Chapter 215: The Confession
[Music recommendation: Woodkid - Are You There]
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Instead of rushing to the nearest bathroom, Aliana ran toward her room on the top floor.
As her heels echoed across the vast hallways, her mind was relentlessly assaulted by those gruesome images of blood and gore. A pressing sense of urgency drove her forward, demanding she stay as far away from every single person as possible, just so her mysterious powers would not end up harming them.
Upon reaching her room, she locked the door shut before stumbling back. Her heart pounded frantically against her ribs while violent tremors raced through her body, making her skin flush hot once again.
"No... no... no!" she whispered, fisting her fingers into her golden locks.
She squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wanting Jacob’s face, his agonising scream, and the splattered blood to disappear from her head.
But the memory continued to claw its way to the surface.
Just as another wave of dizziness washed over her, she stumbled backwards once more, and her eyes drifted towards the full-length mirror standing across the room.
There...
She saw herself.
Dressed in her red engagement gown.
Every inch of her body...covered in blood.
Jacob’s screaming her name and the sickening sound of his body bursting apart echoed inside her head once again, making bile surge violently up her throat.
"No!"
Tears pricked her eyes as she slapped a trembling hand over her mouth and rushed into the bathroom, where she instantly vomited everything.
Heaving heavily, she dragged herself to the sink and turned on the tap to begin splashing and rinsing her face with cold water.
"Make it stop..." she whispered in a broken voice as she rinsed her mouth and continued throwing handful after handful of water over her face.
When she lowered her gaze to her trembling hands, she still saw them drenched in blood.
Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.
In sheer desperation, she pumped soap onto her palms and began scrubbing her hands aggressively, as if that could somehow remove the permanent stain she saw embedded into her skin.
"Please... please... please... make it stop," she pleaded through trembling breaths as more tears continued to spill from her eyes.
"Make what stop?" A quiet voice suddenly echoed from behind her.
Her eyes immediately lifted to the mirror.
This time, she didn’t look at herself.
She looked at the man standing only a few steps behind her.
Her reddening eyes widened in horror to see Gavriel standing there.
’When did he...?’ she thought in panic at the prospect of him witnessing this wrecked side of her.
She whipped her head around to look behind her, only to find a severe expression on his handsome face.
Silence filled the room, broken only by her uneven breathing.
Aliana’s back remained pressed against the sink while her trembling hands gripped the edge of the counter behind her, as though it was the only thing keeping her from collapsing.
Neither of them spoke for what felt like an eternity.
Gavriel’s cold, icy blue eyes slowly travelled over her.
They moved from her tear-streaked, soaking-wet face to her trembling figure before finally settling on her hands gripping the counter so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
His jaw clenched as he noticed how raw and reddened the skin on her hands had become from scrubbing them so aggressively.
Finally, his eyes moved back up to lock onto her horror-filled gaze.
In a low, rich voice, Gavriel asked again, "Make what stop, Aliana?"
He took a slow step towards her.
"S-stop!"
Her panicked cry made him instinctively halt mid-step.
She choked on her own breath before pleading, "D-don’t come any closer..."
Gavriel narrowed his eyes at her, his voice dropping an octave. "Why?"
Aliana bit her lip hard enough to almost draw blood and looked away from him as tears continued streaming down her face.
And she heard his quiet whisper. "Don’t you want me close to you, Ana?"
Aliana squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head, all the while feeling her body temperature continue to rise. Forcing herself to speak, she whispered, "I-it’s not that..."
Gavriel took another slow step towards her. "Then explain..."
"I said stop!" Her head snapped back up to look at him, staring in sheer terror as she raised her hand to ward him off.
And for a moment, she froze when she saw a fleeting flash of hurt cross his eyes.
But the emotion vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
His face darkened, and he took another step towards her.
Panic flashed across Aliana’s face. "W-what are you doing? I told you to-"
She immediately began moving sideways, away from the sink, trying to put more distance between them as Gavriel continued advancing towards her with slow, deliberate steps.
"Give me one good reason why I should stay away from you," he said in a low voice, taking another step closer.
"B-because..." Her breathing turned ragged as the words became lodged in her throat. She continued retreating until her back collided with the cold marble wall behind her.
Looking up to find Gavriel still refusing to stop, she shook her head, "I-I... might... hurt you."
Those words finally made Gavriel come to an abrupt halt, only two steps away from her.
Aliana lowered her head in a defeat he had never witnessed before as more heart-wrenching sobs escaped her lips, each one squeezing his heart painfully.
’Hurt me?’ His brows drew together at the impossible thought.
Unable to bear hearing her cry in such a broken, defeated manner, he called softly, "Ana..."
He took another cautious step towards her.
"No, Gav..." she pleaded, immediately holding out a trembling hand to stop him. "Y-you can’t..."
Gavriel’s eyes softened as he looked at her. "Baby..."
The endearment shattered what little composure Aliana had left.
She cried even harder as guilt continued to consume her conscience.
"D-don’t... don’t be so nice to me..." she choked out between sobs. "I don’t deserve it..."
The crease between Gavriel’s brows hardened as Aliana went on, her voice cracking. "I... I don’t deserve it... because I hid it from you."
Gavriel’s eyes narrowed instantly. "Hid what?"
Aliana finally raised her head and met his gaze with her reddened eyes. Her lips continued to tremble as she finally revealed, "That... I’m... I’m a murderer, Gav."
More big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she whispered, "I... I killed him."
Her knees buckled before finally giving way, and she crumbled to the ground. Bowing her head, she let more tears spill from her eyes as she confessed in a broken voice,
"I killed Jacob."
Gavriel’s eyes widened ever so slightly as he watched her sob on the floor while she continued pouring everything out.
"The woman you’re going to marry tomorrow... killed someone. There is... something inside me that I have no control over... and if you don’t stay away from me, then... it will harm you too. And I... I couldn’t bear it... if I..."
Before she could finish her sentence, strong, warm arms enveloped her trembling body, pulling her into such a fierce embrace that, for a brief moment, she felt the air leave her lungs.
Shock was an understatement for what Aliana was feeling as she found herself buried in the warmth she had believed she might never experience again after confessing everything to him.
His intoxicating scent filled her senses, while her eyes remained wide with disbelief.