16 Fear

She couldn't move. It was as if her limbs were paralyzed. No voice would come out of her mouth. She just trembled inconsolably and her eyes welled with tears. She was a virgin for God's sake. Years of solitude due to being confined by her schizophrenic father had kept her from experiencing her first kiss when everyone else was busy enjoying kissing. Gosh! She didn't even hold the hand of any man before. But today this man dared to kiss her forcibly. She had always believed in self defence. But this man today took away all her guards.

She felt like a mere mice before a beast like him. No matter how much she hit or bit him he didn't let her go. Instead he went further.

She touched her painful lips. She was bleeding. Every defence of hers was met with out right assault. She was left thoughtless by him.

But as the thoughts came back to Atsit, she was scared. She was scared of the audacity of her assaulter. His every move spoke volumes about his strength and might.

She lay on the floor as the conversation from the evening flashed into her mind.

"You will have to be careful of him Atsit. You don't know what he is capable of. He is the most heartless being I have met till this day. " Ares looked very serious.

"But why is he so averse to me? Have I done something wrong? " she asked. He smirked.

'She was so innocent. This pure thing.... '

"No dear, It's not you. It's him. You see, Lares is a very cruel being. He is like a psychopath. Calm and serene but violent and volatile. Anyone who crosses him are just waiting for the door to hell. Lares, ummm, he takes great pleasure in torturing his victims. Many instances have been found where the corpse found from him couldn't be identified. Sometimes they lack fingers, or hands, or limbs, or sometimes even the head is missing. They say he feeds the body parts to his beloved dog. And Atsit your luck has brought you to his door. He thinks you are guilty for something that he thinks you have done. And that is why he is chasing after you. You are his number one enemy right now. That's why you have to be very safe. But if he ever tries to harm you, do tell me. I will deal with him. Okay? "

Each word of his brought shivers down her spine.

"Okay", she had replied.

Coming back to the present.

She could no longer live in this room. What if he appears again?

So she ran outside. She ran down the stairs and started knocking on the door of Ares' room that he had shown before. After every knock she turned back to see if he was coming after her. Luckily he wasn't.

As Ares opened his suite he witnessed a very heart wrenching damsel in distress.

Atsit was still in her nightgown looking beautiful. The lamp of the corridor illuminated her pure face. Her body contour was in full view and she looked quite seductive. But tears welled her still eyes. Her voluminous hair looked like it had witnessed a scuffle. A corner of her lush lips was bleeding.

As he examined closely, he saw marks on her wrist.

To confirm his thoughts he asked, "Did someone trouble you? "

She inhaled sharply, then released the breath she was holding.She nodded yes. Tears dropped like raindrops and she started crying. He held her and hugged her.

"Shh! Baby don't cry. I'm here", he comforted her.

In the darkness of the night a soft wail could be heard in the corridors of the palace of Lyonaz. And along with it could be heard the reassuring comforting words of a gentle man.