Kristal Anderson
It was him.
He was watching me.
He found me.
The entire room was spinning, only he and I were stationary; staring at one another.
He stood out in the crowd. A black trenchcoat covered most of his tall frame and his cheap looking white mask stood out in the sea of bejeweled fancy looking masks.
I felt like I was going to throw up, faint, and go into cardiac arrest all at once. My entire body had broken out into a cold sweat. I was surprised my heart hadn't shot out of my chest and ran around the room from how fast it was beating.
I don't know how long we'd been staring at each other, it could have been mere seconds but to me it felt like an eternity of torture as my mind played through every possible way he could kill me right there and then.
His gaze lingered on mine a little while longer before he averted it to the man who's his arm was linked in mine. I didn't think it was possible for my stomach to drop any lower but as soon as I realized that his attention was no longer on me, it felt like my stomach had reached the deepest pits of hell.
That sinking feeling was accompanied with the realization that I had put Aiden in danger by being with him. The walls around me that has previously felt like they were spinning at the speed of light came to a daunting half and collapsed in on themselves, my legs mimicked the action; giving out and buckling beneath me.
My body braced itself to the best of its ability but I was never met by the cold hard marble floor, instead Aiden's arm that was linked in mine moved to hook around my waist in record speed.
"You okay?" His voice made me snap my head in his direction to meet his gaze. His eyebrows knitted in a mixture of worry and confusion.
My lips parted as my brain tried to come up with a way to ease his worry but I came up short. Out of the corner of my eye, I realized that I could no longer see the outline of the man. I snapped my head back to where he had been standing mere seconds ago.
He was gone.
My eyes scanned the balcony as fast as they could in search for him. Nothing.
He was gone.
Too much was happening all at once.
Everything was too loud.
Every form of noise in the room felt amplified; every word spoken, every single beat of the music, every laugh, every heel that clicked on the marble floor. All those sounds were having a screaming match with my own thoughts and no one was winning.
"I want out," I didn't quite know if I said it out loud, I didn't know if my body was capable of forming words in the panicked state that it was in.
"Excuse us, Mr. Marino," Aiden's voice filled my ears loud and clear which was the confirmation I needed that I had said it out loud. Or he was a mind reader.
His steady grip on my waist grew tighter and I began to move. I couldn't tell you if I was floating or if I had found the strength to walk or both but I found myself moving towards the nearest exit with the help of Aiden. The moment I started moving, the battle of sounds in my ears turned into nothing more than a deafening ring.
We moved fast across the floor towards a set of double doorsâ or maybe my brain was speeding things up, I couldn't tell.
Everything was a blur.
Aside from the ringing in my ears, all of my other senses seemed to be nonexistent.
When we managed to get through the door the cool outside air caressed my face though my mask that now made me feel so enclosed and trapped.
The doors had led us to a courtyard, the courtyard perfectly complimented the interior of the venue; grand, extravagant and extremely beautiful.
A large well-lit fountain was the center piece with well-kept greenery surrounding the area. The moonlight coming from the roof-less top glistened down onto the statue on the fountain, creating just the right amount of shadows.
His arm around my waist continued to guide me, walking us towards the fountain. When we reached the fountain, he turned me to face away from it and guided me to sit down on the cold ledge.
He stood in front of me and brought his firm but gentle hand that my cheek guiding my face up for me to meet his gaze. His lips were moving but the ringing in my ear made it impossible for me to decipher the words he was saying.
His lips kept moving as his brows knitted in worry. His hand slid from my cheek towards the back of my head before he effortlessly pulled apart the knot holding my mask in place. With the mask in his grasp, both of his hands were on my cheeks ever so gently.
The cold brisk air hit my bare face bringing my attention to the wetness cascading down my face. I was crying and I hadn't even realized.
"Hey," A faint voice managed to slip through the cracks of the ringing in my ears, "come on Kris, I need to know you're okay," His voice still sounded like he was miles away but I was finally able to make out the words.
The look of pure concern knitted onto his expression made my chest tighten. He was worrying about me, I had managed to make myself a burden to yet another person.
I screamed internally begging my body to snap out of the trance it was in and ease his worries but the best I could do was nodding vigorously.
He shook his head, "No Kris, I need words. Tell me what's going on, I need to know so that I can help you," The panic in his voice only made the guilt inside me grow.
That guiltiness must have been enough of a distraction because the ringing in my ears slowly ceased. I shut my eyes for a second trying to collect myself.
"I-I'm fine," His hands left my cheeks but the look of concern stayed glued to his face. I chose to ignore the way my body reacted to the loss of contact and took the opportunity to wipe my face surely smudging my makeup in the process. "I just... got overwhelmed, I hadn't been in a room so packed in a while,"
That seemed to lessen his concern because his eyes soften, "Do you need to leave?"
I stayed silent for longer than necessary taking my time to consider his question. The fog that had clouded my brain the moment I laid eyes on the masked man seemed to clear up giving me a better shot at forming a coherent thought.
What would my father, a man who had been in prison for the last 15 years and had just recently been released, be doing at a place like this? This was a place where rich businesspeople were, surely they had methods to ensure that criminals stayed out of the premise.
Or at least that's what I needed to convince myself of in order to maintain my fleeting sanity.
That could not have been my father.
That was not my father.
That was just some weird guy with a staring problem. . . and the ability to disappear like he wasn't even there in the first place.
Maybe he was a magician. Yeah, I'll go with that. Maybe he was hired to perform tonight.
There had to be another explanation but that was not him.
Maybe I was truly going insane and imagined everything. Maybe he really wasn't there and my brain was playing tricks onâ
"Kris did you hear me?"
His voice made snap my eyes up to meet his, pulling me out of the tunnel I'd been spiralling down. "Y-yeah I heard you," I forced my lips to tug into a smile, "I'm fine, I- just thought I saw someone in the crowd but it wasn't him he would never be in a place like this," Saying it out loud was another way for me to reassure myself. I shook my head cutting my rambles short, "but I'm fine everything is fine and we can go back inside," I said dismissively as I got up, my heels gave me a few extra inches but there was still a notable difference in our height.
"Whatâ no you can't justâ who did you see?"
I shook my head again and reached in resting my hand on his shoulder giving it a firm squeeze to calm his nerves, "It was no one, my stupid brain was just playing tricks on me I promise,"
That didn't seem to be enough to calm his nerves, "Kris, I need to know if you're in danger, you can't keep me in the dark here cause I would never forgive myself if something happened to you under my watch,"
I held his gaze for a moment taking in his words before my eyes dropped down to the floor, "Nothing is gonna happen to me. It was. . . I just thought I saw someone from my past, someone I don't like to think or talk about but now thinking about it without the anxiety fog clouding my thoughts, him being here is literally impossible,"
"What was he wearing?"
I let out a chuckle trying to lighten the mood because from the look on his face I could tell that he was not convinced, "Hey let's not feed into my delusions okay? I promise you I'm okay, all I needed was some fresh air," I told him with the brightest smile I could muster and prayed to the God's that he couldn't see through my words and realize that I was trying to convince myself as well.
"Kris youâ"
I cut him off desperately needing him to drop the conversation, "I must look like a mess right now huh," I chuckled lightly patting my fingers over my cheeks to dry up my cheeks that were nearly completely dry of the tears that fell. "My makeup is all smudged, I need a touch up," I looked around the walls of the courtyard that surrounded us, "is there a bathroom around?" I asked desperately trying to change the subject.
His jaw ticked, it was clear that he was trying restrain himself from asking any further questions and to push his concern aside. Allowing this conversation to continue would mean revealing things about my past that I wasn't quite sure I ever wanted to.
I couldn't help but feel like that would ruin our friendship by putting unnecessary weight on it. Things between us felt light, he could be with me without needing to worry about my father finding me. I desperately needed to keep that feeling for as long as I could.
"I'll take you,"
"Oh what you gonna watch me pee too?"
He shrugged, his lips lifting briefly in a chuckle, "If I have to, yes," A low laugh escaped my lips, "turn around," He told me, my brows furrowed in confusion but I did it anyway, turning around to face the fountain. My confusion soon withered when he placed my mask back over my face, pulling the silk ribbons back to tie them. I forced my attention on the water trickling down the fountain doing my best to ignore the way my body reacted to the proximity of his body, the heat that radiated off of him was intoxicating. "You're not fooling me darling, I know something is up and I can tell that you're scared," His voice was low now, closer to me, the heat from every word leaving his mouth fanning against my exposed skin.
Goosebumps coated my skin as I turned back around to face him, I tried to hold his gaze but quickly chickened out because of how well he had read me.
"Shall we?" I motioned to the door we had been through just minutes ago. With his hand on the small of my back to guide me, we made our way back into the venue that held significantly more people than it did a few minutes prior.
"Up the stairs, down the hall to the right," He explained retrieving his hand from the small of my back. I nodded in response, "just know that if you take too long, I'm coming to get you,"
I rolled my eyes and waved him off maintaining my unbothered act for my sake more than his because maybe if I pretended hard enough it would come true. My delusions were the only thing keeping me afloat at that point.
I imagined him. He would never be at a place like this.
I imagined him. He would never be at a place like this.
I imagined him. He would never be at a place like this.
I forced myself to repeat over and over again as I ascended the stairs that led to the balcony he was on mere minutes ago.
I imagined him. He would never be at a place like this.
Sorry for the long wait loves <3
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