The Traps of Black Swan

Chapter 197 - Drifted To The Darkness

Aaron was clutching the duvet so tight his knuckles had paled, the bulge of the nerves on his forehead and arms were too obvious. He was overwhelmed with furiousness, helplessness, remorse, hurt… and many emotions. 

All he wanted to do was go and crush each one of them who made her go through so much in such a short amount of time.

He was relieved to know she didn't marry Vance Hays and he got her back. But if she had married Vance hays, wouldn't she have saved from all those tortures? He couldn't bear to listen to half of her experience, but she struggled to live every second. 

He felt too selfish for being happy to have her back in his life when she fought each second.

Aarvi's hand reached for Aaron's fist wishing to comfort him seeing him tremble but before she could touch him, she remembered what had happened in the police station and her hand jerked back. 

'Dirty, dirty… I am all dirty… How could I touch him?...' Her tears which had stopped rolling down a long back, again started as though somebody turned the tap on for her tears. 

She got an intense urge to wash, she tried to control her tears but her hands shook violently when the images of the police station continued to fill her mind.

Aaron who was lost in his thoughts due to silence didn't notice her by drowning in his own burning emotions.

Aarvi knew she couldn't control it anymore, else she might scratch her skin else she might have an urge to burn or cut off her skin. She tried to run out of the bed to her bathroom but a hand clutched her and pulled her back on the bed. 

She yanked her hand out of Aaron's hold in a split second and covered herself with the duvet that was on the bed as she crawled back, "Don't, don't touch me… you, you will become dirty..."

Aaron's hand had frozen in the air. Fourteen more! He remembered Shawn telling him about the bracelet and there are fourteen more. They knew seven and didn't know seven more

Without a word, he knew who were five members. Chief of police, a captain, another male, and two female officers.

What did they do to Ava? And who are the other two more?

Prior to that, he needed to calm her down before the memories worsened her panic attack.

"Aarvi." He shifted off his emotions and called her name in his deep voice. His tone wasn't gentle or loving but pressing and firm to get her attention from her thoughts.

He didn't want to unstable her breathing and her significant heartbeat raise might not be able to be handled by her heart. So it was required either she speaks them or doesn't think of those dark memories at all.

Aarvi gazed into his eyes as soon as his voice sounded. Her quivering body slowly started to calm down looking at his eyes which didn't leave her gaze. Their gazes were fixed on each other without averting away. 

Aaron wanted her to collect herself and say what she was feeling unlike running away from it. So he waited without moving his gaze away. He needed her, not her face or body so he didn't need to see anywhere else but her eyes to calm her down.

However, while Aarvi's blurry vision due to tears slowly cleared, the memories she had a second back were replaced with herself. She was little, probably fourteen years old. She was running behind her mother's car who forgot to wait for her to pick her up, as always.

No, Ava or Aarvi, she knew her mother didn't care to pick her up, she was there to pick her younger brother only. Yet Ava never gave up to go behind the car hoping one day they would notice her. 

While running on the corner of the road shouting to stop the car, she tripped and fell on her face with her heavy school bag on her back.

She wanted to cry due to pain, maybe for being ignored by her family but she was too stubborn, she wouldn't cry outside. She controlled her tears but the scrape at her knees was too painful causing a tear to roll down on her cheek startling her.

She wiped her cheek very quickly and clenched her teeth hard. She was about to get up from the road, a handsome teenager kneeled in front of her.

She smiled at him as though nothing happened to her and saw him open his arms and say, "Come to me."

Aarvi tried to remember how the teenager looked but failed. She could only make out those amber eyes. It looked just like Aaron's and the same emotion, hurt. Aarvi pressed her mind to remember more and see the boy's face. 

Ava glanced at her school dress and looked at him, "I dirtied my clothes." She innocently said without showing pain or sadness. She didn't want to spoil his clothes.

The teenager didn't force her but simply said, "But you aren't dirty Cupcake."

Aarvi frowned, who was he? Why did I hug him? Why can't I remember him? Why was he calling me Cupcake? Am I imagining these?

Aaron saw her confused, struggling, frowning deeper. Unsure if she would be fine if he touched her, he called her near him, "Come to me."

Aarvi's lips just moved but nothing sounded, 'Come to me' She started feeling dizzy. The voice in her head or maybe imagination was slightly different from Aaron's but there was some similarity she couldn't identify.

Her head throbbed remembering the teenager asking her to cry if she was in pain when Ava hugged him.

Aarvi was appalled to remember she had cried in some teenager's arms she doesn't even know. She never had cried in front of Zain Kelly, then who is he?

The next thing she knew was her head felt too heavy, everything was going dark around her and she swayed before fainting. She could feel she didn't fall on the bed and Aaron held her before her conscious mind completely drifted to the darkness.