FEROX FOREVER 1: Nothing Sinful ✓

Kabanata 15

Abby

The night we'd first met, I had one unrelenting question that had kept bogging me ever since--sino ba talaga si Veric Mavros?

Then, it was followed by more questions:

What does he do? Does he have a family? How come he doesn't have any pictures of them in his bedroom? Bakit napaka-blanko ng buhay niya? Wala pang ni-isang bagay sa mansyon na makakapagsabi na totoong tao nga ang lalake na palaging nakakulong sa opisina.

Who is he really, and why does he have the gaze that could peel back your skin and leave you bare?

Now I was regretting having to finally see the real man behind the enigmatic façade.

I was finally learning that not all beautiful creatures were safe to touch, because all I could see now was the waste of him.

Within just half an hour since we left the mansion, Hexon was already pulling up in front of my parent's house.

I was scared shitless, like my world had just imploded and the ground beneath my feet had been split wide open and I was falling endlessly into the abyss, my hands clawing at dead air.

I couldn't hide my fear. It was spilling out of me in waves. My arms were shaking so badly that the tremors were beginning to rack my whole body despite the oversize sweater Hexon had insisted for me to wear. I was a quivering leaf in the midst of a storm, and to be still was the only thing I could do or else I might get uprooted by the wild winds.

I felt my own skin becoming brittle and hypersensitive, as if by just making a small movement, I was afraid that it would break me and I'd burst into dust.

Hexon's glare was menacing when he looked at me. "Do what you gotta do. Pack your stuff, but only what's necessary. And make it fast. If you run away, it will not be hard for me to catch you. So don't do anything stupid and get yourself in more deeper shit," Hexon said matter-of-factly, his green eyes hard as stone.

He could have been a handsome guy, the perfect man to have a crush on if I was an innocent high-schooler who didn't know any better. But his constant animosity toward me since the day I'd met him was a clear reminder that first impressions do last.

I was right to be afraid of him.

And Veric, too.

They were the men your parents had warned you about.

Not because they were just your normal kind of trouble.

But because they were the type of men who could pull the bones from your body until all you got left was your frail skin to hide under.

"O-okay. I'll be quick," I stammered as I hopped out of the car and went inside the house.

It was quiet inside my home. Dad was still probably at the school grading papers at this hour and Mom would still be at the City Hall working overnight as the Mayor's secretary.

I couldn't call and tell them what was going on. I didn't want them to get involved. Getting my parents caught in this web of chaos would only endanger everyone.

Baka ano pa ang gawin ni Veric sa kanila.

Veric had a lot of connections, as Ate Tara had said, so even sending an S.O.S message to the police or call 911 would be too risky.

Who knew how many people at the force were actually in Veric's pockets? It could only worsen the situation once Hexon found out that I made contact with the authorities.