PHILANDERER'S AMOUR

CHAPTER 4. SERENITY

Rosewood Manor, Lanimer Woods, Ansbrunn Town, December 2, 2018    

The room was bleak, and there was a window with bars on it. The wind reached her hairs through the window. Though the room was cold, she felt warm because of the blanket that she had upon her. She felt comfort and tranquillity that she hadn’t experienced for a while. 

She gently opened her eyes to find herself laid upon a bed with a comforter, where the only source of light was the tapers that were placed upon the desk near the study table. 

Because of the constant tears that she shed, her vision got blurry and it was hard for her to see clearly. She removed the blanket from herself and then grabbed the corner of her nightgown to rub her sore eyes. Her vision began to get clearer when she finally saw a figure. The person was sitting beside the table.

The bright light fell upon his face. His eyes weren’t moving. His gaze was fixated upon her. She recognized the man and began to cover herself with the blanket. Though her shivers didn't stop, she managed to cover her face successfully. The man didn’t even budge, he kept staring her way. His azure eyes had dark circles and redness. It was apparent that he hadn’t slept a wink the other night. Then, the man stood up and went away. 

After hearing the sound of the steps that faded gradually, she moved out of the bed. Then, she went towards the bathroom and washed her face. She glared at her image in the mirror and lost her composure after observing the mark on her neck. 

It was a thin scrape, but the skin around it was swollen and red. She felt disgusted, so she decided to take a bath and clean herself. The bathroom had a brand new brush and a few sets of towels. There were few used fragrances that belonged presumably to a woman. 

When she went to take the shower, she discovered long strands of hairs lying on the drain. She felt disgusted but decided to bathe anyways. 

When she moved out of the bathroom, she began to look inside the cupboard that seemed quite old. When she began to observe the room, she realized that most of the furniture in the room was quite ‘ancient’. ‘Ancient’ in the sense that it seemed to have belonged to the people that must have belonged to the eighteenth century. 

Then, she began to open the cupboard at a slower pace. Even though she was cautious, the door of the cupboard did make screeching sounds. Thereafter, she observed that the cupboard had women's used clothes. She grabbed a t-shirt, denim and coat, followed by a pair of socks. She did find undergarments, but she couldn’t wear them since they seemed used as well. 

Then, she began to look for the shoes that she wore the night before. She knelt and looked below the bed. There, she found her sneakers and a cat whose eyes gleamed from afar. She got scared of it and got up hurriedly. 

Then, she looked out of the window and noticed the several Kapok, Ramón and Rubber trees. She realized that the mansion was built in the heart of a rainforest.

 She figured that she wouldn’t be able to make it out of it alive if she had no vehicle. So, in order to get out of the existing predicament, she had to steal his car.

After getting her shoes, she decided to move towards the ground floor. She peaked through the door and observed that nobody was present on the whole floor.

Then, she moved out of the room. While making movements, she felt intense pain in her bottom. She tried to ignore it, even though her constant movements made it even worse.  The strain that was being put upon it made it harder to move, but she couldn’t let her resolve to get weakened. 

She moved carefully towards the bottom of the stairs and heard some voices. She peaked through the corner of the wall and found the man conversing with a middle-aged woman. 

Since they stood quite away from her, she couldn't hear much. 

But, she did hear the loud rebuke. 

"That won't do, Mister Silvester Dickinson. You need to visit my office for the sessions yourself."

Now, in reply to the women's words, he only nodded a quiet assent. Then, they went inside the study room. 

She slithered like a snake and went towards the table which was adjacent to the exit door. Then, she grabbed the keys of his 'Porsche' and dashed out. 

Meanwhile, Silvester while sitting with the old lady, Amanda discussed his mental health and the progress he had been making in that sphere. 

Then, they suddenly heard a distinct sound. The man excused himself and went outside to witness that his car had been stolen. He stood with aloofness, and then went inside again. 

In the meantime, Abigail drove the car and felt relieved for leaving the atrocious man behind. She had been driving for an hour now, but still couldn't make her way out of the forest. She realized that she neither had any money nor her phone. Consequently, after driving for a considerable time, she managed to get to the highway. Then, she reached a nearby town and had to stay there because of the shortage of gas. She parked her car in an alley behind a vacant restaurant.

Ansbrunn Town, December 2, 2018.

It was beginning to get dark, and she had no place to stay. So, she decided to sleep on the back seat of the car. She locked the car from the inside and slept by covering herself with the coat. 

Then, the thoughts of the death of her loved ones came in her mind, she began to sob. She felt that it was partially her fault that she wasn't able to save the people she loved. The regret weighed her down, and she couldn't think straight.

She wasn't even able to bid farewell to her dead foster parents. Because of the support and love that they provided, she never missed or thought about her real parents. Losing them was like losing a limb. She wasn't capable of rationality anymore. Her reason was overwhelmed by her emotion.

 The memory of the dying Caleb played in her mind constantly, and the guilt just kept knocking on the door of her conscience. It went to the extent that she wished for death. But, she knew that she couldn't let their death go to waste, so she decided to approach the authorities in the morning. 

Just when she felt that her eyelids were getting heavier, she heard a tapping sound on the window.  The sudden sound broke the serene atmosphere which made her shiver with fear. 

But, after gathering courage, she woke up to look for the source by peeping through the window, but couldn't find anything. She thought that might have been her hallucination, as she had a traumatizing experience quite recently. The weather got colder, and then it began to rain.  The quietness of the night was replaced by the pitter-patter of the rain, and it got really cold. She could hear the sound of the rain falling upon her car. She curled up, rubbed her hands together, but still felt really cold as it was a hard winter. 

Just when she was about to fall asleep, she observed a huge bang on the backside of the car. It was as if someone did it purposely, and that too with a spade. 

She got scared, and the hairs on her body stood in fear. Then, she began to lurk lower. Another sound was heard once again which was apparently like someone was hitting the back of the car, but it was hard to comprehend how a person was capable of doing so in the existing biting cold weather. 

As the sounds got louder, she began to cover her ears furthermore. After a while the serenity returned, followed by the usual sound of the rain. 

Then, she heard a bark, followed by a growl. She shivered in pain as she remembered the memories of the previous day.  Though it was faint initially, it grew louder with every bark. Then, it got really loud when the dog appeared and began to scratch the window through its paws.

It didn't matter how hard she tried to cover her ears, but it didn't go away. The tears began to well up in her eyes, and her hands began to shiver tremendously. Then, she garnered her courage, got up, sat upon her seat and yelled, "Go Away!".

She managed to acquire the silence but kept her eyes closed throughout the whole process.

When she opened her eyes to witness the scenario, she found the same man that inflicted pain upon her standing in front of her window and smiling. 

The smile struck fear upon her face, and she began panting heavily. Her heart's palpitations grew louder, it was as if she had just been in a marathon. Her hazel eyes were stricken with fear, and his azure eyes held dominance. 

The man wore a black trilby hat and a black blazer which was covered by a double-breasted woollen coat. Some of the longer strands of his hair were wet and fell perfectly upon his face. 

His azure eyes were appeared vacant as usual but the redness in them was much worse than the last time. His face had gotten considerably pale, it was even coherent to believe that he appeared as if he had been long dead. 

It wouldn't have been wrong to claim that he resembled a ghost. The darkness that surrounded him made him appear more threatening. 

Then, he placed his hand upon the windowpane, and uttered, "My butterfly! You have no clue how much I missed you".

The dog that stood beside the man began to growl. The man began to smile atrociously, and claimed, "See, he missed you too". 

Abigail clenched her hairs in fear and began to mutter all the prayers that were taught to her in childhood. 

Then, the man took out a key and pointed it next to the keyhole. Abigail gaped at him in utter shock, but the man noticed her disappointment and asserted, "Spare key, doll". 

The lock opened and he got inside the car and began to embrace her. His cold and clammy hands touched her. She felt disgusted and petrified. When he held her close to him, she could hear his heart beating. Then, he opened the door and began to drag her. She didn't let him push her and began to screech.

Then she yelled for help, but nobody answered her pleas. Then, the man got inside the car once again and tied her hands and legs with the rope. 

Then, he rendered her unconscious with a single strike upon her temple.