Deceived

Chapter 1 | When Their Eyes Met

Even the tallest of them all

Rock strong, never to fall

Do stumble and stutter

When it comes to love..

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Her eyes opened to the vast darkness that filtered her vision. Her own fingers turned invisible before her face as she tried to seek for something other than the emptiness. Her knees were freezing against the cold, smooth floor. She tried to crawl forward on her hands and knees reaching out towards something other than the dark.

Her heart started racing, syncing into an unfathomable rhythm along with her dearth breaths. The essence of fear had started to swallow her, a slight shiver running down her chassis in anticipation of the worst.

The disorientation, the helplessness, the ticking of her nerves stirring awake her intuitive senses, something was undoubtedly wrong. Her head wasn't straight, there were a billion berserk images running within the frame of her mind, like a horror film ready to unfold.

Then out of the blue, a slight light started shimmering along the upper margins of the wall before her, making the darkness flee from its corners. It was a strange red light that ran along the edges of the cream colored wall. She looked around immediately, trying to comprehend her situation. She was on her knees in a dingy room, no bigger than the cubicles of a public toilet. The four walls stood stark and bare, with no hindrances at all.

Sweat was slowly trickling down the back of her neck, as a shudder passed down her spine. She had no clue where she was. The light along the opposite wall started to flicker along with the twitching of her heart. A sudden ringing filled the room with deafening intensity making her cower back into herself. The ringing kept growing louder and louder making her head explode. Her eyes were shut tight and her hands clamped hard upon her ears. A fever rose within her, a fever to run for her life, but she had nowhere to go, no possible escape routes.

And then the deafening ringing was replaced by the deafening silence as before. Everything fell into a temporary calm, the red light shone brighter than before.

As she looked at the wall in front of her, fighting her tears she noticed a narrow dark drizzle make its way down the middle of its surface. It sailed down the wall like a snail leaving a slimy trace behind. As she looked closer, her eyes adjusting to the light again she realized what it was. Shock stunned her mind to numbness. She came closer, looking at the drop as the strong metallic scent of blood reached her nostrils. As soon as her fears were confirmed a flood of blood came sliding down from the edges of the wall above and the whole wall turned a murky crimson.

It was a river of blood flowing down before her. Within a few seconds the white marble floor was flooded with streams of the bloody river reaching out to her where she was stuck in fear. It surrounded her feet in a flash, and then the underside of her legs, just swerving around her body and filling the room.

A scream left her throat while she stood up in haste and tried to skitter away from the blood bath. She had never seen that much blood in her life. Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks now and whimpers greeting quivering lips.

Soon enough a tide swept across the floor and her feet were buried within the crimson flood, trapped inside the little room.

She was going to drown in blood; she was going to die in that tiny room swallowed by a torrent of blood, absolutely helpless. She started crying loud and incomprehensible pleas, begging for help that she knew was never going to come.

Her head had already been defeated, her heart still racing and her breaths yearning for more than a few minutes as she watched the level of the flood rise above.

A cold heartless chuckle filled the room and her eyes followed the noise. From beneath the fall of blood, red eyes shimmered upon a tall frame that was being bathed in the flow. A tower of a man, with ugly scars and ruthless muscles entered from within. His long legs carried him forward until he was standing in the middle of the room. Blood dripped down his hair, to his face, down his neck, swishing past his shoulders and onto the floor from his fingers.

His flame red eyes didn't move from her, fixated like a hungry lion on its prey. An evil smile crossed his stained face as he hissed at her.

"This has been destined. You shall die drowning in the blood of those who came before you. The end of the last thread and I shall conquer the rest!"

The deepness of his voice, the guttural tone and the menace echoing in every word settled upon her heavy, seeping into her bones as they rattled within her flesh.

This was the end; there was no saving her now. Her death was marked by this man, monster; she could see the flames of turmoil burning her down in his eyes. She was waist deep in the pool of crimson now; it was crawling up her body, burning her insides. The man before her still blurry in her vision moved forward and walked up closer, towering her cowering frame.

His hand lifted into the air and swept across her head settling heavily upon her crown, pushing her down into the mirth of crimson. She fought hard, swaying her limbs in vain, trying to run from him but his strength was unbeatable and soon her body was pushed deep into the bath of blood. She couldn't breathe, her lungs burned as her body struggled to stay alive, screaming an insensible plead for life. Her eyes burned and her ears filled with the thickness of blood.

There was nowhere to go. This was it.. She was dying, drowning in blood. She was dying, fading, becoming one with the gushing crimson and then it was all gone!

••••••••••••••••••

Alethia woke up with a startling cry trying to fight the pressure, trying to catch her final breath but there was no fighting now. She inspired a huge gush of cold air, eyes wide open trying to recognize her surroundings. Sweat covered her pale skin as she heaved to make her heart beat slower. It was just a dream, a nightmare of her forlorn mind. It was nothing new, the same monster trying to kill her in new ways. She was getting accustomed to these now.

She slowly got out of bed, walking tenderly upon her shivering legs. Reaching the bathroom, she let the cold tap water free. She reached for it splashing more and enough on her clammy pale skin to wash her senses free of the fear that had entered her body with the nightmare. Looking up, into the mirror she cringed. Her face ashen with droplets of water, her pupils fully dilated looking upon her pathetic self, her lips white and quivering as the blood had drained from her face. Her fiery red hair was knotted and a mess, tangled within itself.

She shook her head, letting go of the dreadful feelings. Like clockwork she screwed the tap shut, walked back to her bed and laid down on it softly. She knew it would be futile to try and sleep so she let her mind wander to anything but the nightmare. Her thoughts flowed from the work she needed to complete to the meetings that she had planned for the next day, being the assistant of the publishing head took most of her time and was heavy on her thoughts as well.

Soon enough all thoughts faded and the darkness of slumber swept upon her exhausted frame and she was no longer in control anymore. She didn't dream this time but it was just the calm before the storm.

Alethia was woken up by the sharp ring of her alarm clock. Having slept properly only for a few hours she wanted the ringing to just stop so she could get a little more rest, but life was never so giving. Jumping out of her bed and onto the wooden flooring of her bedroom she stared at the empty wall in front of her. Like every morning she thought of filling it with something, not letting it lie bare; and like every morning she dismissed those thoughts knowing she would never have enough time for that or for that matter enough mind for that.

She went along her routine of washing up, getting ready in her night blue office skirts and cream satin blouse, choosing to layer up before walking into the cold of New York rather than freezing to death due to the December winds. Her heels clicked against the wooden floor as she rushed for the door, picking up her bag full of manuscripts and her purse; locking the apartment door behind.

The rest of the journey from the building elevator to the coffee house was a blur as she walked ceremoniously down the block. She picked up her order and walked to the office, which was hardly another block away.

Her routine was inscribed in ice, never melting and frozen in time. There was hardly ever a deviation from this schedule. She had strategically planned out her living situation, so close and never far, driving was not an option; the haunting of her past made sure of it.

She was greeted by familiar smiles, rushed hands and mocking eyes as she made her way to the elevators, ignoring everybody as she was too deep in the world of this murderer who had her complete attention. Flipping along the pages, making notes of intriguing twists in the story she was mesmerized by the style of writing and the amazing hold that the writer had on her. She knew with undoubted clarity that this would be the next best seller in the never ending era of suspense.

The doors of the elevator opened to the twenty second floor and she rushed out towards her office, tucking the manuscript beneath her arm and balancing the coffee cups in the other hand. Placing her stuff on her desk she checked her cell phone to get a start at the schedule for the day. The writer of the suspense novel was coming in at nine and she was excited to meet the ingenious creator of the murder mystery himself.

Books had never faltered from catching her attention. Every story that she had ever read had been pieced within the huge castle in her consciousness as she carried all of them along with her every day wherever she went. Ever since she could remember the slightest finesse of a memory all she could reminisce were these books that stole her time and pain away. She drowned herself in the lives of these characters, living, breathing, dreaming with them of a better future and infinite strength.

The stories never failed to distract her from reality, however painful or demanding reality could be. So when she got the chance to help such beautiful tales enter the world she grabbed it with starry eyes and the enthusiasm of a hungry child, yearning for more.

The job never disappointed neither the child nor the emptiness within her.

She set everything away, fixing her red hair into a ponytail, her eyes shone the color of amber, reflecting the suns rays from the window. Alethia greeted Carter, her boss with coffee and the schedule for the day.

Carter Richardson was the successful manager of the infamous Creative Publications and was filled with nothing but swarmth within. He was in his early forties always working in his own rhythm and threading through every need of the CEO's of the company.

"Morning Alethia, another busy day?" He asked reaching his desk and turning his computer on.

"Morning Carter, here's the coffee." She said offering the hot cup of latte she had been carrying around for him.

"So Mr. Reynolds is coming in at nine. I read through the sample, I think it's absolutely brilliant! From the beginning till the end there is no stopping that story. You just cannot keep it down! And the ending will leave you baffled, there are a few errors but I think this is our chance at a new bestseller!" She said excited to share her views, knowing that Carter would have nothing but appreciation for her efforts.

Carter chuckled, shaking his head at her enthusiasm. "That was real quick Ms. Foss I just gave it to you yesterday. I'm so glad I have you. All I could do yesterday was change diapers!" He joked around.

She smiled at him and kept the cinnamon bun in front of him, knowing he wouldn't eat unless scolded.

She walked out, to type up her review on her system when Rhea walked in.

"Good morning sunshine. Caught up again?" She smiled at her, knowing too well  Alethia was hardly going to answer. Alethia responded with a curt nod, religiously working on her keyboard hardly noticing her green eyed friend before her.

"I could walk in naked and you would still not notice, would you?" Rhea said exasperated.

"That's not true; you know I notice everything about you." Alethia replied completely clueless to what her friend had just said.

"Right I'll see you at lunch then, I'll take you to this new strip club. May be you'll meet someone to occupy your head there!" She knew Alethia would never realise what she had just said, and it made her smirk as Alethia gave her a thumbs up.

By nine she had finished her review on the mystery book and was ready with the print out at her desk. As soon as the client walked in, she led him into the meeting area with Carter.

"Mike it's so nice to see you! How are you doing today?" Carter asked, trying to make small talk before launching into business.

"You know how it is Carter, kids don't let me sleep at all. No wonder I came up with a murder mystery." Alethia gave a nervous laugh looking at her boss questioningly.

"By the way I met Mr. Damon. I believe he's going to join us today." Mike went on.

"Oh yes, he's here. I think we should wait for him.." Carter stopped mid sentence as the glass door swung open.

A handsome face, rugged in appearance walked right in. This mystery man was absolutely dashing, the prince of all broken hearted Cinderella's, the knight of the bubbling giggling teenage dreams.

Standing tall in an expensive looking rich grey suit with a tie the color of a star filled night, hands casually resting in his pockets, this man stood at the epitome of suave. His perfectly chiseled face was angled to the point. With bright blue eyes, cold and mesmerizing he could make any girl weak in the knees, left behind with a melted heart. His dark hair swept across his pale face in tumbles, exaggerating the effect of the frost blue irises. Everything about him, down to the tiniest detail could have been the work of Da Vinci. All in all he was breathtaking.

He had left a long line of girls outside to fan their blush away. Alethia on the other hand, couldn't have cared less, she blinked at his strangely authoritative domineer, stood up in greeting like the others and plopped right into the rotating conference room seats back to tapping her pen upon the sheet and gazing at the details of the form.

"We were just waiting for you Mr. Damon!" Mike chirped enthusiastically.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting." He replied in a husky yet smooth voice that captured Alethias attention immediately.

As soon as she looked up she regretted it. Their eyes met for a quick second and something in the atmosphere changed. There was recognition written on his face, accompanied by an uncanny smirk. Her heartbeat sped up and a strange storm started to swell within her chest.

His eyes, so blue, so cold yet warm. She could see something beyond them. She felt exposed, like he could see right into her soul, that uncanny feeling like she had known him forever. A strange tenderness flitted through her. For the first time in her life she felt home, like she belonged and nothing could ever harm her again. She felt safe and all she wanted to do was fall right into his arms.

A cloud suddenly dwindled upon his mind, she could see it. He was confused, something was bugging him.

It was like they were sharing this deep connection, baring their souls to each other. In that one sliver of a moment.

He suddenly shook his head and looked back at her but this time with eyes that could freeze any living soul. The trance broke and she looked at him dumbfounded. Trying to understand what she had just done she realized what felt like years of surrender had just been an exchange of a few seconds between them. It unsettled her deeply, making her let her guard right up and head race in panic.

"I'm Nathaniel Damon."

His booming voice echoed within her head as she reached out to shake his outstretched hand and trying to decipher what was going on within herself. This had never happened to her before; she had never let her walls down, never felt at home with anybody until that very moment with this stranger.

Who was he? Why did she feel like she knew him? How could she let him have such an effect on her?

She really needed some air to get her thoughts right and make the tingles from the warmth of his skin against her hand vanish.

As Alethia was busy calming her feverish mind Nathan knew something wasn't right. He felt it and he was sure she did too. This was absolutely wrong. It couldn't be happening.. He kept repeating to himself.

How was he supposed to move forward from there?

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