"Please, don't leave."

Her eyes look tired as she whispers to me. It makes me feel worse, thinking that I am the prime reason behind whatever she had experienced in the past few hours. I have never seen Nicole like this before. The Nicole in front of me has the deport of being immensely petrified, which is so unlikely of her. I never expected her to say those words to me. I have always seen her feisty and confident after I met her now. I remember the only time I saw fear in her eyes was the first time when she faced me a year ago, but even then, she didn't look this bad. I feel guilty knowing that I am the one who is responsible for this state of hers. She looks so vulnerable, lying on the bed, holding my hand.

I give her a tender look as she keeps gazing at me. "I won't."

A pleasing smile appears on her face hearing my words. I gently put her hand back on the bed and walk to her study table to get the chair from it. I put it near the bedside as I sit closer to her. Taking her hand back in mine, I say.

"Sleep Cole, I'll be right by your side." She looks a bit relaxed by now as she returns a smile to me. I watch as her eyes close involuntarily, and she falls asleep. She looks peaceful as she loses herself into a deep slumber, her even breathing channels as a piece of music to my ears. She looks so gorgeous with her eyes closed and a subtle on her face. I have a closer look at her angelic face as she lays there beautifully. I don't understand why, but I automatically lean forward and press my lips to her forehead. What the fuck did you do, Christopher?

"I won't let anything happen to you, Cole. I promise." I mumble to her.

I stretch back on the chair, convinced with the fact that Nicole is safe and sound. I let my eyes close in relief.

I find myself in an unilluminated room. As far as my eyes tour, I see nothing but a stretch of darkness. Not a single thing appears to be visible to me in this pitch-black territory. I try to trail as the sinister darkness surrounding me grows further gloomy. How the hell did I get here? I remember I was with Nicole in her room. Then how did I reach here? The shadiness in the circumference becomes more horrifying as I walk. I instantly strive to run as I feel light-headed. I have to find a way out of this.

All of a sudden, I feel being suffocated. It feels like my throat is getting drier than a freaking desert. I gasp for air as I see darkness engulfing me in its grip. I try hard to breathe as I race to find a way out. What is happening to me? Suddenly I see a ray of light coming from a corner of the room. Without wasting another second, I sprint towards it thinking it as my only hope of getting out of here. But when I reach near it, I am surprised to find that the gleam was radiating out of a mirror. It shines brightly as I try adjusting my eyes to its glow.

I gasp in horror when I look myself in it. A tremendous wave of shock bolts through my body, almost letting me choke when I see myself without a face. My body doesn't appear to be natural. It seems like I am made of sand with a head having no facial features, mostly appearing like a silhouette. How is it possible? This is ridiculous. How am I even seeing myself without eyes? How am I breathing without a nose? What the fuck is wrong with me? I try to touch my face with my trembling hands in miserable panic, but I feel nothing. How the hell is this happening? I shiver in trepidation, looking at my deformed face or more like a non-existent face.

At that very moment, I hear a burst of loud laughter from behind. I turn around to look and see a man emerging from the dark. When he gets closer to me, I get to see him under illumination, coming from the mirror. I am deeply astonished for the second time as I take in his complete figure. I look that the man standing in front of me is no one else but me. He fucking looks like me. What the actual fuck? I narrow my eyes, trying to get a good look at him. He has my original face and my body. I observe him closely and see that he is wearing the same clothes that I usually wear. He lets out an amused laugh at my obvious shocked state. After a moment, he looks at me with his steely grey eyes.

"Wh.... Who are you?" I stutter, fearing the answer he would give me.

He folds his arms and an evil smirk curve upon his lips. "I guess that's my question to ask." His words resonate in my powerful voice. What the hell? Am I talking to myself? Am I hallucinating?

"Okay, let me introduce myself to you first." He continues, "I am Christopher Harris." He brings me back out of my thoughts by saying that.

When I hear that, I literally choke on my spit. "No... that's not possible. I am Christopher." I lash out at him, attempting to sound confident.

He shakes his head disapprovingly. "Tsk tsk.... check yourself in the mirror. Can you even see how you look?" I turn around to look in the mirror as the realization hits me, and again I get encountered with nothing but a muddy figure with no features or face.

"You are being delusional. You think you are Christopher....but I know you are not." He gives me a disgusted look. "Do you even remember anything about yourself after that accident?" He asks viciously.

I fight hard to come up with an answer, but I don't find any proper justification. It's true that I fucking remember nothing. Why am I not able to answer him?

"No matter how much you try, you would never manage to be me." He smirks as he circles me like a predator stalking his prey.

"I am the real Christopher." He yells at me. "I am bloody Christopher Harris and you are nothing but a pathetic little worm who doesn't even know his own identity." His eyes grow darker with every sentence he directs at me.

I am at a loss of words as I keep staring at him in shock.

"You can never become me. You can never become Christopher." He laughs, standing right in front of me. With every second, his laughter grows louder and wilder. I cringe at his harsh claim. I attempt to cover my ears with my hands, desperately trying to stop his laughter echoing.

"No... That's not true." I repeat to myself. "You are lying."

"NO..." I scream hard waking up. My eyes shot open as I realize that I am back in Nicole's room. I find myself still sitting on the same chair. Was I dreaming? I wouldn't call it a dream, It was more like a nightmare. A nightmare which I have been constantly getting after that accident. A nightmare which reminds me of my unfortunate past and doesn't let me fucking sleep. But when did I fall asleep? I instantly touch my face to check if it was really a dream.

"Christopher, are you okay?" Nicole asks me, sitting up on her bed with a concerned tone. I probably woke her up with my scream.

"Yes, I am fine," I reply to her panting heavily as I manage to get back my composure.

"I heard you screaming. Is everything good?" She asks with a worried look on her face.

"Nothing, just a bad dream." I say breathing hard.

I nod at her and move towards the mirror hurriedly to look at myself. I see that I still look normal. So it was actually a dream. Thank god! That was terrible. However, I shouldn't be shocked because this isn't unusual for me. I have been getting such nightmares for the last two years. After that accident, I guess my mind got messed up. I get these kinds of horrifying nightmares every now and then. I should probably consult a psychiatrist. That will be a good idea. When I check back at the mirror, I see myself covered with sweat. It got really bad this time.

For a moment I drift back to the awful incident that happened in my life and forget the presence of Nicole in the room. When I turn around I find her standing right in front of me. I notice that she looks much better than the last night.

"If you want to talk about something... I am here. Okay?" She says, crossing her arms.

I nod at her, and suddenly I remember the events of last night. How Nicole was been attacked and the intruder who broke into her house. The look of horror on her face when I came back. How inconsolably she was crying, holding me. How can I let it slip from my mind? Thinking about that, I say the only thing that comes to my mind at that time.

"You can't live here Nicole." I blurt out.

"What do you mean I can't live here?" She stares at me with confusion.

"I mean it isn't safe for you to stay here," I tell her what exactly I meant.

"Where am I supposed to live then?" She arches an eyebrow at me. I am taken aback by the sudden change in her demeanor. She glares at me with irritation. What happened to her suddenly? Wasn't she saying a second ago that she was here for me?

"I'll arrange a place for you. You can live there and even I will be staying with you. Whatever happened last night wouldn't repeat there. You will be safe there, Nicole." I rush in desperation to convince her.

She looks annoyed by what I said as she says. "What difference will it make? You were living here with me, but you still couldn't do anything."

It feels like a loud slap on my face. I certainly didn't expect that from her. A shade of guilt flashes over my face as I hear her. What did you expect, Christopher? That she would thank you for saving her? To begin with, you were the reason why her life was in danger. She is right; I left her alone last night, which led to the man broking in her house. "I am sorry Nicole, I shouldn't have left you alone in the first place. But I will appoint my men, they would guard the place." I try to persuade her. "I'll make sure you stay safe there."

She stares at me for a moment and then looks away as if it pains her to say the next thing. "You know Christopher, I don't know what you want from me, but from the moment you stepped foot in my life, nothing good has happened."

Her words almost pierce through my heart. My soul aches at her straightforward confession. My whole world seems to be shattered hearing her out. Why do I feel this way? The irony is that I don't even know her, but I still feel like I am having a heartbreak. How funny it is, we aren't even in a relationship and I already feel like she is breaking up with. If this is how a breakup looks like, I swear I don't want to experience the real one. But I have to admit that whatever she said was right. I can't deny the fact that I am the reason behind her suffering. After all, I belong to a fucking mafia community. We are not supposed to lead a normal life. How can I expect that Nicole would be welcoming about my presence in her life? She is a simple girl trying to fulfill her dreams of clean life and on the other hand, I am the soon to be mafia leader with a shitty tainted past. There isn't any match between us, we are more like opposite poles. Then how can I expect her to jump straight into my arms without thinking about the consequences?

"I had been dreading about your arrival for the entire year and now when you came back into my life, I find that surprisingly there are people out there who are trying to kill me." She says mockingly, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears.

I clench my jaw in anger, sensing that I have caused her this pain. How could I do this? Hell! I can't even tell her why I am after her? I can't even tell her what I want from her, can I? The simple answer to her simple question is that I fucking want her. Is she so oblivious to the fact? I realized that I have developed this strange kind of obsession with her over the period of my searching and after meeting her again this obsession has grown to a colossal extent. I have never felt this kind of twinge in my life, ever. I have gained an undeniable attraction towards her that even the thought of leaving her physically pains me. But none of my pain or misery means anything if Nicole isn't happy. I know that my desire for her isn't greater than her safety. So I suck it up and say the thing she wants to hear and which is indeed best for her. "I am sorry Nicole, I promise that I would be gone from your life once I find who were the people behind it."

She looks at me with an unreadable expression and then a shade of sorrow covers her face as if she didn't really mean whatever she said. Of course, I can't leave her without knowing who the hell tried to attack her. I would never be able to live in peace if I found that something has happened to her after I left. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for letting anything happen to Nicole. So I decided to first get my hands on the fucking bastard who tried to kidnap her. If I am the reason for her being is in this mess then I take it as my responsibility to get her out of it too. Once I'll find him, I'll be at ease to let Nicole go. At least I'll have the satisfaction in knowing that Nicole is safe.

"Once I'll find it, I'll be relieved that you are safe. Then I would never show my face to you again," I tell her with desperation and a hint of sadness.

She looks defeated as she says. "But what would I tell Becky? She would be back anytime soon."

"Just make an excuse for her. I am sure you can come up with something." I tell her, running my fingers through my hair in frustration.

She looks out of the window for a brief moment. I see that it's still dark outside. I don't know what she is thinking right now. Maybe she is trying to fight back by dis-acknowledging my proposal, but I wouldn't let her do that. I take that opportunity to move closer to her and cup her small face in my huge steady hands. She turns her face and her bright blue eyes stare through my soul.

"Please Nicole, let me protect you." I say softly.