Divide by Zero

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

I stared at the remote in my hands, which had been gifted to me by Zander, and glanced down at the numerous buttons displayed on the small rectangular device. My eyes had honed in on the red button that would activate the built in guns in the wall.

Would I need to use this...?

I had already locked the door behind me, wondering if I should barricade it as well for added security. I didn't know if I should move the makeup vanity that was over by the window, or if I should trust that the door lock would be able to keep someone like Aidan out...

I'll barricade it later before I sleep.

I tossed the remote onto the queen sized bed for the time being.

For the moment, I had been given a quick breather to let me have much needed solitude. It felt as though everything were happening at too fast of a pace, and it was overwhelming me. Bringing a clenched fist up to my left temple, there was a small migraine that was beginning to form.

After a few rotations of driving my knuckles into the affected temple to alleviate some of the pain, I let out a loud exhale before walking over to where the window was. I placed a hand against the cold glass of it, staring out into the dark forest in front of me – the very same forest that I had been lying paralyzed in not even an hour and a half ago.

My eyes wandered over to the dark, heavy red curtains that dangled from the rod installed at the top of the frame. I let my eyes travel downward back to the window sill, taking my hand off of the glass. The window wasn't barred, and it seemed like Zander wasn't at all too concerned about an escape attempt from me.

But...that was fine --

I wasn't going to break his trust...

Yet.

I was going to wait until that shopping trip tomorrow before I would call for help using the medallion hidden underneath my shirt. My hand wandered up to my neck, where my fingers touched the golden chain of it. It reinforced some much needed assurance inside of me that I would make it out of this bleak situation – I still had a trump card that Aidan didn't know about --

There was a knock on the heavy wooden bedroom door. My eyes scanned the remote that I had tossed on the bed a few minutes prior. I quickly took the remote in my hands just as the door opened up to reveal Aidan.

I was absolutely certain that I had locked that door –

Of course he had ways of unlocking it.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before I aimed the remote at him, my finger hovering over the red button threateningly. It didn't need to be spoken, since he and I both knew what this remote was capable of, and who the weapons would be aimed at when I had activated it.

"Vienna," he spoke causally, unable to move his eyes away from mine.

I tensed up at that name that he had called me by.

I swallowed nervously, realizing how dry my throat actually was. The running around outside, being paralyzed, and having a gut-wrenching dinner with him and his brother had severely worn me out. No matter how much my body had wanted to give up, I knew that it would never be an option for me.

I needed to keep fighting-!

"Sleep with me, tonight," he ordered lightly as he readjusted his body to a more comfortable position. The wooden door was now wide open, allowing him to see inside of the room I was in completely. He was also unfortunately blocking the only escape route that I had -- the window excluded.

I didn't lower my guard even with him even now leaning against the door –

Aidan would be able to move quickly at a drop of a figurative freakin' hat.

I clenched my teeth, raising my eyes to lock onto his piercing blue eyes.

A colorful slew of curses were at the tip of my tongue, wanting to be released. I had wanted to tell him off in multiple creative ways. It seemed like back when I had been initially rescued from his captivity the first time, I would spend hours upon hours up in my room making a mental note of each and every one of them. It would always concern Esther since she was always looking out for me and would plead with me to come down for dinner.

Now, though...it seemed like all of those flavorful and also tasteless insults...had escaped me.

"Go to hell," I responded back coldly.

I could see that his hand that had been shot in the dining room was now stitched expertly shut. It looks like the bullet only managed to graze him. He dug his hands into his pajama pants pockets, concealing his injury from me – it was as though he hadn't wanted to admit that he could be hurt and that he wasn't as untouchable as he thought he was.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before he slowly smirked over at me, doing the exact opposite of what my insult was intended to do.

"I mean it," I reinforced. I hadn't liked how his head had tilted as he seemed to think about my words. I knew better than to even think that he would consider my wants or feelings about him – it was all just a tactic to him, and I wouldn't dare to lie to myself that he would be willing to change and be civil. Nevertheless, I continued with my rant: "I don't want anything to do with you."

He let out a mocking sigh at hearing those final words of mine.

It seemed like everything that I told him, either if it was in distaste or anger, would go in one ear and out the other. Once again, I knew better than to think that he would ever be able to grow a heart. Aidan would never take me seriously and that was going to ultimately be his downfall --

I would make sure of it.

"I dislike that color on you," his eyes lingering on my blonde hair.

I narrowed my eyes at him, not taking what he had said to heart. It didn't matter to me whether he approved of my hair color or style. Aidan said before in the dining room that it was a botched hair dye job and I really hoped that it would steer him away from me. I hoped that he would find even more reasons to dislike me...so that in the end he would let me go and drop this crazed obsession he had developed towards me.

His eyes traveled down to my own.

Once again, an uncomfortable tension was developing between the two of us. I didn't know if he was going to finally attempt something or if he was going to continue testing the water...and my patience.

More agonizing seconds had passed with neither of saying a thing.

My finger was now trembling over the remote, practically itching to press a button. I had wanted to be prepared for any unexpected retaliation from his end. This was Aidan, and I didn't forget that he was faster and stronger than me.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't recognize-?"

"Don't pride yourself – you had no idea it was even me in the beginning..." I scathingly spat out at him.

I couldn't help it that I had interrupted him. My eyes narrowed at him, unable to keep my inner spite hidden away, even for false pretenses. He tilted his head to the side slowly, taking in what I had said to him.

Aidan hadn't liked that I had interrupted him – he didn't like that I wasn't bowing down in fear in front of him like I initially had.

I had changed since we were last alone together –

"You are right," he admitted, though I didn't revel in the fact that I was. "I didn't know it was you at first – there was an apparent lack of light in that room," Aidan calmly said.

I was glad that the only thing that saved me in the beginning was the darkly lit room that I and the other teenagers were inside of before the game had started. The way that he played oblivious at the dinner table until we were alone was like a punch to the gut – truly, he still loved to see it when the hope dies in my eyes just as he did before.

I had foolishly believed that I had the upper hand --

"Vienna --

"Arianna," I quickly corrected, getting pulled out of my thoughts at the abysmal name coming from his lips.

Once more I had interrupted him. I hadn't cared much on what he had to say to me. I only needed to last until tomorrow when Zander would take me shopping and I could actually get a signal. Until that time came...I would not break in front of him – I couldn't afford to.

"I will never be Vienna again in my life," I took a step towards him in anger, clenching the only weapon that I had to protect myself tightly in my hand. I wanted to do nothing more than attack him and strike first when he wasn't expecting it – I wanted desperately to push down on the button and activate the guns in the wall.

With the remote in my hands I felt as though I had an actual weapon against him. It made me a little more confident than I generally would feel if I were instead weaponless.

I should still mind my distance with him –

He could lunge at me at any given time.

"Get out of the room before I make you," I threatened him.

I still felt sick and nervous at the fact that he was in front of me – he was in front of me, and I was alone with him. Despite all of this, I had felt like I had the upper hand for once and that he would need to listen to me or otherwise face the consequences --

The consequences of the weapons that would come out of the wall at a second's notice.

He quirked an eyebrow at my threat, but made no movement to leave.

It started to irk me a little that he still wasn't taking me seriously.

That, and it made me a little bit more cautious. The fact that he wasn't retreating away meant that he still had the upper hand somehow. I looked at the man that didn't seem to have any weapons on him – the only thing that he had that could subdue me were his fists.

He had never resorted to violence before with me, and that made me dreadfully wonder --

Why was he so calm-?

I shouldn't underestimate him – this was Aidan.

"Did you really think that you could live a normal life?" Aidan spoke after some elapsed silence. I stared at him, not willing to answer his question. I had just been pulled out of my wandering thoughts, but I wasn't going to answer what might have been a rhetorical question. "What was next for Arianna? Hmm?" He stood up straight, no longer leaning against the door frame.

Compared to the doorframe – he nearly matched it in height. His towering form was enough for me to feel intimidated. I watched as he walked over to me, he once again wasn't making a single expression on his stoic face.

I scrambled to take a step back. The back of my legs had met contact with the foot of the large bed and in seconds he was in front of me with his long strides. I had messed up in forgetting just how quickly he could overtake my position and the distance between us.

"Go to college?" He taunted, his eyes darkening as he continued his long winded speech. I braced myself for his words, but I couldn't deny that they were getting to me. "Have a career? Start a family?" He chuckled sarcastically at even the thought of me living a normal life.

It was as though he couldn't think of an outcome where I existed without him.

I clenched the remote tightly in my hand.

He waited for a few more seconds, leaning towards me as I did the opposite and leaned backwards, more so against the bed.

"Pretend?" He drawled out, not caring if his words stabbed or hurt me directly. His eyes locked onto mine, and I needed to divert my gaze to somewhere else. It was too intense – the stare that he was giving me.

I felt a shiver run down my spine but quickly shook it off.

"Is..." I whispered, before clearing my throat. "Is that so wrong...?" I asked, looking up at him slowly.

I meant for it to come out stronger, but somewhere...the weak girl that he had reigned in appeared despite all my defenses and attempts to appear strong. My bottom lip began to quiver, and it seemed like I was trying to reassure myself rather than argue with him.

I clenched the remote even tighter and then loosened my grip on it a second after.

"Is it so wrong to want a normal life-?"

"Yes," Aidan answered harshly, causing me to flinch. He never once looked away from me, and I could feel my breath begin to hitch at his constant gaze. I didn't like to be wrong – I didn't want to be told that I was in the wrong even if it came from Aidan's mouth. "Do you want to know why?" His hand began to rise up and gripped the bottom of my chin. He tilted my head up ever so slowly, and my eyes locked onto his piercing blue ones. I felt my heart drop into my stomach as a pang of fear hit me. "Your place is with me, Vienna."

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he clenched my chin tighter.

It hadn't hurt...it was a warning.

"Don't argue with me," he ordered lightly.

My throat felt as though it were closing in on itself – that I was incapable of speech or making a single sound, even if it were a squeak or letting out a breath. I closed my mouth, to which he leaned his forehead against mine.

I tensed at the unwanted skin contact with the man.

I seemed to be in a state of shock and let him do what he wanted. My strength had officially left me, and I could do nothing – not even twitch my fingertips.

"You can't go back to a normal life after killing someone..." He trailed ominously. I blinked my eyes, wondering to whom he was talking about. I had killed some of his men in the school before I had been kidnapped here. "Which," he paused, letting his words simmer. "You did, Vienna."

His words hit me harder than any physical attack could.

I closed my eyes tightly.

"That man in the woods..." Aidan remarked, and it hadn't taken me even a second more after he said those words that I had remembered --

I remembered

I remembered that I had shot the man that I had thought was a monster. In my deluded, broken state of mind, I believed that he was nothing but a cold blooded, venomous monster that needed to be annihilated.

It was either him or me --

I did what needed to be done –

I killed him --

"No-!" I broke away from his grip, to which he narrowed his eyes at. My forehead was cold from where his body heat used to be. He examined me and opened his mouth again to say more – to make me feel worse than I already did about my first kill.

I had finally performed the final task into being what that damn woman had wanted me to be. I had become a killer and sealed my fate as her little murderous soldier that was unafraid to take human lives. I had taken them in the school and hadn't even felt that bad about it...why hadn't I-?

Why hadn't I felt bad about it-?

Did...I want to kill more people-?

"N-No!" I pushed him away from me.

I looked down at the bed to see that he was close to acquiring the remote that was hanging loosely in my hands. His hand had traveled along the length of the foot of the bed and was mere inches away from taking it.

He stumbled back a bit and I took a step to the side to gain even more distance, clenching the remote tightly in my hand.

I needed to be more carefulhe nearly got what he wanted.

"That's-!" I began to argue. "That's not my fault-! I...I-I did what I had to do!" I placed my free hand up to my chest. I could feel my rapidly beating heart as fear and despair overwhelmed me. I was silently telling myself to take deep breaths, but my heart wouldn't let me do it. It seemed to be working overtime in an effort to yell and defend myself to Aidan. "You're the one that made me-!"

"Did I...?" Aidan trailed, looking away from the remote in my hands. He let out a small shrug as he raised his hands to his sides in a non-verbal cue to mean that he had innocent intentions. "You killed that man with your own hands – with your own gun," he smirked lightly. I narrowed my eyes at that, shaking my head, wanting to dismiss what I was hearing. "I didn't force you to pull the trigger," he continued to look at me, even pointing an index finger in my direction. "You did that yourself..."

I stared at him in disbelief.

He didn't really think that I would blindly listen to him...?

He didn't really think that I would just accept his words, did he-?

"He was going to kill me-!"

He was going to do much worse to me-!

"Would he have?" Aidan taunted again, interrupting my argument. I couldn't help the tears that began to pool in my eyes. I didn't know if the man would have killed me, maybe I had felt threatened and afraid and used that as enough justification to kill him. "Deep down you know that I would never have allowed that to happen."

I blinked my eyes and successfully evaded releasing tears.

"He..." I shook my head again. "He would have killed Killian, then!" I argued, desperately trying to find a reason. I didn't thirst for bloodshed – I hadn't craved it. I never once wanted to kill a person in my life. I was only defending myself – all those kills were justified.

They were justified.

Aidan crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

I knew that I wasn't in the wrong --

It was all justified.

I knew that I had killed, to not only protect myself, but others as well --

It all had to have been justified.

"That kill – it was justified," I swallowed nervously, speaking my thoughts out loud.

Even in my mind, the reasoning wasn't as solidified as it should have been. I wondered if a year ago, before Aidan walked into my life...if I would have felt the same about killing people.

When had it changed-?

When had...I...changed?

"Soldiers kill people for their country," I looked at him fearlessly, continuing my speech. I was trying to grab justification wherever I could. I didn't kill because I wanted to kill – I wasn't a murderer like he was claiming that I was. "They can return back to their lives-!"

"With a craving for more blood," he interrupted me with his own dark opinion. "Always itching at the corner of their minds," Aidan added with a nonchalant shrug. I stilled at that, my eyes slowly going back to look at his. "They don't ever get over their first kill," he reasoned.

I was silent, not answering him – I-I didn't know what else to say to him.

"Did you?" He asked softly, as he walked over towards me.

I fell backwards on the bed in a state of shock, looking down at the ground. I might have been looking for the answers there – I might have been looking for reassurance and comfort that I would never get from a man like Aidan. His words that I wanted to drown out were ringing a bell and landing very close to home.

"You killed some of my men back at the school..."

I quickly tried to stand back up, but Aidan secured me back to it by placing his hands on my upper arms. He was looking down at me, him standing directly in front of me while I had no choice but to strain my neck to look up at him.

"Did you feel any remorse then...?"

I squirmed, shaking my head back and

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net