Chapter Thirty-Three: A very interesting morning

Sunday, March 15, 20XX

15 or so years ago****

The little girl looked around the dark forest and she gulped. "You can do it. You survived it's going to be okay just keep walking." She encouraged herself.

It was late and everything was dark. She could hear the noises of the nocturnal animals. She was in pain and she was bleeding but she had to survive so she continued walking. If she stopped they would find her.

She had the option to sleep and keep walking the next morning but that would be a bad idea. If she did that, the next morning her chasers would follow the trail of her dried blood and footsteps. If there is a perfect chance of escaping it would be now in the dark when no one would dare enter such a dangerous forest.

She had no food around and it's not like she could tell what was eatable so her body was not in a good condition. She had fresh wounds of whippings in her back and she had eaten some poisonous berries.

The poison was supposed to paralyze her but it did nothing to her. While being held captive she had been given countless poisons. Their goal was to torture her with the poisons but she was smart enough to make that an advantage for her. She learned to endure the poison and she managed to make her body immune to it.

She determined to continue this practice after getting out of this forest alive. She would surely become invincible and then nobody would be able to harm her ever again.

Being just a ten-year-old her circumstances had forced her to mature rapidly.

She groaned and took a short rest of 5 minutes. After that time passed she continued walking.

"Hurry up she shouldn't have gone too far!" She could hear the distant yell and she panicked.

Her heart started thumping loudly against her rib cage. The man had yelled and he had to make sure to be loud enough. His goal was to alert her and cause her to start running fast and making it easier for them to follow her.

Ainara took a deep breath. She looked up at the tall tree and she gulped. 'It's the only way.' She thought. Without wasting a second she started climbing.

When she reached the top her fingertips were covered in blood and her fingernails were filled with dirt. She was tired of all the climbing. She covered her mouth at the top of the tree and she stayed as quiet as possible.

She heard footsteps approaching and her heart was racing faster. She was afraid the man could hear the loud thumping of her heart. She shivered when she felt something cold sliding on top of her body.

Her eyes widened in shock when she realized it was a large snake on top of her. She closed her eyes and tears fell from her eyes. She heard the footsteps stop. The man looked up and he narrowed his eyes at the tree in front of him.

Ainara covered her mouth and she bit her tongue as hard as she could to stop herself from making any noise. The snake had just bit her….

She wanted to scream in pain but she held back with great difficulty.

"Sir the trail stops here."

"Shhh," The man walked closer to the tree.

Ainara started crying. 'No, I can't get caught.'

She grabbed the snake with her bare hand and she pushed it off her body. She tossed it below her hoping this would save her.

"Ah!" The snake fell on one of the men's face. She heard a few gunshots and then the scene went quiet.

"Tsk tsk it was just a snake keep moving forward!"

Ainara felt relieved when their voices became distant. 'I'm safe.' She thought but her happiness was gone when she realized the bite of the snake was poisonous, due to the affects it was already giving her body.

'Zzzzzz'

Her eyes went wide in shock when she realized it wasn't the only snake in the tree. It seems she had disturbed their sleep.

She was horrified at the sight of so many snakes all of the same kind and sliding on top of her, in front of her and next to her.

"Oh, God…."

'Mom, dad, brother can I really survive now?"

*******

Clair looked up at the ceiling. Her face paled and her hands clenching tightly on the blanket. It seems nothing can stop the nightmares from coming. No matter what she did they just kept coming every night.

She looked beside her and she realized he was still asleep. She sighed in relief. It would not be a good thing if he saw her in that state.

She glanced at the bathroom and she decided to freshen up. She sat up and she tightened the knot of the robe. She looked at her phone in the nightstand fully charge and his beside hers. She took hers and read the message Yaci sent her and then her brother's.

She responded to Yaci's and told her she would arrive at the office later and that she doesn't need to come. She pondered on telling her to bring her a set of clothes but she did not want her to know about her and James just yet.

She walked inside the bathroom and she took a quick shower with his shampoo. She realized she smelled like him and she pursed her lips.

She had no underwear or anything besides the robe. Her clothes were placed by her in a bag because he doesn't have any maids working here. Apparently he doesn't like people in his house. She found it ironic that he offered to bring her to his house.

She wanted to look for the bag but that would be useless since they are probably wet. Since she had gone to sleep after bathing and using his robe she never got the chance to think about what she would wear in the morning. She felt like an idiot. "I should have washed the clothes and dried them." She mumbled.

She looked around and took one of his towels to dry her hair. She opened the cabinets and found a stash of extra toilet paper, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. She smiled and took out one of the toothbrushes. She unwrapped it, and brushed her teeth.

After that, she sighed. "No skincare products? Not even a moisturizer? How the hell does he have such clear skin if he doesn't use any?" She asked herself.

She looked at herself in the mirror and she sighed. Her face regained its color and she looked better now. She used the same bathrobe and she walked out. When she came out she found him sitting on the bed making a call.

"Morning." She greeted in a neutral tone. "Good morning. I called some people over. Breakfast is ready and your clothes are here." He handed her a paper bag and he had a blank face.

"Oh…. Thank you." She replied. There was an awkward silence. "Is there a way we can negotiate the thing with Gloss?" She asked.

He smiled. "No there isn't." He answered and walked inside the bathroom.

"Bastard!"