61
Aoi
I don’t remember how long I spent in this tiny room waiting for Jason to arrive and take me to Visha.
He dragged me back into the same room he trapped me in earlier, but this time he made sure to lock the door behind him.
The lights are dimmed and flickering. The covers of the single bed are a bland shade of white that make me wonder how long they have been here. I can’t stand sitting on it and instead stay on the dusty ground in the corner of the room. There’s no clock on the wall, so I have no other choice than to wait in this cage until the tiger comes to eat its prey.
Hell, I’ll go insane if I don’t dosomething.
I get up and rummage through the furniture, searching for a way out. The sound of the door unlocking makes my heart leap in my chest and plummet into the abyss of disappointment as Jason walks in.
“Did you rest, my dear?”
“As if I could relax right now.”
He walks deeper into the room, gazing at me standing an inch from the edge of the bed. The door closes behind him and I swallow heavily. The area seems to have shrunk with his poisonous presence crowding it.
“I know you’re dispirited right now, but believe me, I’m doing this for your happiness.”
“My happiness? Don’t make me laugh.”
I have to calm down, but it’s so hard when all I can think of is to punch his perfectly smug face. I should’ve blasted a bullet through his skull when I had the chance, but I can’t become a murderer.
I can’t be like him.
I refuse to become a monster.
Jason changed so much over the past years, or maybe I just never knew him. Maybe he was always such a monstrosity, and I was just deluding myself.
No,I knowhe’s always been a twisted bastard. I stupidly thought he would change, but I was wrong.
“I really love you, Aoi. Even though you don’t believe me,” he murmurs. “Everything I’ve ever done was in your interest. To keep you safe and content by my side.”
He doesn’t know what love truly is.
What he calls love is a creepy obsession with control. He wants an exotic bird he can put in a cage and admire without fearing its escape. He hopes I will be his obedient puppy on a leash with no needs other than catering to him.
Obsession is not devotion.
Ownership is not protection.
It’s not my responsibility to rebuild something I didn’t break. But I can use it to my advantage and pave the way for peace and forgiveness.
Since he’s just a sociopath with a fucked-up idea of love, maybe he’ll fall for it if I pretend to reciprocate his affection. It’s a risky gamble, and it likely won’t work, but it could appease him enough to trick him into lowering his guard.
I want to puke at the softness of my tone when I answer him, “I believe you.”
Jason’s eyes widen and suddenly he flashes a gentle smile. He takes a couple steps toward me and stops at my feet. “You do?”
I instinctively want to run to the door and leave this nightmare behind, but instead, I sit down on the edge of the bed. Jason’s intimidating height looms over me, forcing me to look up at him.
“Yes.”
“I don’t think so,” he purrs, pushing me back onto the blanket. He caresses my cheek gently and plays with a strand of my hair. “You’ve never been a good liar.”
“I’m not lying,” I grit out.
