Nixxia slowly placed her hand in Vernon's, shivering when Vernon closed his hand on her, her hand was much smaller than Vernon's.
Vernon remained silent; he gave Nixxia his other hand and watched her hesitate before she placed it in his.
'Good...' He thought.
He liked it as Nixxia feared him; there was no room for comfort for her beside him.
"Root your legs to the floor," Vernon commanded.
Nixxia struggled, but she understood 'legs' and 'floor'; she knew Vernon wanted her on her feet, so she tightened her hands on Vernon's and stared up at him.
"Stand," Vernon ordered, pulling Nixxia up from the bed.
Nixxia used Vernon's hands as support, lifting herself off the bed and standing in front of him.
"Good." Vernon was about to release her and step back, but he was surprised to feel Nixxia's hands grabbing his arms.
"Hold me... please..." Nixxia's eyes turned watery.
She was scared of falling, she'd had a fair share of falling since she came to the human world.
"Please..." She pleaded again.
For the first time, as Nixxia leaned her upper body close to Vernon's, Vernon realized how flawless and smooth her skin was; her long hair shimmered lusterously like the dark night waters under the moonlight. He wondered why Raja would choose such an incapable woman to use as a spy. To him, Nixxia looked weak as fuck; he'd never recruit her for anything, not even as a cook.
He stared into Nixxia's ocean-blue eyes and felt like Nixxia was too close for comfort; he felt like she was seeing past his soul, seeing secrets he never wanted to be discovered.
He held Nixxia's shoulder and pulled her away from himself, "Listen, Ms. Amnesia, don't get comfortable around me, all I want is your recovery, do you understand?" He put Nixxia's hands down to her sides and held her tightly by the shoulder.
Nixxia nodded; she was aware that she had been threatened; the look in Vernon's eyes was threat enough for her; she didn't need the word-to-word translation to understand it.
Vernon clenched his jaws; it wasn't as if he was following Dr. Zee's orders and being kind to Nixxia; no, this wasn't kindness; this was him trying to help Nixxia recover her damn memories quickly.
Maybe he'd heed to the part of keeping Nixxia close to himself to help her remember if she'd had any memories of him before the accident. He wanted to get to the root of everything before the weeks ran out.
Nixxia suddenly choked when she felt Vernon's hand around her neck, slightly strangling her. She opened her mouth to say something, but Vernon cut her off.
"Shut your mouth and listen," Vernon snared, glaring at her.
"You will learn how to walk, speak, and damn well remember all your lost memories; do you understand?" He asked in a low, cold tone.
Nixxia nodded. "Yes," She replied.
Vernon released Nixxia's shoulder but not her neck. He kept his hand around her neck as he drew out his phone from his pocket. "Do you know what this is?" Vernon smirked as he saw Nixxia's scared eyes staring at the image of a gun on his phone.
Nixxia shook her head.
"I'll show you what it is. Armani!" He called, staring Nixxia dead in the eyes.
The door immediately opened, and Armani walked in, his eyes widening when he saw Nixxia's face turning red as Vernon pressed hard against her neck.
"Boss," He cautiously called beside Vernon.
"Bring her out," Vernon ordered and pushed Nixxia back on her bed before striding out of the room.
Nixxia finally drew air into her lungs; she coughed, her hand going around her neck as she caught her breath.
"Come on, Nixxia, the boss wants you down," Armani said and lowered himself in front of Nixxia, but Damon walked in before Nixxia could enter Armani's back.
"Quit suffering yourself for a criminal, Armani. Here's a wheelchair." He pushed the wheelchair into the room and easily lifted Nixxia onto it.
Nixxia wrapped her hand around the arm of the wheelchair as she was pushed out of the house.
Wind.
Heavy wind was the first thing that blew against her face the moment she was pushed out of the house, her hair flying around her face.
As she passed the fountain, she felt the spray of water carried by the heavy wind on her skin, adding to the chill she was already feeling in her bones.
They pushed her along the long path they had driven through when they were coming back from the hospital. The trees(huge plants) were waving around from the wind, catching Nixxia's attention. She watched them, wondering if this was the same thing as witnessing a heavy storm underwater.
"You better recall your memories quickly, Nixxia. I don't think the boss has that much patience left for you," Damon said, walking beside Armani.
Nixxia remained quiet, staring down at her legs.
She cursed them in her head; her hand went up to the locket, holding it.
She thought back to when Neireda told her that she would encounter a different fate as a human and that the locket would guide her.
'Did she lie to me?' She thought in disappointment.
What kind of fate was she facing? Was this her punishment for abandoning her kingdom? Her duty?
Whatever this was, Nixxia decided not to settle for it; she had escaped once, and she would escape again.
However, if she wanted to escape, she needed to adapt to being human, especially the art of walking.
She wasn't about to stay here and let them kill her for something she had no idea about.
"We're almost there, Nixxia; try to understand every word he says, okay?" Armani encouraged.
Nixxia remained quiet; her eyes watched the darkening sky; she saw flashes of light above the sky that looked like something produced from her father's scepter. She knew something was about to happen, but she couldn't say what.
They reached a secluded area where towering trees formed a natural barrier around a lone building standing at the center. The structure was unlike anything Nixxia had ever seen...its dark exterior blended eerily with the shadows cast by the dense foliage. The walls, painted in an inky hue, absorbed the dim light filtering through the leaves, giving the house an almost foreboding presence. Sharp edges and clean lines defined its architecture, exuding a modern yet unsettling charm. The windows, tinted and reflective, revealed nothing of the interior, adding to its air of secrecy. It was a place that demanded attention yet remained shrouded in mystery.
She didn't like the place one bit.
"Take her right in," Damon instructed.
"Inside?" Armani asked in a hushed tone.
"It's orders," Damon replied and walked toward the building.
There were no grasses on the ground, unlike the place Nixxia had seen a little lake when the car was bringing her in earlier that day; the ground here was concreted, solid, and firm; Nixxia could almost imagine how hard it would feel underneath her feet.
The wheels of her tire gritted over the solid ground as she reached the door of the building.
Nixxia was surprised to see the door opened by Dane; she was starting to question Dane's character; he seemed like a good guy, but she was always seen in ugly places, doing Vernon's ugly duties.
Nixxia decided not to trust anyone, not even Armani; at the end of the day, all their loyalty was to Vernon.
"He's waiting underground," Dane mentioned to Armani as he pushed Nixxia into the dark room.
Nixxia hated dark places; it reminded her of the last time she saw her mother being thrown into the black vortex when she was little; so far, she'd managed to avoid dark places till her current age, but now, it seemed like Vernon wanted to make sure she faced all her fears.
Luckily, the lights came on, but they were very dim, barely enough for one to see one's next step.
Her heart started beating a little faster as they pushed her into a small box, getting in beside her, she clasped her hands together on her lap in fear as the small box started to move downward; her heart felt like it wanted to take flight, leaping heavily as the box kept descending lower and lower.
It suddenly came to a stop, and Nixxia heard the smooth hissing sound as two doors slid open in front of her.
The light here was much brighter as they pushed her out of the box. Her eyes immediately found Vernon sitting on a high stool in front of a long, metal table at the center of the room. The walls were made of floor-to-ceiling closed shelves; everything was still in black, including Vernon's black shirt that was unbuttoned to the chest, and as usual, tendrils of smoke drifted off from the cigarette between his long fingers.
Nixxia felt the irritating sensation start to build up in her throat as she inhaled whatever that smoke was. She always wondered why Vernon consumed such a harmful thing, or perhaps it wasn't harmful to him.
"Welcome, Ms. Amnesia; you've just discovered my favorite spot in my home." Vernon elegantly stood from the stool, striding over to Nixxia.
He lowered himself in front of Nixxia and blew a mouthful of smoke on Nixxia's face, his gray eyes charged with dark, malicious intensity.
Nixxia lost all control of her lungs, she let go of the cough she'd been trying to subdue from the moment she entered the strange room.
She coughed, her lungs burning like the cherry bottom of Vernon's cigarette.
Vernon scoffed. "Pathetic." He stood and nodded at Damon before looking back at Nixxia.
"Right here, I'll help you revive your memories," Vernon promised darkly, his eyes shining with mysterious excitement.
Nixxia was anxious; she didn't know what Vernon had planned for her, and... she didn't want to know. But at that moment, Nixxia knew she had no choice, no voice, and no right.