Entrapped

Chapter 14.

The sky had turned black with no sight of stars. The moon that had taken all the burden to provide a little light it could, had vanished when the dark cloud swallowed it up.

It was a huge desert that was ending nowhere, the soil that once used to be fertile had now turned completely barren but amidst all this darkness and sand there was a huge tree whose leaves were getting dried up and falling down one by one. The bark of the tree had turned black instead of the natural brown colour.

Her shaky hands reached to caress the dying tree; it was the only living thing apart from her own self in this desert of death she had found herself as soon as she opened her eyes after a long peaceful slumber.

"Don't die," She whispered to that tree; she didn't know why but she could feel a strange relation to that tree like it was very important to her.

She stretched her hand out in order to catch a leaf that was falling off the tree, she palmed the dried-up leaf and it crumbled against her soft hand and then slowly disappeared in thin air as if it was never there.

She looked around the tree and then up, the leaves were continuously falling down one by one but there was not even a single leaf on the ground which confused her as they were supposed to be piled up on the sand but they kept vanishing right before they were touching the ground.

"w-what is happening?" She stuttered, afraid that she wouldn't be able to find her way back.

"Tiara," She heard a soft voice calling for her and when she turned to the corresponding direction her eyes widened in happiness.

"Mason!" He stood before her, wearing a black suit with a white shirt underneath. His hair was nearly set back and he looked so handsome.

"Mason, is that you?" She shrieked in happiness as she had thought that she would never be able to see this man ever again but here he was, right in front of her.

"Yes Tiara, it is really me." He confirmed, giving her his infamous smile that she was a sucker for.

A big smile adorned her lips and she quickly threw herself on him, embracing her hands around his neck she hid her head in his muscular chest.

"I really missed you, Mason," She said as she felt him hugging her back. She felt secure and at peace in his arms. It was like she was in paradise.

"I thought I would never get to see you when Xavier kil-" She stopped mid-sentence and gulped in fear and slowly brought one of her hands down and pressed it against his chest, right above his heart.

She pulled away from him and looked up at the man she loved, at her husband and tears instantly filled her eyes as the realization dawned upon her, "y-your heart is not b-beating?"

Mason's smile faded away upon hearing her and he quickly looked down out of guilt.

"Is this a d-dream?" He nodded in response and Tiara gulped down the lump of fear of losing him again once she would wake up.

She looked at the man in front of her and kept looking at him with love, adoration, longing and guilt; all together at once.

She just wanted to never wake up again and be here with Mason. She just wanted time to freeze and spent the rest of her life in this moment where she was with the man she loved.

"don't think about it, Tiara" He told her, pulling her out of her trance, "Our time has ended and no one could grant us any more to be together. I have gone far away from you and you have to keep on living where you are and where I was."

"No Mason!" She shook her head from left to right, "you are here right in front of me." She knew he wasn't but she didn't want to acknowledge that.

Mason chuckled painfully, he wanted to be there with her too but it was too late now and like he had said his time with her had ended and he needed to make best use of the left-over time.

"I am here because of this, Tiara," He pointed at the tree that was dying slowly, under a tree where both of them stood.

"What about it?" Tiara asked as she turned to face the tree, her eyes kept looking at the unfortunate tree and felt it's pain.

"It's dying, Mason," She whispered and for some unknown reason a tear of sorrow escaped her eyes.

"It is not the tree that is dying but you." He claimed and walked closer to her and stood behind her.

Tiara was confused, she didn't understand a word that was said by him and continued to look at the tree, trying to solve the riddle Mason had thrown at her.

He held one of her hands and put it on her heart while the other one on the bark of the tree and her eyes widened when she felt something inside that tree was beating just like her heart and before she could open her mouth Mason beat her in it and explained.

"This tree is you, Tiara. the seed of the hatred and revenge you have buried in the depth of your heart would someday grow just like this," He hugged her from behind while she listened to him silently.

"Let go of that hatred because it would turn your heart black, you would not be able to feel anything," He advised as he hoped that she would listen to him.

"I have nothing left to live for, Mason," Her voice turned emotional, "that hatred and revenge are the only strings of life I can cling onto." She cried, mourning over the pain and grief she felt for that tree that resembles her heart from the future.

"You can stop it, baby," Mason whispered some wise words in her eyes, “you just need to stop feeding on hatred"

"I can't because if I let go of that then I would only be left with sorrow and despair." She fell down on her knees, feeling helpless as ever. She couldn't let it go no matter how much she wanted, she didn't want to feel vulnerable.

"If that's what you choose." She heard him getting distant from her and when she looked back at him, he had disappeared, leaving her all alone.

She shot her eyes open and panted for air, she felt sweaty and sat up abruptly. She took as many deep breaths as she could until her ragged breathing turned stable.

She remembered the dream she just had vividly, she remembered Mason's words clearly and out of reflex her hand instantly palmed her heart which was beating just fine.

"I am sorry, Mason but I have no one to save my heart for. it was robbed of love the moment that monster killed you and now it's nothing but a vessel that is holding immense hatred for him." She mumbled to no one in particular hoping that Mason could hear her from wherever he was.

She had made up her mind, she had lived up until now for love and freedom but from this moment onwards the sole purpose of her life was to ruin Xavier in a way no one had ever done.

She smiled coldly and patted her heart, "I don't need you anymore so just die peacefully; you must die." Her tone turned emotionless and she had sworn to never to show any emotion ever again because emotions could only divert her from her aim.

She took a deep breath and gulped down every emotion and pain she felt at that moment and buried them up in the abyss of her heart.

She rang the bell that was placed on the nightstand for her to call for any help in case she needed any sort of assistance from servants and within a minute her maid stood before her to serve her.

"Ask Xavier to come and see me, there is something I need to talk to him about," Tiara ordered with such a confidence that no one had ever seen her with, "and he must come." She demanded leaving no room for discussion.

Xavier was in his room when he was informed that Tiara had asked for him and he was instantly appalled by the idea of going to her, he had thought that she would not like to see his face after the stunt she had pulled yesterday night.

He wondered what she was going to say because if she was going to ask him to let her then he couldn't do that. It was true what he had said about waiting for her the other day but that didn't mean he would let her go out of his grasp.

Xavier knocked consciously before twisting the door handle to let her know that he was coming in, he stepped inside wondering what she had stored for him.

He was nervous and anxious and when his gaze landed on her petite figure on the bed with her head against the headboard, he calmed down a bit as she looked quite relaxed and he got this feeling that she was not going to shout at him for saving her.

"How are you feeling?" Xavier started, his voice penetrating the thick silence that surrounded them.

"Are you burned anywhere? Is your head hurting?" He already knew that there was no burn on her body and he had already talked to the doctor to give her some pain killers as she had very low tolerance for the pain.

She was also aware that he must have cross checked everything with the doctor and he was only asking her because he did not have anything else to say.

"I am fine, thank you." She answered truthfully, she was glad that she didn't die a worthless death and was grateful to Xavier that he had given her an aim, an aim to ruin him completely and she was devoted to it.

She raised her gaze and looked up at him who was looking the other way and cleared her throat before lowering her gaze once again.

"Sit here," She patted the empty space near her legs, "I want to talk." She was hesitant but could clearly feel his suspicious gaze on her body.

Xavier was confused as she was acting out of her character but decided to sit nonetheless because he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"I am all ears," He announced as he sat down, his eyes not moving away from her nervous figure.

She nodded her head but kept quiet for a long time, preparing herself for what she had planned to do. She did not want to give away her true intentions to him, she needed to be cautious as he was not a man you could fool easily.

"It's about what you said to me last night, was it true?" He knew what she was indicating, so he nodded in response to put an end to this conversation because he didn't want to talk about last night. It pained him to even think about the way she tried to end her life.

"d-do you really l-love me?" She knew he did, she had witnessed that emotion in his eyes that she had always mistook for obsession yet she needed a confirmation from him.

Her question caught him off guard but he decided to answer honestly. "More than you can ever imagine." His voice held sincerity while his grey orbs shone with the same emotion and she was instantly at ease.

"I am sorry." She whispered softly, making him even more baffled than he already was. He seemed to have lost all his wit at the moment.

"I shouldn't have done what I did." He was not sure what she was apologizing for but a part of him, the part that loved her, was ready to forgive her for everything.

"It's alright," He told her calmly because for him, everything was alright as long as she was safe though he was not okay, her actions were constantly putting him through so much pain but he was not the one to complain or blame.

"You should rest and please take your medicine on time." He said while getting up as he thought there was nothing else to talk between them and turned on his heel to leave her alone but her next words halted him on the spot.

"I am ready to marry you." He couldn't believe his ears and turned around slowly; his confused gaze fell upon her only to find her looking down while she fidgeted with her fingers.

"You can start the preparation, I won't give you a hard time." before he could ask her anything she found it fit to beat him to it.

Xavier stayed silent for a brief moment, observing her with his hawk-like eyes to see through her but she didn't show any sign of lying.

"What are you trying to do, Tiara?" He came straight to the point as playing around with words was never his forte, "if I remember clearly then you just tried to take your own life last night just to avoid getting married to me!" mockery was clearly evident in his voice and she closed her eyes as she was reminded of her foolishness.

"b-because I realized something-"

"What? That fire can burn you?" He snapped in anger, he just couldn't comprehend how to act and what fit she was trying to throw now.

Tears instantly welled up in her eyes and she slowly raised her head to meet his eyes, "I realized that you really love me, I witnessed that emotion flickering in your eyes when you saw me on the brink of death." Her answer made him freeze but his heart to accelerate its beating. He couldn't believe that she had really said that.

"I never realized that you loved me and even mistook your feelings for obsession when you confessed the other day b-but yesterday I realized I was wrong." She was honest about her observation and the result of which brought her a sadistic peace.

"I was wrong all along and I am ready to rectify my mistakes." She claimed but her words had a hidden meaning from which the man in front of her was completely unaware of, "I am truly sorry."

It felt nice to Xavier, she was finally acknowledging his love for her after all these years and her acceptance for him made him delighted as he could see a hope for their future together and he couldn't wish for anything more.

A warm feeling engulfed him because of the turn of events, he was happy that destiny had started to play in his favour and his lips stretched into a light smile of happiness.

"I forgive you, Tiara." He finally smiled showing his one dimple to her and she returned his smile with one of her own with her eyes twinkling with glint of evilness.