Eyes Like Ice by Radia Al Rashid (the false prince .TXT) 📖

“Relax, Eve! I’m going check on her, you sit for a while. Shit! Your nose is bleeding, you want me to grab the ice first?” Anna’s voice filled with shock and worry.

“No, no! it’s fine, let’s just go quickly. This darn alarm never rang till date.”

I fly across the corridor towards Julia’s room without looking around. Anna’s worried voice keeps floating from behind saying me to slow down. I whoosh out my long-stuck breath after opening the door to the room. She is sleeping like a baby giving off the least frightening vibe all about. Seeing her alright lets the tight grip loose free that has been chaining my lungs heavily for the last few minutes. I look over my shoulder and mouth to Anna, “She is alright!”

“Thank God!” she puts an arm around my still-shaking shoulder.

“But...but Anna! The alarm is still ringing. You see? It’s only supposed to ring if something falls on the ground or hits the wall” my breath immediately wears off.

“Eh? Maybe there’s a glitch in the system. You know, things like this happen in the Modern tech stuff. Stop worrying too much, will you?” she squeezes my arm.

“Um... but I got it checked it all right the day before yesterday. It can’t be bugs or something.”

“Evelyn! What really matters at this point is Jules is fine. She is sleeping totally fine.” She jerks me by my shoulder.

“Guess so...” murmuring mindlessly I flick another glance around the room to spot anything... abnormal. But nothing seems wrong so far.

“What are you doing over there?” I look at Anna who’s standing by the window.

“Ha? Nah! Nothing, you know, just checking if the window is closed alright. And it is locked tight.” She nods at me nervously.

“Is it really? Why are you becoming so nervous?”

“I’m not, Evelyn. I just got a little worried about the suddenness of everything.”

“Ha! Cool then. I think I’m gonna stay beside Jules till she wakes up. You go get some sleep.” I sit on the side of the bed.

“You sure? I think you also need some rest. I think I can stay here instead cos it’s not good to mess up with your health right now.” she gives me a stern glance.

“It’s okay Anna! I’m going to stay, that’s been said already. Close the door silently before you leave the room Ma’am.” I smile wryly at her.

“If you say so.” Her shoulders hunch a little before ducking out of the room.

Am I missing something? It’s highly unlikely to be caused by a bug in the system. Who am I kidding! My mind is wandering back to the look on Anna’s face. God! she’d never do anything bad to Jules. I can trust her more than myself in that case. But... something should be wrong, because it is not quite right.

Suddenly my eyes shift to that red dot on Julia’s right wrist. I shift on the bed to inspect it closely. Holding her hand gingerly, I inspect the dot, no, more of a scar now that I am looking at it more closely than before. My heart misses a beat, palms start sweating. This scar was absolutely not here last night when I put her to sleep. Just like I supposed something is not going right.

Damn it! Why didn’t I stay right here last night! Why did I have to watch fricking Netflix then? Who did this to you? Who came here to hurt you Julia? Did the person really hurt you bad?

My guilt and worries start melting down my cheeks as hot tears. I’m struggling to breath, struggling to talk and feeling so much guilty to look at the sleeping Julia, who is not even in the state of telling whether she is hurt or not. I feel devastated as I limp across the room to call out to Kate. My mind is going a thousand miles to scavenge all types of awful things that could happen to Julia, my disabled sister. Stream of tears blurs my vision as I wobble across the corridor.

“Katie? Katie, you awake?” I shout out.

I turn back hearing a door clicking open. “What’s wrong? What is it, Eve?” Anna’s half-Latin grace seems to fade away. She looks more like freaked out rather than anxious.

“Julia... what did they do to her? What’s that scar? Trust me it wasn’t there last night.” My head starts throbbing at this point.

“What scar? Who did hurt her? What are you trying to say, Evelyn? You need to calm down first then tell me clearly.” Anna rushes to me to hold me by my shoulders before I fall to the ground.

“What’s going on, girls? What happened to her again? Jesus!” Kate’s eyes get ginormous and instantly filled with concern as she looks towards this way.

“I don’t know Kate, something must’ve happened to Julia, I guess. Eve is freaking out.” Anna takes a glance at Kate before looking down at my pale face.

“Holy Moly! It can’t be true, I mean... we haven’t encountered anything dangerous since she’s got home. Well, you take it easy, Eve! Breathe, okay? You’re not letting that evil syndrome take over you again, right? Take a deep, long breath and stay here. I’m going to check on Jules. Believe it, it’s nothing bad, okay? I’m going now.” Kate hurries across the corridor pulling her glowing blonde hair into a messy bun.

“Anna, did I just overreact? I think I can’t think of witnessing anymore mishaps to my family. She’s the only one left from the family, from that awesome four we’ve been since my birth. I -I am really sorry for giving you guys very hard times every now and then. It’s just, I’m feeling so out of control lately.” As my breaths ease a little, I start mulling over the matter logically.

“It’s totally fine, Eve. You’re going through a lot, more than a person at your age can take without a sweat. You’re not overreacting, you’re doing fine. Everything is fine, okay?” Anna looks into my eyes, “Just you calm down now. Katie will be back any minute.”

Giving her a little nod, I try to calm my mind slowly inhaling and exhaling.

“Um... guys? Did you by any chance, leave the window open last night?” Kate pinches on her lower lip.

“What? No, why? I triple checked it before leaving the room, seriously!” I blurt out in a breath.

“Why do you ask?” Anna looks blank.

“I don’t know, you know I just found a little slit on one side of the window, probably for not being careful enough to close it.” Kate waves off her hands.

“Is it not locked?” my eyes start expanding.

“No, it is... I mean, it is now, I locked it. I just doubt it wasn’t till a while back.”

“It cannot be...” I look shockingly at Anna; she shrugs with unease on her face.

“O wait, did I? did I actually forget to lock the window? Shit! Anna, it’s been unlocked all night. Weren’t you there by the side of the window this morning to hide it from me? Why didn’t you tell me then, so that I could lock it? God! Anna, someone must’ve sneaked in there, there in her room through that Goddam window.” I start panting.

“Remember? Remember I was freaking out a little sensing a movement near the window last night? When we were watching that darn show?”

Anna quivers a bit, opens her mouth to say something, then stops. I turn to Kate, “Did you see that scar on her wrist? Do you think whoever sneaked in, hurt her?” my eyes start brimming.

She puts a hand around my shoulder, pats my arm channeling ease and comfort towards my way, “I did, honey! I saw the scar but I don’t think someone else did it, or maybe someone was there but couldn’t do her any harm whatsoever. It’s okay Eve, she’s alright. I’ve called Doctor Rogers already, he’ll be here soon and if he recommends, we’ll take her to the hospital to run the necessary tests. We won’t leave her alone anymore from now on, we just need to be a bit more careful.” Her face looks gloomy giving off the doubt brewing underneath her own words.

“O God! Hurting a woman who can’t say a word, who can’t even express any bodily feeling? Seriously? How brutal can one be!” my eyes instantly go cold. “Wait, the shadow! That bastard! Is it that serial-killer jerk who did it to her? I will kill him. I swear I’ll shoot the crap out of the bastard as soon as I get him.” Without turning to them, I push to my feet.

“Who? Who’re you doubting, Eve? Tell us.” Kate tips over her feet trying to step forth.

I don’t feel any need or courage to lose anymore minute in explaining them everything. I just want to kill that asshole. “I am so coming for you, Jerk! I’ll kill you.” I mutter.

“O no, Katie! We got to stop her. She’s... she’s going for the wrong person, I guess. God! you’re making a wrong move, Evelyn.” Anna’s voice raises as I keep pacing towards the main gate.

“Anna? You know anything? What are you guys doing? Please, tell me something so that I can understand.” Kate’s words get muffled as I step outside the house before shutting the door behind.

“I AM COMING FOR YOU, YOU FRICKING TED! YOU THOUGHT YOUR DIRTY FETISH OF KILLING PEOPLE WOULDN’T STRIKE ME? WELL, GET READY TO ENJOY YOUR BIG SWEET SLEEP… NOW.” I stroll down the passage while the sharp piece of metal in my hand flickers with sunlight. Panting hard, I tighten the grip on the knife I’ve picked from the SHARPEST collection on my way through the kitchen.

“Evelyn! Evelyn, hold on. I say wait up, listen to me...” Kate’s cracking voice sounds distant.

I do not want to stop at this point. Nobody, nothing... not a single soul can take anyone from my family away from me...not any more. I am not gonna let them to. Without even thinking about halting at Kate’s call, I reach the door of the bloody murderer long before I can realize. My brain throbs at the killer mode I’ve turned on a while before. I grit my teeth at the view of the door, then fisting my fingers into a tight grip, I give in.

“Open the door, Richard Miller! You bloody murderer.” I scream after knuckling on the door hard. No hint or sound of movement reaches my ears first. But before hammering on the door again, a soft footstep inside the house start nearing quickly towards the door.

“Evelyn, listen to me, come back here.” Kate starts running down the passage way.

“Kate, please!” raising the knife a little I almost threat her, “Do not even try to come here right now, it’s not gonna end up well.”

“What! Jesus! I must do something, shit.” Kate hesitates a little before running back to the house.

“Good Morning, Miss Lawrence! You’re looking for anything?” that calm voice does not weaken my knees this time, instead my whole body starts banging like crazy. The madness I’m feeling at this moment is beyond anything I’ve ever felt to date. I look at him with eyes full of hatred, rage and thirst for blood.

“You still have the gut to talk to me! Holy fricking moly! You’re a darn shameless monster.” The veins on my neck pop up with the surge of rage.

“W-what? What are you talking about?” he holds up his hands in defense while giving a side eye to the knife in my hand.

“Guess what! I don’t have any time or energy or... interest in letting you walk through everything you actually walked through in person, you jerk. Just shut up and let me kill you.” A sharp whoosh of air leaves through my nostrils.

“Miss Lawrence, slow down. You are mistaking something here, trust me, I did no such thing to convince you to believe me as a monster.” He looks not a bit worried even NOW! what an audacity!

“Don’t! don’t you even try to distract me with your some monstrously calming