.
"I think everything is beginning to make sense, Della." Ava said.
"What do you mean?" Della asked.
- Writer
