Page 8 of Capturing Ava
LITTLEBEAST
THE GHOST
I should’ve just walked in there. Let her know I found her, revealing my true self after all this time. I wanted her to realize that no matter the distance, she could never escape her past—she could never escape me.
While looking at her from the trees, I can’t bring myself to do it. Grant her an easy way out when she came face to face with the ghost she had forgotten about. No, when Ava saw me I wanted to see her face pale in comparison with the realisation that she would never be free. Her past had caught up to her, and now the ghost was here to collect.
I monitor her every move. She remains oblivious to the fact that I have been watching her. Moving through her mundane tasks of the day, unaware that in the forest just next to her house lies something she never thought she would see again. I get an odd satisfaction watching her. The sliver of excitement pierces my spine. She is oblivious to my presence. Ava is oblivious to the ghost who lurks in the shadows.
The curtains remain drawn and it shrouded her house in darkness. Damn it! Now I could not witness what the little beast was up to. The light upstairs stays on for hours, my boots scuff across the mud and the leaves. Fall was in full swing and the wind was peaking to icy, but the stings of pain that lashed across my face were the only sensation that let me know I was still human.
The light turns off, and the house is a black abyss. A smile falls across my lips. Ah, the little beast must have gone to sleep. In a peaceful slumber with not a care in the world. Bleeding men dry one at a time. My jaw ticks as I think of that little beast roaming from man to man. Well, those days were in the past. The little beast wouldn’t betray another man because the one she deceived was back, and it was time for her to face the consequences.
I am aware of my boot crushing under the leaves beneath my feet as I exit the forest. Came out of my hiding place. It appeared they had camouflaged me among the trees for months and now I was reemerging during the stillness of the night. Ava lived in a place without neighbors, which was almost too perfect—no witnesses.
While traversing the stone steps, the small creature spared no expense obscuring this property. I pondered on the count of men she had been involved with obtaining a piece of land like this. My hand touches the handle. When I pull it downwards, I realize it is in a locked position. So, she wasn’t stupid after all. I was hoping she had not yet installed an alarm system. Or it was back in the forest for me.
Withdrawing the lock-pick knife from my pocket, I align it correctly, manipulating the lock until I perceive the click. A smile spreads across my face when I pull down that handle and swing open the door. I waited for the loud alarm to give her a warning that there was an intruder in her house, but to my surprise, there was nothing. Nothing but the sweet sound of silence.
My feet move into her house. The house that is shrouded in darkness. Moving around, I take in my surroundings. I roll my eyes at the pretentiousness of her show home in the woods. Christ, it doesn’t even look lived in. Cared more about appearances than living life. Well, she would witness her hopeful, pretentious dreams shattered.
I would take in my surroundings and investigate the target. Familiarize myself with all the information about the mark, but I was already well-informed about Ava. She was a con artist who eluded my grasp, but she made a mistake. She let down her guard, resulting in my men finding her.
I creep up the winding staircase. As pretentious as her show home was, the architecture was beautiful. No wonder she stayed and didn’t leave her house. I’m not sure I would either if I had everything at my ass. What would she need to leave for?
Her bedroom door is ajar, with nothing but a tiny stream of light guiding the way into her bedroom. A crease forms across my brow. Ava scared of the dark? That made little sense. Little beast feared nothing. sliding my hand over the cream and gold door. It moves with ease, with no creaking in sight. The only thing that reaches my ears is the sound of her soft, deep breathing. She is unaware of someone’s presence in the room with her.
As I move closer to her bed, I stand there, towering above her. Directing great intensity towards her relaxed body. Unaware that her enemy watched her while she slept. I possess the ability to exact my revenge. It would be so easy, so why did I sense frustration over not being able to glimpse her enchanting eyes?
Her hair falls across her face in a mass of golden light, like sunlight seeped from her poisonous veins. She proved to be the most terrible type of enemy I ever encountered by chance. This one didn’t hide her ugly on the outside. She lured you in like a siren, luring men to their deaths. No, Ava didn’t conceal the ugliness of her true nature because her ugliness lived in a place beyond visibility, buried within her where it would remain unseen—only if you ventured near.
I believed I was close. I resisted the temptation to let her in, not extensively, but more than I did for any other person. It wasn’t her fault. That was my mistake. I realized she was trouble as soon as my eyes caught sight of that sweet body of hers. Her baby blue eyes were full of innocence and yet something deeper. Unbeknownst to me, there was a sinister agenda lurking behind those sapphire gems.
Now, as I gaze upon her tranquil sleep, rage builds up within me, but as I lean nearer, moving her soft golden strands aside, I perceive something else. It’s not rage, it’s something unwelcome. Desire mixed with a need to protect this poisonous beauty. Yes, Ava needed protection. Not from some outside enemy she needed protection from—me.
My fingers slide across the silky skin on her face, a small contented sigh falls from her lips and I am still, unaware if her eyes will snap open and she will come face to face with the enemy she had evaded for all these years but she stays still in her peaceful slumber.
My lips brush her skin and it’s like I’m coveted in her warm embrace once more, but I know that every moment with Ava was a lie. Even if it was a lie, I wanted to go back to that lie–even for just one second. It was the only time I ever felt like I was here, that I existed, even if it was a lie—I needed it.
The touch of her skin on my lips evokes that same emotion, the emotion that only Ava had the power to evoke in me. I close my eyes and allow my breath to dance across her skin. “You may be a little beast, but you have always been my little beast,” I whisper against her skin.
Sighing, I pull myself away from her and place a gift on the nightstand, smirking. I’m interested to know if she will know who came to visit her during the night while she sleeps.
Moving away from her, my shoulders droop. I wish it could be a different way without the effort of these games, but it couldn’t—not with her. This was the only way it could be.
* * *
Walking away from the little beast left me feeling unfulfilled. What did I expect? Her to open her eyes and fall into my arms? That would not happen. In the unfortunate event that Ava had roused, a fight would occur. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Ava may look sweet, but she had a fire that would encase you in the fires of hell.
So why was I playing with her? There’s a chance that I simply had the urge to play with my food. Maybe I was playing with her because it’s what she deserved. I wasn’t sure why I was playing with her, but I hadn’t felt this excited in years.
“Where the fuck have you been?” And just like that, my excitement dissipates.
“Damon, always a pleasure.” I let a smirk play across my lips as I walked past him.
“Where are you going now?” He grits with annoyance. “Don’t fucking walk away from me.”
I can’t help the smirk that once again pulls at my lips, “it’s sweet that you missed me—.” I fall into the chair by the roaring fire, stretching my neck. Man, it was rough on my body watching the beast from the woods, but I had seen her up close. Smelt her, almost tasted her.
