Ninety Eight- Make me Nathaniel Storm

Ninety Eight- Make me Nathaniel Storm

SARAH PIERCE

‘You’ve slept enough, my love,’ Nathaniel’s loving voice cajoled me.
As my soul smiled to the sonorous whisper of Nathaniel’s voice, it became certain that I was dreaming. It has been a while since I had the pleasure of dreaming. And, I would rather stay in this world than open my eyes to the torturous presence of that man and the gruesome sight of my sister lying in a blood pool. 
So, I relaxed into this nice, otherworldly movie about Nathaniel and me. 
‘I can tell you’re awake.’ Nathaniel teased after I stifled a lazy yawn and snuggled into the cosy passenger seat. 
‘One more minute,’ I replied grudgingly. ‘Classes were crazy today.’
‘Any assignments?’
I peeked at how his youthful hair danced with the breeze that travelled with us. ‘Nope. Today must be my lucky day.’
His eyes wrinkled with a smile. ‘It’s thanks to the magic of our anniversary.’
As I heard myself reply with, ‘This day will always be a special day,’ my soul wondered why the scene I was witnessing felt strange. 
‘One year.’ His hand laced with mine, and I planted a kiss on his. ‘Soon, we’ll be celebrating ten years. Thirty. Forty. Maybe a hundred.’
I laughed like a chicken. ‘We might not live that long, Thaniel.’
His smile widened, and I fell under his spell of his gorgeousness.
As his fingers twitched against mine, his other hand gripping the steering harder, he said, ‘Maybe it would be best to continue our love in heaven. Wouldn’t that be amazing?’’
‘Thaniel, I don’t want to think about death on our anniversary.’
‘Hmm. How about we talk about our children?’
‘Thaniel!’ I laughed as though the topic made me shy. 
‘I have been thinking. I would love to have a daughter,’ he continued, the intensity of his desire written all over him. ‘Maybe we should name her Emily. Or…’ He pressed his lips for a few seconds. ‘Raya.’
‘Raya.’ As my dream self flashed a bright smile in response, my soul became more certain that this scene was extremely unfamiliar. 
Discussing children with Nathaniel… we never did such. And when the time to name my daughter came, the name Raya easily dropped into my mind.
‘What do you think?’ I heard the little caution in Nathaniel’s voice, and my ponderment turned to a desire to see him again in real life. 
‘I love it,’ I replied. ‘Raya, daughter of Nathaniel Storm and Sarah Pierce. She sounds like a beautiful warrior. I can’t wait to meet her.’
‘Me too. I bet she will be-’
An explosive force shattered the echoes of our discussion. As though a murderous rage had cursed us, the vehicle rattled and jumped, flinging us ruthlessly. We screamed. But our intertwined hands never loosened and our eyes never lost contact regardless of the hellish disturbance.
Then, moments later, the chaos stopped. Only after the roof of the car had banged hard against the hard road.
‘Sarah…’ Nathaniel was in pain, yet I was unable to help him. I wasn’t able to look at him either. ‘Sarah, can you hear me?’
I heard him. 
But I was drifting away. 
And… as my dream self crumbled into the awful danger of the terrifying scene, I drifted back to reality, thoroughly shaken up by what started as a lovely dream and ended as a nightmare.
“Good.” That man greeted harshly, the stench in the room reminding me where I was. “You’re awake.”
As his feet dragged closer, I sat up slowly. I could not ignore the confusion banging against my head. That dream… Or perhaps I should call it a…
The daze in my eyes cleared as a scary realisation dropped. 
I then lowered my gaze to Rosaline’s body and a sharp exhale trembled out of me. 
“Thanks to this bitch, we have to change locations,” he continued, his hands unable to totally wipe off the blood clot on his cheek. “But before that…” As though it were nothing special, he perched upon Rosaline’s head, his bulging insanity glaring at me. “We just have to sort out a simple, very minor issue.”
With a fierce pinch of my eyes, I forced myself to look away from the blood oozing from Rosaline’s head. 
Then, after a brief eye contact with the ceiling, I summoned the strength to say, “When Nathaniel woke up after the accident…” My voice was hoarse and feeble, but it managed to catch his attention. “That was you. Not him. Right”
“So? Are you about to yap about that idiot again?” He scoffed, and I felt the heat of his wickedness.  “Cry about him and I’ll-”
“You said something about an accident.” I ruined his warning, my chest growing heavy. “That I… That I almost died.”
“That’s it!” He became weirdly excited. “Did your memory return?” Like a clown showing off how well he could imitate a frog, he hopped closer. “You finally remember, don’t you?”
“You…” My breaths became forceful, each one turning me into a shuddering mess. “I…” It was now certain that I didn’t have a dream. That was a memory… One I shouldn’t have forgotten. 
As a sharp cry tore out of me, my chest caved and my fingers hopelessly gripped my clothes. 
“Oh… My love…” The madman sat before me, his gleaming eyes watching my misery as though it were his favourite movie. “You always blamed that idiot for abandoning you. But, in the end, who actually abandoned who? You forgot the pain of your most important day and blamed him for everything.” 
He tsked and I ducked my head to hide my sorrow.
 “Doesn’t matter though,” he proceeded. “Starting over with me, the new Nathaniel, will be a breezy thing. Hmm? We will celebrate ten years.” My head lifted in disbelief. “Thirty. Forty.” His grin widened with knowingness. “Maybe a hundred.”
“You…” 
“Me what?” His excitement injected bitterness into the storm tearing me apart. 
And, it became clearer that this monster had always been hiding in the dark, watching my relationship with Nathaniel.
 “You caused that accident.” I did not stutter. In fact, I made sure my aching eyes dared him. “You fucking monster. That wasn’t enough for you? You sent threats and blood, and killed people…” 
The screams from my dream flashed in my mind, so did the terror of Raya’s kidnapping and Nathaniel’s accident. “That still wasn’t enough? Nathaniel’s accident…” He casually shrugged and the thirst to take his life filled my entire being. 
“You did that. You….You tried to kill him. You… You… You… You used the accident to switch.” 
Another cry slipped out of me. A lump of sadness and hatred bloated my heart. But, no matter how much I beat my chest, that feeling refused to leave. 
How could it, though? I’m stuck with the very monster that has been tearing our family apart. 
“Just tell me.” I gulped and told myself it wasn’t the time to shed another round of tears. “Where is Nathaniel? Where have you kept him? Where?!”
“Ayy.” He wrung his finger in his ear, his lips curled in irritation. “My ear is sensitive, my love.”
“And my daughter…” I would cut that stupid ear if I had the chance. “What did you do to her?”
“Shit, man.” He stood, his foot kicking the air. “You weren’t supposed to figure everything out this soon. I’m definitely going to lose that bet.”
“Who are you working with?” I demanded. The grand picture of his plan was finally coming together. “Nolan Pierce? Or… or was it Nathaniel’s mother?” If my mum had not already confessed to killing Mrs. Storm, it would have been easier to accuse him. But… Wait… “Is it.. Is it my mother?”
“Is it… Is it my mother?” He mocked with a timbre that attempted to replicate the pain in my voice. “My mother. Hmm. My mother. I’m Sarah. I’m so fucking smart.” He continued to taunt me. “Look at me. I’m so smart and horny for Nathaniel. I am so-”
“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled with all my soul. “Shut the hell up, you murderer!”
“Screaming at me?!” he screamed back and the aura of his wickedness returned into the room. “Sarah Pierce. Be careful. Don’t fucking take me for granted.”
“I’m not scared of a nobody like you,” I replied, my feet standing so he wouldn’t trample me. “You are a fool who thinks peeing in a room will make a woman fall in love with him. Look at yourself in the mirror, you idiot. You look stupid wearing my panties as bangles.”
“Heyyy!” His angry feet lunged.
And, I flashed the knife before him in response. He halted.. 
While he was mocking me, I noticed the weapon was super close to me. So, I grabbed it.
And now, I think I might end up taking his life. 
“You want to kill me?” he asked, his gaze observing my barely stable stance. “You? Sarah Pierce? Aren’t you forgetting something? I am the only one who knows where Nathaniel and Raya are. My love, think this over.”
“No.” My grip on the handle tightened, and I sighed. “It doesn’t matter. You don’t matter. All you are is a fake copy. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Oh.” He copied my sigh. “That is so…” Another sigh slumped his shoulders and he cupped his hand around his lips. “Fucking hilarious.” 
“Huh?”
His laughter shook the room. “Don’t be stupid, Sarah. You didn’t find the knife by chance.” He stepped closer. Before I could jab the weapon into his body, he wrenched my wrist and it dropped. “This is my way of gaining leverage.”
“Wh-what?” 
His grasp tightened, it started to feel like the hatred of a hot bracelet. And no matter how I tried, I couldn't fight it.  
“Your foolish sister called the cops, right?” His eyes glistened with pride. “We can wait till they arrive. When they do,” his nauseating touch patted the side of my head, “the fingerprints on the knife will tell them that you murdered Rosaline. Sarah, the headline in the news would be  very amazing.” His lips quivering with joy, he looked ahead. “Sisterhood and revenge: She brutally murdered her sister.”
“You are-”
“As for me.” He laughed and brought his eyes to mine again. “Escape will be easy. I play my cards right and I’ll become your victim.”
“You are out of your mind.”
“But… “ He let go of my hand and tilted sideways, so he could whisper in my ear. “We don’t have to go down that route. It’s long and painful, isn’t it?”
My eyes gave up witnessing the heights of his craziness. I looked to the ground and realised that fighting back might be more impossible than I thought. 
“My love.” 
I scoffed within myself. 
This fake fool truly found the best ways to torture me. 
Just hearing Nathaniel in his voice is enough to ruin my heart and soul. 
“If you promise to make me Nathaniel, I will erase everything,” he continued his rubbish talk. “Everything that has happened, they all disappear. All of it.” He gripped my shoulders, but I refused to look up. “We will even leave this room. I know a very luxurious place where you can relax and forget everything. I’ll even get your daughter back. As long as you tell the world that I am Nathaniel.”
“You?” I quietly replied, my mind re-strategising, wondering for a second if I would be fast enough to reach for the knife and stab him. 
“Yes.” As though he read my thoughts, he kicked the bloody knife across the room. “Me. Make me Nathaniel Storm. The man you’ll always love.” His whisper felt closer as he wrapped his arms around me. “The man you’ll always call your husband.”