9 To help him

17 years ago..

"Mom?! Dad?! Where are you?!", a little boy around eight years old was shouting his throat out. Now he felt his voice was gradually getting dry. But he wouldn't stop until he found his parents.

There was a fire breaking out at the main mansion, the cause of it was unknown. It spread faster and the north wing was mostly affected. That was where the master area was.. the place for Master and Madam of the house.. Aubrey's parents.

"Mom?! Dad?!", the boy didn't want to give up yet, so he took the chance to find his parents himself. He stepped into the burning fire.

He was scared and it was getting hot by seconds. He didn't find his parents. So he changed his plan to find his brother instead. His brother occupied the east wing as the eldest son, and he might be near. He might be looking for him too, Aubrey thought.

"Brother?! Are you there?!", Aubrey shouted, but he received nothing.

Aubrey didn't waste the time as he ran to the east wing, and when he arrived, the east wing, despite being directly connected with the north wing, was strangely out of danger.

It was clean and looked magnificent, unlike the north wing that was slowly getting roasted with raging flames. Even the west wing by the end of the other hall was affected.

"Brother..?", Aubrey sighed in relief. His brother should be safe if his room was not eaten by the fire.

Just as he walked through the corridor, he saw a glimpse of his parents in his brother's room, they were both tied up with a rope. And their mouths were sealed with a tape. They looked agast, full of shock.

"Mom? Dad? You're here!", Aubrey smiled when he saw his parents, safe and alive. But what made him speechless was the fact that they were tied up like a criminal, and were about to be sentenced to death by a prosecutor.

The fact that the prosecutor himself was his brother made Aubrey's mind go blank. He couldn't react to the scene he saw with his own eyes. His brother's dark and lifeless eyes.. he was not like this just when they were having dinner just now!

Aubrey's parents started to scream a silent shout. Their eyes only told one thing, to run away, as far away as possible. Aubrey easily catched their message, as he was actually a bright kid with a high IQ. But what he didn't get was the reason. Why would his parents..?

And before he was able to get any explanation, his brother saw him and walked slowly towards him.. and that was the beginning of his endless nightmare..

•••

Back to present.

Aubrey's eyes shot up when he woke up in haste, his chest heaved up and down uncontrollably. He looked around, trying to scan the room. He was afraid if he found himself in that room again..

His eyes then fell on a figure lying beside him at the bedside. Her head was resting beside his arm while her legs were folded on the floor, making her uncomfortable.

The room was dark and not a single light was let in. But he could still detect the woman beside him. Aubrey didn't feel good when he realized that he was troubling the woman who had saved him. She looked like she was taking care of him for every minute. It made him more uncomfortable.

But the reality was actually Lucy was deprived of energy because she played on her mobile for six hours non stop in the morning. She continued playing on her PC for five hours. She wanted to go downstairs to retrieve her PS4 to continue playing, but decided against it when Mia was there. She was a real gamer indeed.

He looked around the room, the clock on the wall indicated that he was unconscious for the whole day.

•••

Mia was getting worried when she saw that Lucy was not stepping outside of her room for the whole day. What happened with her sister?

But when she recalled how hard her sister had work for the recent conference, she thought her sister must have been too tired to even lift a finger now.

'Let her sleep more then.', Mia smiled. She then went to the door, leaving the house. The living room was a mess now because of her. She had crash in the house since yesterday. It was her usual must-do activity ever since Lucy bought the house.

Meanwhile in Lucy's room, Aubrey got up from the bed slowly.. his neck was bandaged, but it appeared sloppy. The choker seemed to be getting in the way. His eyes were not fully open yet.. he still felt the drowsiness in his head.

The chloroform effect was not going away for the meantime. He wanted to sleep again. But before he did so, he lifted Lucy's body with slight difficulty since he himself was feeling heavy in his head. Aubrey put Lucy beside him in the bed.

And he went straight to sleep again. Not minding the woman who was shivering in the cold, and inching closer towards him to get some warmth. When she received what she wanted, she let herself snuggled against the warmness.

"Hm..", she too, drifted off to dreamland alongside Aubrey.

•••

The clock continued ticking away the time, it was now a quarter past eight. Lucy stirred in her sleep when she saw that she was holding onto something warm, tugging it with her might for dear life. Her eyes went wide when she saw the side profile of Aubrey, sleeping soundly beside her.

Her eyes scanned him from head to toe, and when they reached his legs, she saw that she had unintentionally straddled her legs with his, interwining them together.

Her face shot up in redness. Feeling embarrassed by her bold actions. She wanted to get away from there and hide in a hole. She got up in a dash, ready to run. But she decided to stay when she saw Aubrey's condition. Observing him carefully.

He stirred in his sleep when the warmth disappeared from his side, his brow furrowed without much comfort. He started to feel unsave. His eyes, despite being closed, made some movements that indicated that his emotions were in rumble.

Seeing the REM stages of his sleep that were abnormal again, Lucy quickly went closer to him. Comforting him in his sleep. She hugged him without thinking twice. Spreading the lost warmth back to its place.

Aubrey's tense body started to relax, he slept again. Gazing at the man, Lucy didn't notice the small smile that graced her face when she looked at him tenderly.

'He's a sinful being. Having such a handsome face..', she chuckled.

•••

Aubrey woke up the next day in a quiet, dark room. Lucy intentionally left the room setting that way because most patient who was poisoned with strychnine was handled by the same atmosphere. The door opened when a woman walked in, smiling to Aubrey when she brought a tray of meal in her hand.

"Let's have breakfast?", she said, walking closer to the bedside table.

Aubrey faced Lucy without breaking eye contact. He was scanning the woman to see whether she was a threat or not. Now his head was clear and he didn't feel any pain, so he continued to gaze at Lucy for real this time.

Lucy noticed it, but she didn't mind. She knew people like him had a hard time trusting people. It was not his fault for being that way, he was a victim in his own mind.

Despite her understanding, Lucy could not disregard her professionalism when it came to interrogation. She needed to know this man, more than he knew himself.

That was the only way for her to help him. She thought hard upon her intention when she sat by the bed. Then she faced Aubrey again.

"Listen Aubrey, I want to help you. So after we finish our breakfast, can we talk?", she said softly.

Aubrey didn't respond.

"I want you to help yourself. So please help me to help you okay?", Lucy said again, this time she was able to get some reaction.

Aubrey nodded, though it seemed reluctant. That was enough for now, Lucy thought. She smiled.