His Obsession || Book One

Visitor

After practice I drove to Eric's home, hoping he was there.

In my luck, he was. His car was in the driveway and another unfamiliar car was stationed in front of his house.

The car was a beautiful dark red Audi R8, totally recognizable from miles away.

I walked in using the house key Eric copied for me. He said to me "Feel free to join me due to boredom, or an emergency".

I strolled inside and what immediately caught my attention was the shiny, clean, pearl, marble floor. Without a droplet of blood.

I noticed the white couch was replaced with a new one, completely spotless.

As if nothing ever happened.

But the murders were so vivid in my head. I remember the gunshots and the men falling to their death, trickling a river of blood.

My nightmare of a memory flashback was interrupted by a gun's cock. My eyes darted to the handgun and I gasped.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked with his deep tone in voice calm.

The guy was only slightly older than Eric. He had his hair neatly cut and his face stern.

I raised my hands and dropped my stuff, but before I could speak Eric stepped in the room and spoke for me.

"She's no harm, Santiago." Eric said with his face relaxed. He said it so casually while he continued eating bulky grapes.

Eric walked toward me and stood in front. He whispered in a soft voice to me with arrogant eyes, "Oh I've missed you."

"Who is she?" The man, Santiago, asked exasperated.

"I'm Danica." I blurted over Eric's shoulder.

Santiago stashed his gun away and sat on a stool by the bar.

Eric stood in front of me and stared down at me with his handsome evil eyes and his classic smug smile, "Glad you're back."

I sighed, "Eric, we need to talk about what happened the other day."

He gulped, shrugging carelessly, "What about it?"

I scoffed incredulously, "What about it? You killed five men. I don't know why or how things led up to it, but I guess it'd only be fair to hear your side of the story."

He sighed, rolling his eyes, uninterested in the conversation. "The men were sent by another mafia to kill me."

"Why?" I pressed on, "Why would they want to hurt you?"

He tossed another grape in his mouth, "Because I'm a threat to them. I don't associate with many people, and the ones I don't— want me dead."

I felt nauseous at the thought of men going after Eric. I took in a rigid breath, "I don't know if I could do this anymore."

His eyebrow rose in surprise, "You know you don't mean that."

I shook my head, "This is too much, I shouldn't have even came back."

"Danica," his voice was low, yet very authoritative, "I need you to understand that if I hadn't defended myself from those five men— I would've been dead. Do you want me dead?"

A few long seconds later, I shook my head.

He continued, "So, what's the problem then?"

"Those men had families, Eric. They probably had wives and kids, and you hurt all of those people by killing them."

"I was defending myself! You really don't listen do you? They would've killed me— then you. I saved both of us," He took in a deep breath to compose himself, "You're my whole world, Danica. I'm not going to let a single thing hurt you."

I felt tears flood my eyes, and I couldn't help but breakdown at the spot. I didn't know what to do, or what the right thing was. All I knew was that I had to make a decision. And Eric made it harder when he noticed my sobbing, and pulled me against him in a warm embrace.

After a few more minutes of being overwhelmed and emotional, I agreed to stay. I didn't know what was right anymore. My mind was all over the place.

I had to just remind myself the outcome of what would've happened if Eric hadn't killed those men. Both of us would've been dead.

Eric wiped the tears off and kissed me gently on my cheek, as he guided me to the kitchen.

I snickered, "I see you've tried making improvises."

"No one can replace you." He whispered, against my ear.

I then recalled about Jesse and his persistent need to father together this weekend for a double-date. I had only agreed to it because I thought a date would be nice for Eric and I, though I wished Jesse and Abby weren't there to annoy me.

"I made plans for us this Saturday." I tried to sound excited.

His brows furrowed, "For?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "It's a surprise for both of us."

"You know I don't like surprises." he snapped in a steel hard voice.

"It's a date," I finally said, without giving too much detail. If I would've told him about Jesse or Abby, he would've refused to come. He's always told me how he hated how immature adolescents could be.

Eric smiled, "Sounds great already. Is the restaurant a formal dining?"

"Just come casual, it's nothing too special."

Santiago was drinking a cup of scotch as he concentrated in-depth in his laptop. Presumably, he must've been busy as he typed fast, mumbling under his breath.

I snatched a soda can from the fridge and popped it open. Leaning my back against the kitchen counter, I watched Eric finish his bowl. He walked to the fridge to grab more grapes, his back toward both Santiago and I.

I glanced at Santiago, which was staring real hard at me. His eyes locked onto my body which made me uncomfortable.

He gulped as his eyes lowered and lowered.

His gaze made me get goosebumps, I felt so uncomfortable and creeped out.