Chapter 7 The Devil You Know

Zara's Point of View

“Are you sure you're fine?” Marcus spoke again after noticing that I'd blanked out.

“Don't I sound fine?”

I retorted even though the truth was glaring.

“You haven't said anything about my report. This is so unlike you. Do you have any questions?” he prompted.

He didn't stop putting the pressure on me.

Dude is so spot on. He knows I'm quite inquisitive. I don't bow out of any situation without putting up an impressive fight.

Unfortunately, this looks like an exception. I might as well need more than just words to be convinced that Esther was the secret villain I never thought existed.

“Are you really certain about this?” I asked with a bit of uncertainty.

“No offence to your information, though,” I had to plead with him to avoid getting on his nerves.

“I mean, you might want to start questioning the authenticity of your source. I'm willing to give you a couple of days to have this sorted out,” I buttressed.

“Have I ever lied to you before?” What a way for Marcus to get me off guard!

For the third consecutive time, my head is blank.

This wasn't the plan. I am sure I am smarter than this version of Zara.

“I'm sorry. It's just that…” I stuttered like a criminal caught in the act. I can't complete a single sentence to save my life.

Adding stuttering to my list of weaknesses wasn't what I envisioned.

“You know what? Can we do this some other time? I am not in the right frame of mind to speak right now,” I pleaded with Marcus to hang up the phone.

“There you go again.”

He fumed.

From the tone of his voice, I can imagine the frustration on his face.

“I don't understand what you are talking about. I just need a break,” I lied.

That was the lamest excuse ever. Even a five-year-old could tell that I was lying.

Running away from the truth. How long can you keep up with this?” Marcus berated me as though he were my biological father.

I stayed on the phone and listened to the horrible things he said about me. I sealed my lips as though I were hypnotized.

“This isn't you, Zara. What have they done to you?” Marcus's tone trailed off after yelling at me for several minutes.

I ended the call abruptly. Marcus and I had barely met, and he had successfully analyzed me like a course at the university.

I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing now. This is what I've always wished for. Finding out the real truth about my bloody past.

Perhaps Marcus was right about me being a coward, even though he may not have openly admitted it to my face.

Tears drooled down my chin as Marcus's voice played in my head. “Esther Kane signed it.”

“Esther Kane? How on earth did we get here?” I wept like a pathetic widow.

I had no mirror to see my reflection, but I could swear that my eyes had swollen and were reddish, though I had just been stung by a bee.

Marcus's discovery leaves me with so many unanswered questions.

Should it turn out to be true, it equally means I was wrong for ranting at Ethan.

For three years, I hated the wrong person, believing he intentionally ruined my career.

“But why didn't he speak up? Why did he choose to protect Esther?” I asked myself repeatedly.

A few minutes after I popped the question, I just realized that I sounded like a broken record.

Ethan is in the right position to answer the question, and I never realized that.

I wiped off my tears and struggled to get off the bed.

I tried to force myself to walk but ended up on the ground, crawling like a kid practicing his first step.

“Ouch!” I cried in agony. I cried to the point where I exhausted all my tears.

What I had left was blood stored in my eyelids, ready to rain cats and dogs should I attempt to stress the leg further.

I kicked against calling Ethan over the phone. From the way I spoke to him a while ago, I doubted he'd have anything to do with me anymore.

He was ready for peace talks. I saw a man who wanted to make amends for the past. And me? I wanted war and revenge.

I thought yelling and kicking him out would make me feel better.

I was wrong!

I had no idea that I was shooting myself in the foot.

“Somebody help me,” I cried, my eyes out while still on the ground.

I could barely return to my sickbed or crawl to the exit door.

No one came to my rescue. Not even Miller, Tasha, or Dave

Conspiracy!

That's what I think this whole thing is about right now.

They all can't be unavailable at the same time. Perhaps they intentionally stayed away to make me learn the hard way.

I was slowly giving up on getting help; hence, I stopped screaming.

I am now focused on becoming my hero in the movie.

Just when I thought all hope was gone, I heard the door creak open.

Tension sets in.

Suspense sets in as no one showed up.

Not even a trace of a shadow for me to believe that a soul is loitering around the corner.

“Who's there?” I asked in a placating tone.

I try so hard not to get scared. I've seen situations like this in movies. And the end? It was disastrous.

“Ethan, is that you?” I guessed.

That's the closest name my head could fathom right now.

Regardless of what played out between us, I don't see him abandoning me for too long.

No word from anyone. Not even the heartbeat from miles away.

At this point, I am beginning to believe it is a Déjà Vu of the last horror movie I watched.

I used to believe the concept of ghosts existing is a myth.

But right now, I'm beginning to have a different thought.

I didn't get my eyes off the door for a second when it opened. But somehow, someone is in my ward.

Blackout!

The lights in my ward suddenly went off like a stage performance.

“Please reveal yourself. Don't hurt me,” I begged as though my life depended on it.

I can see my life slowly slipping away from my eyes, and I can't do anything about it.