Bounty Hunter

Zinnia

“Zinnia, no. You can’t be in love with that man. He’s the devil’s incarnate,” Alex argued. She rose to her feet and began pacing back and forth the room, ruffling her hands through her hair dramatically.

I found her reaction to be over the top. The only thing she knew of Reed was how he wanted to be viewed – and that’s as cruel and heartless. But there was more to Reed than meets the eye.

“He’s not. That’s what he wants you to believe. But I know him, Alex. If you just look past all that, I think you’ll see him for who he truly is,”

“We are in danger because of him. We missed death by an inch because of him. I think I pretty much know who he is,” she fired back, her voice slightly above pitch.

I could understand where she was coming from. I mean, I pretty much had this conversation with Reed before she came in. But in my defence, I was upset at him for calling me naïve.

“Zinnia,” Alex approached me and took my hand in hers. “Zinnia, I need you to listen to me keenly. Leave this guy now. I know you love him, but you need to stop loving him. These feelings you have for him will be the death of you,” Alex begged, desperation evident in her voice.

I shook my head a little aggressively. I couldn’t not love Reed. My heart beats for him. I breath because for him. My entire being was made for him. Having him out of my life would be like taking off my life support.

Alex sighed. She looked at me and nodded, letting my reply sink in. Then, she was on her feet again and walked to the door.

“You’re going to have to choose, Zinnia. I’m sorry, but you have to. I love you, I swear I do. But I am not risking my life because you chose to fall in love with a murderer. If you choose to stay with him, you won’t hear from me ever again. But if you leave him, I will protect you. I will reach out to my parents and ask them for protection,”

Before I could even reply to Alex’s ultimatum, she was out the door.

********

For the next couple of days, I stayed inside the room. Reed had come in along with the doctor to check up on me, but he never uttered a word to me.

He would ask the doctor questions about my health and if there was any progress, but as soon as the doctor left, he would leave too. That has been going on for about four days.

Four whole bloody days locked up in this room with no contact with him or the outside world. I missed him.

I missed Alex too. She hadn’t come to see me since our conversation and I began to wonder if she decided to leave. Not that Reed would ever ask her to leave. And knowing that there was a huge possibility of that happening scared the hell out of me and it almost made me feel shitty.

Now, five days later, the doctor declared I was fine. He’d cleared me off the pulse monitor and intravenous drip three days ago, however, prescribed a lot of bed rest.

Currently, I was sitting by the window with a book in my hand when the door to the room creaked open. I tilted my head, a sly smile forming on my lips at the sight of Hermine’s petite body frame.

Her face brightened and she flashed me a pearl-white smile.

“Hey,” she greeted.

Instinctively, I closed the book and walked up to her, meeting her halfway across the room. I wrapped my arms around her and basked in her baby-like smell.

“Oh, a hug! I never thought we’d crossed that…” Hermine murmured awkwardly whilst still wrapped in my arms. She stayed wrapped in my arms for another ten seconds before I released her.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so happy to see you,” I replied, now feeling awkward.

“You are?” Her brow raised in bewilderment.

“Yeah,”

She smiled, fighting the way her cheeks flushed. “I’m happy you’re okay too,” she murmured, kicking her feet like a teenager talking to their crush.

“Here,” she stuck out her hand, which I happily took. “You’ve been cooked up in here for too long. Why don’t you help me make dinner?” She asked, already leading me towards the door.

“I’d be happy, but…” she paused in her steps, making me bump into her. “But?”

“With how big the house is, I thought there would be cooks?”

I hated how posh and snobbish I sounded. Although, I was genuinely curious. Who the hell was she even cooking for? For the little time I have been here – kidnapped and now locked up – I’d only ever seen her and Reed. Well, I’d heard some voices, but I never bothered to catch their names.

“Oh, we do have cooks, but Reed laid them off,”

I frowned as we began walking again. “Just like that?”

“Just like that. Don’t worry, they were handsomely compensated,” she replied and I struggled to catch up with her. One would think with her size, she’d be a slow walker, yet I struggled to fall in line with her.

“But why?” I pressed on

“He doesn’t want to take any chances. You know, with Roman and Mad on our tail,”

“Wait, so, it isn’t just Roman who wants him dead?”

Hermine chuckled. “Oh, they don’t want him dead. Not literally. They want him dead on the inside, if you know what I mean. So, he fired anyone he thought would easily crack under pressure,”

I let her words settle in. Somehow, I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that she was talking about me. That Roman wanted me, and not Reed.

“But, was that a smart decision though? I mean, now that they no longer work for him, doesn’t that expose them to Roman and his men? What if they get to them and they crack under pressure?” I asked.

“Yeah. That’s part of the plan. Reed has people tailing everyone he fired. In case Roman’s men approach any of them, they’ll step in. He has it all figured out,” she explained. That made a lot of sense.

“Oh, okay,” I replied as we took the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor. We rode for a while in silence when the thought of Alex came into my mind.

“So uh, have you heard from Alex? She hasn’t visited me in almost four days,” I met Hermine’s gaze in the mirror in the elevator.

“Oh, yeah. She’s locked herself in her room. Did you two fight? She’s been moody and wouldn’t talk to me. And the fact that Reed has her on lockdown too doesn’t help,”

“So, she didn’t leave?”

Hermine snorted a laugh. “Leave? Yeah right,” that ended our brief conversation. We made it to the kitchen and fell into a comfortable silence. While Hermine got started on chopping some veggies, I focused on spicing the chicken.

After a while, Hermine excused herself and I continued working. Shortly after Hermine left, I began to hear cries and pleas. For a split second, I decided against finding out what or who it was. But curiosity got the best of me and I dropped what I was doing, and rinsed my hand in the sink. I patted my wet hands on my jeans and followed the direction of the noise.

It was coming from a door at the end of the hallway. I tiptoed towards the door and the noise grew louder. I turned the doorknob and was met with nothing but darkness and a roll of stairs that seemed to lead to a basement.

The noise grew louder. My instincts told me to turn back, but my curious little self wouldn’t give in.

I looked over my shoulders and took a deep breath before taking the first step toward the basement.

I finished the stairs and followed through a dimly lit path. The smell of mould and dead rats brutally invaded my nostrils. The urge to cough so strong, but I force it down, refusing to blow my cover.

And then, I was walking into a gore and very graphic scene. The metallic scent of blood hung thick in the air. The walls, although not very visible because of the lightning in the room, were adorned with macabre strokes and crimson hues that painted chaotic patterns.

Reed’s mismatched eyes bore daggers into my soul. A smile formed on his bloody face as his eyes darkened. He seemed to be pleased at the fact that I had walked in on him.

I tore my gaze from him and to the torn and twisted limbs lying in unnatural arrangements. The floor was slick with a thick crimson red.

The scene before me demanded a strong stomach, and I was very far from possessing that. The sight before me made my limbs weak and my stomach churn.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

My gaze flew back to Reed’s. He stuck out his hand, inviting me. My legs that was weak only but a few seconds ago, regained their strength, as though obeying Reed’s silent command.

“Come on, my little flower. Bask in the lifeless body of the man who caused our accident,” it was the first time Reed was speaking to me since our argument. I wasn’t sure if it was hearing his voice, or seeing him in his natural habitat as the ruthless bounty hunter that he is, but my insides were swirling with desire for him.

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