54

54


~ HAZEL ~

“Where are you going?” Nikita asked, placing her legs over the arm of the couch with the television remote on her tummy. 

“I'll go to the hospital to check up on Charlotte, then I’ll head to the restaurant. Why?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering…” she shrugged, “will you be free later tonight? There’s this awesome movie I need to watch. I need to watch it with a female, and all of my friends don’t live in this city. We can spend girl time together; there are a lot more things I still have to tell you about those boys.”

“Sure, no problem.” I smiled, turning around. 

“It’s weird that I'm asking you to spend time with me, right?” She asked. 

“Yes, definitely.” I turned to her with a smirk. “But you're turning out to be a good girl sooner than I thought.”

She playfully rolled her eyes. “It’s definitely because I’m bored.”

“Or because I’m too sweet to be hated forever?”

“Please stop.”

I chuckled and she joined me. “Just don’t be late. Plus, I need more advice. Antonio sent a text to me and he—”

“Who’s Antonio?” Tristan asked, walking from behind me. 

“No one!” she squealed, her eyes bugging out. 

“Are you talking about a boy?”

“No!” 

“Then who's Antonio?”

I held back a chuckle. “Can’t you forget it? I'm going to check up on Charlotte. Will you come along?”

“Are you trying to change the topic? Is any boy disturbing Nikita?”

“Are you coming along or not?” 

He stared at me for a while, a weird emotion I couldn’t describe twinkled in his eyes. “I am.” He replied in almost a whisper and left without another word. 

“Gosh. Thanks for the save.” She let out a breath. 

“Yeah… bye.” I quickly left, wondering what was wrong with Tristan. 

 

We had gone to the hospital and Charlotte was doing better, according to the Doctor, and their baby was doing fine. He was a very tiny human with so many tubes and wires connected to him. Kye had to stay with them. Tristan needed to help him out with another job, so we decided to take our leave. 

“Do you think I should create more recipes or just focus on the ones I have for now?” I asked Tristan what I had been thinking about. He didn’t respond to me, ignoring me like he had been doing all morning. “Tristan,” I called but he didn’t answer. 

The drive continued in silence, Tristan still didn’t spare a glance at me. He parked the car in front of the restaurant, fixing his gaze ahead and gripping onto the wheels tightly. 

“Bye. Will you return home early today?” I asked, but of course he didn't respond to me. I unfastened my seatbelt and held his shoulder to plant a kiss on his lips, but he turned his face away, still staying frozen. “Tristan, what is wrong with you? Is it because of the argument? Fine, I’m sorry. I wasn't feeling okay, that’s why I yelled back. I know I said I was going to let you know everything and I'm trying to tell you the truth in bits. I'll let you know even more tonight, I promise. Just don’t act like this. You know I don’t like it.” My forehead creased in worry. 

“No, it's not that.” His voice was emotionless, making it hard for me to know whether he was angry or sad or worried. 

“Then what?”

“Hazel, I'm running late. You have work to attend to at the restaurant.” He still didn't stare at me. 

“You’re chasing me away from you?” I asked. When he didn’t respond to me, a frown formed on my face and I left the car, slamming the door. He drove off without a word. What the heck was wrong with him today?

I didn't want him to interrupt my activity, so I tried to forget about it for now and left for the restaurant. Today was the final training day of the cooks; I couldn’t let Tristan’s grumpiness ruin my focus. He was probably mad at another business partner again, I convinced myself with that. 

 

Nikita was talking about her friends and the boys when my phone rang. 

“Hang on.” I interrupted her. She didn’t look pleased by the interruption and frowned, turning to the television. I took my phone out of my purse, my eyes widening after noticing it was a call from Giovanni. “I’ll be back.” I excused myself, left the room and left for the study. Why was he calling me again? Couldn't they just leave me alone? Their constant bugging was frustrating. I stared at the phone screen, frowning really hard and answered the call.

“What do you want, Giovanni?” I spat. 

“Whoa, you're feisty today.” His deep and husky voice made me feel even more pissed off. 

“What is your problem? Just leave me the fuck alone? Do you want more money? What the heck do you want?!” I yelled. 

“Shut up and don't you dare yell at me.” 

“Why not? What is your problem? Who the hell do you think you are to trouble my life so much?” My frustration from today and my whole life frustration was getting the better of me. 

“Bad mood today, uh?” He snickered. “Anyway, Tiffany is—”

“You know what? Why don’t y'all go fuck yourselves in hell and let me be!” I panted, sweat beads had formed on my forehead. 

There was silence on the other end of the line, giving me a chance to scream in frustration, yet I still wasn’t any calmer. 

“Are you stupid?” 

I was taken aback by his response. “Excuse me?”

“Did you forget who you're speaking with? How dare you be rude towards me? Have you forgotten who I am? I am Giovanni, remember that.” 

“Giovanni, at this point, I don’t want to care. You can’t continue torturing me even after so many years of my life. Can't you move on with your useless life? You’re drawing closer to death and this life has a whole lot more to offer.” I was trying to placate myself to prevent worsening the headache throbbing at the back of my head. 

“Move on? Have you forgotten we have unfinished business?” His voice was more gentle than I had expected. “I’m tired of waiting and sticking around, sweetheart. You're right, I'm getting old. I can’t continue watching my little puppet drench in the hands of some foolish man. I want you back. When can I see you?”

“Never.” My blood felt like it was boiling from the rage in me. I felt like pouncing on Giovanni to punch his nose multiple times till he bled and lost consciousness, temporarily. 

“Never? I’m not asking you, I’m ordering you. You were given a chance to return and rectify your mistake, but your stupid self decided to ruin it. I'll give you a deadline of only a few days; I won’t state the days, you should know. You are well aware of what I can do, right? At this point, I’m obsessed with you and I’m greedy for even more dangerous desires. You wouldn’t dare to make the same mistake, right?” 

His words made my body begin to tremble as I dropped to the floor, my hands quivering. 

“I wasn’t just the first, but also the last.” I heard his demonic snigger from the other end of the line, as well as shattering of glasses. “Right? You should know the punishment? I’ve always been nice to you, but don't forget that there are multiple means in which you could be punished. Don't forget that I’m a man of either choice or force. Don't forget how I always get what I want. And now that I want you for an unfinished business, you dare not back away.” 

“G-Gio–Giovanni?” I was starting to feel breathless, the shakiness of my hands worsened, causing my phone to fall to the ground. 

“You definitely remember the chains around your neck, right? You remember being trapped in a fire? You remember the beatings, right? You remember every single experience from that night, beyond that night, and before that night, right?” Every word he said brought back painful memories. It felt like my brain was being pierced with a sword of dark past realities. 

“S-stop,” I pleaded, shivering in fear while my body was soaked with sweat from the strange heat I began to feel. 

“Stop? Oh, you do remember? You know that's not all of it, right? You remember you're still mine, right?”

“… you’re mine…” those words rang in my head, hurting my brain. 

“No!” I protested against both Giovanni’s words over the phone and his words in my head. 

“Oh, does that sound familiar to you?” he let out a low chuckle. “I'm obsessed. I know your past, I am associated with your past, I am your past, and I'm willing to accept your past. Do you think your so-called husband will still accept you after figuring it all out?”

“He knows!” I screamed, my chest rising and falling rapidly as air escaped my lungs without returning. “Tristan knows everything.” I burst into tears. 

“Everything? Does he know he’s married to a sick psychotic woman? Does he know that he's married to an insane motherfucking whore that belongs to someone else? Does he know he’s married to a criminal? Don't you think he'll be scared of you after he finds out everything?”

“Stop it!” I continued to scream, more flashbacks dragging me down. Stop it!” I grabbed my hair, squeezing the balls of hair in my hands really tight till my fingernails were digging into my palms. “Just shut your mouth!”

“Why? Is the truth so bitter? Don't worry, I’ll still accept you either way. Remember, you have a deadline. I want you to satisfy my desires and we need to complete our long term mission. No one else can finish this but us. Don’t worry, you’re not alone, you’ll have your stupid sister by your side. Tiffany will be with you. Plus, you'll have Mandy's help. Just don't screw up and pass your deadline, else you remember those dead bodies hanging from the ceiling with those heavy chains around their necks?”

“Stop!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, hitting my head against the edge of the table to get rid of the memories.

“Those dead bodies will also be one of your loved ones if you don’t obey me. I won’t beg you to be with me. I can’t beg to have something that’s already mine, right? You know what to do and where to meet me.”

I still screamed, scratching my forearms really hard with my fingernails, ignoring the blood that started dropping on my body and the floor. I just needed to forget it all. I needed to get this all out, I had to wipe the past off. I needed something more efficient to help get these out of my head. I couldn’t go back to Giovanni, I couldn’t go back to them, I couldn’t return to being Teressa. This had to end, and it had to end today. 

~ NIKITA ~

“Yes, I'm getting along with her pretty better than I ever thought.” I said to Rachel over the choice. 

“And?” 

“She isn't that bad. She gives great advice and is kinda like the sister I never had. There are a few things she can do that my brother can't and a few things my brother can do that she might probably not be able to do. Overall, she seems to be a good person.”

“And?”

“Fine, fine.” I rolled my eyes, knowing what she wanted me to say, “must I say that I haven’t been the best sister-in-law to her? She was also mean to me too.” I pouted though she couldn’t see me. 

She let out a chuckle. “Oh sister, first impressions matter. You were bad to her. Did you expect her to fall in love with such a person? I'm glad you're noticing your mistakes.”

“Yeah yeah. I know I can’t control my brother's life and would have to be fine with whoever he’s happy with, whatever.” I playfully rolled my eyes again. 

“That’s good to know; my prayers are finally working. I hope she's better now from her PTSD?”

“Uh… I guess so.”

“Great! Let her know I'm praying for her. I'm also praying for Charlotte and her baby. The Lord will perfect their health.”

“Amen. Thank you.”

“Let Hazel know that I’d love to see her someday.” 

“Okay, no problem. Talk)k to you later. Bye.” 

“Bye. God loves you.” She added before ending the call. 

I didn’t realize I had a smile on my lips till the call ended. I felt really grateful to have such an amazing person as a friend. 

My phone chimed, indicating that I had a new message. It was a message from Antonio, causing my cheeks to flush with color. I was about to open his texts when I paid attention to the screaming coming from the house, realizing that it was Hazel's screams. 

I quickly jumped out of their bed and ran out of the room, following the sound of her scream to the guest room. 

My body felt paralyzed from the cold feeling after taking in Hazel's Condition— she was sitting on the floor, looking really pale with her chest rising and falling faster than normal. She was also hitting her head on the edge of the table, ignoring how it was causing her to lose blood. 

I quickly ran to her when a male voice from her phone call completed his sentence, “…You know what to do and where to meet me.”

That made her scream even more and began scratching her forearms till they were bleeding. 

“Hazel,” I called, my voice was almost inaudible. The fear in me from seeing her in this state made me feel like I lost my speech. 

“All you have to do is to leave Tristan. You should expect another call from me sooner or later. Goodbye, for now.” The call ended after a beep. 

“Hazel,” I didn't care about the call but her state right now. “please stop this.” I crouched beside her, holding her shoulders.

“No! leave me!” She hollered, pushing me away from her. “I’m gonna die, everyone's going to die.” She wrapped her arms around herself, scratching her arms really hard. Her eyes were dark red, her body was soaked in sweat, her hair was disheveled, and she was bleeding profusely. She looked like the victims in a horror movie and the way she was breathing made me fear that she was going to faint. 

“Hazel, please calm down.” My breath was unsteady and I tried to hold her again, yet she pushed me away.

I knew I couldn't be of help to her and quickly ran back to the room to grab my phone, calling Tristan while I ran back to Hazel.

My body became cold when I saw Hazel on the floor, lifeless, with a broken glass pierced into her arm and hand while blood continued to drip from her. The only question that I could ask myself was, 'is she still alive?’