76 Somewhere

He pressed on her scratches a little harder as Abi gaped at him and she winced again.

"Ahh… Alex, stop! I'll tell you..." She finally gave in and the man let go.

"Good," he said before he lifted her hand and gently blew on the wound as if he was trying to soothe the pain he inflicted. Abigail was speechless. This jellyfish was truly unpredictable. Why was he like this? "Now speak, little fruit," his tone was extremely demanding.

With a sigh, she told him the truth; that she was about to cross the road when a random fast car drove past so close to her that it nearly hit her. She fell down and that was how she got the scratches.

Abi saw his jaws clench and something flashed in his eyes, so quick that Abi almost missed it. He looked down and focused his attention on her palm.

"I-I am fine, though. These scratches are nothing," she immediately tried to reassure him, but the man continued his interrogation without looking at her face.

"What about the driver? Did you see his face?" His voice was emotionless, as if he was a detective trying to get information from the victim.

Abi found his way of questioning strange to her. She also didn't understand why he was asking so seriously but his overbearing aura was forcing her to cooperate with him.

"He didn't stop and it happened so fast I didn't get a look at his face."

"You didn't see the plate number?"

She shook her head. "I didn't see it but I think the car looks the same as that black car in the garage."

Alex fell silent after that, as if he had found his answer or as if he had finished taking all the necessary information. Still, there was something in his silence that made Abi feel like he was hiding something about this matter.

"Why were you trying to hide it from me?" he asked again after a long while of silence.

"I wasn't trying to hide it. I just thought that this wasn't something important that you needed to know," she replied and Alex paused. He looked at her with a sharp gaze before he grabbed her chin.

"Listen carefully, little lamb. While you are here living with me, I am the one responsible for you, you understand? From today onwards, while you are staying in my house, don't hide this kind of thing from me, you get it?"

Abi blinked at him and eventually nodded.

He finished tending to her wounds and he put the first aid kit back. "Sleep now, Abigail. You now owe me 12 sessions and one punishment. That is your debt currently, little fruit. You need to heal these hands of yours quickly or else…" he grabbed her chin and stared into her eyes with an aura of both danger and mischief. "Or else, I can't guarantee if this little fragile body of yours will be able to handle it if you keep accumulating debts you can't pay."

He walked towards the door and before he left, he said, "I'll go get the kid."

…

Downstairs.

Alexander saw that the girl was already asleep next to Zeke.

Alex walked towards the couch and as he drew closer, he gave Zeke one long, hard stare. It was as if there were many unspoken words conveyed with that one look.

Without a word, he took the girl and brought him upstairs. Abigail was still awake when Alex entered her room with little Betty in his arms.

He laid the little girl beside Abi before he left without a word.

"Goodnight, Alex," Abi said and the man halted for a moment, before he closed the door.

Abi let out a sigh and finally closed her eyes. Her thoughts were full of Alex and his ever changing moods until she finally fell asleep.

She began to dream. In her dream, a certain mischievous demon was tickling her ear. She kept pushing the bully demon's hand away but he was persistent. He even started to tease her cheeks, poking them as if he was picking a fight. The demon in her dream looked like Alex. Suddenly, Abi smelled something sweet hovering over her face so she bit the air as she imagined chomping on the delicious food before her.

At that moment, Abi woke up and to her surprise, she felt something fleshy between her teeth. Her eyes widened as she saw Alex's face, looking at her in disbelief. Was she still dreaming?

She slowly unclamped her teeth from Alex's hand and she finally noticed that it was already dawn.

"G-good morning, Alex," she greeted and she tried to rise up. The man finally moved to give her room as he looked at the hand she just bit and he chuckled noisily as he shook his head.

"Little lamb, I really don't know what kind of creature you are anymore," he said and Abi blinked at him. "You even bite during your sleep, huh? Do you eat people too while you're asleep?" he asked meaningfully, but of course, the little lamb took his words literally.

"No, I don't!" she immediately argued and Alex finally laughed.

"Ahh… never mind that. Get up and get changed. It's time for you to exercise. I'll wait for you outside. Make it quick," he said and he left without even waiting for her response.

Without a choice, Abi quickly changed into exercising clothes. Little Betty was still asleep and Abi knew she wouldn't wake up for another hour or so, so she left her on the bed.

Outside on the road, Abi was bent over, hand on top of her knees, panting and sweating from the exercise. The man was as unforgiving as he was the day before, acting like her strict coach. While she rested on that same bench from yesterday, Alex suddenly told her something she never expected to hear from him.

"Don't stay here tonight, Abigail," he said with all seriousness and Abi looked at him with confusion. "Go home for now and come back tomorrow."

"Why?" she asked, still surprised and confused.

"Because I'm not going to be home tonight. I'm going somewhere."

"Can't I stay here and wait?"

"No, Abigail. I won't allow you to stay here when I'm not around."

Abi's brows creased and she was about to say something but the man put his finger over her mouth and stopped her from speaking.

"Ah, it might also be better if I fetch you from your work tomorrow, now that I think about it," he said before he stood up. "Let's go back. That kid might be looking for you now."

Alex was about to take a step when Abi tugged his shirt. "Wait, Alex. Uhm, are you leaving soon?"

"Yes. I will drop you two at the orphanage on my way out."

"So you won't be able to fulfill my request today," she said sadly. "Wait! That means this will become your debt to me, right?"

". . ."