Pain
Nikolai’s POV
I woke up with a start from a sharp pain in my chest and a searing headache. My fingers rubbing my temple, I looked around. I was still seated in my living room. I groaned, noting that I must’ve dozed off. Checking the time to see, I realized that I had dozed off for about thirty minutes. I smiled when I remembered I had been waiting for Liyah. Why did she take so long though?
I stood from the sofa and walked into my bedroom. If she had also fallen asleep then there was where she would be. I turned the doorknob, freezing in my steps when I saw that the bed was still smooth without creases, I swept through the rest of the bedroom, the kitchen and the garden. There was still no sign of her. I wondered if she was with any of the rest, so I mindlinked Drew and the rest, asking if Liyah was with them. As soon as I did, Drew and Annalise came running down the stairs.
“Why are you asking for Liyah? Isn’t she with you? She’s not with any of us.”
My heart skipped a beat as I clutched onto the sides of my jeans. Where could she possibly be? Still confused, I faced them. “Check Eve’s room, anywhere she might be.”
I checked the common room, the kitchen, and every other room on the ground floor but she was nowhere to be found. Trying to calm myself, I awaited their arrival. When I saw the worried look on their faces as they descended the stairs, I started to panic.
I took short breaths, trying hard to calm my heart which had already begun to beat wildly.
She was in this house… she was just here. She had to be.
“Where is she?!” I yelled, although I didn’t mean to. “When’s the last time you saw her. Check… scour through the mansion, find her.”
I gripped the rails of the staircase, trying to breathe, trying to assure myself that Liyah was somewhere in this house. Nothing was wrong with her. Nothing. Maybe she was asleep somewhere else, I was just with her minutes ago, and the mansion is safe.
“We didn’t find her,” I heard Drew say. “Last we saw her she was with you having ice-cream. Where could she have gone? We’ve searched everywhere. She’s not in this mansion.”
“Maybe… maybe she just went for a stroll,” I said. But it sounded more like I was trying to convince myself.
“It’s three in the morning, Nikolai. It’s pretty late…” Annalise whispered. “When last did you see her?”
I swallowed. “We were talking and she ran out of cherries. She said she was going to get some from the garden. And then I dozed off waiting for her…” Saying it out loud, I realized how stupid I had been. Why hadn’t I gone with her? And I had fallen asleep as well.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
“We should check the garden again, then.”
I nodded shakily, following behind them as we made our way to the back of the house. Why was I feeling so jumpy? I wondered. Everything was fine.
“Nikolai?” Annalise called out. I shut my eyes tightly, the fear in her voice shook me to the core. I turned to see what she was pointing to and I nearly lost my balance when I saw the bunch of plucked cherries scattered all over the floor.
No.
No, no.
“It seems like there was a struggle… I-I don’t know…” Anna trailed off, her hand coming up to rest on her chest. “And I can’t… I can’t feel her presence in this house.”
“I think I found something,” We heard Drew say. I looked up to see him clutching something in his hand. It looked like some kind of jewelry. “Nikolai… I’m so sorry. It has the Monhowl seal..”
“What?!” Anna yelled, grabbing the necklace to get a better view.
I staggered backwards in shock as a horrifying image of events replayed in my head. The one person dearest to me, kidnapped. While she was pregnant. By the same person. History was repeating itself.
My chest exploded as rage pumped through me. “I’LL FUCKING KILL HIM!”
My hands shook as I transformed, my clothes ripping off my body. I would not let him take my happiness away from me. Not again. Not ever.
“Nikolai, stop!” Drew yelled, holding me back and I rushed to the gates. But I wasn’t listening.
“If you don’t get the fuck out of my way I’ll do something I might regret.”
“Nik.. Nikolai he’s right. We have to wait-”
“Out of my way!!” I pushed them both out of the way, my head spinning as by pushed the gates open.
Before I could get far they had pulled me back. “Listen! I know you’re completely furious at the moment but you need to listen.”
I roared with anger, slashing at them both as they overpowered me, pushing me back into the house and into my study and locking the door behind them.
“Let me go… let me go…”
I slumped to the floor, feeling my heart tighten in my chest. It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have let her go. I should have stayed with her. Why did I let my guard down?
Why?
Drew squatted next to me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. “You need to calm down-”
“She’s pregnant. Okay? You don’t understand… she’s pregnant!”
They both exchanged looks.
“It was supposed to be a surprise. Can’t you see history is about to repeat itself? I can’t let that happen,” I clutched at my hair.
Why did I let her out of my sight… why?
“Nikolai.. look, if Jonas is behind this, then he’s probably expecting this exact reaction. He’s waiting for the moment you storm up to his territory, and he’ll be right there waiting for you. He already knows how this is going to play out. And that’s the exact reason why we can’t do that.”
“He’s right,” I heard Anna whisper as she wrapped her arms around my shoulder, grabbing a cloth from the sofa and covering me up. “Trust me I want to storm down there and rip his heart out just like you do, especially now I know she’s pregnant. But that would be a terrible move. You would put both yourself and Liyah in danger. Please..”
I knew they were right. But she was there all alone. Anything could happen to her…
“So what am I supposed to do, just sit down and do nothing?”
“No. We have to analyse the situation first. Figure out why and how this happened. I think at this point it’s obvious that Jonas must have had some inside help. We need to figure out who it is, then use that to our advantage.”
An insider.
I hadn’t thought of that. But it made a lot of sense now. Someone must have been watching us this whole time. How else would they have known the exact time when she would be alone.
My anger quickly resurfaced. When I found out whoever it was, I would rip them into pieces and make sure they suffered.
“And that way we’ll make sure no harm comes to Liyah. We’ll bring her back… and safe too.
Slowly, I nodded, burying my head in my hands as I listened to Drew go through the plan he had come up with.