CHAPTER 8THE MONSTER INSIDE HIM
736 Words
The first man through the doorway never even saw Anik move.
One second the room was silent.
The next—
Violence erupted.
A loud crack split the darkness as Anik slammed the attacker into the wall hard enough to shake the entire hallway.
Elara gasped.
Everything happened too fast.
Too brutal.
Too controlled.
The second man raised his weapon—
Anik fired first.
The gunshot exploded through the penthouse.
The attacker crashed backward instantly.
Elara’s heartbeat spiraled out of control.
This wasn’t chaos.
That was the terrifying part.
Anik moved through violence like he belonged inside it.
Cold.
Efficient.
Deadly.
Another man appeared near the hallway entrance.
Anik grabbed him by the throat before slamming him into the marble floor with horrifying force.
The sound alone made Elara flinch.
“Who sent you?” Anik demanded.
The man laughed painfully despite blood running down his mouth.
“Too late.”
Anik’s expression darkened.
“What does that mean?”
The man looked toward Elara.
And smiled.
Big mistake.
Something inside Anik visibly snapped.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Dangerously.
Because now he wasn’t fighting strategically anymore.
Now he looked furious.
Truly furious.
“You don’t look at her,” Anik said quietly.
The calmness in his voice terrified everyone in the room.
Including Elara.
Because beneath that calm—
There was rage.
Pure rage.
The attacker suddenly reached for something hidden inside his jacket.
Anik reacted instantly.
Another gunshot exploded.
The body hit the floor hard.
Silence followed.
Heavy breathing filled the room.
Elara stared at Anik in shock.
He stood near the center of the destroyed hallway, chest rising slowly, gun still in his hand.
Rain and thunder crashed outside behind him.
And in that moment—
He didn’t look human.
He looked dangerous.
The kind of dangerous people fear instinctively.
Anik turned toward her immediately after.
And the terrifying part?
The second he looked at her—
His entire expression softened.
“Elara.”
Her pulse stumbled.
Even after everything that just happened—
The way he said her name still affected her.
“I need you to look at me.”
She tried.
God, she tried.
But all she could think about was how easily he’d hurt those men.
How natural it looked.
How terrifyingly calm he remained afterward.
Anik noticed immediately.
His jaw tightened.
“You’re scared of me now.”
The quiet certainty in his voice hurt unexpectedly.
Because beneath the danger—
He actually cared what she thought.
Elara swallowed hard.
“I don’t know what I am right now.”
His eyes darkened slightly.
Fair answer.
Another loud sound echoed somewhere below them.
More footsteps.
Anik cursed softly.
“There’s more.”
Fear tightened around her chest again.
“How many people are in this building?”
“Too many.”
He grabbed her hand again immediately.
Warm.
Firm.
Protective.
“We’re leaving.”
Elara followed him through the dark hallway, heart pounding violently as alarms suddenly began blaring throughout the penthouse.
Red emergency lights flashed across the walls now.
Painting everything blood-red.
Anik moved quickly toward a private elevator hidden behind another hallway panel.
“How do you even have this?” she asked breathlessly.
His expression remained cold.
“Because I planned for enemies long before I met you.”
The answer sent chills through her.
The elevator doors opened instantly.
Anik pushed her inside first before stepping in beside her.
The doors started closing.
Then suddenly—
A hand slammed violently between them.
The doors jerked open again.
An armed man lunged forward.
Elara screamed softly.
Anik shot him instantly.
The body collapsed halfway inside the elevator.
Blood spread across the floor.
The metallic smell filled the air immediately.
Elara’s breathing became uneven.
Anik noticed instantly.
His eyes softened slightly despite the chaos around them.
“Don’t look.”
Too late.
She already had.
And somehow the worst part wasn’t the violence.
It was how far Anik was willing to go for her.
The elevator doors finally closed.
Silence filled the small space.
Only their breathing remained.
Elara looked up slowly.
Anik stood directly in front of her now.
Close.
Very close.
Blood stained part of his shirt.
His knuckles.
His jaw.
And somehow—
He still looked at her like she was the only thing keeping him sane.
That realization hit dangerously hard.
Then Anik spoke quietly.
“I told you they’d make me violent.”
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