Nowhere To Run

8 - i don't know you

Beam stood dumbfounded.

He heard the enormous door clicked and locked behind him.

"F-forth?"

His voice echoed in the vast office space. There was little to no design inside. A few couch, an office table and nothing else.

There was a clear view of the city lights being the wall was made of glass.

"I.. I d-don't understand." Beam remained standing near the door. As if his first instinct is to run away.

"Which part is it that you don't understand?" Forth asked as he leans back on the chair.

His voice was sharp that made Beam winced.

"I.. T-this.. All of this.." Beam was looking at Forth's face trying to decipher what was happening.

Utterly confused and lost, Beam tried to make sense of what happened. Piece by piece he had tied up all of the mishaps that had befall him and his family recently. From his car breaking down to the dinner that they had to his brother signing a deal off and then getting into an accident.

Accident?

Was it really an accident?

Beam can feel his confusion slowly starting to turn into rage. All of what he suffered, everything was Forth's undoing, Beam thought. He was convinced of his discovery, leaving no room for any of Forth's lies.

"D-did you.. You planned everything!" It was an accusation directly thrown at Forth.

Beam felt helpless.

No expression had left Forth's face. He seemed unfazed. Almost like he was expecting it.

Beam could no longer recognize him as the same man who he cooked the pasta for. It wasn't the same Forth who waited with him at the side of the street and volunteered to take him home. Not even the Forth who stayed on the phone untol he was asleep. He was no longer the Forth who sends him yellow daffodils everyday with handwritten notes.

He was a stranger.

"Sit." Forth instructed and pointed at the couch in front of his table.

Beam felt the numbing sensation crawl up his body. He was unable to move his limbs. He can feel his tears burning at the back of his eyes. His knuckles turned white from his tight balled fist.

"M-my brother could've died! My family is in pain because of you! How could you?!"

Why are you doing this?

You're hurting me Forth.

Why?

Stop.

Please.

Beam's heart pounded painfully in his chest.

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" Beam screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice breaking.

Only a psycho could do the things he did. I shouldn't have trusted him. I should've stayed away when I had the chance.

He wanted to say more, so much more. He wanted to throw every curse and every hurtful things he could think of at Forth, and Beam knew it still wouldn't suffice to how he feels.

"Are you done? If you are, have a seat." Forth said indifferently.

The air had grown thick and Beam was starting to get suffocated. He can feel the walls of the vast office closing in on him. He fought the urge to cry. He will not cry in front of Forth. Never again.

With whatever energy he had, he turned towards the door to leave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Forth stood up from his chair.

"A-anywhere.. Anywhere far away from you." Beam answered with his back facing Forth.

"Go ahead Beam. Open that door and leave. Are you not interested in what will happen to your parent's house? What about the lawsuit on your brother?" Forth asked menacingly.

Beam held his breath. He swallowed hard and shut his eyes. He can feel his knees giving out.

He held on to the door handle for support.

"F-forth why ar-"

"Sit the fvck down!" Forth shouted. His voice dominated the entire room.

Everything went blank for Beam. His mind had emptied itself out from being too overwhelmed with his situation.

It didn't feel real. For Beam it felt like he was in a movie with a bad plot twist. This felt like a lucid dream and Beam was just praying hard to wake up. He didn't want any of this to be real.

Slowly, Beam made his way to the couch and sat down. He stared at his lap. Looking at Forth's face was too painful. He can feel his heart being pulled in different directions.

"No lawsuit will be filed against your brother for breach of contract. Your family home will not be taken away. The 430 million will be forgotten like it never existed."

Beam looked up. Shocked and confused. But Beam knew it came with a cost.

"W-what do I.. h-have to d-do?" Beam forced the question out of his lips. A tornado of fear and dread had started swirling inside of him as he awaited for the answer.

"You'll marry me." Forth said with a smirk.

Beam was slow in recognition of what Forth had just said but the second it sinked in on him, his tears started to fall one after the other.

I don't want to get married. Not like this. Not to a stranger. Not to a monster.