MALAYSIAN mums. That was the first time Callea saw when she opened her eyes. Only to realize that they were painted on the ceiling of the room. She tried to get up. Her head was buzzing yet she remembered that Walter tricked her to ride a car that was identical to her cousins' then kidnapped her. She sat up on the bet which has Malaysian mum petals scattered over it.
She fearfully pressed her back to the headboard of the bed when she saw Walter seating on the couch near the bed. He didn't take his eyes on her when he stood and crouch on the side of the bed.
Callea hugged herself as if it was enough to protect her from the devil. "W-What have you done to me?" She was still wearing her dress but she didn't know what he did to her while she was asleep.
"Nothing. I just took your pictures." He showed her photos on his digital camera. "You know that I can't hurt you, Callea. I just admired your beauty. I am so happy to finally get images of you while you were sleeping and this close. You are beautiful still."
She sent a prayer of thanks that he didn't harm her while she was out. But she was still not safe. She was still kidnapped by this lunatic. "W-Where are we?" she bravely asked.
"We are here at my palace." He brushed off the thick curtains and the only view at the window was the pitch-black night. They were in the middle of nowhere. It could be everywhere and she had nothing. He probably got her phone and her wallet. "It has been my dream to bring you here. I've planned this since I was inside that hospital with those lunatics, Callea." Then he giggled. "Oh, the things I would do to you once I got you. I will make sure that you will enjoy it."
"H-How did you escape?" She was no match for his lunacy. She was in his territory. She must calm down while assessing the situation. Play it nice. Play it nice.
He opened his arms. "I am rich, Callea. My family could buy anything and anyone." He sat at the foot of the bed. "Do you think I will stay in a mental asylum forever? No. I am not crazy so I don't belong there."
Walter's family has an export business. But she didn't expect that their influence would reach Cambodia. It could also mean that Walter being confined in the mental hospital was all for show. He must have been free for some time and was already in the Philippines. He really won't stop ruining her life.
She flinched and moved away when he tried to caress her face. He caressed the wind instead and was imagining that it was her face. "You are so beautiful, Callea. That's why I can't forget you."
"And I will never forget that you killed my friend."
Her fear was replaced by hate. It was a wasted death. Because of his lunacy, Luna had to die protecting her.
He kneeled beside the bed. "I didn't want to hurt her. She was your friend. But she stopped us from being together. She deserved it. Now, no one can stop our love."
She pushed away his hand when he tried to touch her. Then she slapped his face. "You are evil. You have no right to kill my friend. You have to right to ruin my life. I will never love someone like you."
Her fear was replaced by hate. It was a wasted death. Because of his lunacy, Luna had to die protecting her.
He kneeled beside the bed. "I didn't want to hurt her. She was your friend. But she stopped us from being together. She deserved it. Now, no one can stop our love."
She pushed away his hand when he tried to touch her. Then she slapped his face. "You are evil. You have no right to kill my friend. You have to right to ruin my life. I will never love someone like you."
She felt like her heart would burst when she remembered how he stabbed her friend repeatedly. Without mercy. Without remorse. And he would tell her that he did the right thing?
If only she had a knife, she would have killed him. She wanted to kill him.
"Stop it, Callea," he commanded in a soft voice.
"No. Stop your illusion that I will love you. Even if you kill me now, I will never love you."
"I said stop it!" he screamed then she felt a strong slap on her cheek. Callea fell on the bed. She felt a ringing in her ears and her face was numb from the impact of his palm. Then he clutched her shoulder and pulled her up. "You are an evil woman because you don't love me. After everything I did for you, how could you hurt me this way."
She gave him a death glare and cupped her own face. She felt the pain shot at the side of her lips. She touched it and saw blood on her fingers.
She suddenly calmed herself. She shouldn't have let her emotions get the better of her. She was dealing with a deranged man. He has the tendency to be violent. He was not afraid of anything and anyone. And a deranged man with money to burn made it worse.
His face became soft again when he saw her wound. "You got hurt. I am sorry, Callea."
Tear brimmed his eyes. The wolf suddenly became a sheep. She hit his hand when he tried to take a look at her wound. "Don't you dare touch me?"
"Are you mad? I didn't mean to hurt you, Callea. You just pushed me." He stepped down the bed while pulling his hair in anguish. "I am so stupid! I hurt Callea. I hurt Callea." She shrieked when he bumps his own head to the wall several times. Then he laughed while holding his hurt head. "Don't get mad at me, Callea. I told you I would hurt anyone who hurts you. And I avenged you, right?"
Her heart nearly jumped out of her ribs when he pulled out a caliber .45 from his waist and waved it to the air. "Next time someone hurts you, I will plant a bullet in his head."
"You are sick!" she whispered with a shudder. No person in his right mind would just hurt himself. Or wave a gun in the air. Her lips trembled and she wanted to cry. She felt like going crazy, too.
He touched her lips with his forefinger."Shhh! Be quiet. The nurses might hear you. They might bring me back to the mental hospital. I-I am not crazy. Or maybe I am." Then he started belting out Madonna's song. "I am crazy for youuuu."
The mental asylum didn't help him out. His condition worsened. Dread started to eat her up. Walter won't let her go. Not when he had planned all these just to trap her. What did she ever do to deserve this? No person deserves this.
He piled up the petals of the flowers then threw them in the air like confetti. He laughed like a kid. "We will get out of here, Callea. We will get married and we will stay away from people who didn't want us to be together. Once we are far from here, you will finally love me. You will only love me." He grinned and pointed the gun at her. "You will forget about Deive Hontiveros. He has no gun. He doesn't know how to use this one." He was like a boy who was competing with his playmates for toys.
She decided to shut her mouth. She couldn't move. Even her tears refused to fall. She was frozen in fear. She didn't know if the next time she talks, the bullet would be in her brain.
Only her eyes moved to track him as he left the room to get food for her. He locked the door from the outside. She was free to move in that small room. Maybe her family knew that she was gone. But could they track her? Will they find her location?
She walked towards the window and tried to get a view of what's outside. She could make out the garden below that looked larger than Villa Celesta. Beyond that, all she could see were acres of field. There were no lights to indicate that they had neighbors nearby. Nobody could hear them. Like Walter said, it was just the two of them.
She didn't want to wait for help anymore. She didn't even know if it was coming. The longer she stayed there, the longer her life would be endangered. She must find a way.
She wanted to go back to her family. She wanted to be with Deive again... if he still wanted her.
She just needed to get back alive.