If There's Another Life

Chapter 5: If There's Another Life

The night before the wedding replayed like a curse in Damien’s mind.

Bella feigned faint, Nathaniel catching her in his arms, tightening his grip around her waist as though Celine was invisible.

Celine had stood there in shock, and when he confronted her, wanting to know why she allowed them to make a mockery out of her, she just looked him in the eyes and said, it didn't concern him.

Her words had hurt him, no doubt however he decided to play it cool. That was the moment he decided to leave.

The early morning light passed through the window blinds of his office, dividing the room into columns of light and darkness.

Damien sat at the edge of his desk, with his sleeves rolled, and a cigarette rolled in between his fingers, puffing in and out, the smoke curling upwards in circles into the air.

He had sworn he wouldn’t go, that he wouldn’t watch her throw herself into the arms of another man, hence he decided not to attend the marriage, before he attacked Nate in a fit of rage and jealousy, not knowing he would soon come to regret this for the rest of his life.

Ray stood at the door, with a tablet in his hand, trying to get Damien's attention. Knock, knock “Boss, it’s almost time for the ceremony. Should I get the car ready?”

“No.” Damien replied in a cold tone. He stared into the air and replied, “I won’t be attending.”

Ray entered the room cautiously, still holding the tablet in his hand. “Boss, before you make that choice, I believe there’s something you should see.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed. “Show me.”

Ray placed the tablet on the desk and pressed play.

The video started playing, showing Bella and Nathaniel tangled up in bed, their voices low but clear. Bella’s question asking Nate about his marriage to Celine, Nathaniel’s voice, arrogant and filled with pride , replying Bella “She won’t live past tomorrow.”

The cigarette that was in Damien's hand broke between his fingers, ashes spilling on the floor. For a long time he didn’t move, but his fists curled into a ball slowly, veins rising up his skin.

“Where are they now?” His voice was low, filled with anger.

He tightened his fist even more, causing the already snapped cigarettes between Damien’s fingers, to scatter more ashes across the desk.

Ray straightened. “Still at the wedding venue, sir.”

Damien rose to his feet, “Good,” he said, his tone devoid of any sign of warmth. “Then let’s put an end to this once and for all.”

He turned to Ray and said “Get the car.”

By the time he got to the wedding venue, Celine’s breath was already getting faint, drowning in the water. Blood stained the corner of her lips, water dripping and pooling beneath her. Damien swooped her out of the water, placing her against his chest.

“No… no, please not like this.” His voice breaked, filled with anguish and sorrow. “Stay with me, Celine. Please, just breathe, damn it!”

But her body grew colder in his arms, her chest stilled.

“Celine!” His scream pierced into the night.

Whitney arrived moments later, eyes wide and wet with tears. “No… not her. “Celine?, Celine!!

Whitney’s mind reeled in confusion. She could still feel the panic when she found out earlier that she had been locked in the room.

Bella had planned it all, sending that sly waitress to lure her away, then slamming the door behind her. Whitney had screamed, pounded until her fists bled, her voice hoarse against the door.

By the time she escaped through the window, too much time had already been spent. Minutes she should have spent in using to rescue Celine.

“If only I had been just a few minutes faster,” Whitney blamed herself, sobbing. From the side of her eyes she suddenly saw Damien rising up with Celine's still body in his arms.

“Damien, what are you doing? Drop the attitude, she isn't breathing! ”she said looking nervous and scared.

He didn’t answer. His eyes were already bloodshot, veins spreading on his face. He lifted Celine’s lifeless body in his arms. Whitney reached for him, desperate.

“Where are you going?”

No reply. He only walked away, carrying her into the night.

Hours later, in his villa’s underground chamber, Nate and Bella were thrown to the floor before him.

Damien sat in the shadows, Celine’s body laid carefully on a velvet chair beside him. His gaze raging and seething with anger, madness written in every area of his face.

“Apologize,” he ordered coldly.

“No, why should I? That b***h deserved it, I shouldn't have let her off so easily by drowning, I should have let some men in the slums have a great night with her first,” Bella said, gritting her teeth, trying to act tough.

“Wait, you drowned her?” Nate turned to her, his face looking incredulous “Yes I did, you didn't really expect that your cheap poison to do the job did you?” Bella said looking very proud of her decision.

When Damien's cold voice suddenly rang out again.

“Apologize to her, until she replies, otherwise I will skin you guys from limb to limb, until you have no flesh left and then boil them and feed it back to you” He said with an eerie smile.

Flipping a switch on Bella's chair that made her scream and writhe in pain.

Nate stammered, his pride crumbling. “C-Celine… I, I’m sorry—”

“Louder.” Damien’s voice even more vicious . “Make her hear you.”

Bella, writhing from the chains biting into her skin, sneered through her pain. “You’re insane, she’s dead! She can’t hear us!”

Damien laughed then, a broken laugh that slowly transcended into something a bit more maniacal. His eyes red with grief.

“She’ll hear. And I won’t stop until she wakes up and tells me herself.”

The torture began. Screams echoed against concrete walls, Bella’s shrieks turning to hoarse cries, Nate’s arrogance breaking into sobs. Blood stained the floor, pain twisting their faces.

“Please, please” Nate begged, having never been exposed to such pain before.

Bella finally screamed, broken. “You’re a monster!, you’re insane!, she's gone and nothing can change that fact.”

But Damien only laughed harder, his madness feeding on their agony. He did not stop until their voices gradually fell silent forever.

Silence returned to the chamber.

Damien returned to Celine’s side, his knees sinking into the blood stained floor caused by Nate and Bella's torture. Gently, brushing her hair from her face.

“It’s completed,” Damien whispered. “Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of it. Soon, I’ll be with you in paradise, my love.” pressing a kiss to her already cold forehead. Then, with one flick and toss of the lighter in his hand, flames engulfed the villa’s walls.

Damien then laid beside her, pulling her into his arms as thick smoke curled around them. His breath gradually becoming labored, but his eyes never strayed from her face.

“If there’s another life,” he whispered weakly, “I’ll find you again.”

The fire roared. The world blurred.

And then—

Her chest moved.

A sharp gasp tore through the silence.

Her eyes snapped open.