His Obsession || Book One

Despair

Days passed and Santiago walked into the room I was in. He had a bowl of grapes in his hand, and a water bottle in the other. The fruit reminded me of Eric, and how he used to love them.

I'd often continue to ask him about Eric, but he'd always say the same thing; he's fine, still recovering. Don't worry.

I sighed deeply, "I need to see him. I want to know how he's doing."

Santiago chewed slower, "I already told you, he's fine."

"Fine isn't good enough. I haven't seen him in so long. How severe was his accident?" I folded my arms.

He avoided to look me in the eye, and continued to eat.

I continued, "Answer me!"

He swallowed hard, "Don't tell me what to do."

I groaned at him, sprinting towards the door and snatching his car keys on the dresser, then bolting out of the room.

I heard him chase behind me, but I was way ahead of him. I plowed through the front door and hopped in his car, starting the engine.

By the time he reached the driveway, I was already speeding off the curb.

I remembered him say he was at the hospital near downtown. So, that's where I went.

Getting to the front desk, a lady with fair skin, emerald eyes, and a slick bun greeted me.

"Hello, um, I came to visit my fiancé. He's recovering." I added.

She began to type in her computer, "Name, please?"

"Eric Laven."

Her brows furrowed in confusion, "That's weird. Says here he checked out... three days ago."

Three days ago?

"That can't be right." I felt frozen.

She shook her head as she continued to read the screen, "It was a controlled wound, so after getting it stitched, it resulted to an early release."

I barreled down the road till I got to the house. I slammed the car door and almost immediately, Santiago swings open the front door, infuriated, "Where the hell did you go?!"

I threw the keys at him and my teeth gritted as I stepped to him, "Where is Eric!"

He pursed his lips together and before he could speak, I abruptly interrupted, "Why did you lie to me?"

Santiago's eyes softened and dropped to the floor. He wasn't telling me something, and my mind began to get flooded in conclusions.

My lip was trembling and my eyes were watery, "Please tell me he's okay."

His voice saddened in stubble ache, "Truthfully, he's fine."

Some weight lifted from my shoulders, "Well, then where is he?"

He stared back coldly.

"Where is he, Santiago! Where?!" I shouted in impatience.

He took a deep breath and headed inside the house, "Follow me."

I trailed behind him, until he pulled out an enveloped paper behind a wall-clock.

"He wanted me to give you this." Each word he said was separate and distinct. I took the letter from his hand and sat on the couch, opening it anxiously.

It was Eric's hand writing, which looked like beautiful calligraphy.

Why would he send me a letter? My chest was beginning to get heavy as I focused on the words.

Dear Danica,

The treasurable memories we've made will be forever engraved within my heart. Our love was irrevocably magnificent. And there's this place in me where your fingertips still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It's the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me. Someday when the pages of my life end, I know that you'll be one of its most beautiful chapters. I will always love you.

What happened to you with Marcello made me realize that you're not safe with me. I'm tired of pretending that I'm incorruptible, because I'm not. And I'm not going to be selfish enough to risk your life. Its such a shame I've let this go on much too long, and I'm sorry for that. But I'm not good for you.

I promise that this will be the last time you'll ever hear from me again. I won't come back. I refuse to put you through anything like this again. So, you can go on with your life without any more of my interference. It will be as if I'd never existed. I wish you the best, Danica.

Your life before mine, always.

My body went numb from the neck and under. I felt my stomach drop as I began to get tunneled vision. My heart was pounding and I  started to feel angry and sad, confused and frozen. I couldn't cry right away, there was too much for my body and mind to put together in this instant.

Love, life, and the meaning of everything completely vanished. It was over... and there was nothing I could do to fix it.

Then anger and sadness surged through me with so much power, I didn't know what to do with it. I'm sure I felt my heart stopped beating. It only beat for him. My mind went black, and as did my heart.

After that, followed the empty feeling I felt in the pit of my stomach when I'm falling, but the emptiness is replaced with a wrenching pain. And that pain never seemed to dull down, it just got more and more intense.

"Danica," Santiago began, his voice thick. My eyes felt like they were drowning in an ocean of tears. Breathing began to get harder by the second.

I forced the heated words out of my mouth. "You knew all along, and you lied straight to my face. You watched me ache for him to come back, and you knew. You knew." I started to cry the words out.

Santiago blinked slowly, his eyes didn't meet mine, but instead viewed the floor.

Eric was gone, he was gone days ago. The only thing in the world that mattered to me, was now gone. I couldn't wrap my mind around it, it was all still hazy.

My shrieks began to escape from my mouth, and the tears flooded down my cheeks. Each gasp tore down my throat as my knees grew weak. I fell to the floor on them, and leaned against the couch's footrest.

My upper body spasmed and jerked as I felt as if I was losing oxygen. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists, not knowing if I should be mad or to give up hope all together.

My mourning and griefs began to turn into screams, and I suffocated with each breath I took, in attempt to hold onto my pride.

It hurt, it hurt so bad. I wanted to let go, of everything. To slip away for a moment, just so I could regain control over myself.

I clasped onto the skin on top of my heart and cried hard. It literally felt shattered, my heart felt at pieces and I ached for them.

"It hurts... it hurts." I howled out in pain, it was inevitable.

I felt hollow, my life crumbling at my fingertips.

The muffled sobs wracked against my chest. The world turned into a blur, and so did all the sounds.

The taste.

The smell. Everything was gone.

The last painful emotion slammed against me before I lost the feeling of feeling.

Then everything darkened into nothingness.