chapter 33: Downtown Memory Lane

Autumn
The fear of mine had already turned true. Lennox Gibian was back in my life. I didn't know what to feel anymore. All I hoped was for Ian to come soon.
Where are you, Ian?
"Argh!" I screamed when Lennox pressed the button again. My entire body shook again.
"I am enjoying this so fucking much." He was sitting in front of me on a chair. His torture was worse than the beating of the whip. I was sitting on the chair, which was on the floor along with me still tied to it.
He had hit me with a whip, the steel rod, and electrocuted me repeatedly.
I was lying in a pool of my own blood. The alkaline taste of the blood was on my lips. I used to kill people and enjoyed seeing their blood. Never have I ever thought, I would be one of the sufferers. The thought of dying came into my mind, but I managed to keep myself alive for Ian.
He told me to trust him. I had to wait for him. He would come to my rescue. He was searching for me and he would reach here soon.
The pain... I had to tolerate it. I needed to stay alive. At least, even if I die, I want to die in Ian's arms.
"No. I am not satisfied with this," said Lennox as he got up and pulled my chair. I coughed as he tightly held my cheeks. "Look at this beautiful��oops... now destroyed face. How does it feel to taste your own blood?"
I tried to say something, but my throat was very dry. This bastard wanted me to starve to death.
"I will give you the pain of getting hurt by your pocket knife. Let's see how you survive, Autumn." He gave an evil smirk.
I saw my pocket knife on his hand. My jeans and top were already covered with blood. Abruptly, he stabbed my left thigh with the knife.
I screeched in pain.
He grabbed my hair roughly, while I cried, and asked, "Didn't you want to kill me? Huh? Where's that confidence?"
I will kill him if I survive.
"You won't survive, my favorite student. The amount of torture you are and will continue to go through is until you decide to die."
After a lot of effort, I managed to let out, "Ian...will come to save me."
Lennox laughed humorously. "Ian? I trained you two. I know him very well. When his precious thing is taken away from him, he loses every inch of his patience. And we know, without patience, he cannot focus on anything. He needs time to think. But for you, he will never take that time to think."
Unfortunately, he was correct. This was what I was afraid of.
God, please do something so that Ian finds me.
"I will keep you here until you decide to die on your own. That scenery will be awesome!" He clapped his hands. He was a psychopath. "I am done for today. See you later, bitch!"
He made me drink some water and then pushed my chair again before going out. My face fell on the ground as I sobbed, "Why is this happening with me? What did I even do to deserve this? Why am I getting punished?"
I hiccuped and continued, "If I can survive from here, Montez, I will assume that you have forgiven me. If I die here, I will see you soon."
I tried to get up with the chair, but the wound in my thigh was extremely painful. I couldn't even move my leg. I was lying flatly on the cold floor. The chair was over my backbone. I screamed to let out all my pain.
Think about happy moments, Autumn. Happy moments. The moments you have with Ian.
"Ian," I closed my eyes as I mumbled his name. "Ian, you are the reason for my happiness. Since childhood, when you kept teasing me, I did find it infuriating but funny as well."
I smiled as I remembered the time when I was ten years old. I was upset after my parents scolded me on the New Year for getting low marks. I was sitting alone in Ian's private garden.
"Hey, stop ruining my garden with your tears!" Ian ran towards me and handed me a tissue.
I looked at him in confusion.
He pouted and told me, "Don't think I am doing this because we are friends. I don't want my garden to become a sea. I hate swimming."
I didn't take the tissue and I continued to cry. He sighed and wiped the tears with the tissue. I was staring at him with my watery eyes.
"Crying makes a person look uglier than before." He mumbled, "Don't cry."
His words somehow calmed me down. I smiled while saying, "So do I look beautiful to you then?"
He thought for a while before answering, "Crying makes you look the ugliest of all. Who will ever find you beautiful if you continue crying over petty things?"
"You are insanely crazy. I hate you!"
I was about to hit him, but he ran away. I ran behind to catch him.
Even through our bickering, somehow Ian never left me alone. When I was upset, he was there for me.
While we were in the training, after I killed Montez and became traumatized, he was the only person who gave me food on time.
That night after I killed Montez, my room was next to Ian's and I had a nightmare.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he barged in the room.
Instantly, I wiped my tears. "Yes, I am okay. What are you doing here?"
"I heard you scream. What's wrong?"
"I just saw a cockroach."
He didn't take my answer. He thought and said, "Okay, I am gonna kill that cockroach because I need to sleep. With your high-pitched voice, I can never get my nice sleep. So, go to sleep while I kill that damn insect."
I didn't argue with him that night. I fell asleep. As I knew Ian was inside the room searching for the non-existent cockroach, it gave me relief. Ian was always there beside me. How could I never notice the perfect human being?
Sometimes, the one we are searching for is next to us. Yet, we decide to use creepy lamps to search for love in the haunted house instead of turning on the damn light. I started feeling dizzy. The pain was getting worse than before, but I had to get a grip on myself.
Ian will come soon. He definitely will. Maybe he is already on his way.
My vision got darker as I mumbled, "Where are you, Ian?"