My heart fastened its rhythm, while the chest began to shrink and lift like all air was gone out of my lungs.

I rose to the heavens.

My arms wanted to wrap around his silk neck, while the lips wanted to feel that indescribable softness of his.

And it would have happened, but my mind prevented me from running into a deadly embrace in the last second, flashing me with the image of gray eyes, which brought me to the beginning when the black-haired girl had the exact same expression on her face.

It was like some old movie and an expression of evil and danger, which was lately glueing to me like a limpet.

He is not good.

Evil.

Devil.

I instinctively stepped back, not believing my own eyes that Gabriel is just standing in front of me.

Maybe I'm dreaming?

"I've always wanted to do this."
For a moment, he looked back at Natasha's lifeless body and then back at me.

Dark blood was still dripping from the tip of his fingers, and a dark glance transmitted fear in my direction.

Do what? Pull the lively heart out of  her chest?

What then he wants to do to you? Break your neck? Do the same like he did to Natasha or something third?

My inner voice sent the chills  down my body, and my skin felt like it was exposed to a cold Russian winter.

You could have seen the confused expression on my face, while I was looking at the contours of Natasha's body in the bloody pond, which was slowly imbibing her golden hair.

Then my eyes switched to Valentin, who was still unconscious lying beside the broken wall.

The escape problem seemed to be solved.

"What is it?" Gabriel interrupted the fresh silence and made me jump in the place because his voice suddenly got so deep.

He didn't have the irresistible smile on his face anymore, but was looking in my direction with furrowed eyebrows, while I would make a step backwards every few seconds without even realizing. 

A horrible and unknown feeling flowed through my body while I was trying to gather my thoughts and answer calmly, but in vain.

No words left my mouth.

"Kristal?" He called my name when I didn't answer to his previous question, not even make a simple eye contact.

I still wasn't answering, I just stared at him in the inability to concentrate on reality.

In my thoughts I was everywhere, but not and here. I completely wandered off.

The thoughts were screaming at me and I wanted to silence them, but unsuccessfully. They were way louder than my mind, assuring me that my death is just standing in front of me.

"Are you okay? You're strange."

I swallowed the so-called noodle in my throat without looking away from him and made another step back, which was the last one because I just pressed myself against the cold wall.

The chills went down my tensed body and unexplainable fear was growing in me more and more with every second that had passed.

What am I suddenly so scared of and why?

"Gabriel, you won't hurt me, right?" I bit my lower lip when his hand dropped the bloody heart.

He silently looked at Natasha and then back at me.

"You are afraid of me?" He ironically raised one eyebrow and then made a step towards me.

I was frozen in place.

What suddenly happened to me?

"Answer me." My voice cracked when he was just a centimeter away from me.

His eyes were  furiously  swallowing mine like he wanted to read my thoughts, but there were too much of them because  I didn't know what to think about.

"I won't hurt you, why would I?" The ironic smile twinkled on his lips, and it only buried me deeper under the ground.

"You said you will kill me, soon. You promised me that." I raised my head when he got even closer to me, almost completely closing the free space between us.

"I usually keep my promises, but I can make an exception for you." Suddenly, an unexplainable panic possessed my body and I started to tremble uncontrollably.

"Kristal?" He reached for my palm, but I quickly moved like I was burnt.

"Don't touch me!" I wanted to go through the wall with force, just to move away from him.

I don't know what suddenly entered in me and why I'm suddenly afraid of the man that I thought I loved, I was actually sure of it.

Correction, vampire.

"Kristal." I raised my hand in the air as a sign to shut up.

Too many things were happening in my head right now to listen to his unneeded words that I still actually wanted to hear. Well, partly.

"I thought you were-" I paused and repressed the tears that suddenly threatened to slip down my cheeks like Niagara Falls.

"I hate you." I hissed and gave him the worst look anyone could get from me.

It seems like it didn't bother him too much, actually he was very entertained with this circus that I performed.

"I wouldn't say so." His hand flew towards my fragile neck and pressed me against the wall even more.

I whimpered because of the sudden pain that possessed my body once my back unexpectedly broke the wall.

"I hate you." I repeated, and then my heart skipped a beat after his fist hit the wall right next to my head, making a deep hole in it.

"Damn it, I heard it the first time!" He shouted so loud that I almost died of the horror and shock that scratched me over the face.

I was forced to look into his black eyes that were threatening me with darkness, which will extinguish every spark in me.

In that moment, my eyes caught the slight movement of Valentin's fingers which was a sign that he will wake up any second.

Guided by my gaze, he let me down and then turned around and started slowly walking towards the doors.

Thereat, he angrily kicked the heart that was a few moments ago still pumping the blood in Natasha's chest.

He slightly turned his head to look at me in the corner of his eyes.

"We don't have much time, Valentin will wake up soon." Gabriel said when he finally realized that I had absolutely no intention of going after him.

I stayed standing in silence, looking at his hand that was holding the handle of the door, threatening to break it like a twig.

After half of a minute, he lost all his nerves and turned towards me as fast as a lightning and gazed at me with his arrogant and dangerous eyes, where my heart used to find its shelter.

"Are you coming or what?!" He threw his arms in the air and scared me because I didn't expect him to make any kind of move.

"The Earth is calling Kristal." He raised his eyebrow and crossed the arms on his chest, then and there, looking at Valentin, who didn't move anymore until now.

"I'm not going." I finally responded with the tone so cold that I even felt the shivers.

He just rolled his eyes unconcerned and then quickly came to me and grabbed my wrist, wanting to pull me, but it didn't have that much effect on me because I resisted him with the strength that I didn't even know I have so I firmly stayed in place.

I shook my hand out of his grip, making him even more angry, but I didn't care.

"Don't be stubborn and let's go." He ignored my childish behavior and tried to grab me again.

"No." I was persistently moving away until he finally caught me and then squeezed me so hard that I thought he will cut me in half.

"Stop playing games." He said through his teeth and shook me when I tried to get out of his painful grip.

"Or what? You will kill me?" I returned with the same tone, probably all red in the face because of the anger and adrenaline that suddenly woke up inside of me.

"I won't kill you." He closed his eyes visibly irritated by my inexplicable and childish behavior.

"Why? Didn't you want that from the beginning? What has changed? Do it quickly please, I don't have patience anymore." I pressed the root of my nose with the free hand, hoping it will calm me down, but it didn't.

Every word he said was just flaring the dangerous fire in me even more. It could swallow him in a second.

"I won't."

"Why?!" I shouted, making his eyes lock on me.

They flashed over mine and sent the cold down my spine.

"Because I damn love you!" He exclaimed and silenced all the voices in my head that were shrieking and screaming in me. 

I shuddered. He quickly let me go, rushing the hand over his face and then hair turning me his back fast.

I could hear and feel the heart beating in my chest like crazy, and the sweat gathering on my forehead showing how much this situation makes me nervous.

"You love me?" I said barely audible, like when the wind blows through the grass.

Nothing really made sense to me and I just wanted to sit down and clear the thoughts that got back into my head, creating a mess.

"Don't make me repeat, and now let's go if you don't want Valentin to choke us both like the damn doves."