HER NIGHTMARE

Gaping, Ava watched the man sitting beside her with bewilderment as she couldn't understand what was going on.



They were supposed to be in a furniture house by now but instead, the car was rolled to a stop in a built-in garage, seemingly they were in one of his luxurious penthouses.




“Why are we here now, Zac? I thought I told you about the furniture I need in my room,” Ava grumbled with an eye roll and even glared harder at the man when he didn't say anything but rounded the car and opened the door for her to get off.



“You can't just_” she was going to say something when Zac placed a finger on his plush lips, shushing her.



“Can you not say anything and follow me? Please?” he implored, his eyes clouded with passion.



Ava’s shoulders slumped while she rolled her eyes again and removed his finger from her lips, “I know what you're planning Zac, but at least we could have gone to buy some furniture first. Don't you get it?”



“Fine, we’ll go there after I show you something,” Zac surrendered, drawing her into his arms and kissing her forehead.



Ava grinned and nodded in his arms as they both started for the elevator and went in.



Going up, Ava couldn't help but admire anything around the premises of this grand penthouse, it screamed luxury.




As if that wasn't all, the moment Zac made use of the key card and they both got into the apartment, Ava’s jaw even dropped to the floor.




“Holy wow…” she trailed, her eyes darting around the magnificent house.



The luxury interiors look bright and open. Even though the floor space isn't overly generous, the color palettes that are used for the placement of the furniture are designed in a way that ensures they flow into one another, creating an open feel to the property.



“This is so beautiful, Zac!” Ava exclaimed, her feet gradually leading her to the terrace. Zac only smiled as he followed behind her.



Another ‘wow’ escaped Ava’s mouth, lost in the spectacular views of the surroundings. The place was very spacious, having both a terrace and a balcony.



The place offers maximum comfort, privacy, and an ambiance that defines class.



Turning to face him, “I have never seen a penthouse that is as beautiful as this before, Zac. Did you just get it?” Ava asked, still admiring everything and anything in the duplex.



“Yes…for you,” Zac’s eyes regarded her as he answered her question.



“Excuse me, what?” Ava looked back at his face in a swift motion and feigned innocence, like she'd probably heard wrong.



Chuckling, Zac closed up the distance between them and held her waist with a hand while the other hand went beneath her jaw and stroked all the way to her entire face.



“I bought this place for you, Tinkerbell. I hope you like it,” Zac said calmly, removing some strands around her ear.



However, the woman he was holding had gone frozen in his arms. He glanced at her face and saw how widened her eyes had become, almost touching her hairline.



Her heart had sunk and her body uncontrollably swayed as if she would collapse in the next second.


Her throat suddenly felt heavy and tears blurred her eyes, “Y-You bought t-this place f-for me?” Her voice was low, almost a whisper.


Sighing, Zac shut his eyes and opened them almost immediately, obviously aware of what was more to come.


“Don't even let those tears down, baby. You like it, right? Fine, I'm glad you like it but please, don't cry, Tinkerbell,” he prodded in a breath, his wide palms holding her face.


But it was as if Zac's words even pushed the tears out of their own accord, her tears spilled from her eyes like pearls that had fallen off a string and she even cried out loud, unable to hold it back.


“First, it was ten cars at a time, now it's a magnific duplex penthouse. Tell me, Zac. What have I done to deserve all this greatness? Am I really allowed to enjoy such a luxury?” As she wept, her shoulders trembled violently.


“Look at me, baby,” Zac lifted her chin and made her look into his eyes, “Who said you can't enjoy this luxury, huh? You're Mine, my woman, hence, you're entitled to all of these and more of it, got it?”


Ava even cried the more, squeezing her eyes shut and tightly wrapping her hands around Zac’s waist.


“I love you, Zac. I love you so much, you're so incredible. Ah, you’re just too much,” she gibbered, still holding him tight as though her life depended on it.


A light smile feathered Zac’s lips as he continued stroking her back tenderly, littering kisses all over her forehead.

‘His woman can be so emotional,’

***

The city lights were dazzling. The night looked like daytime under those lights.

Under it was a grinning Ava, strolling down the estate. The street was lightened up with colorful lights which made the town with skyscrapers look even more lively compared to the day.


She halted her steps in track and stood there, her gaze looking up at the huge fifty-something floors.


And suddenly, she felt a prick of insecurity as she could feel herself being watched. She quickly snatched her gaze from her newfound delight and darted her eyes around but no one else was in sight except for her.


Perhaps someone was staring at her from one of the houses. Anyhow, she didn't like the feeling she got from the look so she instantly found her way back to her apartment, smiling all the way, and deduced in her mind that she could never get tired of watching the whole place.

Earlier before Zac finally left, she'd forced him to take a walk around with him which she successfully attained, and during their walk, Zac had announced their weekend date to her, not really a date because Aurora was going to be coming with them.

Ava was thrilled. She'd missed Aurora so much and she was so eager to see her again.

She had also phoned her friends and shared the good news with them and they all promised to be there the next day for dinner.


Breathing out a contented sigh, Ava lay sprawled on the giant bed, her eyes resting on the high ceilings with a lot of luminous tiny chandeliers surrounding it.

She was more than content to lay there and watch them until daybreak. She smiled when her stomach rumbled but she had no appetite, moreover, there was nothing here she could prepare for dinner.

Thus, she will be going to a grocery store from the office tomorrow.

The following morning, a thin beam of early morning light streamed into the room and fell upon her sleeping face. She looked beautiful and peaceful.

Her eyelashes fluttered for some time before she slowly opened her eyes.


Yawning, she stretched her body excitedly and then grabbed her phone. As soon as she double-clicked to wake the screen and saw the time, she sat up with a bounce, and blinked severally before coming to her senses and hurried out of the bed.


“Damn it! How could you have slept for so long, Ava?” she hissed while dashing to the window and opening the heavy light-blocking curtains and the sunlight beamed through the window.


The weather was bright and sunny. It was like the mild days of spring. However, she was in no mood to be amused as she was damn late.


First, her dresses were not here and so was her car. Secondly, she would have to board a taxi and go back to her hostel to get some clothes.


“Jeez!”

It was not as if she hadn't thought about this originally but she'd planned to wake up as early as possible to execute her plans.

*
Ava pulled open her car and got behind the wheels and zoomed out of the premises of the company.

After getting to work a bit late this morning. She was left with no choice than to share the reason behind her lateness with her new friends at work which resulted in her mentioning the new apartment.

As expected, they were so happy for her and insisted they'd be coming over for dinner tonight for the celebration.

Right now, she was heading to a grocery store to get the necessities. Again, she felt the strange feeling of being watched—being trailed.

She glanced at the rearview mirror to confirm her suspicion but there was nothing like that.

Sighing, she shook her head and sped up on the highway.

Two hours later, she was done buying the things she needed to get and as she arranged the stuff in the booth, the feeling of something not being right filled her again and this time it was intense that she swiftly looked at her back, left and right but there was no one watching her.

Taking a long audible sigh, she tossed the rest of the items into the booth carelessly and sprinted into the car.

Ten minutes later, she was back to speeding on the highway as she was most definitely certain now that she was being trailed. Her hands around the steering shook terribly and some balls of sweat were now dwelling on her forehead.


And to her utmost shock, her car was barricaded by a truck when she was about to cut the final route to her destination.


This sudden action nearly caused an accident if she wasn't quick to step on the brakes.


With her heart in her throat, she released a shaky breath and planned to reverse so that she could take another path but another truck was already behind her too.


Ava was now very scared at this moment and the thudding of her heart in her chest was very loud to her ears.


Her eyes darted around her surroundings but it was an eerie quiet place and even though she was stopped by the trucks, she couldn't see anybody in her sight.


Letting out a shaky breath, she pushed the car open and got out of the car to see what was really going on.

But the second she shut the door and stepped out, an outstretched hand from someone behind covered her mouth, rendering her unable to scream for help.

And just as she was about to put up a fight, she was hit directly in the face with a burt of fragrance. Dizzy, she felt her vision blurring and the more she tried to widen her eyes open, the heavier her eyes became.

‘What’s happening to me?’ she tried to ask but the words couldn't get out of her mouth.

The next second, she passed out completely.

——

Ava had no idea how long the dream was but she felt dizzy when her eyes opened into a dark room.

She was in a dark room, a window to the right had some sort of blinding light coming through it.

Startled, she tried to move but she could not and that was when it came to her realization that she was restrained to a chair and her hands were tied behind her back.


“Is anybody out there? Please, I need help here!” she yelled out, terror loud and clear in her tone.


After her words, a shadow came forward and directly walked into the illumination of that light and that was when she saw the person’s face.


At first, she couldn't see the face clearly but as she pushed her eyes to slits and looked again, her eyes opened wide to see clearly.


Terror and fright reverberated through her whole body, “You,” the single word came out shakily from her mouth, filled with surprise.


“Yes, darlin’. It's me. Your nightmare,”