Bella's POV
The blinding sunlight streaming through the curtain jerked me awake like a freight train slamming into reality. I sat up, disoriented, scanning the unfamiliar room before the realization hit me—I was in the devil's den.
I remembered falling asleep on the couch, but somehow I was on the bed, someone must have moved me. Instinctively, my hands reached for my clothes, patting myself down. Everything was still intact. I let out a shaky breath.
Sleep had claimed me so fast, I tried fighting it, but I was too drained—mentally, physically, and emotionally. The situation had taken a toll on me. My untouched dinner still sat on the table.
But what rattled me more than that, was the hot, steamy, and sinfully vivid dream I had of his face, the devil's himself starred in it, "What is wrong with you bella?" I muttered, mentally slapping myself. No peace. Not even in sleep. He haunted me in dreams, just like he did in real life.
I didn't expect Kidnesss here—yet I was given a nice room, food, and a bed. maybe there's some silver of humanity left in his dark soul, just maybe. But I couldn't let that fool me. I had to escape. I wouldn't let a little show of kindness or care to cloud my thoughts. He'd shown me who he truly was.
I rushed into the bathroom, brushing my teeth and handling my morning business, My reflection caught my eye—and stopped me cold. Faint red marks painted my neck. A reminder of being choked to death last night. My fingers grazed my skin as something else struck me—my necklace was gone.
He must have taken it. The fury swelled as I stepped out, lost in thought of how I could get it back—only to freeze. I felt a presence. And that very second my towel dropped, it seems the universe hates me. I turned and came face to face with the devil from my dreams—only this wasn't a dream.
"Ahh" I screamed, my cheeks burned as I fumbled to snatch the flimsy towel off the floor, scrambling to cover what little dignity I had left. "How long have you been sitting here, you psycho" i sneered. But it didn't stop his gaze from raking over my body, dark and hungry. My skin prickled. He was the first man to ever see me like this. And he knew it.
I backed away instictively, when he stood abruptly from the bed, closing the distance, caging me in with his presence. I could feel his breath on my face—minty and warm, but I dared not meet his eyes. They did swallow me whole.
He leaned in, and the scent of him flooded my senses. I trembled—not from fear, but from something deeper. And it made me sick to my stomach. Was it normal? Was I normal?
Then his fingers brushed my cheek, softly tilting my face forward towards his. My eyes fluttered shut. I could almost feel his lips. God help me, I wanted it but Hated that I did.
I needed a plan.
But then he laughed, loud, Dark and Mocking. " I thought you hated me," he sneered. "Yet here you are, almost begging for a kiss," the humiliation scorched me. Rage exploding. I shoved him away with all the strength I had, and dashed into the bathroom slamming the door shut behind me.
Sliding down the door, I pressed my trembling hands to my lips. I'd almost given in. I stayed there curled up until I heard the main door shut. Only then did I exhale the breath I'd been holding.
After I grabbed a new pair of bra and thong I found in the closet with a simple T-shirt and a pair of Jeans, the most comfortable option I could find—I spotted something on the bed that made me freeze. My necklace. He returned it. Why? Did he figure out what it was, I walked over and picked it up, clasping it around my neck.
The cloths fit almost perfectly. Which made my stomach twist, Were there other girls like me? or did he buy them too for his twisted pleasure. The thought made bile crawl up my throat. He was sick. Disturbingly sick and he needed help in form of therapy.
I needed a plan. To leave this sick monster, only God knows what he does to the other girls.
I crept to the door and twisted the handle, it turned, and my heart skipped but what if it was a trap?
I eased the door open, just a crack scanning for hidden cameras. None. I tiptoed out retracing the the route from yesterday, trying to remember which hallway turned that led downstairs.
But a voice stopped me in my tracks. "Good morning Maam," a maid greeted politely, judging from her outfit. "Do you need anything?"
I swallowed my panic, " yes, I'm hungry and I didn't eat dinner. it's still in my room." I lied, hoping she would take a hint and leave. And she did.
The moment her footsteps faded , I dashed to the nearest door, I guessed it lead to the back of the house and I was right. barefooted, I sprinted Accross the garden I could see from my bedroom window, heart pounding against my rib cage like a war drum. One wrong move and I would be back to his grip, but I didn't care. I had to be anywhere other than this cursed mansion with the devil.
But I should have known no one escapes the devil's claw.
The estate stretched endlessly, like a world of its own, the garden open like a Labyrinth, unfolding into a maze hedges taller than me with twisting patterns. The east gate was heavily guarded. The maze was my only chance. it was a Risk. But one I had to take.
I darted into the greenery, branches snapping my clothes. But I didn't stop, not when the sky darkened, not when the first drops of rain fell.
I ran and ran. But the paths kept looping I was going in circles. there was no end. My lungs burned. My knees buckled. I collapsed under a tree, drenched and shivering. Then came the violent thunder splitting the sky, My tears mixed with the rain. I was scared of the thunderstorm, I hated it. Always had.
As a child, they reminded me of her. A face I could no longer clearly see, but a presence I held close. That was the day chaos arrived at our doorstep it was a memory I always pushed to the darkest corner of my mind.
I curled tighter, my body trembling from cold and fear, I had started whispering nothing nonsense, anything to keep the memories and thunder from consuming me whole—when I heard footsteps.
They weren't fast. They didn't run. Slow and measured. I turned, and there he was.
Alessandro.
The storm made his black shirt cling to his body, his hair sleeked back from the rain, water dripping from his jaw. Golden eye's burning through the darkness. Thunder roared behind him like it obeyed his will. He looked like a king made for the shadows.
He knelt and scooped me up, his hand cradling me like glass. "You will always be mine Rosa Mai," he whispered, kissing the top of my head. "no matter how much you run."
That was the last thing I heard before the darkness took me,The same darkness that had been waiting for me all along.