Thank you @saumya0705 for voting. I hope you keep on voting and maybe even commenting ❤️

~

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

- Maya Angelou

~

"Excuse me?!" I asked indignantly.

He chuckled deeply, sending chills down my back. Every instinct of mine screamed for me to move away from him. He looked over my body once again, smirking. I inched back from the window discreetly.

He was a lot like Malik, looks-wise. He also had that same woodsy smell that Malik had but with a different, heavier musk. And for some reason, I really couldn't stand the sight of his face. Or his personality. Why was he openly and so brazenly staring at my body, for God's sake?

I cleared my throat to get his attention back to my face, where it should be. He took his time, however, leisurely stopping at my chest before finally looking at my face.

"How lucky am I", he murmured appreciatively. "To catch a pretty little bird".

His hand reached into my car and I flinched back. Ignoring my reaction, he grasped my face tightly and made me face him.

Dr Patel said he was important and powerful. Men don't handle rejection well. Stay calm...

I took a deep breath to calm myself down and exhaled.

He stared into my eyes, that smirk turning into something sinister. His other hand caressed my face, in a manner that was gentle but made me recoil anyway.

"What's wrong, little bird?" He crooned. "Don't be scared".

I am scared. I don't care who he is. Sorry, Dr Patel - my self-preservation comes first.

"Let go of me, right now", I snapped, angrily. My other hand slowly reached out for the window switch to roll it up.

He snickered at my response and gripped my face even tighter, causing me to cry out in pain from the pressure he exerted. It felt like my jaw was going to break and judging by his smug face, it was a power display. He wanted to show me that he was vastly stronger than I was. And it was working. Never had I felt so scared before, and I could feel the adrenaline flooding my system in response to my fear, urging me to run.

"Why would I let you go when I just got you", he purred. "You served yourself up to me. Oh, you really made my life so much easier".

He took a deep sniff of my hair - the same section that Malik held - and giggled.

"Malik, oh, Malik", he murmured. "You've been a naughty pup".

I pressed the car lock button while he was distracted and the sound echoed loudly causing me to panic. I frantically, pulled on the button to make the windows roll-up and it slowly started to roll up. He looked at me incredulously and started to manically laugh at my attempts.

As the window started to shut on his hand, I realised why he was so unconcerned. The window couldn't close. Despite the force the window exercised on his arm, he seemed unfazed and even started to force the window down, his other hand still gripping my hair tightly.

Shit.

He pulled the window down further with ease and there was a loud cracking sound as the window crumbled away as if it was sand. His hand still tangled in my hair and he yanked my head closer to him. I looked at the guards despairingly, begging for them to notice and help me when I realised they all had their backs turned and were walking away. They were turning a blind eye to this. I wanted to scream at them and ask why they would leave me here by myself but they were too far away and probably wouldn't help me anyway. They had turned their backs for a reason

"So the pretty little bird wants to run", he snarled. "You're coming with me, even if I have to drag you by your hair".

Oh, God.

He was threatening to kidnap me. I should have stayed at home. I should have listened to Dr Patel. So stupid, so incredibly stupid.

I desperately looked around to look for something to help me escape when I noticed the engine was still on. I just needed to hit the accelerator. If I pressed on the pedal, he would still be holding on to my hair. A few stands missing would be better than kidnapping. I tried to salvage what I could though, scratching his hand with my nails and then biting it, digging my teeth in with all the force I could muster.

He swore at me as he let go; it somewhat had worked, his grip on most of my hair was released so I stepped on the accelerator. My head jerked back and there was a painful tug on my head as his hand ripped out a small section of my hair as I drove off.

I nearly sobbed in relief and looked into the rear-view mirror, praying he wasn't chasing after me. He stood there, staring at my retreating car and met my gaze in the mirror.

"I'm coming to get you", he mouthed, a creepy smile growing on his face. "Let the game begin, little bird".

Smirking, he lustfully licked his hand where I bit him and held my hair close to his face smelling it? His eyes remained glued on mine until I turned sharply so I was out of his view.

Out of sight, I almost collapsed in my seat, my heart furiously in my chest. Who was that?

No, what was that?

As powerful and influential he was, did he really think he could just force me to go along with him? And the way he stared at my body so perversely, I wanted to scrub every inch of my body clean with bleach.

He must be related to Malik as they had very similar features. His eyes, however, felt a little lacklustre. It wasn't the intense vivid gold that Malik had, rather a honey brown with golden flecks.

I had never met such an entitled prick in my life. I didn't care who he was, I had a dashcam in my car. If he was to threaten me, I'll just release that footage which would tarnish his reputation. I picked up the pace again and with one trembling hand, pulled out the SD card from the camera and placed it in the small zip compartment of my bag. Strangely, I couldn't recognise him. Was he a secretive wealthy figure?

Should I call the police? Holston's didn't exactly have a large police force. It consisted of a few officers who had little to do. I doubt they would do anything. Especially not to someone who's that significant.

I called anyway so I could make a complaint, pressing 999 into my phone furiously. I recalled the incident to the operator and explained I had dashcam footage of the attack. She asked a few more questions and then I hung up the phone shaking.

Did that even count as sexual harassment? What if it wasn't? What if they don't believe me?

I pulled into my driveway, double-checking that the gate was locked behind me. There was no point parking my car elsewhere to hide where I lived because if he were to ask around, anyone could point him to my house. I just had to be prepared.

He obviously had the same strange abilities such as heightened strength and smell that Malik had, but why wasn't he locked up as well? Was he the reason that Malik had nowhere to go?

I felt a hot wave of anger wash over me as I remembered his dirty hands. My jaw throbbed from where he grabbed me and my scalp still stung. I assessed the damage in the mirror. Apart from some slight bruising on my face, there was no visible evidence of what happened. The hair he ripped out was barely noticeable as missing from my thick tresses. But the feeling, I could never forget.

Despite the facial similarities, he was not Malik. He didn't have that rough kindness that Malik did. Neither was he particularly interested in my well-being. I had to take his threat seriously. Clearly, he had no qualms about hurting me.

Gosh, he's going to come after me. He's going to hunt me down.

Being pessimistic often kept me grounded, but now it made me paranoid. I started to worry about every little thing. Would he send someone to come after me? Would some break into my house? Were my things safe? Was KK safe? Was I safe?

I sensed the anxiety start to latch onto my breathing and my breaths came out in short bursts. I felt dizzy with fear and staggered over to the nearest sofa to collapse.

My life had always been a simple, repetitive cycle. I hated irregularities; I had a fear of the unknown. And now, I had a potential criminal after me for God's sake. One that could possibly kill me, kidnap me or even -

Don't go there, Arya. Just don't.

But why had he stopped me? The first thing he said when he saw me was that I smelt delicious. Similar words to what Malik said. He could be the very reason Malik is locked up - and oh, God, I had sat on Malik's lap. Malik had hugged and even kissed me. Could he smell Malik on me or something? If Malik was in there because of him, and Malik had an interest in me, he would want to get rid of me, wouldn't he? Sam had said that Malik had nowhere to go. They obviously wanted him to have no personal connections with the outside.

I remembered the way he sniffed my hair. Could he possibly track me down based on my scent as a sniffer dog does? Many questions swirled through mine, each one sending a rush of panic through my system. I could feel myself getting overwhelmed and hysterical. He was inhumanely strong and I was... just humanely weak. The sudden realisation of how easily he could overpower me and my mortality hit me. I didn't want to die. I didn't want him to touch me and make me feel so.. dirty. I didn't want him to take me.

"Meww"

The sound cut through my hysteria and I looked up to see KK perched on the table watching me curiously. I forced myself up from the sofa and brought her tightly to my chest.

"I can let anything happen to you", I whispered. KK was a gift from my parents a few years ago when she was a kitten. Despite her indifference, we had a deep bond as she had wormed her way into every aspect of my life. I loved her fiercely and ridiculously, treated her like my child.

If he could hurt a person to hurt someone else, he could do anything.

I pulled out my phone and texted Luka.

"Luka, is it okay if I leave KK with you for some time? I can't tell you why, but please look after her. I need to be prepared. I'm leaving Colsen's tonight and going back to London. Just before I go, I'll collect her. I'm going to leave her in Karl's driveway. Thank you so much".

I was leaving tonight but until I was just ready to go, I would keep KK somewhere safe. I didn't know how long it would take him to figure out where I lived. I smiled fondly at her. Stupidly, her name stood for my favourite doughnut brand after I caught her licking the glazing of my doughnuts.

"I'm sorry", I whispered to her as I forced her in her cat carrier. She hissed at me but I just smiled sadly at her.

"I'll let you out soon", I said. "I just don't want you to get hurt".

I placed her in Karl's driveway, the carrier slightly obscured by some hedges and sent a picture to Luka to show her location. I tied up my spare key in her collar and scratched her neck. She gazed up at me with round eyes and I quickly walked away before I could start crying.

I knew something bad was going to happen tonight and I didn't want her to be caught in the crossfires.

"Arya, are you okay? Why is there a massive roadblock by the main road to exit of the village? There are these big, armoured cars stopping anyone from leaving for some strange reason. Please call me". - (Luka)

Shit, shit, shit. I was right to leave KK. It was like he had read my mind. He didn't want me to go anywhere. There only the one exit and that was blocked.

I rocked back and forth on my heel anxiously. He was hellbent on getting me. Why was he so desperate to get to Malik? I was sick of this. Every day I had so many 'why' questions. There was so much unknown in my life right now. But, I could take control of what I can. I wasn't going to make this easy for him.

My grandpa always said, "Never stop fighting for what is yours".

So I was going to fight back. That bastard wasn't going to win at this sick game. My freedom is mine. My body is mine. My choice is mine.

So, we are reaching the main plot of the story. Only recently, I have figured out the novels directions and I actually know how it's going to end (🥳).

How was that?

Any theories? I don't think you guys are going to guess how it's going to go hehe.

Question for today:

What is your spirit animal?

Anyway, don't forget to Vote, Comment and Share ❤️

Xx