OBSESSION

CHAPTER 5

Ashwin was pulling her hair while Mike was doing everything he could to stop Ashwin by restraining him. But with Ashwin’s free hand, Mike only received punches in his attempts to hold him back. Even John was helping to stop Ashwin from attempting to choke her again.

She was confused by what was happening, especially by Ashwin's behavior. He was fine earlier, but why did he suddenly change in an instant? Why is he hurting her? What's the sudden change in his personality?

A tear escaped from her eyes. She could no longer hold back the mixed emotions she was feeling, not to mention the pain from Ashwin's nails digging into the nape of her neck. And she failed, she couldn’t hide her tears from Amper, who was now looking at her from the side mirror.

"Boss, that's enough," Mike said calmly but with a noticeable exhaustion in his voice.

"A-Ashwin," she groaned.

"Kizia, are you okay?" John asked her anxiously, to which she only responded with sobs.

She didn't realize they had already entered the subdivision and were now entering the gate. She could see a figure of a man wearing a white lab jacket looking in their direction. If she wasn't mistaken, it was Ashton. But why was he wearing a white lab jacket?

Is he a doctor?

She was pained by the thought that Amper was right, that she knew nothing about the people she was serving. They are all mysterious. And their mysteriousness is killing her.

She found herself being pressed against the car window. She closed her eyes and held her head after Ashwin slammed her into it. Her vision was spinning, and it seemed like her hearing was also affected, probably because of the force of the impact.

Even with her blurry vision, she could still recognize the person in front of her shaking her and talking to her, though she couldn’t hear.

"J-John."

She also saw Ashton in his white lab gown approaching Ashwin. He had something with him that he injected into his twin brother's arm.

John pulled her out. She felt like she was floating in the air. And before she lost consciousness, she felt a liquid running down her cheek, which she guessed came from the side of her head. She's bleeding for pity’s sake!

SHE WOKE UP in an unfamiliar room. She was still lying on a cot trying to figure out things she might have forgotten. She flinched when her head hurt; it might be the result of forcing her brain to work out and recollect what just really happened to her that ended with her lying on a couch.

Then, it hits her!

Fear was visible on her heart-shaped face and anxiety reflected in her dark brown eyes.

"Ashwin," she murmured in disbelief.

She sat on the couch quickly in annoyance. She held her forehead as it throbbed from the sudden movement. She closed her eyes and tried to relax.

"You shouldn't force yourself to move quickly." She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Only to find out that she was not alone. A pale-skinned woman wearing a white lab jacket was sitting comfortably on the white sofa with arms crossed and was emotionlessly eyeing her.

"W-Who are y-you," she managed to say despite the many questions running through her mind.

The woman just stared at her, and she felt uncomfortable with the way the woman looked at her. She knew they weren’t far apart in age. She was 23, and she knew the woman was still in her mid-twenties. It's just that she couldn’t figure out her exact age.

To avoid the woman’s cold gaze, she roamed the pure white room. It was neither big nor too small. It has five couches and several medical types of equipment like dextrose which was connected to her right arm. She also found two doors, one of which she thought might be connected to another room and one for the exit.

She heard the woman sighing and then walking towards her direction with a syringe in hand. On cue, she stepped back. Who knows what this woman was up to. After all, she didn’t know her. She might be planning something bad for her. How she wished she could read what this woman might be thinking right now.

The woman grabbed her arm, and she tried to pull it away. What was this pale woman planning to do to her? Surely, she wasn’t planning to kill her by injecting whatever she had.

The woman hissed effortlessly. "Can you stop protesting? You're giving me a hard time," she said nonchalantly. "Damn that Ashton," the woman added, which surprised her a bit.

She saw the woman raise an eyebrow at her reaction but immediately brushed it off. She flinched when she felt the needle piercing her arm.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on killing you unless they order me to do so." She put the syringe back in her lab gown pocket and fixed her stance. "Just kidding," she quickly added upon seeing the fear on her face.

She held her head as it throbbed again. "Does it really hurt?" She looked back at the woman, who was currently taking something out of her lab gown pocket. How could she still ask if she was okay if she were in her situation?

"I hope I can feel that too," she said while reading the paper attached to the syringe she was holding. "The pain... I really want to feel that pain."

She's Weird!

"I know you're thinking that I'm weird right now. Well! That's really what my patients say when they pass through me. It's just that I'm really curious." She sat next to her. "Of how painful it is." She extended her hand to her.

Not understanding, the woman took her arm herself. "Don't worry, this is a pain reliever."

She couldn’t say anything about the woman's behavior. She just watched what she was doing; from finding her vein to injecting the pain reliever. She really looked genius yet weird.

"I've finished my part here." Before the woman could stand up, she quickly pulled her back to sit down.

"What?"

"Where am I? Am I in a hospital?" The woman just stared at her while raising an eyebrow.

"Really? Haven't you seen this place?" She shook her head.

"Why, where am I?" She stuttered.

"Don't panic. You're just in the Laishram's house."

"House?" She asked, seemingly in disbelief. "Is there something like this in Sir Ashton's house?"

"Why? Have you seen the whole house?" She shook her head again.

The woman sighed, still showing no emotion. She looked like the 'Girl Version' of Leo. She was just pale with gray eyes.

"This is Ashton's room - His Mini Laboratory." She stood up and started putting away the items on the small table next to her, which she assumed were used to treat her.

"Is Sir Ashton a doctor?"

"Sort of.. And I am his Assistant... s***h Human Subject of his experiment."

"Huh? I don't understand." Her head was starting to hurt from what the woman was saying. Her mind became more confused. She was becoming more curious about the twins.

She put the items into a medical kit. "You really know nothing about them."

She clenched her fists tightly. How many times had she heard the phrase 'you know nothing'? Was it her fault that she knew nothing? Was it her fault that she didn't become nosy? Was it her fault that she chose to stay silent and just do her job? Maybe it was her fault, and perhaps she deserved to feel this pain because of her ignorance.

"Well, let me give you an idea of who they are." She looked up.

"Ashwin is an Underground Businessman and Ashton - his twin brother is the supplier." Her frown deepened.

"Do you still remember the men in black chasing you?" She nodded, remembering. "They were Ashwin's enemies."

"Enemy?"

"Ashwin is very popular in the world of Underground Business. Everything he sells is rare but illegal."

"You mean drugs?"

"Sort of." She sat on the sofa with her legs crossed. "Not just any drugs. It is a potion - a toxic potion!" She stared at her. "All his partners are being chased for that. It worth millions, and no matter how hard they try to discover the formula of that toxic potion, they can't. Only Ashton knows the secret formula."

"Why does Ashton do that? Isn't it illegal?"

"That's a business, Kizia... Business is Business... There’s nothing wrong or illegal in business... In fact, they did that since they were kids."

"W-What kind of people are they?"

"Well, they're still human."

She pointed at the woman. "Why do you let Ashton use you? Didn’t you say you're a Human Subject! Why do you let him?"

She sighed. "I owe my life to Ashton. Besides, I promised him that I'd be his equipment to accomplish what he wants to do. As long as I'm breathing, I'm willing to be his tool."

"That's so sad!" she burst out.

The woman shot her a sharp look. "You think so?" The woman smirked. "Well, you still don't know the story, Kizia." She stood up. "But I'll tell you what’s the worst for me.. What’s sad in my life."

The woman walked slowly towards her. "You know what Congenital Analgesia is?" She didn’t answer but just stared at her as she stopped in front of her.

She saw something in the woman's eyes. "I can't feel pain, Kizia. That's the worst thing I know about me." Her eyes widened.

Is she joking? How come she couldn’t feel anything?

"That's why I'm very curious about people's feelings. What it feels like to be hurt. If it really hurts." She sat beside her. "I really envy them."

"N-No, you're just kidding, r-right?"

"I know it's really hard to believe, but I've been used to it since I was a kid." He looked at her. "You know what's the dumbest thing I did when I was a kid?"

She kept her mouth shut and just listened to whatever he was saying. It was hard to believe, but it seemed he wasn't joking or lying.

"I cut my wrist to feel the pain. I even slammed my head on the wall just to feel the pain, and worse, I jumped off the staircase just to feel it! But nothing happened." He shook his head. "My parents are doctors. I underwent a lot of treatments, but I still don't feel it, Kizia." Should she feel sorry for him? Or should she be happy because he won't feel any pain inflicted by people around him?

"I thought, Kizia, if I was still human. Because of my strange condition, my friends and even people around me avoided me. They said I was strange and never belonged with them." He stood up. "Well, you don't need to pity me; you'll pity yourself more."

She was surprised by the change in the atmosphere; it seemed he was changing the subject.

"That Ashwin..."

Why, what's with Sir Ashwin?

"You're dealing with a person who has Multiple Personality... And who knows what worse he can do to you... I pity you..."

She was shocked. Totally shocked. It's not that she was saying Ashwin was dangerous, because if that were the case, Ashton would have said so from the beginning. They had no right to keep it from her if something was wrong with Ashwin.

They both turned towards the door as it opened.

"Ashton," she heard the pale woman say.