Brayden's POV

"Hey you Mr. Black Shirt, wake up. Wake up now or I'll call the police." I heard some woman shouting. I opened my eyes, still feeling sleepy, and saw Elif standing outside my car. She knocked on the car window. I opened the door and stepped out.

"Ouch", my shoulders were numb and my arms hurt.

"Hey Mr. Black Shirt, what are you upto huh? Why are you making a mess infront of my house?" Elif yelled.

"Woahh cool down, I just woke up. What are you talking about? And here I should be the one to shout at you. And for your kind information, I have a name and my name is Brayden Davies. I hope you remember it next time." I mocked at her. She looked furious. Maybe I should've been the one to be cool.

"YOU ARE LEAVING THIS PLACE NOW. OR ELSE I'M GOING TO CALL THE POLICE NOW." I felt my heart stopped. I thought she would kill me or something but no.

"But this road is not yours. I can stay here. I don't have a problem then what's your problem?" I retorted.

"My problem is YOU. Why are you annoying us? I said you that I don't know who you are. Why can't you understand this simple thing and just leave?" She said, a little agitated.

"But I've a proof that I know you." I took out that photo and showed to her. "Now will you say that this is not you but your twin sister?" I won't give up, you should've known better. She was taken aback.

"Even if you've my picture doesn't mean that I know you. It's 2020, anyone can get someone's photo from social media like Facebook." 'What?' Now I was the one who was taken aback. "Stop fooling around and leave already. This is the last time I'm telling you." She warned and was about to leave but I grabbed her hand,

"Elif, wait. What's wrong with you? Why are you doing this? I know that you've suffe-" She pulled away her hand and pushed me back.

"Oh cut the crap now... Go to wherever hell you want but leave me alone. Ridiculous. " She scoffed and left me there.

I clenched my fist and kicked the tire of my car. 'What should I do to make her confess that she knows me?' I thought. Then something came up to my mind. A smirk appeared on my face.

Elif's POV

"Did he leave?" Sister Marissa asked. I locked the door and looked at her. She was cooking pasta.

"No. He is always stubborn. But he will soon give up and leave." I said.

"Do you want that?" Her question caught me off-guard.

"If it's good for everyone's sake, then I want him to leave." I replied.

It was 8 o'clock in the evening. Sister Marissa went to the market to buy some meat for dinner. Inspite of all my pleas, she was determined that she will do all the cooking jobs. She liked doing that and I gave up. I heard someone rang the doorbell. 'Maybe Sister is back.' I thought. I opened the door but there was no one. I looked to my right and to my left and there was nobody. 'Maybe the kids were pranking.' I assumed that and turned to go inside when something hard hit my head. It hurt and my vision became blurry. I was getting unconscious but I saw the attacker's face. It was Brayden.

I woke up with an aching at the back of my head. It was then when I noticed that I was in the forest, tied to a birch tree and a cloth was tied around my mouth. I tried to speak but it came out like a hoarse sound. It was freezing cold and I was getting goosebumps. I struggled inside the tight grip of the rope. Then, I heard footsteps coming my way. I felt scared. 'Is it a kidnapper? Kidnapped me for money? Or a serial killer? Or a rapist?' I thought of all kinds of possibilities and that only made me shivered.

"Hey, no need to panic, it's just me." I saw Brayden, coming out of the darkness. I shook my head and tried to loosen the knot of the rope but nothing happened. 'Once you untie this knot, I'll make sure to break each and every bone in your body.' I cursed in my mind. "So before you start cursing me in your small brain, let me explain why I did all this." He said coolly. But that only made me more furious. "So, you know I tried to persuade you so many times but you won't listen to me. So I don't have any other option to make you listen to me. Basically I want to assure you that I don't mean to hurt you in any way, I just want to talk to you. I'm not here to take you back to the mansion. I just want you to tell me what happened with you all this while. Look I know it had been too hard for you but see I promise you I won't let anything happen to you. This problem is mine. It's my job to deal with all these horrible things, not you. Elif, I want to pay you back for whatever you've done for me so far. I'm prepared to go through any danger, to save you from this hell. If you don't believe me it's fine but atleast give me a chance to prove myself. I know that everything that's going on is crazy and horrific and painful and what not but I promise you that whatever obstacle is there infront of us, I will be by your side. I won't leave you ever. Just for once tell me, that you remembered me. I will be with you and kill this evil spirit. We can start living normally in that mansion. You won't have to hide anywhere or be scared because I'll protect you. And if you don't want to return then it's fine, I can understand. But atleast tell me whatever you know. I'll go there myself and finish off all your fears, afterall I'm the reason you're suffering this way. You shouldn't be here. It has to be me and not you." He finished.

His jaw was tightening. I had never seen him this way. But his words were giving me a hope to live again which is dangerous. I don't know why he came back here again but I couldn't let him return to that mansion. He must've read the diary but it was not to make him do something like this. At that moment I couldn't think what to do to make him give up and go back to New York. Neither could I let him go there no could I send him back. I closed my eyes and the tears started flowing.

I heard a large thud and I opened my eyes. Under the moonlight, I saw there was pain in his eyes and... and his hands were bloody. I was shocked. I looked at the tree where he had punched and saw there was blood. I screamed and cried. All the bad memories started coming back. Brayden got worried and came near and pulled down the cloth from my mouth. "What's wrong? I'll let you go. Don't cry." He soothed me but what I was focussed at was the blood in hs hands. I screamed out loud.

He flinched back and I shouted, "No no don't..." I broke into tears and my hands turned cold. And then I passed out.

Brayden's POV

I don't know what came inside me at that moment and I said those words. But I truly felt that I wanted to protect her. But suddenly she started screaming and crying and fainted. I got scared and carried her to her home. Sister Marissa got worried seeing her and gave me a deadly look. Well, I could understand how she might have felt when I kidnapped... took Elif away. And just because of my foolishness, she is lying this way on the bed.

Sister Marissa came in with a first aid kit. She put a tablet in the water and stirred it. "Umm... what's that?" I asked hesitantly. In reply, she looked at me and whipped her face away. 'As if she was going to answer me.' I scratched the back of my neck. Sister Marissa came to me. She waved her hand and asked for my hand. I put forward my injured hand. That time I got raged and punched the tree for no reason. I looked at her confused. She took an ointment and started applying it over the cut. "Ouch, it stings." I whined. She glared at me. She took a bandage and started wrapping it around my hand. I thought she hated me.

"Elif has hemophobia. When she saw the blood in your hands, she got scared." She said.

"Since when?" She looked up and shook her head. I tilted my head.

"When she came to Mt. Carmel Bishop Church, I came to know she has a fear of blood because of the incidents that the little girl had to witness at that age." She explained. I guess I don't deserve her forgiveness also. Unknowingly, I had caused her too much pain. I felt too guilty. "You can stay here for the night. I'll arrange the guest room for you. And don't cause any more troubles." And with that she left.

I looked around her room. It was too clean and organized. She might be picky. I saw a photo frame on the study table. She was smiling in that picture. Unconsciously, I also smiled seeing that. I saw a book turned down. She must have been reading it. I turned it to see. "Pride and Prejudice?" No doubt, she has a sharp tongue. I looked at Elif, who was sleeping due to the effect of the medicine. I opened the drawer and saw a pendant, like the one she gave me before I left.

"You can bring your bags and sleep in the guest room. I've cleaned it already." She ordered. I nodded and closed the drawer.

I took my backpack and kept it on the chair. ThankGod, I packed two or three clothes while coming here. I changed into a blue t-shirt and sweatpants. I was folding my jeans when I heard something dropped. I looked down and saw that pendant. I picked it up and opened it. I saw the picture inside and smirked.

Later that night, I heard a loud cry. I sat up with a sudden jolt. I heard the sound coming from Elif's room. Sister Marissa said she will sleep in the room downstairs. I walked out of my room and opened the door to Elif's room, thinking she might have got a panic attack. I went in to see she was lying on the bed with her eyes closed and murmuring something. 'The nightmares...' I remembered. I quickly went to her side and shook her but she didn't wake up. I called out her name and finally she sat up and hugged me around my waist and started crying. "Take them away... There is blood... They're dead... Brayden... He will Kill Brayden." She cried out.

"It's fine... It's alright... You're safe... I'm here. No one will touch you." I massaged her hair. After few minutes, I felt her loosening her grip. She might have fallen asleep. I laid her on the bed and covered her with the blanket. I wiped the tears from her face. At that moment I thought about the time, when I used to live alone and I wished that if Mom and Dad would have been alive. But seeing her in this condition, I felt my chest tightening. She had suffered a lot more than me and all because of me. I couldn't move from the pain, I felt that time. I wiped away my tears and left the room.

I locked the door and turned to see Sister Marissa was standing beside the railings of the stairs. "I'm sorry. I thought she must have been scared so I came to check." I said with my head down.

"I don't hate you. You're of the same age as Elif. I know what that girl has faced. She couldn't recover from the traumas. And now when you're back, she is even more scared. She don't want you to be harmed. She can't let all her sacrifices to go in vain. She still thinks your parents died because of her. She needs someone to forget that not someone to make her realize that more. So it's better if you leave her. I don't blame you but I want her to be safe if not happy." Her words made me realize how much pain I've inflicted on her.

"I'll leave tomorrow before she wakes up." I said without a second thought. 

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