Chapter 5
- After taking a refreshing bath, Phoenix crawled up to her bed to get some sleep since she hadn't gotten any since yesterday. She had already dropped some food for Lilly at the hospital and wanted to have some time to herself at home.
- She couldn't stop thinking about Monica's offer.
- Did she make a mistake accepting? What about her mother? She couldn't just leave her to die!
- She didn't even know when she fell asleep thinking about all that.
- She was having a peaceful sleep when she suddenly heard a loud thud making her wake up.
- " What was that? " She asked, but heard the thud again. She climbed down from the bed, walked up to the switch, and turned on the light in her room.
- The noise came yet again, making her grab the bat which was lying beside her door. Grabbing her phone and turning on the touch, she followed where the noise was coming from and was already in the kitchen.
- Entering inside, she was surprised not to see anything broken.
- " Weird. I thought I heard something fall to the ground " She mumbled, looking around. The door of the kitchen suddenly slammed close by itself, making her flinch, turning swiftly to the door.
- She was about to rush to turn on the light in the kitchen when it turned on by itself. Her eyes widened in great horror at what she saw.
- The walls of the kitchen were covered with writings, written with blood as it dripped down.
- " Don't let him find you " were the words written on the wall.
- Phoenix screamed in horror and rushed to the door, trying to open it, but it was locked.
- " Somebody help! " She yelled, banging on the door.
- " Phoenix... " A hoarse and dreadful voice called out, making her turn, trembling in fear.
- " Who...are... you? " She stuttered in fear.
- " Don't let him find you, Phoenix...if you want to live " The voice commanded.
- " Who...are you talking about? " Phoenix shuttered, confused.
- " Don't let him find you, Phoenix! " The voice thundered.
- " Don't let him find you Phoenix... don't let him find you Phoenix.... don't let him find you Phoenix..."
- Multiple voices echoed in the kitchen. Shaking in terror, Phoenix turned, banging on the door.
- " Somebody help, please!! " She yelled at the top of her voice.
- A figure suddenly appeared behind her. It was that of a lady whose extremely long and messy hair covered her face. Her body was covered in blood and her head twisted to one side. She was putting on a worn-out gown which was also covered in blood. In her hand was a dagger and blood was dripping from it.
- She started approaching Phoenix, dragging the dagger on the floor. Hearing the screeching sound of the dagger, Phoenix slowly turned.
- " Goodbye Phoenix " The lady's evil laughter filled the kitchen. Seeing the dagger in her hand,
- " Please don't kill me, please " Phoenix begged, as the lady raised the dagger.
- " Please!!! " She screamed at the top of her voice, closing her eyes tight. Seconds passed with her expecting to feel pain in her head or any part of her body, but to her surprise, nothing happened.
- She slowly opened her eyes only to see another figure holding the lady by the neck, trying to strangle her. The figure let go of the lady's neck and she collapsed to the floor, turning into black ash before vanishing.
- Phoenix's eyes widened in horror and she looked up to see who the figure was, her heart thumping fast. At first, seeing the figures' dim purple eyes made tears flood her eyes, thinking it was going to kill her too. But on spotting its blonde hair, she recognized who it was immediately.
- " You... " She mumbled in surprise. It turned out to be none other than Axion. Breaking down in tears, Phoenix hugged him without thinking twice.
- Axion's body stiffened in shock at first. He folded his fist in anger, rolling his eyes. All he was thinking about was pushing Phoenix off him because he felt disgusted. Coming back to her senses, Phoenix pulled out of the hug.
- " Sorry " She apologized, looking down in embarrassment, but only received a hiss from Axion, who looked away.
- " What...are you... doing here? " Phoenix decided to ask as her racing heart gradually subsided. Glaring at her,
- " Learn to stop screaming like a lunatic and try using your head when in danger " Axion hissed. Phoenix nodded slowly, pouting sadly.
- " Here, keep this " Axion stretched out the red hair tie to her which she snatched from him.
- " My hair tie! " She exclaimed happily.
- " Why did you take it? Do you know how much my mom bought this for me, huh? You almost got me in trouble " She snapped at Axion, who scoffed in disbelief. Rolling his eyes, he turned about to leave through the window when,
- " Wait " Phoenix's voice halted him and he turned. Glaring at him, Phoenix approached with folded arms.
- " I've been wanting to ask you...why did you leave me on a bench of all places that day? " She demanded. Axion almost hissed at her question.
- " At least, be grateful I saved your life " He rolled his eyes.
- " I was escaping when you barged the door open and I almost fell to my doom. Why should I be grateful? " Phoenix frowned deeply at him. Axion couldn't believe what she just said.
- " Weren't you squealing like a lunatic for help? "
- " I was fine escaping myself, thank you for nothing " Phoenix huffed.
- " Anyways, that wasn't the question I intended to ask. I wanted to ask... what were you doing at the club yesterday? Were you looking for me? " She added. Axion could feel his anger boiling once again.
- Ignoring her question, he jumped off.
- " Hey, wait! " Phoenix called out.
- " Thank you for saving me! Are you my guardian angel?! " She yelled out, but Axion ignored her. A smile crept up Phoenix's lips just then.
- " He's cute. My guardian angel is cute " She squeaked, jumping happily while giggling.
- THE NEXT MORNING
- Axion can be seen seated in his office chair, leaning back, his eyes closed. He couldn't stop thinking about meeting Phoenix yesterday.
- Last night, he was just about to go to sleep when he heard someone calling for help. He wanted to ignore it but seeing a vision of Phoenix in danger, he rushed to her house immediately. He wanted to ignore the vision at first, seeing it was about Phoenix, but still he couldn't.
- " What was pushing me to go save her even though I've already rejected her as my Phoenix? " He couldn't help to wonder.
- The door of his office twisted open and a figure walked in. Feeling someone standing before him, he opened his eyes. Before him was a lady, a pretty lady who was dressed all formal and had a file in her hand.
- Smiling at him,
- " What are you thinking about? " She asked, placing the file on his table.
- " Nothing " Axion replied, leaning forward.
- " How was your meeting with Mr. Adams? " He inquired.
- " It went ok. He accepted to sign the contract after much convincing " The lady replied.
- " I told you...I could handle it " She bragged and Axion flashed her a smile.
- " How is aunt's condition anyway? "
- " No improvement "
- " Don't worry, you'll find her healer soon. Don't give up yet " The lady assured him.
- " Thanks, Gianna " Axion thanked her.
- " I want to go grab some coffee. Do you want some? " Gianna inquired.
- " Of course "
- " I'll be right back then. "
- ×. ×. ×
- Phoenix stepped out of a building and a car stopped right before the building almost at the same time. The driver stepped out and approached her.
- " Good morning Miss. Mrs. Monica sent me to pick you up " He said, and Phoenix nodded. With a sad sigh, she entered the car and so did the driver. Soon, the car hit the road.
- Extremely tired due to not being able to sleep since yesterday and crying her eyes out instead, Phoenix decided to get some little rest on the way.
- The ride was a peaceful and quiet one. Well, not until the driver suddenly pulled a brake, waking Phoenix up.
- " What happened? " She asked with a weak voice.
- " I don't know, the car suddenly stopped. Wait right here, let me go check " The driver replied and stepped out.
- Minutes later, he was back.
- " The car broke down due to overheating. Please bear with me Miss, I'll go find a mechanic nearby " He revealed and due to how tired Phoenix was, she only nodded in agreement.
- Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours, yet the driver wasn't back. Feeling suffocated, Phoenix got out of the car to get some fresh air.
- Her phone rang just then and it turned out to be Monica,
- " Phoenix, where the heck are you?! I've been waiting for you for hours " Monica snapped at her angrily.
- " I'm on my way, aunt. The car your driver came to pick me up with broke down so we're trying to find a mechanic nearby to repair it " Phoenix replied.
- " What driver are you talking about? " Monica asked, making Phoenix frown in confusion.
- " Didn't you send anyone to pick me up? " She asked.
- " Of course not. Why would I do that? " Monica huffed.
- " But..."
- Phoenix wasn't through with what she was saying when someone from behind quickly covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief.
- She struggled to break free from the person's hold but the tequila on the handkerchief was already having an effect. Her phone slipped from her head to the ground as she fainted. The person who turned out to be a man putting on a mask carried her on his shoulder and headed to a car which was packed not so far away.
- The door of the car opened and another man putting on a mask could be seen.
- " Help me lay her down " The man carrying Phoenix said. Successfully laying her down, the man entered too and closed the door. With that, the car drove off...