Chapter 67: chapter 67

Elora's POV----------------"I feel so lost right now....and I don't have the confidence to bring this up in front of Rodas.""To tell the truth, I'm scared so much right now.""And I... I can't talk about this with Liam either... I know what he will say. He will say that he already warned me" "It's so frustrating... It's eating me alive. I don't know how to get that scene out of my head.""And all these things raise questions... Should I stay with that man? Should I spend more days with someone like Rodas? My brain tells me to escape as far as I can but my heart... is not sure if it'll be able to beat without that man""What should I do?" I turn to look at the silent man sitting beside me."What should I do... Jeremy?" Jeremy sighs and stretches his arms before putting his head on my shoulder. It's evening and the sun is setting behind the big buildings. I came to the rooftop to avoid Rodas and hoped to be alone but Jeremy was already here. I ended up telling him about my situation."Even if you ask me... I can't say anything better because I find nothing wrong in what Rodas did. We grew up in such an environment where murdering people is nothing but a cup of tea. No one has mercy on anyone. If you betray, you get killed. If you screw up, you die and then revenge comes. There is very little room for trust and love" he says. There's a trail of sadness in his voice as if he wants to get away from this world where he was forced to live. Then again, I might be very wrong."But to kill someone by starving them, cutting their body parts and letting them bleed for so long... I cannot imagine a human doing something like that and to think Rodas did it-""People do it worse Elora... Mason would have done it worse. At least Rodas didn't cut his belly open and took his insides out. He didn't pull his eyes out of the sockets or cut open his head." I cover my mouth to prevent myself from throwing out. I wonder how Jeremy is being able to say all those things with such a straight face.  "So are you saying that Rodas did nothing wrong?" Jeremy chuckles hearing my question. "What's funny?" I ask furiously.He raises his head and looks at me, blue eyes shining behind the front bangs. He looks different in his short hair but he is still as beautiful as the first day I saw him. "I think you should talk about it with Rodas himself," he says. "I don't know..." I look away and mumble to myself. "What if I leave?" There's a pause. Two seconds of loudest silence before Jeremy speaks."I don't have a say in what you decide but dealing with Rodas after that would be so pain in the ass" "What do you mean?" I ask and nudge his shoulder. He takes out his phone and opens the camera before bringing the reddish sky into the frame. "After your accident... He turned mad. He constantly used to shout at us and he-" Jeremy pauses and captures multiple photos."What?" He sighs and puts away the device."He used to hurt himself every day" Jeremy's words make me think about that very first night when I mended his wound after I lost my memory. I'm not sure but I wonder if he was hurting himself with a knife. I do not say anything back and I don't want to go inside just yet. Jeremy must be the same, it's just we have different situations to deal with. If he wanted to talk about himself then he would have the moment I arrived here.So, we just silently watch the sky turning dark until a cough interrupts us from behind. I look behind and see Zeco standing a few feet away behind us with a hesitant look but Jeremy doesn't react. It's like he already knows and doesn't want to face Zeco."Jeremy" I whisper."Ignore, I don't know that weird and stupid man" Jeremy mumbles. As expected. I smile a little and pat his shoulder."You gotta talk it out with him too," He rolls his eyes and shakes his head."Don't want to" I sigh and get up to my feet. It's difficult to believe that he is the same man who was giving me advice just a few minutes ago.He frowns while looking up at me."Where are you going?" He whispers.I shrug and point behind me. "I guess I'm going to have a chat with Rodas..."He nods but that frown on his face doesn't disappear. I pat his shoulder again before making my way out of the rooftop but the moment I step into the hallway, my pace weakens. I turn away from Rodas's room and head for my so-called room which hasn't been opened for decades. I close the door as soon as I enter the room and let out a loud sigh of relief but it lasts only for a few seconds."Who are you hiding from Princess?" A deep voice booms like thunder behind me. My eyes widen as I turn to face Rodas already standing by the window with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. My back pins against the wooden door. Rodas raises his eyebrows and makes his way towards me.  "Were you hiding from me?" He asks, this time in a low tone. I shake my head. He comes close and puts his right hand against the wall while his other hand brushes aside my hair strands. He kisses the corner of my lips before fixating his green gaze on me. "Are you perhaps trying to avoid me?" He asks again.I keep my eyes down and do not say anything. There is a pause for a few seconds before he speaks in a slightly angry tone. "Sunshine... Don't make me mad. When I talk to you, please look at me"