Yes, Master

Ch 42: True self

Dramatic gif alert 😉

Lara

In that moment, it seemed impossible for my heart to find a steady beat.. My reflexes refused to let me turn around, yet my brain screamed for answers on how and why I ended up down there. I kept repeating in my head, regretting the very moment I stepped foot down those stairs, but at that point, there didn't seem to be any kind of solution other than me having to deal with all the consequences from my own actions.

It was unbelievable how numb my body felt in that moment.. It was like a part of me knew who was standing behind me, but my brain just refused to admit.. Millions of tremors ran underneath my skin by the time I found some courage to turn around.

And in that moment, it felt almost as if my heart found partly peace, partly even bigger dread by the picture I was met with.

"Xander?"

  Was I dreaming? Was it just another nightmare of him standing there across from me? He was dressed the same way as before that night, so was it possible that it was real? This picture of him standing tall and straight in the middle of the narrow hallway, standing there in the dark basement only dimly illuminated by the lanterns on the brick walls..

"You shouldn't be here, Lara." His voice echoed the same way as mine, loud and deep yet slightly mixed by muted voices.. A muted scream.

  My whole soul was shaking, even though I stood still.. Even though I was feeling more confusion than I did anger.. And yet even in that situation, his voice soothed me..

  I took a small step back and frowned at yet another muted scream that was heard. "What is this place?"

"It's a place that you aren't supposed to be at." He took a few steps towards me, and I took a few small back.. He seemed surprised by my instincts to get away from him, stopping frozen on his spot with some kind of a frustration reflected on his face.. Anger even. "I told you not to leave the room. How did you find me?"

"I don't know.." Did I sense his presence? Or was it the mystery door that took my attention? Either way, he had no right to do what he did next..

Within just a split second, with that super speed I could never manage to understand, he rushed towards me and the next thing I knew, I blinked my eyes open just to find myself up the stairs and outside the basement, completely lost on how it was even possible for him to act so impulsively in moments like that.. I deserved answers. I did.

He left me alone on that tree house.. Did he seriously expect me to stay put and wait for him to come back? No damn way that was happening.. And once I was there, seeing and hearing all of those things, confused to the core.. Christ, I deserved the truth at least.. Instead, he got me outside and acted like it was me that was the crazy one.

He shadowed over me, standing tall like a building and not even flinching when I tried peeking towards the door again, wanting to move his arm that still held me still.

"Wait, stop," It seemed like a moment of giving up and letting it go when I took a small step back, looking up at him and in that very moment finally realizing that no, what was going on was not a dream. It was pretty much reality. It just barely felt like it. "What the hell is that place?"

"It's the basement of the house." And that straight answer seemed to somewhat flame the anger inside me.

"I know that. What were you doing there?"