Page 108 of Nemesync
Zanae
I woke up alone, Elijah was always the first one awake, sometimes I even ask myself if this man sleeps at all.
The scent of fresh coffee wafted through the space. Niko was there with my friend Miranda, holding a steaming cup, as she was looking at something on her phone.
Elijah turned like he felt my presence, his gaze locking onto me as I entered the room. “Morning, did you sleep well?”
I shot him a playful glare; my tone filled with amusement, “I’ve slept better.”
Miranda approached me for a hug, her eyes holding so much relief, “Oh Zee, you’re safe. Thank God.”
Niko chuckled before sipping his drink, “Yeah, she’s safe. How the fuck did you manage to survive a night with the psychopath over there?”
I shot Niko a wink.
“He’s not too bad,” I then looked back at Miranda, smiling. “Thank you, without you no one would see that I disappeared this soon.”
Elijah remained silent, his piercing gaze fixed on me, studying my reactions. The atmosphere shifted when she cleared her throat, “There’s been someone asking questions about you Zee.”
“Someone asking about me? Why?”
Nikolai leaned back, concerned.
“Do you have any descriptions to give us about her?”
Miranda took a deep breath, and began, “She seemed interested in your past, your family. I couldn’t get much from her, but it felt... calculated.”
“Did she threaten you?”
Miranda shook her head and grabbed my hand, “No, but it felt like a warning. Like you’re being watched.”
Elijah’s expression darkened as he settled next to me, “We need to know everything about this woman. If she’s a threat, we deal with it.”
We gathered around Miranda’s laptop screen displaying footage of the cafeteria. I sat, feeling a bit nauseous and tired, and Elijah glanced at me, as if he heard my thoughts and mouthed, “Did you eat anything?”
I nodded, though it wasn’t true, not wanting to interrupt Miranda. He noticed my sweaty palms, his jaw clenched, and he disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a chocolate bar. My favorite again.
Handing it to me, he murmured, “Don’t play with your condition like that.”
“Okay,” I whispered back.
He kissed my neck while the others were distracted by the screen, before settling back into his seat beside me, his arm casually draped behind my chair.
The woman, captured by the security cameras, was older, but she was elegant and it showed even from behind. Her calculated movements made her face invisible through the pictures we saw. It’s like she knew where to stand to avoid them.
Miranda, eyes fixed on the screen, continued, “She was discreet, even when she was talking to me, she had her face somehow covered.”
Niko zoomed in on the little part of her visible face in the picture, “She knows what she’s doing.”
“Do you recognize her from anywhere?” Elijah asked.
I squinted at the footage, “No, I’ve never seen her before.”
Elijah glanced back at me, his fingers tracing the sensitive skin of my neck, and suddenly, I closed my eyes, unable to move.
I hated it, hated not being in control of my own self, my own reactions. But sometimes, my subconscious loved reminding me of those memories.
I could seehisface, smellhisscent around me, feelhishands gripping my neck so tightly that I could have died from it. The man who stole any semblance of good in my life. All my senseswere consumed by these memories; it was like reliving the scene over and over again.
