Past Shadows

Do Your Worst Beast.

‘ Should I flee? ‘

This thought bombarded Alisa’s head repeatedly. Her supposed knight, albeit a female one, who was supposed to rescue her; the damsel in distress, was now crouching in pain. Her slowly building hope was immediately shattered into pieces.

She was still a human at the end of the day. Having her hopes built and shattered consecutively was no mild torture. The confidence she previously had had slowly faded. Thus, the thought of fleeing was slowly becoming the dominant one in her head.

But she still couldn't resolve her self to make such decision. She wasn't an ingrate. She knew the only reason Alisa was in such a mess was due to her advent in rescuing her. How could she even consider leaving her behind?

‘ Prisca! Don’t be an ingrate. ‘ She whispered to herself. There were only two ruffians left; the leader and a minion. She couldn’t help but consider whether she could take them out herself. After all, it was her mate who took out the other four like they were mere tofu. If Alisa could, couldn’t she?

But the contemplation didn’t last for too long before she dropped it. She and Alisa were not the same. She had no idea what kind of training or forging Alisa could have gone through to become that skillful. All she knew was whatever it was, she lagged behind. Going forward right now might only put more burden on Alisa’s shoulders, agitating her further. Thus she could only act as an audience. For now at least.

Now it all came to whether Alisa could regain a bit of her strength and finish up the rest of the ruffians, or not. Either way, she knew she had no role to play here. Or maybe she was just scared of playing any. Fighting with hefty men was no possibility for her. Especially not with savage ones like them. Thus, she could only place her gamble on Alisa gaining her momentum back.

Thankfully, not too long after, what she prayed for came to pass. Alisa somehow regained her momentum and took down yet another ruffian; the last minion.

In a moment of absent attention from the ruffian, Alisa had taken advantage of this and landed series of lethal blows on him, causing him to collapse into an unconscious state.

But she collapsed back to the floor, no longer merely crouching, but placing a knee down to support herself. She looked utterly exhausted.

Watching her collapse to an even more exhausted state, Prisca could no longer see any atom of hope. Then the coward of a devil called Jake finally decided to make a move. It was such a crucial moment for everyone.

Watching Jake draw closer with every step he took, Prisca couldn’t help but feel her heart pause a bit. She had noticed the strangeness in his action. He wasn’t after her. It was Alisa. He was going for Alisa.

“ Why go after her instead of me. “ She thought. At first, she couldn’t grasp the reason he overlooked her; his initial prey, and choose to go after a random girl trying to play hero. But it soon clocked in that he still viewed her as his ticket to wealth, thus he might not necessarily resolve himself to harming her.

With the dawn of this conviction, she made a quick decision to quit her passive state.

[BACK TO THE PRESENT]

Jake stared at the figure who obstructed his way in anger. If it were another individual, he would have directly thrown a fist aiming for a lethal spot on the person’s body. But the one before him was no casual harry. It was his supposed ticket to a wealthy life. He had to take things a bit mildly if she got involved. But one thing was certain. He wouldn’t let this brat called Alisa, who caused him so much trouble and humiliation, leave here in one piece.

Besides, he didn’t want this future wife of his thinking she could be the dominant one since the wealth came through her. He had to let her know he was still Jake the dreaded. If not, how would he get to bring in other beauties in the future. Plus he couldn’t have her claiming right over the properties in the future. Thus he had to make her know her place.

“ What do you think you’re doing? “ Jake asked.

Alisa stared at him, glare for glare, with a confident facade. While deep within, her body was in chills from the intense fright.

“ What does it look like I am doing? Look, no matter what, I won’t let you hurt her. “ She replied defiantly, looking to maintain her facade.

“ Ohhh really! Then I would like to see how you would stop me. “ He said then continued his strides forward. He made his every step as imposing as it could look so a well of fear would develop within Prisca’s heart. This way, controlling her in the future wouldn’t be much of a hassle.

His plan could be said to have some effect as his every step caused a shadow to materialize within Prisca’s. One that signified her fright towards him. But still, she choose to persist in her belief. Never turn your back on a frie…, no savior.

Seeing her resolve still as strong as ever, Jake grew a bit worried. Controlling such a person would never be an easy task. Their defiant nature would always precede their fear. Of course, unless the fear became magnanimous enough. Or so he thought.

‘ Since you don’t know what’s good for you, don’t blame me for taking the bull by the horn. ‘ Jake humphed within. Next, he increased his pace.

While he walked forward, he stretched his hand muscles repeatedly. It was pretty obvious he was done sparing any courtesy for this future wife of his. He did rather deal with her ruthlessly right now, than have her turn him to a subordinate of her’s later on.

Soon he stood before her, and without ado, raised a hand up; aiming for a slap.

Prisca felt her heart beat rapidly as soon as she felt his figure closer. Only that unlike most scenarios, it wasn’t due to love, but fear.

Her eyes had long been shut close, right from the moment he took a few steps forward. The last thing she wanted was for his imposing demeanor to shake her resolve. Thus a battle of attrition ensued.

Alas, this was no longer a battle of attrition as he was truly going to hit her. Her heart skipped a bit when she could make out the shadowy figure of a masculine hand dropping towards her face even with her two eyes shut closed.

‘ Do your worst beast! ‘ She screamed within but said nothing outwardly. Her only notable reaction was her trembling eyelashes and her shaky body. Other than those, there were none else. She stood her ground till the very last moment…

“… “

“ … “

“… “

‘ … ‘ Prisca thought.