Her Substitute Groom

Claire POV

Sitting outside in the middle of the night with the cold piercing through my bones, birds chirping and making terrifying noise, I couldn’t help the tears that streamed down my cheeks. It felt like the last days of my life, or maybe I was already dead and alone in my grave. I know they said the grave is more terrifying, but at the moment, I didn’t think there would be anything more terrifying than staying alone at home in the whole dark house without a single light.

My phone beeped, and I checked to see that it was a warning that it was going to power off. At that moment, the only light that had been helping me went off immediately as my phone switched off, leaving me in thick darkness. I couldn’t even get a glimpse of my surroundings.

Yesterday, my parents left in the morning on a business trip, leaving me alone here. Well, they asked me to move in with my Mom’s friend, but I refused so they were left with no choice but to leave me behind. Maybe they thought well, she’s a big girl and will be fine all by herself. Who said that I’ll be fine?

My body trembled as I hugged my legs to my chest while sitting in front of the door, waiting for my doom. I thought being alone in the darkness inside the room was terrifying, but being outside here was even scarier.

“You are going to be fine, Claire. Don’t think about any negative thing,” I assured myself even though I knew that things would never be fine. Why the fuck does this have to happen to me by this time of the night? Why does it have to be now that I don’t even have my family around me? More tears streamed down my cheeks, but knowing that I was left all alone here, I could only wait for my doom to come soon.

I called Connor earlier, but I guess he was asleep and didn’t hear his phone ring, or maybe he went out and left his phone at home. I know Connor would never ignore my calls. You would ask, why didn’t I call Chase, yeah? Well, I would’ve called him if I had his number. Dad took my phone, and I could only get Connor’s contact because I had it saved in my memory.

The faint sound of a car flashed through my ears, and fear gripped me. I stood up immediately and stood on the stairs. My heart was hammering so hard that I could literally hear the sound of it. I narrowed my eyes just so I could see, but for someone with nyctalopia, I knew that I was just deceiving myself. I couldn’t see any single thing, and it was even more terrifying and frustrating.

The sound of the car got closer and closer until the flashlight of the car reflected directly on my face and it dawned on me that the car was coming to our house. For a moment, my heart stopped beating, and my fear increased even more as lots of negative thoughts clouded my mind. Is the person here to rob me? What if I get raped by whoever was in the car? What if I ended up losing my life? With all these thoughts going on in my mind, I quickly turned and managed to find the doorknob, then twisting it open, I pushed the door open and stormed inside the dark house, slamming the door behind me and locking it.

“What should I do? Where should I run to? I can’t see anything…” I cried, looking around the living room to see where to run to, but everywhere felt like a shallow grave filled with darkness and fear. I’ve not been to the grave before, but it was the only thing I could compare this to since I’ve heard a lot about it.

“You can’t die just like that… You can’t give up now,” I slowly shook my head, my cheeks wet from the tears that won’t stop falling uncontrollably down my cheeks. I started to drag my feet on the ground while stretching my hand and finding my way to the stairs, but that didn’t last long until I tripped over the center table and fell roughly on the ground, just then, the doorbell rang, and my heart dropped.

I drew back on the floor until my back was pressing hard against the couch, my heartbeat seemed to increase more than it was earlier, my whole body trembled, my palms sweaty, and beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

“Is this the end of me? I don’t want to die, please. Please give me another chance, my creator,” I merged my hands and prayed silently, hoping whoever was at the door would leave immediately, but that was a dream that would never come true for me because, at the time I was praying, the doorbell rang again.

“Open the door, Claire. It’s me, Khan. Your brother’s friend,” I quickly recognized the masculine voice to be Connor’s best friend, and I felt relieved instantly. I managed to stand up to my feet and found my way toward the door, but just when I was about to open the door, something spoke to me.

“What if he is just pretending to be Khan? What if it’s a trap?” A voice spoke in my head, and I slowly let go of the doorknob, taking a step away from the door.

“Are you there, Claire?” His voice sounded from outside again, but this time, it was calm.

“Claire…” He knocked on the door this time when I didn’t say anything.

“I don’t have spare keys with me, can you please open the door? Your brother asked me to come over and help you,” He said again, and I swallowed hard.

“Th… that’s not true. You are not Khan!” I finally found my voice and yelled for him to hear.

“I’m Khan… I’m your brother’s friend. Connor was worried about you so he had to call me to come over here. Can you open the door, please?” He spoke again, and I scoffed.

“If Connor was going to call someone, it should’ve been Chase. Why would he call you?” I asked him, and I heard him scoff.

“You can ask your brother then when you reach him. Can you open the door, please? It’s cold out here,” He spoke again, and just this once, I decided to let go of my trust issues and open up for him. My hand trembled as I reached for the knob. I held my breath and slowly opened the door, revealing someone. I couldn’t see him clearly because there was no light. For a second, I asked myself what the fuck I just did. I concluded that the person standing in front of me was not Khan but someone else impersonating him. Am I really destined to die this night? I took a step back.

“What happened?” He asked, dipping his hand inside his pocket.

“Pl… please don’t kill me. Please don’t harm me,” I pleaded with him and took a step back, but he scoffed.

“Are you crazy? Why would I harm you?” He finally switched on his phone torchlight and shone it on his face, and I finally felt relieved after I confirmed that it was really him.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you,” I muttered, and he sighed.

“It’s fine. What the hell happened?” He asked me after he walked inside the living room.

“Why is everywhere dark?” He asked, turning to face me. I already closed the door and walked inside the living room.

“I don’t know what happened. The light suddenly went off,” I replied to him.

“Where is everyone?” He asked again.

“Mom and Dad traveled yesterday, so I had to stay back here alone,” I replied to him, and he sighed.

“You could’ve just go lodge at a hotel. Why stay here all alone?” He shook his head, and I sighed.

“Are you here to scold me or help me?” I rolled my eyes at him, and he scoffed.

“You should speak to your brother first. I will go check on the light and see what the problem is,” He uttered then handed me his phone after he dialed Connor’s number and walked away to check on the light.

I was still speaking with Connor when Khan came back and sighed.

“Give the phone to Khan,” Connor said, and I gave him the phone.

“Hey, what’s up?” Khan uttered.

“Yo! What’s that? Are you for real? Whatever!” He scoffed.

“Alright,” He finally ended the call and turned to me.

“I think you would need to call the electrician tomorrow to come check it for you. Do you have some money with you to lodge at the hotel?” He asked me, and I scoffed.

“I would’ve done that for you, but I didn’t bring my card with me, and I don’t have cash on me. I will refund you later,” He uttered, and I sighed.

“I don’t have any money on me. My card expired, so I would be going to the bank on Monday to get it,” I mumbled, and he sighed.

“What do you want us to do then? I can’t bring you to my house, and I can’t pass the night here with you,” He shrugged, and I sighed.

“Just take me to your house,” I said to him after a long silence, and he looked at me.

“It’s just for the night. My parents will be back tomorrow, and the light will be fixed tomorrow, so it’s fine to crash at your house for a few hours,” I shrugged.

“Your brother is going to skin me alive if he finds out that you passed the night at my house,” He stated, and I scoffed.

“Stop being dramatic. You’re not my style, so there’s nothing to worry about,” I said to him, and his eyes narrowed…