Chapter 44

LEIGH-ARI The following days passed in a blur. The twins decided to have a new security system installed and doubled up on the guards on patrol. The motion sensors were upgraded by a hundred, the CCTVs in the west wing were also installed. I had fought with them tooth and nail for installing the cameras in my room. They claimed it was for my safety and I understood that, but I wasn’t going to be under surveillance even when I was sleeping. The bedroom was my safe fortress, where I escaped to when everything got too much. It was the only thing that was keeping me sane even though it didn’t belong to me alone (since the ; twins had taken the liberty to sleep with me against my will.). Having the cameras installed was going to deprive me of the little sense of privacy that was left and I wasn’t going to let them take that little piece of me away. They had taken too much already and I didn’t have anything left of myself. 1 Vernero wanted to be pig-headed about it, and then I told him if they go ahead with that and don’t respect my decision and my feelings, then I’d leave. I remember their reaction vividly. They had frozen for a full minute. Just stood there and stared at me, unmoving as if someone had hit pause on them.

Then they had shaken themselves out of the daze and gave in. And just like that, I had successfully saved the little strand of sanity I was hanging on.

And Xander on the side, he was still as mysterious as before. Very unseen. His movements were swift and very undetected. Despite the gazillion cameras, top-notch sensors, and guards, he managed to slip a few things into my room and remained undetected. Within days, I had gotten used to his unannounced appearance and the little “gifts” he left behind when he didn’t show himself, just to let me know he was still there watching me. It didn’t freak me out like it had the first time he just popped up in my bedroom.

I didn’t know how to feel about him, about his stalking ways. Because he was an expert at it. A t the same time, he didn’t seem to be fostering any malevolent intentions towards me. But that didn’t mean I was going to recline on my throne and just relax. I was so alert and cautious about everything, one thing I have learned since stepping foot in this castle. 1 As of now, I was caught up between telling the twins about him. But the only thing that made me bite my tongue was the thought of what they’d do to him. They wouldn’t just butcher him, they would destroy his possible existence as well as one of his ancestors and descendants. H e would be a history in a matter of hours, minutes and it wouldn’t be pretty. I hated it when people died, especially because I was involved.

I couldn’t have his death or anyone’s pinned on me or have someone’s blood on my hands, even if my safety was at stake. It’s not like I hadn’t experienced the worst things ever in my life. Trust me, I have seen the devil all by himself. And one of his evil spirits is not knowing anything about me before the accident.

Additionally, Xander didn’t seem to harbor any ill intentions towards me, or at least that’s what I thought.

The second night, he left a note. And it read;

Beware of those you keep near, Xander I didn’t know what it meant or what he was implying, but he was definitely warning me about something or someone. And that made me soften a little when I thought of him. Although I still didn’t understand how he made it past the security into my bedroom without getting caught every time or why he was stalking me. Maybe he wanted to use me as a bargaining chip in their shady shenanigans, I honestly didn’t know.

The note, I burned it to ashes, I couldn’t keep it and risk it being found the twins. I honestly didn’t want to think what they would do if they knew Xander has been here on multiple occasions and I stayed quiet about it.

OCC Everything was a mess and in all honesty, I was tired of this life, I was drained, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Everything was just so crazy. The twins who didn’t allow me to step outside the ‘walls of the castle, Xander the ninja stalker, and whoever that was working i n shadows against me that Xander warned me about, not being allowed to connect to the outside world, it was all too much for me. I missed my old life like crazy. I missed the morning rush, I missed driving through the morning traffic, the little beeps of my pager when there were emergencies at the hospital. The OR, my doctor, I missed cotton candy outside the kids’ hospital. I wasn’t happy here. At all. In fact, I was miserable.

I was a prisoner. Yes, one would think I am crazy, I mean no prisoner wears designer clothes and lives in a castle full of maids.

But like a caged butterfly, flapping its wings inside the bars of the cage, seeing the goodness and luxury of the outside world and craving freedom. While the freedom it hungered for was just here, just right outside the golden bars of the lavish cage. Simultaneously, it was out of its reach, because it couldn’t flap its wings in the cramped space of the golden cage. The cage which it was forced to live in.

I was that butterfly. Lonely, sad, missing my old life, and craving freedom.

The sudden gunshots jolted me out of my seat, spilling the popcorns out of their little bowl. And that’s when I realized I had spaced out.

I was currently hiding in the theatre between the two wings, with a bunch of snacks to kill time. The movie had rolled by while I was lost in thought. Instead of rewinding it, I huffed out and leaned for the remote control, then switched off the screen and got up from the seat.

A little pang of headache had me wincing just a bit.

The meds! I hadn’t taken any. That made me recall the good times in Dubai, with Laura. The twins sent her to collect my pills from my apartment and then flew her to Dubai. Their little acts of kindness always managed to cocoon my heart with warmth. Just how could they be s o warm yet so cold? That question was always nagging me, and sadly, I didn’t have an answer to it.