PHILANDERER'S AMOUR

CHAPTER 9. INCUBUS

Rosewood Manor, December 4, 2018.  

The room was as silent as the grave. The wind did make its presence apparent by the clanking of the wind chimes that hung adjacent to the window pane. Due to the tenacious wind, a few strands of hair fell upon her face, and he observed her beautiful symmetry. Her gaze was fixated on the ground, and the only thing that ran through her mind was to murder the incubus who sat beside her. 

After acknowledging his reasons, she inquired, "You brutally murdered people over 'an insignificant position'?  They were innocent, my parents even begged for their life. What about Caleb? He didn't even know you".

He tapped his fingers upon the bed and then drifted his gaze upon the teary-eyed woman whose pleading eyes begged for answers with trembling hands. Then, he opened his mouth and asserted, “The brazing couple was responsible for deceiving me and robbing me of my esteem. They brought the catastrophe upon themselves and their son. Your father's death was a cause of his imbecility, and I did try to reason with him but he wasn’t ready to comply".

The pitiable woman held the belief that the man sitting beside her wasn’t capable of compassion and empathy, but his mere purpose in life had been to garner a respectful life but when that sole purpose was snatched away from him, he realized he had nothing to strive for anymore. So, he clung to the idea of revenge. Even after successfully having his revenge, his chase for purpose still hadn’t ended. So he grasped the thing that made him realise that he still wasn't free of desires, and he thought capturing that thing will ensure a life worth living. Then, the realization struck in his mind that he needed Abigail, there was no purpose, no reasons but an only passion.  

The man observed the silence that proceeded between them and her gaze that was fixated on the floor, He had thought that she might yell at him, but the silence devastated him. So, he placed his hand upon her shoulder and said, “The one thing that could be guaranteed is that nothing stays the same after you’ve killed someone. First, it began with killing for honour, and then it escalated to murdering people for the sake of revenge”.

Then, he glared at her but still got no response which led further to disappointment. She hadn’t spoken anything to him for a considerably long time which made him uneasy. So, he understood that she held nothing but contempt for the man, and not sympathy which he thought he might get. But the thing that he even wished for something so 'trivial' like sympathy made him execrate himself and the woman even more.

He firmly believed that it was the women’s fault for making him feel contempt for himself, but he still offered her the food that he made himself. The feeble women looked at him with despicable eyes and threw the bowl upon his shirt. The man tried to strike her upon her cheek but stopped when he observed the swollen bruise upon her neck. He threw the bowl towards the window and then lashed out of the room hastily.

Abigail still felt nauseous because of the sedatives but somehow cumulated her strength to get out of the bed. She moved towards the barred window and glared at the free birds, and heard the buzzing of the busy insects. She grabbed the bowl that was thrown and ate the food that was still left in it. While beholding the beautiful scene of the evening, she began to ponder. ' It somehow bothered her that her absence in the outer world didn't trouble anybody, but that shouldn't trouble her as she wasn't leaving this place anyways', she reminded herself. Consequently, she thought that she will eventually die unattended at her funeral since the people who knew her no longer existed.

"Alone?", she questioned herself. Thereafter, with a rugged grin, she tapped on the iron bars with her index finger and asserted, " He will be there, I know. The privilege of dying in the company of my tormenter would invariably become a reality for me. I couldn't be sure about other things but that is for certain". 

She clenched the cloth that covered her body and wept not only because of her aching heart but because she knew that she wouldn't be able to get him constrained by the authorities for the crimes he committed, The thing that troubled her more was the curiosity she had about the real facts due to which he successfully executed his plan. It was unusual how a mere general could hire goons, rent a car in an unknown city and get away with the murder of several people. She wondered if he had an accomplice who aided him in procuring his revenge, someone who had such connections that helped him in having possession of such strong men, arms and devise.

She was convinced that he wasn't capable of carrying out the whole thing. It was evident that there was some information that wasn't constituted in the man's tale. She concluded that there were things she still had no knowledge of, like the other person with whom he conspired. Though she failed several times in fleeing his den earlier, yet she didn't wish to yield to her circumstances.  She began to ponder about ways through which she could deceive him and then procure her freedom back. One thing she could comprehend about him was that he was a loner, not capable of compassion but bodily pleasures. Every man bore the burden of desires, and he was no different.

The ideas that were prevalent in her mind appeared quite daunting to her. She had already lost her virtue but still possessed a hope for emancipation. Though he successfully crushed her aspirations,  she still wished for a better future and his imprisonment.' He was pitiful when he was wronged, but that changed when he decided to act upon his hunch of retrieving revenge which ended up involving innocent people like Caleb and her parents', perceived Abigail.

She comprehended that the only way to escape him is by compelling him into submitting to his passions, and then she will assail during his vulnerable state. Relinquishing was not an option for her as there was no condoning for his sins. Fretting away after forsaken honour would only bar her from thinking rationally, and she couldn't let him persist by living a content life. Though she was ashamed of her thoughts that were fixated upon sinning, she couldn't let him break her. She had to persist in order to avail justice for the ones she loved.

Meanwhile, Silvester treaded back and forth in his room. He went towards his cupboard, loosened his necktie and glared at his own image. Thereafter, he moved his hands towards the button of his shirt. While his tie glided from his body to the floor, click-clack sounds began to disturb the quiet serenity of the mansion. He further unbuttoned his shirt casually. The clanking of the heels got louder while he dropped his shirt on the floor.

He glared at his bare chest while someone's feeble hands grabbed him from behind, Although he felt the caress, he couldn't feel the warmth. The delicate hands further firmed the grasp over his body. He grabbed the hands that held him from behind and tears began to well up in his eyes. Then, he uttered in a melancholic tone, "Only if you hadn't done that, I might be loving you at the very moment. I did understand that he was impeccable, but I loved you with all of my heart. When I still think about that day, the day when I saw you in his arms being carried to our bed while being involved in shame, a part of me dies. There's just complete hollowness. We were like fire; While you drifted away like smoke, I am still lying like the residue breathing ashes. Infidelity wasn't your fault, your fault was to run away from the repentance, Elizabeth". 

The tears dripped upon his face, while his azure eyes glared cluelessly at his own image. The grasp began to loosen up, and he exclaimed, "Runaway like you always do, you're nothing but a fragment, a fragment of my imagination, Elizabeth". 

When the man turned back, he observed the silent room and the noisy ruckus that persisted not in the room, but in his mind. The hands that grabbed her were the result of fanciful imagination. He made a resolve that there will be no sounds in the hallways anymore, and no arms would cling around his shoulder. He realized the absoluteness of the new reality, a reality without Elizabeth. 

He went into the bathroom, washed his face and wore another shirt. He sprinkled the finest cologne and tied his necktie with grey coloured patterns upon his white shirt. Thereafter, he glared out of the window, observed the fine evening and went towards the basement.

He opened the door and covered his nose with a handkerchief. He took steady steps and then got down meticulously. After reaching the basement, he observed the degenerated body that was still tied to the chair. 

He went towards the cadaver and inquired, "How did you handle her? She's nuts!  You never made her repent for her actions? She has gotten a bit discourteous, but don't fret my friend, I will teach her".

Then, he grabbed his trunk and waved it in front of the cadaver. Then his eye s glistened while he simpered and claimed, "I will make sure that she is affable and courteous before she perishes. Even you will adore her more when she'll reach there. She'll be perfect". Thereupon, he left the basement while waving towards the corpse and made his way towards Abigail's room.

 While Abigail stood in front of the window in complete serenity, the man approached her with complete insanity. The palpitations of his heart grew louder with every step he took towards her and then he asserted, "It is evening my love, It's nearly time for your repentance for what you did in the afternoon".