by J. A. Delese
He held her hand.
“You are my Catherine. No more Liz.”
Catherine
She found herself in the dark room again. She was sitting on the big wooden bed. Still, the room was too dark, and she couldn’t see anything, but this time, she remembered that the shadow would come and kill her. She looked around anxiously.
But I can’t escape!
There was no way out from the room. No door, no window, nothing…. She checked the room, and just then, suddenly felt something. She felt the room was moving.
What is happening!
She got off the bed, but when her feet touched the floor, she felt water under the bed.
Water?
She didn’t understand. Why was there water on the floor? She climbed back onto the bed and looked around the room. It was full of water on the floor and the room was rocking more and more. She covered herself with a quilt and peeked anxiously at the water and realized the water level was gradually getting higher.
“Oh my God!” she shouted.
She jumped out of the bed and tried to find the door, but, of course, she couldn’t find it. The water already reached her knees, and she totally panicked.
“HELP! HELP!” she shouted while hammering at the wall. “PLEASE! HELP ME!”
Now, the water reached her waist, and it felt difficult to stand still. She tried to go back to the bed, but it wasn’t easy to move forward in the water. She tried her best to walk and grabbed the bed frame, but water covered the bed and covered her whole body in the end.
“NO!”
She wanted to scream, but no sound came from her throat. She couldn’t see anything in the water and soon couldn’t breathe anymore. She realized that she was dying. She opened her mouth to call someone’s name, but as soon as she opened her mouth, so much water flowed down her throat that she couldn’t breathe.
“Patrick,” she managed to gasp out his name for the last time and closed her eyes.
Just like that, she woke up from her dream. She was so frightened, covered in a cold sweat, but it seemed she didn’t really scream like last time. Tom was sleeping beside her peacefully. She lay on her side in the bed and rested her head on her hands. She took a deep breath several times and recalled her dream.
What kind of dream is this?
She dreamed of a man who was trying to kill her, and now she even dreamed of drowning. It seemed like she was going to try all the possible ways of death.
Crazy.
She shook her head roughly several times.
And why did I call for Patrick?
She remembers that she called for him. She thought this was insane.
Was I thinking of him unconsciously? Why? I have a boyfriend here!
She sighed heavily. This was not normal. So many random things popped up in her head. Her brain obviously had a problem, and she felt she needed to see a doctor.
But this one doesn’t like it.
She looked at her husband-to-be. He was sleeping, and it seemed he hadn’t dreamed anything yet.
Soon, you will call out for Liz. she pouted. He said it was her nickname, but she knew he was lying.
Definitely his ex.
She didn’t have any evidence, but she could tell that Liz was his ex-girlfriend or ex-wife. It was such a lousy lie that Liz was her nickname. Honestly, she even more disappointed that this was the best lie he could come up with. Liz was her nickname?
How stupid, she clicked her tongue in her head. Men are like that. Always lie, but don’t know how to tell good lies.
She came down from the bed silently and left the room. The living room was dark and quiet. She stopped at the kitchen and was thinking for a while of drinking a glass of wine, but decided not to. She already drank at dinner, and she was still on medication. It was not good to drink too much alcohol when you were on medication. Instead, she moved to the balcony to have some fresh air. It was early winter, and the wind was quite chilly. She breathed in the cold air. The view was not bad. She couldn’t see the River Thames or Big Ben, but she could see the other side of London from here.
“Beautiful,” she said.
She loved to see the view of the city, so she continued to stay in the balcony. She didn’t remember how long she stayed there like that. She felt quite comfortable leaning on the edge of the balcony. She even felt she had done this before.
Is it a déjà vu or my memory?
Maybe it was her memory. She was pretty sure she had done this many times and that was why she was feeling familiar with this now. She smiled and closed her eyes to feel the wind, but soon, she heard someone open the door behind her. She turned back to look at her fiancé. She smiled at him, but he didn’t. He looked quite upset. He was looking at her with his forehead furrowed. She opened her eyes wider at that.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Just…couldn’t sleep. Kept dreaming. Did you dream too?” she asked back, but he didn’t answer. He just walked into the balcony and dragged her into the living room.
“Tom!” she shouted, but he dragged her roughly. She felt pain on her wrist.
“What are you DOING?” she shouted as she was pushed into the living room. She rubbed her wrist and gave him a reproachful pout.
“That’s what I want to ask. What were you doing there?” he asked.
“Enjoying the view and fresh air!” she shouted back.
“It’s so cold now! It’s winter! And you are standing out there in the middle of the night! Did you decide to kill yourself?”
“It’s not so cold! And! It’s not really winter. It’s November! It’s autumn!”
“Doesn’t matter! Don’t stand on the balcony from now on!” he shouted.
“Oh, come on! I’m not five years old!” she said and passed him to go back to the bedroom, but he grabbed her shoulder and said, “Do as I say.”
She felt shocked by what he said.
What? Do as I say? What the hell is this?
She frowned and shook his hands off. She walked into the bedroom.
“Catherine!” He followed her into the bedroom.
“It’s for your own good!” he said, but she didn’t want to talk with him now.
What does he think of me? A dog? A pet? Do as I say?
She lay on the bed and pulled the quilt over her head.
“Catherine! It’s for you! What if you catch a cold and fall sick? What if you are hospitalized again? I don’t want to see that ever again!” he said passionately, and she uncovered the quilt. She stared at his eyes.
“You are too protective!” she shouted. “You hired four guards to surround me and check on me every single day, and I didn’t say anything till now! Because I understand how you feel, given the circumstances! But this is too much! Way too much! Marrying you doesn’t mean that I’ll be your pet! I’ll do what I want if I think it’s the right thing to do!”
She covered herself with the quilt again.
“I…what I meant is…I think…it’s just not good to stay outside in the night. Especially, a cold night. I didn’t mean to hurt your feeling, Catherine. I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Cathy,” he apologized gently, but she didn’t react at all.
“I can’t live without you. I really can’t. I can’t do that, Cathy,” he said so desperately. She breathed out heavily at that and put the quilt away and sat up on the bed.
“You won’t lose me, Tom. Don’t worry about it. I’ll always be here with you, so stop freaking out. You will never ever lose me!”
“Promise?” he asked.
She was at a loss for words at his question but laughed it off in the end.
“Promise!” she said cheerfully and offered her little finger. He wrapped her little finger with his and made her promise.
“No matter what, you will be with me.”
“No matter what, I’ll be with you.”
She hugged him and spoke into his ear softly.
“So don’t worry, Tom. I will be with you f
or the rest of my life. I’m yours forever.”
Tom
“I won’t allow this, Thomas,” his father said. “You should not decide anything yet. She lost her memory for now. That doesn’t mean that she will remain like this for the rest of her life, and if she gets her memory back, what will you do? Divorce? AGAIN?”
“There will be no divorce,” he said.
She has to be with me, no matter what.
His father just laughed off at what he said. He stared at Tom for a while. Though his father didn’t say anything, he could tell what his father was thinking.
He’s thinking that I’m acting like a little boy.
“Regardless of whether she has her memory back or not, I won’t allow this. She doesn’t deserve to carry the name of my house. She can’t be part of this family.”
Do I deserve it? Or do you, father? he wanted to ask to his father.
“But I feel pity for what has happened to her, so I suggest you give her enough compensation.”
You just want her to be quiet.
“Send her back,” his father said.
“No,” he answered.
Stephen sighed heavily.
“Thomas. How long are you going to do this? I don’t like to repeat the same things OVER AND OVER AGAIN!”
“Neither do I, father,” he said simply and stood up from the sofa. “So I’d be very appreciative, if you’d change your mind.”
“I won’t. You are the one who should,” Stephen said. He stood up, too. Stephen looked at him fiercely.
“Do you understand what’s happening now? How can you ask us to accept her? How long are you going to disappoint me?”
Forever, I guess.
He felt sad and a bit guilty, but he didn’t have any better answer than this. It seemed that he was really nothing but a disappointment to his parents, especially to his father. He felt sorry for his father, since he knew how hard his father was trying, but he didn’t want to waste any more of his time on all those duties.
“Father, I do know what’s happening now.”
His father looked surprised.
“I abducted her in the middle of the city. Her boyfriend is looking for her even now and people already talk about me being involved. I raped her and I knocked her up and….” He breathed out for a second. “And we lost our child, and she lost her memory. That is what’s happening here. And I don’t see any better way out than marrying her and making her my wife.”
He finished talking and looked at his father. Stephen didn’t say anything back.
“And more importantly, I only want her. I can’t live without her,” he said.
Tom walked to the door, but he heard his father’s voice once again.
“If you keep insisting on this, you won’t inherit anything from me. I’ll remove your name from the will as well as the company.” His voice was firm. Maybe his father had thought about this for a long time and decided to do it now. He could say this tasted bitter, but he understood his father. He would probably do the same thing, if he were in his father’s position.
So he couldn’t help but reply, “Alright.”
He walked out of the room.
Catherine
It was a rainy day. She didn’t go out and just stayed at home. She liked to stay at home when it was raining. It was far better to look out at the rain than stand in it. She was half watching the rain and half watching a movie. Every day was peaceful. She had nothing to worry about. She usually stayed at home, unless she went to see a doctor. Tom asked her to go shopping, but she was not really a shopper type. She was thinking of going swimming or going to the gym, but she felt too lazy today. She lay on the sofa and closed her eyes.
This was the life I wanted; why am I not happy? she asked herself. She always wanted this kind of life—not having to worry about work, money, debt, rent, etc. She, however, felt something was missing. Something was not right. What could be not right? She thought about it. Actually, she already knew the answer. She knew exactly why she was not happy.
Because I don’t work.
She wanted to work. She wanted to go back to work. It was tough and tiring, but it made her feel alive. She wanted to feel alive again. She wanted to argue with her opponents or compete with her colleagues. She missed the time that she convinced the juries and judges in the court. It wasn’t easy, but it was exciting.
She breathed out deeply. If she wanted to work here, she should study for the bar in the U.K.
Which is annoying!
She kicked the air. She didn’t like studying. She hated to stay inside the library all day long and do nothing but study. She sighed heavily again.
I do like staying in the library, if I only read books, but if I have to study again….
She sighed and closed her eyes again. She didn’t like to imagine herself with heavy books. She thought she wasn’t academic enough. She shook her head and turned off the TV. She sat on the sofa and looked at the rain for a while. It was always so nice to watch the rain. She got closer to the balcony and enjoyed the view more, but felt bored in the end. She thought about what to do for a second and decided to read a book and moved to the study to find one.
She looked around the room to find a good book to kill time, but most of them looked quite serious. She skipped so many until she found a proper one.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream! she shouted in her head.
She already read this one a long time ago, but she wanted to read again. It was nice, because it had a happy ending.
“It’s important to have a happy ending,” she said cheerfully and opened the book. Then, a piece of paper fell out of the book. She picked it up and flipped it over. It was a photo—a photo of a young boy and a girl. She took a look at it. She could tell that this young boy was Tom.
He looks the same! Just…had more hair than now, she said to herself and giggled a bit. She moved her eyes to the girl. This girl had blonde hair and big blue eyes. She looked kind and innocent.
Is she Liz? she asked herself. She didn’t know why, but she felt this girl was Liz.
Blonde and blue eyes….
She didn’t know why, but she started to repeat those words.
Blonde and blue eyes…beautiful, she is….
Beautiful—the word hit her head like a hammer.
“SHE HAS BEAUTIFUL BLONDE HAIR AND BIG BLUE EYES!” a voice began to yell in her head. “SHE’S NOTHING LIKE YOU! SHE’S NOTHING LIKE YOU! SHE’S NOTHING LIKE YOU! SHE’S NOTHING LIKE YOU! SHE’S NOTHING LIKE—”
“STOP!” she shouted.
“YOU ARE NOTHING LIKE LIZ! YOU ARE NOT LIZ! YOU ARE DISGUSTING! YOU ARE NOTHING LIKE LIZ! YOU ARE NOT LIZ! YOU ARE DISGUSTING!”
“STOP IT!” she shouted once again and covered her ears with her hands. The photo and the book fell to the floor. The voice stopped yelling, but it still echoed in her ears. She remembered this voice. She could tell whose voice this was.
Tom’s voice.
Tom was yelling those hurtful words at her. Now she could even visualize his face when he yelled at her. His angry face, the room they stayed in, the door he slammed—she could see everything. She could even see the belt that was about to hurt her, and she shifted her eyes from the belt to the person holding it. It’s him. Tom was the one holding the belt. He was holding the belt, and he strangled her with it.
“Oh, God.”
She dropped down to the floor. Tears welled up in her eyes. She closed her eyes, and the tears fell. As she closed her eyes, she could see everything more clearly. The moment he brought her to his apartment. The moment she was locked up in the yacht. The moment she was kidnapped. The moment he visited her apartment. She could see everything now, including the moments she was in Patrick’s arms.
Patrick!
She remembered it now. She remembered him now.
“Your boyfriend called again! He said you had disappeared!”
She recalled what her mom said. She thought this he was Tom, but it was probably Patrick. That may b
e the reason she called his name in her dream.
Oh, no….
She blocked her mouth with her hand and started to cry. She felt pain in her head and shook it roughly, but it didn’t stop showing her what had happened. She didn’t know how many minutes passed. She was just sitting on the floor without moving. She saw someone pick up the photo and the book. She lifted her head up and saw Susan. Susan put the photo inside the book and placed it where it had been. Catherine wanted to stand up, but she had no energy to stand up. She heard Susan typing something on her phone. She looked up to see it, but Susan crouched down and showed what she had typed.
“Run away.”
Stephen
He was waiting for her to come in. The door opened, and she walked quietly into the office. He scanned her from top to bottom. He could tell that she was wearing designer clothes. She wore a beige coat with her Christian Dior handbag.
She looks nice.
Honestly, he does understand why Tom chose her. This girl has some sort of charm that appeals to men—fragility. She looked strong on the outside, but he could tell that she was actually fragile inside. It was like a wild flower in the middle of a field. It stands there against the wind, so everybody thinks it’s strong, but no matter how strong it is, it’s nothing but a flower after all. No one owns it, so no one protects it. Anybody can just go and pick it up. That’s what Tom did.
But it will die once you bring it in your garden.
This was the second time that he actually met her in person, but he could already tell that she was not the same as the first time.
“Welcome, Catherine. What a nice surprise!” he said cheerfully, and she smiled faintly to him by that. Her eyes were red, and she looked depressed. Even though she covered it up with heavy makeup, her face still showed him that she had been crying a lot. That told him why she was here today.
“You remember it now,” he said.
She sat on the sofa beside his table and nodded. He breathed out deeply and also sat on the sofa.
Faster than I expected.
He stared at her for a moment and opened his mouth.