His Broken Obsession

A familiar stranger

ALORA

I jolt back in shock and press myself against the wall before any of them can me. I don’t know if he heard the loud gasp that escaped my lips.

There is nothing worse than being a witness at a crime scene. I’ve seen enough in movies to know that was a big NO. I already have enough on my plate and I don’t want to be chased and killed because I saw something I shouldn’t have.

“Why would Kian be in such a place like this?” my hand flies to my chest to calm my heart which is pounding hard.

I know I should turn around, walk back to my car, drive home and pretend that I didn’t see anything like a smart person would have done but no, I decide to take another peak.

I swear, my curiosity at times like this is my biggest weakness.

I slowly peek around the corner again, making sure my body is not in sight. Kian is now standing in front of the man who is whimpering like a baby.

Even under the poor lighting, he still looks so good. The way his eyes twinkle with glee, possibly at the thought of what he wants to do to the man on his knees, the almost non-existent smirk, his raised brows and the tattoo peeking from the collar of his shirt make my knees go weak.

I don’t understand my attraction to him when we’ve never had any interaction and I don’t even want to. It scares me that someone I have never talked to can shake my walls without doing anything.

Why are you still here if you don’t like the way he makes you feel?

Admit it,

You wish he would look at you again,

That he feels a little fraction of what he makes you feel

Admit it,

That your walls are just an excuse to defend how weak you are.

“I’m not listening to you today. I just want to make sure he doesn’t hurt that man” I spit, trying to block the voices in my head.

We both know that even if he kills that man,

you won’t stop your growing feelings for him

“I’m not a psycho. I’m not going to let you turn me into one” I finally push the whispers to the back of my head, blocking them.

“What do we do to him, boss?” One of Kian’s guys asks, pulling me out of my mental battle.

“Please Boss, I have kids at home. Spare me this once I beg you. It was the work of the devil. I won’t do it again”

“You should have thought of your kids before stealing from us” another one snarls.

Kian doesn’t answer any of the questions. Instead, he brings out his phone from his pocket and glances through it as if he is checking for something. When he is done, he pockets the phone and returns his attention to the man.

“Please let me go. If you won't forgive me, just let me go quietly. I won't say a word about everything I've seen or heard today” the man continues to beg.

“Kevin, you know that's not possible. You know too much. We can't just let you go like that.”

The man’s eyes widen in terror as he understands the underlying meaning of Kian’s words.

“Take care of him” he tells the boys before glancing towards the dark corner he appeared from. “Let’s go” My eyes grow in size when Laurent and Mason follow suit, exiting the darkness as well.

I race to my car and pin the door before they can leave the alley. Without looking back, I drive as fast as I can back home.

My movements are numb when I unlock the door to my apartment and step inside. Thoughts of what I just witnessed raced through my mind.

“Are they going to kill that man? Is he really tied to the mafia?” I ask myself, aware of how shaky my voice sounds.

I let the pills fall to the ground as my anxiety attempts to pick up again. I pick up my phone, connect it to my room speaker and let Butterfly by BTS fill the large space. The song is my personal therapy.

I curl into a fetal position and allow the music to drift around the room, providing me with the comfort that I won’t get elsewhere as I drift off to sleep.

~~~~~~

I jerk awake, a little disoriented. Even with the air conditioning on, my face is sweaty and my clothes are stuck to my body disgustingly. I was having a dream.

I move to get up from the floor as I feel the ache from sleeping on the hard floor and that’s when I feel it. The slick between my legs. I am wet.

Unconsciously, my hands reach into my sweats and I jerk back with horror when I feel how wet I am down there. This is the first time I am waking up in this state, especially after a dream that I don’t remember.

My eyes find the clock hanging on the wall. It is 10:30 pm. I didn’t sleep for that long. It’s past dinner but it’s better than eating before time.

I enter my bedroom and peel off the sticky clothes before disappearing into the shower. I don’t take long in the shower because my stomach keeps grumbling, reminding me that I haven’t eaten anything all day and I can barely hold myself up because of how weak I am.

For thirty minutes, I poke at the salad on my plate. I am hungry but my drifting thoughts won’t let me eat. My fork hands on the edge of my lips and my thoughts travel down a path they shouldn’t.

Even when I don’t want to think of Kian, my body disagrees and I find myself back in the alley with Kian smirking at me with those grey eyes holding me hostage.

I can still see very clearly the hint of madness behind those eyes but I can’t understand why I am unable to stop thinking about him.

My phone rings loudly, startling me and making me bite down on my lips and the fork, tasting the blood immediately,

I answer the call when I see it is my mom calling. I also noticed she had called me a couple of times already.

“Hey Mama,” I say as soon as I answer the call.

“Little Lo, what have I said about not answering my calls? You'll give me a heart attack like this?” I can picture her forehead creasing with worry and I bet Dad was hanging around.

“Sorry. I just woke up”

“Dinner?”

“I'm having it now. Just a plate of salad”

“It's too late to be eating anything. You'll gain weight again” She complains and my stomach churns as an image of my old self surfaces in my head.

“Delani, leave the girl alone. I bet she hasn't eaten anything all day” I can imagine Dad scowling from the background.

“Your dad doesn't understand anything at all” I hear her close a door and assume she went into another room so she can talk to me in private.

“Tell me, how was the first day of classes? Did anyone trouble you? What about attacks? Any? I hope you aren't abusing your pills. It should last a minimum of three months” I know she is just worried but the questions are causing a headache.

“I'm fine mama. Everything went well. Just a little attack but I didn't need pills to calm down” She can never find out about the injections.

“I'm so proud of you baby. I'm sorry I don't check in enough but work is so busy and we have the medical outreach trip coming up” Seriously? She calls me multiple times a day since I moved out of the house.

“You check in enough, Mama.” My heart flutters though. I love that I was their baby and that they always worry about me even though I pretend to hate it sometimes.

Mom and I spend over an hour talking about nothing in particular. Mom may be a little bit hard on me sometimes but I know she does it for me to be happy. Our discussion helps me forget about what happened today or at least tried to.