CHAPTER LXXXVI
~~~
SOPHIA WALKED DOWN the stairs with a smile on her face. Her smile disappeared the moment she bumped into Saige at the foot of the stairs.
Saige was smiling as if the world had been laid atop of her palms. “Hey, Soph,”
Sophia stared at her for a few seconds before replying. “Hey,” She passed her a tight-lipped smile. “How are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Saige’s smile widened. “I didn’t expect you to ask about my health, though,”
Sophia frowned. “Why?”
“Why not?” Saige asked. “You seem not to like me because I’m uhh-getting married to the man you’re infatuated with,”
“Just because I love someone you’re getting married to gives me no reason to hate you, Saige,” Sophia replied. “And for your information, I’m not infatuated by Chase,” Sophia leaned in and snarled right on Saige’s face. “I. Love. Him,”
Saige scoffed and took a step backwards. “As if he feels the same about you,”
Sophia glared at Saige. “He would come around soon. I’m sure he hasn’t realized how he feels yet. A little push from me will eventually help him do so,”
Saige folded her arms across her chest and pressed her lips into a thin line. She kissed her teeth and passed Sophia a sly smile. “If Chase ever really loved you, trust me, Soph, he would have come to terms with that. Why I’m saying this is because he is a man who knows what he wants the moment he sets his eyes on them,”
“The way he knows he doesn’t want you?” Sophia asked. The moment she saw how Saige’s face paled, she instantly hated herself for rubbing that on her face. When Saige said nothing, Sophia leaned in and smiled, trying hard to hide the regret of her words in her eyes. “I love Chase a lot, Saige, and I won’t let your ways scare me off so easily. I’m going to fight for him until he realizes just how much he loves me in return, I promise,”
Without letting Saige say a word, she walked past her to the kitchen.
The moment Sophia walked into the kitchen, she opened the refrigerator and brought out a bottle of water. She opened it and chugged down the whole contents down her throat before resting her palms on the kitchen counter while trying to control the way her heart was beating erratically.
Her own words hit her like a truck, and she ran her fingers through her hair at the realization of what she had done.
She shouldn’t have done that. She shouldn’t have behaved so shamelessly towards Chase’s own fiancee. She shouldn’t have shown how jealous of her she was.
Before she could dwell in her regrets, the possibility of her words found their way to pacify her. She could actually make Chase realize his feelings for her. She was sure he loved her just like she did. It wasn’t just an infatuation. She knew what she felt.
“There was never meant to be love between us,”
“You have to understand what I’m saying, Sophia, that love doesn’t exist in this world we live in. I can’t love you,”
“You’re naive, Sophia, that’s why you can’t understand, but with time, you will definitely understand why I can’t love you,”
“No, Sophia. You don’t love me,”
“You don’t love me. It’s just a normal teenage infatuation. You’ll realize that, and everything will go back to the way it used to be,”
“No, you don’t. You’re only infatuated,”
“I want to, but I can’t stop. If I stop, I’m scared you might end up like Saige. I don’t want you to end up like her,”
“You don’t love me. You don’t know anything about love. I’m not the one for you,”
His words weren’t true. He was the one for her. She only felt safe with him and no one else. She only cared about him and yearned to be with no one else but him. Her love couldn’t be misunderstood as a teenage infatuation.
That wasn’t all.
Chase felt the same about her. If he didn’t love her, he wouldn’t have done all he did for her. He wouldn’t kill men and bend his rules for a mere girl like her. He just didn’t want to accept his feelings because he thought their world didn’t work like that. But with time, he would realize and accept his feelings.
She would help him love her.
~~~
“Soph,”
Her eyes snapped open at the harsh sound of the familiar female voice that called out to her.
The same voice called again, and it seemed to have come from above her. “Soph,”
Sophia craned her neck, feeling the chills running down her spine because of the fear coursing through her veins.
It couldn’t be another nightmare.
She gasped out lowly when her eyes fell on Maya, hanging above the wall, staring down at her with her eyes filled with hatred.
Sophia quickly sat up and looked at Maya’s state. She was dressed in a normal tee shirt and jeans, the same cloth she had on her body when she was killed, and her hair was messy.
“M- Maya, “She rasped out, staring around the room to be sure it was actually her room she was in. “How- how did you get to my room?”
Maya smiled. For the first time ever since she appeared in Sophia’s dreams, she smiled. But it was a different type of smile. The smile on her face was wicked, full of mischief, mirroring the one in her dead eyes.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find your room? Did you think I’d keep on showing up in that disgusting room where Roman was murdered in cold blood?”
Sophia’s heartbeat skyrocketed, and her hands shook. “You -you- what are -”
“You have a nice room, I must say, “Maya ran her eyes over the room and looked back at Sophia, her smile not fading. “No wonder you refused to join us even after finding out your Nana is here with us,”
Sophia stuttered. “That’s no -it’s not -”
“Oh please,” another familiar voice came from the other side of the wall. “We know you love him,”
Sophia turned towards the direction and gasped at the sight of Alessia. Just like Maya, she was still dressed in the clothes on her body when she was killed. The only difference was that she was all bloodied, just like she had been killed.
“A-Alessia,”
Alessia giggled then cooed, finding humor in Sophia’s fear. “Awwww. Chase Romano’s little Kitten is scared?” She giggled again before her smile fell, and her expression was replaced with an angry one. “You should be terrified. My brother died because of you! He was murdered because of you, and you decided to betray his feelings by falling in love with the same man who killed him,”
“You should be at least ashamed of yourself, Soph,” Roman’s voice called. There He was all bloodied. His clothes were torn, and there was blood dripping from his throat where he had been slit. That wasn’t all. He was tied up to the similar chair he was killed on. “I loved you,”
“I didn’t know about your feelings!” She cried. “I didn’t know! I knew nothing,”
“Now that you know, what’s stopping you from coming to us?” Maya asked. “Don’t tell me you’re living because you’re in love with Chase Romano,”
“I- I’m sorry,” Sophia cried, tears rushing down her cheeks as she bowed her head. “I can’t. I can’t kill myself,”
“It’s better you do that now rather than waiting for when he would get married to that insane woman,” Alessia said. “It would hurt you to watch the one you love getting married to another person. Soph. Make things easy for yourself. End this all,”
“You won’t be doing this for yourself alone, Soph,” Roman called. “It still hurts me to see you waiting for a man who feels nothing for you. He can’t love you, Soph. Don’t cause your heart more damage than you already have. Give up and come to us. We are your friends and we love you. Just come to us and your Nana,”
Sophia shook her head. “No. No. I can’t,”
“I told you all she’s a selfish bitch!” Maya sneered.NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.
“No,”
“Maya is right, Soph. You think of yourself alone. You are selfish,” Roman said. “I wonder how I fell for you,”
“Stop!” Sophia covered her ears with her palms. “Stop,”
“Come to us,”
“We will stop if you come to us,”
“We’re only making things easy for you,”
“Your Nana misses you,”
“Your Nana was killed and butchered into parts because of you,”
“We were cut short of our lives because of you,”
“You’re a betrayer,”
“You’re a bitch,”