THE PUCKING FORBIDDEN LOVE.

Chapter 4 Vision

Chapter 4

The knock came too sudden. I stood frozen to the ground, and so did my mom. My dad stared at the door in annoyance, his expression dry, probably wondering who most have had the guts to come in here and knock after he must've clearly instructed them he wanted no interruptions.

The knock came again, and this time, it couldn’t ignore that chilling feeling that something wrong was coming through those doors and it had something to do with me.

Noises of arguments ensued outside. My father moved first, muttering a ‘You have got to be kidding me’ while heading straight for the door. My mother followed and before I could take a step, the door burst open and I froze on my tracks this time.

Suddenly my clothes felt so tight I thought I couldn't breathe.

Shit. No, no. How could this— how did he know I came here?

Standing there, proudly, panting like he just ran a marathon. My stomach dropped, the floor spun. He stood in the doorway like a man gone mad, his hair messy, his eyes wild, his breath coming fast like he had run here.

My heart rate picked at the sight of Professor Allen, my college professor who I'd been dating secretly for a while before I cut things off.

His eyes, wide and innocent, were fixed on me as he stared at me like I was the thing tethering him here on earth. His eyes held pain. I sighed out a curse, lowering my eyes.

I could feel the judging and confused looks on my parents. I saw their gaze dart from mine to him. He didn't seem to care. He took a step towards me.

‘Evelina,’ he called out, his voice a cracking sound at the edges. He continued straight for me, completely ignoring my parents.

My father’s face hardened. My mother gasped like she had been slapped. This was such an insult to their face.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even stand. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

‘Please,’ professor Allen went on, his hands trembling. ‘Don’t let them take you away from me. You know what we had. You know it wasn’t wrong. Tell them. Tell them you wanted it too.’

My knees buckled. The world tilted around me. How did he even know i was going to get married?

Mother’s voice sliced through the air like glass. ‘This is the man? This is the disgrace you’ve shamed us with? A man who can't even hold strong for himself? Pathetic, June. Pathetic!’ She spat.

‘You don’t understand!’ he shouted, spinning toward my parents for a heartbeat before his eyes found mine again. ‘She’s special. She’s everything. Don’t take her from me. Evelina, please—say something. You can't end it then, you can't end it now, we're meant to be together, please.’

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Only a choking gasp, my throat burning with shame.

My father’s voice thundered, his face already red in anger. ‘Security! Now!’

Two men rushed in. They were large and broad. They grabbed professor Allen by his arms. He fought, baring his teeth like an animal, his eyes never leaving me.

‘Evelina!’ he screamed as they dragged him back. ‘Don’t let them lie to you! You’re mine! Say it! SAY IT!’

My whole body shook. Tears blurred my vision. His voice still rang in my ears, echoing, scraping against my skull.

The door slammed shut. Silence pressed in, heavy and sharp.

My mother turned toward me, her face carved from stone. ‘Do you see?’ she whispered, venom soft and precise. ‘This is what you bring into this house. This is the kind of weakness you are. Look what you’ve done. Look who you’ve invited into our lives. And you just stood there. Pathetic. Useless.’

Her words sliced straight through me. I felt my eyes burn and I swallowed a lump i didn't realise was in my throat. Useless. Mother just called me useless.

My father’s voice came next. His words came quieter, colder, but so much worse. ‘If you can’t even speak for yourself, how do you expect to survive in this world? You need us. Without us, you are nothing. Absolutely nothing!’

My legs gave out. I sank to the floor, sobs tearing from my chest. My body shook so hard I could hardly breathe. I wanted to disappear. To sink into the carpet. To stop existing.

My mother’s voice went on, relentlessly. ‘Do you see now why we must make every decision for you? Do you see why you cannot be trusted? You crumble. You fail. You embarrass us. You are a human! Humans are mostly failures!’ She spat out, her voice dripping with disgust.

I pressed my hands over my ears. ‘Stop. Stop, please, what do you even mean by that, we are all humans, mom, please stop” I whispered, my voice shaky, but they didn’t stop.

My father crouched in front of me, his eyes sharp, unyielding, merciless. ‘Face it, Evelina. You can’t handle yourself. You’re too weak. Without us, you’ll destroy yourself. It's a dangerous world out there filled with things you can't even begin to fathom, and in this human state, you're too weak, my dear. You need us to latch you up to someone powerful. Someone who can offer you a backbone. Someone who can offer you security. silas can offer you that. It has been predicted that he would climb up on his hockey playing skills and get into the NHL! We are dominating the world, Evelina!’

Something inside me cracked. What the hell was he saying?

The noise… it was all too much. Much more than I could bear to take…to carry. More voices echoed in my head. They told me to go to hell. They told me to f**k off. They told me ‘see? I told you they think you're pathetic and useless…they kept coming…they won't stop. I whimpered. I needed them to stop.

I needed them to go away.

You are nothing, June, nothing!

I screamed, my fingers plucked tight in my ears. The noises were too loud. I stumbled to my feet, tears streaming hot down my face, and ran out. I couldn’t see anything. My vision blurred, tiny dots dancing around my vision, but I didn’t care. I bolted out of the room. Down the stairs. Through the door and into the night.

I heard my mother’s voice following me, calling out my name, but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. I couldn’t even see. I didn’t even know where I was going. But in my mind, I was getting the hell out of there.

Soon, cold air slapped me across the face as I ran. My bare feet smacked against the pavement, past the gates, past the lights, into the dark street.

My chest thudded so hard that I thought they were going to fall out of my chest. Sobs ripped out of me, raw and broken. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I could only run.

The road was empty, lined with shadows. The moon hung low. My hair whipped across my face, sticking to my tears.

And suddenly, I saw something from the bushes. Then they moved out.

Two golden eyes. Gleaming in the dark. Watching me. Unblinking.

‘Is that the witch restorer they said we would destroy?’ One of the yellow eyes growled out as they started walking slowly towards me.

I froze.

My heart stopped.

Then another pair opened beside the first. Two sets of eyes. Low to the ground. Predators.

‘She's just human now. Seems like her to me. Let's go.’

I stumbled back, trembling, my breath sharp and ragged. “No…” I whispered, shaking my head.

The eyes narrowed.

I turned and ran.

My legs burned. My lungs screamed. None of it mattered. I ran harder, my cries tearing through the night.

The roar of an engine came too late.

White, blinding headlights shone. The van slammed into me before I could scream. Pain exploded through my body. The world spun. My ears rang. I hit the ground.

My eyes fluttered open once.

And I saw him.

A face leaning over me. A face I had never seen before, but one that pulled at something deep, ancient, unexplainable inside me before the world went black.