Chapter 14: A Nightmare
The butler bowed and shut the door behind him.
Arianna took a long hot bath. She closed her eyes and let her body melt into the water.
Once the water lost its heat, she dried off with a bath towel. Not wanting to put her work clothes back on, she exchanged her wet towel for a dry one before leaving the bathroom.
Travis’s employees were very efficient. When she stepped out of the bathroom, the items she requested were placed on the desk. There was even a pot of hot water, which she didn’t ask for.
The main bedroom was large and empty, with too little decoration and monotonous colors.
She studied the cold-colored abstract painting on his wall before shifting her gaze elsewhere. The desk lamp, ashtray, and textbooks had not moved since the last time she was there.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
Besides flipping through the channels on the TV, Arianna was struggling to kill time. She did not want to go to bed. Firstly, she didn’t like to sleep in his bed. Secondly, it was rude to fall asleep before Travis returned.
Sitting on the floor with her back pressed against the bed, Arianna mindlessly continued to flip through the channels.
As time passed, she began to grow tired. She quietly tucked herself in under the covers of the bed and continued to watch TV, though her mind was drifting to another dimension.
The only light in the room was coming from the TV, and it was not enough to keep her from drifting to sleep.
Arianna dreamt about her childhood birthday party. She was wearing a bubble skirt with several layers and a matching top. All of her relatives and friends were there to celebrate.
The table was full of colorful gifts. She tore through the wrapping until her hands began to hurt. The final gift was a small gold tiara embedded with diamonds from her grandpa.
He placed the crown on her head and smiled, “Our little princess is one year older now.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
An intimate gathering instantly replaced the scene. The people looked at Arianna’s adult age and sat around a fancy wooden table.
The host’s face was blurry, but his voice was clear, “Today is my birthday.”
She whispered under her breath, “What should I do? I didn’t bring a present.”
Though she spoke quietly, the host turned to her and told her not to worry. Nevertheless, she felt ashamed and anxious.
Later, somehow, a gift appeared. Arianna went to give the gift to the host, but she found out that the gift was herself. She was wrapped in ribbons so tightly that she could not move.
She said carefully, “Do you like it?”
The host remained silent as he smiled and reached out to touch his gift. He tried to untie the ribbon, but it tightened around Arianna’s chest and neck. She couldn’t breathe.
She tried to break free, but she had no strength. Then she heard the host say, “Yes, I like it very much.”
It was obviously a dream, but her suffocation and pain were so realistic. Who could wake her up and save her? After a long struggle in the nightmare, Arianna woke up in shock. She sat up, gasping for air until her breathing became stable.
Nothing changed in the room. The TV was still on, flashing different colors at her. But the same show was still on, meaning Arianna only slept for a couple of minutes.
As she waited for her pulse to return to normal, she wanted to know the time to determine whether she should wait for Travis or just go to sleep. But her phone was in her purse, which she left on the desk.
Arianna slowly got up and looked out the window. Her heart skipped a beat. There was a man in the room looking at the sky.
The moonlight shaped his outline. She knew it was Travis, but her physiological response was faster than her brain function.
Even though her fear was gone, her heartbeat was still pounding in her ears like a gong.
Without turning around, he casually said to her, “On the evening of such a peaceful full moon, a nightmare is the last thing you should be having.”
He seemed to be pleased with her suffering.
Arianna quickly thought that full moons were directly tied to werewolf transformations and vampires. But before she could say it, she swallowed the words and simply said, “I’m going to take a bath.”
“The bathroom is wet. Didn’t you already take one?” Travis asked.
“I’m a little sweaty now, so I want another one,” Arianna replied.
“If you take too many baths, your skin may never lose the prune texture.” He said with a laugh.
Arianna shut the bathroom door behind her.
All night she had been trying to keep away the memories of her past, but Travis wasn’t letting her. The nightmares proved she had limited self-control anyway.
She knew most people did stupid things when they were young. But she envied the ones who were lucky enough to be able to forget. Travis was a constant reminder of hers.
Arianna let another memory play in her mind. When she was following the young man home, she thought she knew him, but he was actually a total stranger-she already realized she was doing something stupid.
But at the time, she was so eager to do something deviant and retaliate against those who hurt her. She threw away her self-respect that day.
Arianna did not think of this memory often, so the details were not as clear. She didn’t remember who seduced whom, but she was certainly willing. Although their intimate time together was accompanied by pain and guilt, she also felt pleased.
The secret happiness wasn’t physical pleasure but more of a psychological effect.
But during those hours, he taught her many new things. She played chess for the first time and learned how to smoke. The smoking stuck with her much more than the chess.
This was likely because he told her that girls should smoke less for their health and that playing chess would improve her intelligence. So, she deliberately did the opposite of his advice.