Chapter 141 - "It's Me....Santiago"

Before he could understand his feelings, he found himself standing in the same basement where he had spent his early teenage years. 

His eyes were closed when he heard the creak of the stair... his eyes were still closed when the creak suddenly stopped...his eyes were closed too when he heard that one familiar whisper… 

"Who are you?" He clearly heard the whisper. 

The dark basement was lit by a flickering light bulb to erase a bit of the darkness if not wholly just like time had only erased a bit of his pain, not completely… Just like him, his scars and pain were stubborn too...refused to go away...refused to be erased… refused to be healed… 

He heard another creak when she finally stepped down the last step of the stairs and took another step in his direction. She hadn't taken more than two steps until she had stopped once again and clutched her pendant in her left hand as if she was holding a rosary to shoo away the fear from her seeping inside her heart.

"Who are you?" She asked once again. This time her voice was accompanied by a heart-piercing sob. Sheer desperation hidden inside her voice wasn't hidden from him. 

Slowly and slowly as if time had almost paused, he turned… 

A gasp left his mouth when he saw a tear-stained redhead standing there. And just like it, he clearly saw an eight years old redhead inside her. Lord knows why he didn't notice before… Persephone Marino and his beloved were looking the same to him right now… 

"Who are you?" She ran towards him and caught him by his shirt. "Who are you?"

She was sobbing and yelling at him, hysterically. Even she could not understand why she was crying… 

She didn't know what this was all about… but she did know that the unsaid words and the uncertain past were taking the best of her… Wasn't why she found herself enthralled by him even when all she wanted was to stay away from him… Just like a moth following the flame, she would end up with him, one way or the other… 

Just who was he? 

And why would he be where she least expected him? 

And did she share this bizarre painful connection with him? 

Just tell her who she was to him? 

Why was she so enthralled by him? 

"Who are you?" She asked him once again. But this time with a bit of intensity as she hit his chest with her fist. 

"It's me," Santiago said in a cracked voice. "Santiago…" 

"Who are you to me?" Persephone asked him. She knew who he was now...but she couldn't understand what the relationship was between them. 

When he heard her question, she noticed the word hesitation written on all over his face. She noticed how he opened his mouth to utter something but when no words came out, he shut it again. He did the same a couple of times before sighing in defeat. For a second, she believed that he was going to turn and leave without a word just because he found their situation confounded. But he didn't leave. Instead, he stared at her hard, still trying to form the words. 

The man seemed to know something that she believed if she got to learn was going to change her world. 

"How did you know the way here?" After so many attempts, this was what he asked in the end. 

However, Persephone found herself innately replying to him, "I don't know." She looked at him as if she herself was bewildered. "I just came to see my mom's studio...and the next thing I knew was that I found myself in this haunted yet very familiar place." 

Hearing Persephone reply, Santiago's heart stilled. No, it wasn't true. Whatever his heart was thinking was just his wishful thinking. 

"How did you find the stairs?" His voice was hardened. 

"I told you that I don't know…"She was looking at him in utter confusion. 

"Your mom...does she paint?" Santiago asked her almost in a whisper. 

Persephone's eyes widened but she still nodded her head at him. "How do you know?" 

This time Santiago could only laugh at his own fate. His doubt could only be now cleared by seeing the picture from the time when she was young. If she was indeed who he doubted she was….then a lot was going to be changed…. 

When she recognized that Santiago had no intention of replying to her, she grasped his shirt again and asked him, "Why are you not answering me? Are we related? Do you know me?" 

Santiago was so occupied with the battle with himself that he didn't notice that something was certainly not right with Persephone. She was breathing too fast, more like gasping for air, her forehead was sweating… her voice was too desperate… 

"I'm asking you something. Answer me!"

He opened his mouth to answer her but before a word could leave her mouth, he found her falling on him. Thankfully, he caught her on time or else she would have been hurt if she got her head hit by the hard concrete. 

"Percy?!" Santiago shouted. 

No one noticed how the Villain who would rather call her by the nickname he gave her than call her by her name, actually called her Percy this time. 

It might be because his heart already knew the result that his brain was seeming to deny. 

"Percy?! Wake up?" He patted her cheek. "Wake up!"

The anxiety and the fear of losing her were clear in his voice and eyes. Even if he wasn't clear what kind of feelings he seemed to be carrying for his ex-captive, it didn't mean it was hidden from anyone else. Anyone could see that he was mad for her. 

When she didn't wake up after his trying so hard, he collected her in his arms and ran towards the way that led to the Marino estate. He was just halfway, when Kale, Persephone's bodyguard appeared. Even the bodyguard was worried sick after losing her. 

"Mr Vitello?" Kale said in a hard voice. When he saw Persephone unconscious in Santiago's arms, he acted quickly. 

Before Santiago could do anything or say anything, Santiago had already taken her in his arms. He was running towards the main mansion and Santiago, who was left behind, smiled bitterly and disappeared. He knew his limits. 

When Carina saw Kale bringing an unconscious Persephone, she stopped in her movement and looked at them with wide eyes. Her heart had stilled at this moment and no word came out of her mouth for a long time. Only when she came back to her senses, she ran after Kale who was taking Persephone to her bedroom.

"What happened to her?" asked Carina in a very worried tone. "She was fine before, wasn't she? And didn't I specifically inform you not to leave her alone even for a moment? Did you not follow her when she was strolling in the garden?"

There was a heavy look on Kale's face. He just went to the bathroom when he saw that she was still inside the main garden...but who would have thought that he would have to search for her in the entire estate once he came back. But of course, he can't tell the truth to Carina. She might appear gentle and kind-hearted but when things involve her children, she was worse than Don Marino. 

"I'm asking you questions, Kale." Carina's voice could be said to be a warning. She was enraged but he could tell that she was suppressing her anger. "Why is she unconscious?"

"When I saw her...she was already unconscious --" 

Although she asked Kale the question, she didn't wait to hear his answer. She immediately looked for Persephone's phone and dialled Valencia's number. 

Valencia arrived twenty minutes after Carina called her. She was so shocked when she received the call that Persephone was unconscious and the reasons were still unknown. 

"How is she now?" Carina asked her once Valencia was done checking her up. 

"Mrs Marino, I think I have cleared several times that her emotional condition need not be spiked," Valencia said in a scolding tone. "She is emotionally unstable and any episode can lead to panic attack...which can easily cause miscarriage." 

Carina was taken aback when she heard Valencia's words.

"Her emotions were stimulated?" She further asked. 

Valencia nodded. "She is currently sleeping to stabilise her raging emotions. I hope you will be careful in the future…" 

"But she was fine before," Carina whispered. 

"Mrs. Marino, I was informed of her selective amnesia. The episode today could be related to that. She might have tried very hard to remember something which resulted in her falling unconscious…" 

....

This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l. c o m (remove spaces). If you're not reading 'The Villain ' on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen.. It's very heartbreaking to see pirates profiting from my hard work. Please support the original author,(tanu_sam