Chapter 31 PAIN
\[CASTELLAN'S HOUSE\]
"Xora, are you okay? I'm sorry I wasn't there. I left the meeting as soon as I saw the news. I had called Blake, but he assured me not to worry that he was with you," Georgia said all in one breath, checking out Ixora's body.
"Mum, I'm fine," Ixora said, a small smile plastered on her lips.
"Shush," Georgia said, still checking her body.
Ixora gave up.
Georgia calmed down when she saw there was not even a scratch on her body.
"Miss, you will have to come with us to the station. There are some questions for you to answer," the inspector said.
"Station," Georgia said. "My daughter is going nowhere. She has had enough for one day," she turned to Ixora. "I told you those low lives weren't good for you. She had the guts to try and burn my daughter with acid. I will make sure her mother regrets it," she said, facing the inspector. "You have to arrest her bitchy mother, Maria."
"Mum," Ixora called. "Aunt Maria is dead. Hazel killed her," Ixora muttered.
She was still finding it hard to believe that the woman who treated her like her mother was killed in cold blood. She needed to get rid of her delusions soon because, after witnessing Hazel's behavior today, she was capable of doing it.
"Well, it serves her right," Georgia said, with no atom of sympathy in her voice.
"Mum! I can't believe you are saying it. Aunt Maria died while trying to stop Hazel. She was unfortunate that her daughter had gone beyond stopping. She...she..." She sniffled and ran upstairs.
"I will make sure she's okay," Blake said, going after her.
Georgia rolled her eyes, facing the inspectors.
"You should carry your investigations out of this house," she said, using her hand to gesture at the door.
They nodded and left.
\[IXORA'S ROOM\]
"You shouldn't have walked out on her like that. She was just looking out for you," Blake said, leaning on the door.
"Can't help it when they speak against Aunt Maria," Ixora mumbled, staring at her phone screen.
"I understand."
His phone rang.
He checked the caller's ID.
Audrey.
She must be worried.
"I will take this," he told Ixora, who nodded in reply.
He left.
Immediately after he left, James called Ixora.
Ixora answered. The call didn't last for long before he hung up.
He called to know if she was fine.
Her phone rang again, and she saw the caller was the person she had been waiting for, Nerdy Nelly.
She swiped green. It was a video call.
A smile formed on Ixora's lip when she saw her.
"Still a nerdy," Ixora teased.
Nelly gave a small smile while adjusting her glasses.
Ixora nicknamed her nerdy because she wears glasses despite her eyes working perfectly fine, and her fashion sense was...out of the picture.
"Saw what happened, you okay?" Nelly said so slowly, as if she were measuring her words.
Ixora smiled. "For now."
"You know, I wouldn't have allowed any of these to happen if I had been there."
"It was meant to happen anyway. So tell me, how have you been doing?"
"Same as usual. I'm planning to come to New York."
"Nelly," they heard someone say from the background.
"My mum, I've to go," Nelly said.
"Bye," Ixora waved.
Nelly smiled before ending the call.
Ixora exhaled.
She just had to move on like it never happened. She was bothered. The rescue team said they couldn't find Hazel's body. Does it mean she had already been eaten by the aquatic animals before the search team arrived?
It made no sense to her.
She wondered what would have happened to her if Drexton hadn't come to her rescue. But how did he know where she was? For all she could remember, Kian had told her that he was on a business trip...how was it possible? She couldn't fathom the whole thing. Knowing she would never be able to get an answer, she decided to let it go. All that mattered was that he came at the right time.
She unlocked her phone and went to Drexton's messages.
~Thank you.
She typed and clicked send.
\[HELL DEVILS HIDEOUT, FLASHBACK\]
"Sir, no, please, let my father go," little Drexton cried, pleaded, trying to stop Smith from hitting his father.
"Stay back," he pushed Drexton. He fell to the ground, hurting his forehead.
"Mummy!" Drexton cried, standing on his feet to stop Smith from hitting his father.
"Aunt, please ask him to stop," Drexton pleaded to Georgia.
She hissed and turned her face to the other side.
"You think you could steal my money?" Smith punched him harder on the cheek.
Eric could only endure the beatings if he still wanted to stay in the house.
"Forgive me. I... I took the money for Roselyn's health," Eric coughed, blood sprouting out of his mouth.
Smith hit him while trying to drag him down the stairs.
Drexton held Smith's leg. "Please, uncle. My mummy was feeling very sick. Dad only took the money for her health."
Smith tried forcing his legs out of Drexton's hold while still hitting Eric.
In the process, his grip loosened on Eric's shirt. Eric's legs slipped, and he began rolling down the stairs.
His head cracked open at each stair he rolled down.
Drexton's tears increased. He started running after his rolling father.
Eric reached the final stairs and landed heavily. His head was cracked open, and blood was pooling out.
"Daddy! No! Wake up! Daddy!!!!!" Drexton shouted, shaking his father's body.
"Drexton," Roselyn called weakly, finally gaining a little strength to leave her room.
She came out fully. The scene in front of her made her heart sink, and her blood ran cold.
Drexton was crying while shaking her husband, who lay lifelessly on the ground with a cracked head.
Her eyes immediately got drowsy, her head heavy, her heart beating faster than any normal heart. Before she could get the voice to shout, she crumbled to the floor with a loud thud.
Lifeless.
"Mummy!!!" Drexton shouted, rushing to her.
"Mummy! Please! Wake! Up!"
All the while, Georgia and Smith stayed neutral as they witnessed the scene.
\--\[PRESENT\]--
The notification on his phone brought his mind back to the present.
He traced his dark, bloodshot eyes to the phone that was lying on the bed.
His eyes caught hold of the thank-you message Ixora had sent him.
He stared at the message longer than he had planned. Lots of thoughts played in his mind. At each thought, he squeezed the watch between his palms. The metal that was in the watch gave his skin a deep cut. The deeper the cut went, the harder he squeezed the watch.
His blood slowly began dripping on the clean, marbled floor.
He wasn't even feeling the pain. It was the usual numbness. He has learned to use his condition as a weapon, but sometimes he wishes to feel pain. The pain of the wound he would inflict on himself.
He dropped the watch and picked up a dagger. Opening his palm, he drove the dagger brutally deep into the already injured palm.
He stared at the blood that had begun pouring out. With the same brutality, he pulled the dagger out of the palm, stared at it before tossing it aside.
He took his other hand and sank it deep into the wound on his palm, trying to tear the injury apart even more. He wanted to feel pain, even if it was the slightest pain. He wanted to feel it. He wants to release a bit of pain within him... The hurt that turned him into a monster. A wounded devil.
The door pushed open.
"Jaxon and I were able to see..." Maddox paused, seeing Drexton's condition.
His whole body, face, and clothes were drenched in sweat.
"Oh shit," Maddox muttered, rushing to Drexton.
He slid his hand into his back pocket and took out a syringe and a bottle.
He extracted the right amount and pressed the syringe into Drexton's neck, releasing the whole medicine inside his body.
Drexton's body went stiff for some minutes. His head fell to the side, and his eyelids hugged each other.
Jaxon walked into the room and stopped on his steps when he saw the blood in the room.
He traced his gaze to Maddox and exhaled softly.
"He was at it again." He went closer.
"Call Joanna. I will take him to my room." Maddox mounted Drexton's body on his.