Aviana's POV

February 16th 2016

"I'm telling you now, don't go there," Olivia, my best friend warned me. I rolled my eyes dismissively at her and picked up my handbag. "Avi, don't you dare. I mean it, it will cause more trouble than it will fix," she informed me but it was like my ears weren't tuned in properly. I could hear clearly what she was saying, but my mind was not in sync. My irrational thought were unable to be subdued by my sagacious thoughts. One prominent certainty was invading my mind.

I needed to do it.

Did I really though? Debatable. It seemed the most rational answer to my problems.. at the time.

...

I looked around the poorly lit room, it was quite disconcerting. I looked to the doorway and saw a tall, lean shadow appear. It was him. I drew in a long breath and felt a shiver make it's way up my spine as I saw the shadow become shorter and shorter as he neared the door. I felt myself tense up and my muscles tighten, making myself smaller as I felt somewhat intimidated.

I heard the footsteps, the heal of his shoe making such a sound which goes unnoticed on most occasions, but as I sat nervously in the seat, I couldn't but hear the acute sound prominently thundering in my head. Each footstep was like a clash of thunder, making me feel uneasy.

I gulped when I saw him draw his long fingers around the door, pushing it open. I looked up at him for  a split second only to see a shadow cast over his face, his black bowler hat creating even more of a shadow as he bowed his head slightly.

I couldn't quite make out his features. I could make out his protruding eyes, which were cast to the ground. His slim lips were pursed to an almost frown like expression, emphasising his wrinkles around his mouth. It became clear to me he was no spring chicken.

When I saw him take his first step into the room, I looked away. I could feel his gaze penetrating through me, giving me a good inspection as he sauntered into the room, prepared to sit at his seat behind his desk.

He sat down, his chair emitting a squeak as he did. I peered tentatively up at him, swallowing the lump that was growing in my throat, my eyes widened a little when I felt like I made too much noise in the absence of any other audible sound in the room. It was more than likely more audible in my head than it was in the eerie office.

I looked around and then noticed something; there was no windows. None whatsoever. If one needed to escape, there was only one route; the door. If something was coincidentally blocking the door, one would be trapped, with absolutely no escape route. The thought made my legs begin to tremble because, he could so easily destroy me in seconds and the thing is, he would get away with it.

The only light appearing in the room was the dim light deriving from the lamp in the corner. It was a petite lamp, which needed a good dusting. The bulb in it seemed to be on it's last legs, as it flickered occasionally as well, only creating a more eerie atmosphere in the office, much to my distaste.

I looked up when the man placed his clasped hands on the desk and looked at me expectantly.

What am I meant to say?

He unclasped his hands and then tapped his fingernails against the table, leaning back in his seat, earning another squeak from it which almost pierced my ears in the silence of this room. My body jolted a little at the sudden emergence of a sound. He clasped his hands once more and then pushed them forward, cracking his knuckles which sounded thunderous in my head, even though in the real world, it would sound nothing more than a mere squeak from a mouse. He saw my unease and took this to his advantage, a predictable smirk covering his features.

It was as though he enjoyed watching me feel disconcerted. I guess it made him realise the power he had over me.

"Well?" He raised his eyebrows at me expectantly, as though hoping I would take the lead and begin to converse with him.

Does he really expect me to do that?

I looked down at my hands, picking at my nails and swallowing the substantial lump in my throat as I prepared myself to speak. Calm down, he's not going to kill you Aviana. He is going to help, this is what you need.

"Are you going to speak or just sit there and look pretty?" He questioned, ending his sentence with a chuckle, which sent another cold shiver down my spine when I heard his laugh. It was a dry chuckle, one made as though mocking me, silently telling me 'I have all the power and after tonight, I can make you do anything with the click of my fingers.'

The thought was unnerving but neither of us had to say it, we both knew it was true because if I go through with this, he is the one with all the power. He disdained me as if I was inferior. I needed his help and he knew it, he knew he held all the power in his hands. His prepotent mien perturbed me, which appeased him when he noticed.

"I uh.." I straightened in my seat and uncrossed my legs from under the chair, sitting up in a more confident manner, although my confident demeanour was feigned, he probably knew as well as I knew this facet could be diminished just as quickly as I simulated it.

"You uh what? Can you speak?" He patronising questioned, his eyebrows raising, producing the many wrinkles on his forehead. I was tempted to count how many were there but I realised my predicament and decided it was best to stay professional.

"Lady, are you prepared to do this or are you just wasting my time?" He shook his head at me and leaned forward in his seat. He clasped his hands and looked at me with a tedious expression covering his features. He was acting as though I was squandering his time.

"Yes, I am prepared to do this." My confidence was faltering with each word I spoke and he sensed this.  He picked up a pen, leaning back in his seat again and began chewing on the tip of it, his teeth a lot whiter than one would expect.

"So, you're not going to throw this all back in my face?" His voice became sterner, more dominant as though to show me he was in charge.

"No, I won't," I felt like a mouse being cornered by a cat, waiting to prey on it. I felt as small and frail as that mouse right now and I felt as though he was prepared to devour me in seconds if I wasn't careful.

"Okay then," he looked at me with an enigmatic smile upon his face. "You know of the consequences if you do, somehow try and throw this all back at me?" He questioned, resting his left leg over his right knee. I nodded timidly, I didn't know the exact consequences, I vaguely knew of them but I decided that was enough, that I need know no more.

"I'm ready," I stated firmly, with the most confidence I had managed to pose the whole time I had been in there. It was then I jumped when the lamp flickered and didn't come back on, as if on cue. I looked around the dark, quite petrified. I heard his chair squeak and his footsteps walking around the room, I couldn't tell where they were though, as they echoed throughout the eerie office.

Suddenly, I felt hot breath cascading down my neck, my breath hitched and I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I could just disappear right now and never come back here. I let out an eldritch screech when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder.

"Shh, calm down," he whispered into my ear. I opened my eyes and looked up when I heard him rattling with something. The warmth of his hand disappeared from my shoulder and the coldness from the room soon overpowered it, dimishing the warmth immediately as though his hand was never there. It send another shiver down my spine.

His footsteps echoed throughout the room again. I heard him slide something open and then there was a sharp swiping noise, soon followed by a spark of light. I jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes to see he had lit a match. My blood curdled and my mind flashed with thoughts of how there is no escape from this room other than the door. What if he left the room and threw the match in?  I would have no escape.

I felt my palms grow sweaty as he opened a drawer of his desk. What was he taking out? A gun? A bomb? Neither, surprisingly.

He produced a candle and slowly moved the match until it hit the wick of the candle, leaving it there for a few seconds before it lit. He blew out the match and smirked up at me as he flung the burnt out match over his shoulder. Once the match was burnt out it was no longer needed, so he threw it over his shoulder. I took this as a metaphor that he could do the same thing to me. Once he was done with me, I would be flung away, just like that match. It would be left on the grubby floor, stood all over and broken until it was swept up and gotten rid of forever.

That bastard.

He only done this to frighten me even more, show me what he's made of. His predicable smirk was covering his face again when he saw the distress in my face. "Okay, now we have that sorted, we can proceed," he smiled. In theory, he was referring to the light but in reality, he was fundamentally saying 'okay, now you know I can ruin you in seconds, we can proceed'.

I gulped and looked down at my hands, barely able to see them in this light. I looked back up at him to see the candle was in such a position that it left him with it casting shadows on his face, I could only just make out his features.

"How much do you want?" He questioned, picking up his pen which made me bite on my lip hard enough to draw blood.

I peered around the room as though I was thinking about it. I was thinking about it alright.

I wish I didn't have to sit here and do this.

I shouldn't have to do this but I have others to think of. I wish I could change my past actions so I wouldn't have to be here right now. If I could just go back in time, oh how I would love to. I can't though, I can't change the choices I made and I can't change the paths I took.

The city of dreams? Not quite, more like the city of adversities.

Welcome to New York.

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A/N hi guys and thank you if you read the whole chapter ! This is my new story I have been planning for monttthhhhsss. I wasn't meant to post this yet, I was waiting until April or May to begin this book but I got too excited so I decided to post the prologue :)

I'm going to be working on Oblivion more than I will work on this one, I strive to finish that book and focus on this one then! I hope you enjoyed this kind of snippet though :) Please vote if you want more and leave a comment on what you think and if I should continue this book :)))

I love you all so much for reading !! Don't forget to vote and comment xo