The Entangled Obsession

1. The Nightmare

The howling of the wind was the only thing that helped to keep her exhausted eyes open. Focusing in the dark night, she tried to drag her exhausted body as ahead as she could. Distant landscapes of dry and worn rocks surrounded her, as beneath her bare foot she could only feel the sticky mud caught between her toes.

She was surrounded by these dense woods and yet she tried to scan a route of escape from this desolate area, it seemed never ending. The need to move ahead was so strong that her body was trying to fight against all the pain she was going through now.

She could feel his presence. Not chasing her, no, observing her.

Amused to see how she thought she would be successful in getting away. She didn't even realized when her foot got entangled and she tripped on the ground. Her heart began pounding fast in her chest as she heard shuffling of feet behind.

Panic. Her eyes huge and watering. Turning sharp on her heel , she let out a blood curling scream as she came face to face with the man who horrified her the most .

Was it real or a figment of her abused mind ? Did he really find her so soon ? A sob escaped her lips as she couldn't take it anymore . Defeated , she pushed herself against a tree while he stood towering over her trembling figure .

" Are you already tired?" After a little lull, the dark voice spoke up.

" P-Please just let me go ." She muttered.

" Love, where would you go? Hmm ? You have no place to flee. I'm all you've got." He mused as he approached her, apparently delighted by the circumstance. The mocking smirk on his face clearly an indication of how much he enjoyed the chase.

"There isn't a single place in the world where I can't find you. Understand, I am not a prince charming like my father. I'll hunt you down from any corner of the universe and drag you back to me , screaming and sobbing if I have to " He exhaled deeply.

" Well, I'm not going to let you take a step away from me in the first place. " he grinned, yanking at the strand of hair that was shielding the terrified girl from his penetrating eyes.

Piya snapped awake, her breath ragged and her body slick with sweat, the remnants of the haunting nightmare clinging to her.

It took a moment for her to realize she was in her own bed, secure from the scary man of her fantasies. She lazily stumbled out of the cozy bed, blaming the significance of her bizarre nightmare on the spooky Agatha Christie novel she had binge-read until late at night.

"Rise and Shine!" she chirped, her voice a sweet melody as she greeted the potted plants in her kitchen.

Her fingers took hold of the refrigerator's door. Hunting out two eggs, a couple slices of multigrain bread, and a large jar of peanut butter and strawberry jelly, she set about constructing a perfect breakfast sandwich to satisfy her stomach's insatiable appetite.

Dancing her way to the marble slab, she connected her Airpods with her playlist, and almost immediately the lyrics to Britney Spears' "Toxic" resonated in her ears. There was nothing like music to cook by. Music was blaring into the kitchen, and she was swaying her hips to the beat while whisking the egg batter.

She turned on her heel to find Kate, her flatmate and only bestfriend, sitting on one of the wooden stools, leaning on it, her emerald eyes gawking at the buttery eggs simmering on the frypan.

The dark circles sagging under her eyes were an indication of her exhaustion from her night shift at the local hospital. Started by the sudden presence of her roommate, Piya shrieked and hastily took off the earplugs, concentrating on flipping the omelette.