Chapter 23 Panic

Kamala's POV

It was my fault.

I couldn't be too sure of what was happening but based on the aggressive way Alister left the room right after I told him about Warwick,but I could tell it was nothing pleasant.

I didn't mean to get Warwick in trouble. All he did was follow protocol and no matter how much I wanted to see him bleeding out on a stick, my feeble brain could not handle the mere thought of someone else hurt, especially if it was because of me.

And I lied.

I shouldn't have done that. Not to Alister.

I tried to tell him I fell, I didn't mean to pin it on Warwick. All I knew at that moment was to not say Cullen.

If Alister told Cullen I snitched on him, I would end up exactly like I did the night before, except this time no-one would be there to save me.

But now I did something worse.

I blamed an innocent person.

Warwick was a disgusting old pig, but even he had his boundaries and would probably never try to get with a woman without her consent.

Maybe I should have just stayed quiet. I don't know what he would do to me for disobeying or if I would even be alive in the moment, but at least I would be rid of all the guilt flooding my heart.

If I could have just shut up, the inly person getting punished would be me. Now I dragged Warwick into it.

Why couldn't have I just stayed quiet?

The question kept repeating in my head ever since Alister walked out.

I tried to clean the rest of the room to clear my head, but the little dark scraps laying on the polished floor only further reminded me of Alister's fury and what he must be doing to Warwick at the moment.

It made no sense why Alister would get this enraged just by seeing my bruises. It was already too much when he even acknowledged me, but him getting angry over my misfortune was unexplainable.

The bruises still stung and even though Alister ordered me not to clean due to the injuries, I couldn't help but want to do something productive rather than sitting on my ass worrying about what would happen once Alister returns. If he returns.

My hopes of avoiding an awkward encounter diminished once I saw the elevator doors open.

I glanced back to the elevator doors as the gap between them got bigger and bigger. Preparing myself to see his defined features, I patiently waited until his form was in full view.

Only it wasn't his face.

Instead of the dark locks and blue hair that seemed to haunt me everywhere I went, I saw long wavy blond hair and clear green eyes.

Cullen's green eyes.

The gorgeous woman held a sour expression on her face as soon as her eyes found mine.

I immediately set my head down not wanting to show any disrespect even if all my urges wanted to keep my sights on the eyes.

Even with my head down, I could feel the intimidating aroma radiating off of her which told me she must have been of a high power.

"Where is Alister?"

She snapped in a cold tone.

I winced at the use of his name knowing noone would dare say it in front of him.

Maybe they were close?

"H-he went away. I don't know where."

The woman let out a huff of frustration before setting herself onto one of the sofas in the room.

While sitting cross-legged, she leaned out into the seat and took out her phone.

Her leaned-back position made me realize she must have been familiar with her surroundings.

"Are you going to keep stalking me or are you going to do your job?" She screeched never once taking her eyes off of the phone.

I snapped out of my gaze and practically ran towards the mop. Before I even had a chance to react, my foot got caught up in one of the fallen decors and just as I was about to catch up with the situation, I flew towards the floor.

The loud drop seemed to finally distract the woman as she turned around to look at me.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you?" She yelled loudly and I couldn't help but feel massive deja-vu from the situation.

I slowly stood up and held my head down in shame.

"You cant even walk right! You useless slave! I could get you whipped for this!" She shouted and yet her eyes seemed to hold a trail of amusement behind them.

Her delight only increased as she noticed the bruises on my face.

"What happened to your face?" She asked holding back her smile as her eyes looked me over in disgust.

I stayed silent while her eyes went over every little imperfection on my body.

The next thing I knew, I was grabbed by the chin and forced to look at those demonic eyes.

"Aww, has Alister already had punish you?" She asked with a cocky grin.

"Im not surprised. You can't even clean correctly. You should be considered lucky you only got a few hits." Her eyes scanned my body with her passionless expression never fading.

My heart was speeding up in seconds and I was scared I would suffer another panic attack before the end of the day if she would continue with her close proximity.

"But looking at you, I guess fate already served you the ultimate punishment. The scars will serve as a nice addition." She said slowly without the hint of laughter that her tone held before. Suddenly, her whole demeanor morphed into a serious one.

That was when I saw it.

Him.

Instead of the blond woman, her place was now replaces by the man I never wanted to see again.

Cullen stood in front of me with those devilish green eyes while he strongly held my chin.

'He's not really here.'

'He's not really here.'

'He's not really here.'

I kept repeating the phrase over and over in my head but the image didn't seem to go away.

Maybe it was her eyes or her demonic expression, but something about her made my head go into overdrive and back into last night.

My breath got caught up and my body starting trembling in his touch. My body yelled at me to move or run away and yet, I stood still.

The panic was rising in my throat and no amount of deep sudden breaths could stop it.

The air stopped coming and my heart couldn't take the pressure anymore. Everything around me was going to fast and I couldn't do anything stop it. All the memories came crawling back and I could barely keep my feet standing still.

The panic was going to eat me alive.

For a second, I thought I saw the reality again where the woman was scowling at me with a confused and disturbed expression, but then everything went back to Cullen.

Cullen. He was strangling me! The panic rose until the pressure was too high for me to withstand. I released ant energy I had left and scattered on the floor.

Cullen was no longer there. It was black. My eyes were open and it was still... black.

The last thing I remember was getting picked up from the ground in a familiar embrace.

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