Lost Gem

Chapter 2 (Familiarity)

F A M I L I A R I T Y

Anastasia understood that Paul was in some big trouble because they were moving cities and going very faraway. It must have been 20 hours since he was driving recklessly.

They finally stop in some rundown area. Anastasia silently glances up at the small house in front of her. It looked old, rusty and barely standing.

The whole area was in bad condition. She bows her head noticing Paul talking to a tall looking man. He shakes Paul's hand and hands him keys but his eyes rakes towards Anastasia with a weird glint in them.

Anastasia uncomfortably shrinks to herself. He left soon and Paul ordered her to take their stuff inside and settle everything while muttering that he needs a drink and he too headed out.

Anastasia slowly sets everything in order and lay down a futon for herself in kitchen to sleep.

Next morning, Paul comes back home drunk. He ignores her and heads straight to the only room present in the house.

Anastasia ate a loaf of bread for breakfast along with water and cleaned the house even if there was nothing much to do.

In the evening, Paul went out again but not before giving her new school's address.

He didn't come home the next morning. Just to stay out from any trouble, she prepared breakfast for him and put it into the fridge.

Then she gets ready for school and grabs her book bag. It takes her a little more than hour to finally find her new school. Her new school is nothing special. It is same just like her old school.

Anastasia ignores the whispers and pointed stares drilling in her body and settles on surviving the day in silence.

It must have been 3 years since Paul and her moved into this new city. On Paul's order, Anastasia has gotten a job in a diner where she works 8 hour shift after school.

Anastasia had a hard time adjusting to her new schedule but it isn't like she could complain to anyone. The verbal and physical abuse continues on and Paul never leaves a chance to tell her that she's completely useless and worthless.

His words no longer affects her. Her heart no longer feels pain. She's like some emotionless wreck almost soulless and dead.

Anastasia had thought that it must be some another regular day as she completed her shift in diner and she was on her way to back home. Her muscles are strained and her legs are hurting due to her running here and there in diner as it was totally packed today.

Anastasia freezes in the middle of sidewalk as a black car races past her in an insane speed. She blinks her shock off as a loud crash rings in her ears at the end of street.

Her eyes widens and she rushes towards the sound. The car has crashed into a abandon building.

She opens the door and looks inside to see a young looking man covered with blood and unconscious. She carefully drags him out of the car and lay him on the sidewalk.

Before she can take a good look at him, the car behind them exploded with a loud boom. Anastasia cried out in shock and covers her ears.

She wraps her arms around him and lifts him up in standing position with great difficulty. She hardly manages to drag him away from the heat and sets him down on the other side of road.

She carefully looks at his wounds and feels her heart drop. He was shot, multiple times. Anastasia feels helpless at this point.

Seeing her low chances, she lifts him up and starts to walk in the direction of her home while silently praying that Paul would not return home tonight.

She drags him inside her house through the back door and lays him down on her futon in kitchen where she always sleeps.

She carefully unbuttons his shirt and looks at three bullet wounds that have penetrated his skin but they hadn't punctured critical places. He would survive. She opens her first aid kit and pulls out a tweezer.

Carefully removing the bullets, she cleans the blood off and gently disinfects the area before stitching the wounds close.

She covers him with her thin blanket and takes a seat near his feet. She leans her back against the cupboard and closes her eyes to rest. The exhaustion has taken a toll on her body and she immediately falls asleep.

A loud ringing of phone grabs her attention. Her heart almost jumps right out of throat in fear. She tries to search for the source of noise and finds that it was coming from the man's phone.

She pulls his phone out from his pocket and looks down at it curiously. 'Father' word was popping up on the screen. She stares it at until it stops ringing.

She's about to place his phone back down near him but a hand shoots up and grabs her wrist.

Anastasia's heart drops as she stares at the man's stormy gray eyes. They look cold and furious even more scarier than Paul.

Anastasia shrinks back down to herself as the man glares at her.

"Who the hell are you?!" He asks with narrowed eyes. His grip on her wrist turns extremely tight that Anastasia bit her tongue to resist her cry.

"I asked you something!" He nearly shouts at her. Anastasia looks down in fear and flinches at the aggression his voice holds.

That man takes time to glance around his surroundings. It was a tramped kitchen and he was laying on a futon that was ripped from various places.

His eyes twitches with slight disgust until he notices his state. Cursing under his breath, he stands up feeling several jolts of pain in his stitched wounds.

He quickly pull his shirt on and checks his phone. Anastasia looks up when he lets out a loud curse, glaring at the screen of his phone.

Suddenly he snaps his head in her direction. Anastasia couldn't help but flinch again.

"Here!" He throws a thousand dollars cheque in front of her feet and storms out of the kitchen. Anastasia scrambles up from her sitting position and follows him.

Her heart drops yet again today as he kicks on the front door to open it. Hesitantly she grabs his arm, freezing him and silently pull him in the direction of backdoor. Fortunately he let her do it silently.

As she sees him off at the door, she tries to give the cheque back to him but he rolls his eyes.

"Just keep it as a token of help." He grunts and walks out of there.

Anastasia couldn't help but let her eyes follow his well built back. There was something strange about him that feels familiar to her.....She shakes her head to clear her thoughts and makes her way back inside.

Hope you like this chapter. Share your thoughts❤️

Get early access upto 6 chapters on patreon. Link's in my profile