CHAPTER 6

His lethal stare felt painful and piercing, as if his glare was ripping my heart apart with a blinding green light. Fires of fury and rage were smouldering beneath his green narrowed eyes as he stared me down with unfiltered indignation, towering over me. His expressions made my toes curl and the hairs on my neck stand on end.

The way he looked at me, more like glared at me-like if given a loaded pistol, he would no doubt ruin the bullets on my body till they puncture all vital organs and I bleed and give up on life entirely. It was scary. His looks were frightening. Tattoos sticking out of his leather jacket and his black hoodie doing nothing to conceal the ink littered on his neck.

His curls were midnight black with tousled griminess. He had strong arched brows and eyelashes so thick, it could be illegal. And then his eyes, so deep, so green and catastrophic. Distinct cheekbones and angular jaw, his pale skin making him look so devishly handsome- sinisterly good looking. His type of handsome was far from Keegan handsome.

Keegan was handsome from the depth of his eyes to the deep, gentle expressions of his voice whereas the man in front of me sembled a striking seven shades of sin. The strength of his neck showed in the twining cords of muscle that shaped his entire body; strong arms, bold thighs and calves, a broad, firm chest and abdomen.

Muscles ripped across every part of his body and the swirling aura of confidence and command only amplified his physical appeal. I didn't miss the way the others moved out of his way. I could sense a mysterious aura of unmitigated gloom, midnight black in colour, overcrowding him. It almost screamed danger, engulfing him wholly but his aura of charm and allure seemed to be working on the girls. They couldn't quit swooning at the sight of him and his mere presence alone had them flushing shades of red. Meanwhile, he was floating in his own little world of oblivion.

"You need a cochlea transplant or you just love acting like you do." His masculine voice, rumbling and deep did the trick. I flinched, coming right back to reality as my brain tried to fathom what he said. Connecting the dots together, my brows furrowed. I frowned.

A cochlea transplant? I do not need one. Why would he think I do?

I grasped my phone from the floor inwardly hoping it wasn't broken. Slowly, I rose, my face contorting in pain each time I made a move. My arm, stinging and burning as if my humerous bone was smouldering deep within my arm. I could use some help but unfortunately, he didn't offer one and it didn't look like he was going to either.

My face fell the moment I locked eyes with him. They were burning, rigid and cold, a hateful disdain. But that wasn't all about it. There was a tenseness he wasn't even trying to mask.

I drew in breath into my lungs before saying, "I-I'm sorry. I just..." At a stroke, my words were instantly thrown back into my mouth, my teeth grinding against them as I caught sight of his hands. They were curled, fisted, anger radiating off his skin.

I looked up at him and was thrown off balance. A burning animosity was sparking in his green orbs and I couldn't tell if I was likely the root cause of the problem. They were like a knife to my ribs, the sharp point digging in deeper. Saliva in my mouth dried up, in quick need of some moisture.

"Sorry for bumping into you. My phone...uh..I guess it's broken now so....well, my dad called and I..uh...couldn't exactly hear him speak...I just th...."

He sneered, voice raised a tone, "I did not ask for some bullshit explanation."

I gasped sharply.

What?

"You-you asked if I...."

The movement of his head from side to side shut me up again. His facial expression was one of utter disdain. He abhorred me, as if I was no other than gum beneath his boots. Muttering while turning to leave, "This is what I get for being around stupid people."

I stared at his retracting back, open mouthed. My brain formulated no thoughts other than to register that I was shocked. Stupid people? And he categorized me as one of them?

At that moment, I was blinded by a five course serving of anger that tasted bitter. It was nothing like I have ever felt before. My muscles tensed as I relished his parting words. I tried holding it back in...tried letting it go but mum taught me words are like bullet. Once they are out, you can't control the damage they do.

Before I could think, before I could swallow back my words, before I even knew what was going on, I heard my own voice yelling after him, calling after his backtracking muscled frame, disrupting his motions, "Is that right? And what exactly have you accomplished in your life time that makes you Einstein, huh? What?"

As soon as I voiced that, he stalled. He stopped. Frozen on the spot, he didn't move. He heard me. Just like his, my words shot at him as well, affecting him. He paused, immobile, his muscles tensed beneath his jacket. In a blink, his head whipped to the side, pausing. The single movement knocking me out of breath.

Then in a blink, he turned, marching toward me, storming towards me. I saw the anger rise, the clench of his fists. His face contorting, twisting into raw rage. Beneath his eyes were something more intense than normal thoughts and his clenched clean shaved jaw wasn't a good sign. I should be scared. I should be horrified but I wasn't. I wasn't afraid. He needed to know that his manner of speaking was wrong. It was unnecessary and if nobody could drill him on that, I would be honoured to do the neccesary.

He sneered, a throaty growl finding its way past his lips, "What did you say?"

I scowled, "What have you achieved that would tag you as Albert Einstein, huh? Tell me what?" I curled my arms above my chest, changing my stance. "If you've got a list, I've got all day. What are they? Tell me." I glared at him, hoping the deadly looks he was shooting across tallied with the ones I was hurling back. He was trying to knock me off my stance, to intimidate me, to have me shudder and growling on his feet but I'll be glad to surprise him. I wasn't the least bit intimidated.

His eyes flashed with indignance and anger, more like lightening on a pitch black night. I stared right back at him, eyes locked right on his as I went on, spewing words out to his hearing.

"You don't talk to people in that manner, mister. That's classified as rude, impolite and I would want to believe that your mum did teach you that but you? You chose not to adhere." A wrinkle that had nothing to do with a coming sneeze formed on his nose. His muscles grew taut, jaw clenched, his eyes slicing me open.

He snarled, "Shut up."

"Well, aren't you a little ray of pitch black?"

He glowered right above me, voice low and menacing, this time sending chills down my spine. His chest bulging in and out in uncontrollable rage, eyes squinting meanly as he grew red in the face. "Shut. Up."

"I will not be silenced. If you weren't thought how to respect people then you can be quite sure I would have no problem educating you on that. For free may I add." I fired back.

Eyes wild, jaw hard clenched, fist clenched with blanched knuckles and nails digging into the palm. The unmovimg gaze were accompanied by deliberately slow breathing, like he was fighting something back and losing.

Out of the blue, he thawed, defrosting, breaking a step. And another. Then another. Till the tip of his hard leathered black boots brushed against my bare toes did he stall.

Head bent to meet my height, eyes squinting, glaring like a pit-viper's slit-like pupils. All the confidence and bravery I had accumulated over the minutes drained out, flew along with the wind, faded into thin air as I gulped nervously, heart thumping loudly-so loud I'm positive given our close proximity, he could hear it.

He leaned towards me, eyes fixated on mine, drawing closer, caving in. His head tilted to the side, lips parted, his musky breath fanning over my face. They made my eyes flutter. I couldn't hear my rapid breathing but I could feel the oxygen flooding in and out of my lungs. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. All forms of speech and mobility was taken away. I was hypnotized. Sleepwalking to the cold, hard gaze of his orbs.

He moved past my eyes, breaking the burning gaze, stalling right above my ears and when he opened his mouth to speak, I felt a slight touch on my ear nape in a way that only stirred discomfort within me.

His words came spewing, every breath crashing down on me, "This..." He tugged harshly on the bible in my hands, distabilizing me for a moment. "Doesn't fool anyone. Scratch that, it doesn't fool me. The facade isn't opaque enough. Your veneer of pretence is shit. Your vain attempt in covering up what you really are. Disguising your true nature. Concealing what the world already knows about you is like I said vain. You know why?" He stalled, as if giving me the chance to throw in a response but then picked up again thus abandoning the idea.

"Because you'll always be what you are. You always be who you are. Inside and out. No amount of times you choose to play Mother Mary dress up could take it off your chest. Without exception, you'll always be what your sex represents. Strings of disgusting, revolting bunches of worthless whores. That's who you are. A worthless whore. I hope it's still safe down there. I mean, for the next unlucky son of a bitch." He withdrew, hooking his icy cold eyes with mine. Green to brown. Lips curving upward into a baleful smile.

In that instant, all caution flew to the wind. Sizzling anger began brewing in my belly, burning as hot as fire. Every word stung fueled the fire that burned inside of me. Every violated phrase was like gasoline to it, my fists began to clench, my jaw rooted. It was like nothing I have ever felt before. When the final memo was added to the coke inside of me, I exploded, cracking my hand across his face, snapping it back, causing his head to reel sickeningly to the side. Even I was shocked at the strength in which I employed.

I screamed, my face twisting in pain at the amplified ache in my already throbbing arm as I clutched it to my chest, "You're silly. You're very silly. How can you say that to me? How can you call me that?" I yawped at him, writhing in unfiltered anger as blood began pumping through my veins so vigourously. They circulated, finding its way through the tubes, entering my eyes thus creating a red coloured vision.

"How dare you?"

He stalled, head still frozen to the side. Then came the fisting of his palms, nails digging into his palms enough to draw out blood, chest bulging in and out as he stiffened, muscles taut.

In anger, I shoved him roughly and shoved him again. And then again and again till I lost count of how many times I pushed him. Suddenly, he thawed, retracting me towards him. I staggered, barely catching my footing and crashed my sides against his stoned chest. He grappled my throbbing wrist in his hold, sheathing it completely, tightening the area so hard I could feel the sweat trapped inside. The paralyzing hurt spread through my body like icy liquid metal.

Alarmed, I watched as the whites in his eyes turned a pure black and as his iris glowered green. Symbols, lines and dots formed in the iris, placed in a threatening manner.

"Let me go." I spat, attempting wriggling free from his strong hold but it felt like a captured lamb on the brink of death trying to escape its impending slaughter. Pointless.

"Let me go." I repeated, tweaking and pulling but the more I resisted, the tighter his fingers grasped. He scowled harshly, eyes brewing anger like a storm out of sea. I gulped nervously, retrieving my gaze from his smouldering ones, permitting them freedom of movement in all places but his face.

Fear tortured my guts, churning my stomach in tense cramps. I could hear my heart beat loud and clear, blood rushing to my ears. I twisted and jerked, tugged and wrenched. Still, the outcome remained constant. He held on, each minute multiplying with the firmness of his intense grip. I could feel a bruise forming, pain shooting as that area began to throb. Fire in the form of water stung my brown eyes, clowding my vision, blinding me momentarily.

A choked sob emanated passed my lips in the form of a small whimper. My warnings and deterrents evolving into pleas and entreaties.

"You're hurting me. Leg go off me, please." My gut burned twisting and curling and it stung. It hurt. The fire in his eyes, the storm in his gaze, the ice in his veins. I shuddered, sobbing. The ice-cold glare. It was too much to take.

My gaze of tears met his cold ones. The way they squinted as he scowled at me. Lips set into a grim line, jaw clenched, muscles tense and eyes wild, waves of fury twirling in his orbs.

I quivered, heart hammering erratically, tears spilling down my eyes. "Please, let go off me." I heard my own sounds, raw from the inside, like a child in distress.

I could feel the sweat drenching my skin, the throbbing of my own eyes, the ringing shouts and screams centred around me, the chaos filling my ears, pounding in my head. Where were they oozing from? I couldn't make out the spoken words. They were mixed, jumbled altogether. People yammering, their voices trying to overtake the other. It was giving me a headache.

The tears bursted forth like a water from a dam, rolling down my cheeks. The muscles on my chin quiver like a toddler. I sobbed unceasingly, my free arm wrapped around his, closed around my captive ones. I sobbed, trying to tug at a finger but each time I proceeded to the other, his previous one closed around my wrist again. He showed no mercy. He displaced not a sliver of empathy, breaking me, pulling my walls down, brick by brick.

I hate him. I hate him so much.

Without warning, I staggered back, nearly tripping to the floor. He released me. He let go. He freed my arm from his cold clutches. I realised soon after it wasn't on his own accord. From my cloudy peripherals, I spotted someone seemingly familiar up in his front. His muscular and sturdy body frame connecting and adding up into someone who had been recently catalogued into my head. They shoved and pushed each other, screaming incoherent words-phrases I couldn't even begin to comprehend. They seemed to be in disagreement over something. I wasn't quite sure.

I was nestled in someone's arms. Swaddled around my shoulders and pulled close, unfamiliar hands gently rubbing my arms. I snuggled in closer as my lips trembled, shoulders heaved with emotion, resisting fading away. I blinked briny tears from my bloodshot eyes, my lashes sticking together in clamps.

Sharp pain lanced through my arm as I clutched it tightly to myself. My brain stuttered for a moment. Every part of it went on pause while my thoughts struggled to catch up. The shock unwilling to take flight as screams and shouts got stuck in the air. The entire cafeteria thrown in shambles. The whole place was a blur, random faces floating aimlessly in my faculty of vision, mingled voices creeping in and out of my ears. My head turned foggy. I could feel somebody shaking me, staring me dead in the eye, trying to capture my attention but I couldn't keep focus. The whole world simply sembled a low resolution, like a bad quality movie.

My breathing hitched as my knees grew weak. Regardless, I needed to get out of here. One more minute in this torturous place and I'm bound to completely lose it.

"Take her to her dorm." Someone yelled over my head. The voice was deep and masculine. It sounded somewhat familiar, yet, I couldn't distinguish the voice from the few already registered in my brain.

"I don't know where." Another voice filled my ears. This time, I felt the vibrations against my body as the words spewed out. I realized too soon the words expelled were from the lips of the one whose arms held me. It was ladylike and soft stirred with a dash of benign. The owner was unrecognizable. Though, much thought weren't thrown to it.

Before I could spill Jack, my legs abandoned immobilty, stomping over the other, missing steps altogether. My muscles shifted, bodies crushed against mine, warm arms squished around my body, a whiff of sweet smelling fragrance penetrating my nostrils as more and more random faces fell into view, casting me into disorientation.

When the burning sun slapped my skin, my eyesight blurred but not because tears were welling up. Everything became fuzzy. Then, I saw nothing at all. My consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with a thick static. My heart beat pounded loudly, echoing in my ears. Feeling in my body drained away until finally all was black.

I collapsed but never touched the ground.