Twin Tormentors By RARE

Chapter 63 LEIGH-ARI POV ~~~5 WEEKS LATER~ Sitting at the rooftop on the side of the west wing, | looked up at the naked trees that laid ahead, with leaves shed to the ground and the branches stark naked. The forest which was once so dense was now a small boscage, thanks to the mines that nearly rupturedopen Just the thought of that hadlaughing softly. | tugged on my fleece shawl that was draped over my lap, shieldingfrom the biting cold of the end of November. Winter was finally here, carrying with it the frost that spared none. The little sun in the sky provided the little heat that warmedup, despite the whir of the cold wind.

The past year had been a rollercoaster ride. Once | was just a normal citizen of Cyprus, a good doctor that took pride in saving lives, a friend, and a neighbor. Then suddenly everything went downhill that night | saved a guy, brought him into my apartment, and stitched him back to life. Had I called the police, surely things wouldn't have turned out the way they did.

My life took a turn for the worst since that night, but if | were to be honest, | did not regret even a single thing that has happened. All the unfortunate things that befellsince my arrival in Dark Woods, madethe woman | am today. From being locked in the steam room, to being spanked till I couldn't sit, the sleepless nights where | cried under the blankets and being pointed with a gun at least a few times, | did not regret even a single one of them.

But it was truly sad, having to find out that all your life, you have been living under someone’s watchful eye, without even knowing. It took a gun in my spleen to realize | wasn’t really living my life for myself. | truly wasn’t.

Since that day that the two boys arrived, across the street 20 years ago, | lost the right over my life.

That's right. My memories are back. After waking up from a small coma due to the Splenectomy, | woke up feeling like a new person. | wasn't just Leigh-Ari from post-accident. | was me. And my memories were all back.

From the day my mom left us, to the very first sleepover with the boys, | remembered it all.

| was confused at first because, since the beginning of forever, | wasn’t seeing the faceless figures and pieces that didn’t make a full picture. | had called for a nurse, explained everything to them, and that | needed to do a quick PET scan. After knowing that | was a doctor, they all agreed to the scan and many other tests.

asa When the results cout, it was clear that my hippocampus was healed. It was magical. And my boys, they were withthrough it all and never left my side. | remember when | slipped back to the land of the living, | woke up to find Verzi sleeping on my shoulder, while Enzo was sitting by the bed with my hand in his, his head crushing down my thigh. | had just laughed softly. They never changed. When their eyes opened and saw me, they went wild. | have never seen them so happy. They looked so ragged and tired, and I didn’t blthem. This has been so much for all of us.

One thing | did however was that | didn’t tell them aboutregaining my memories. They just went withto do the scans and had no idea why | was doing them. | had to lie to them and said the scans were related to the surgery, poor them! They believed me! Thank God they weren't doctors and they couldn’t read the scan results. | figured they didn’t have to know | regained my memories back.

| wasn’t trying to be selfish. It wasn’t that. | was just reveling in the feeling of being reconnected to my old self, the youngerwho was so carefree and so happy. | didn’t want t o share that with anyone. Not even the twins, at least not yet.

After that, they had takenback to the castle, insisting that | had to recuperate at home. Verzi hated the hospitals, he grumbled about the scent of the antiseptic and nurses who always told him to move. He was just him! And he cin a full package! “Tesoro.” Enzo’s soft voice called out, | turned my head in my wheelchair and stared at his handsface, then gave him a small smile. “Hey.” He walked towardsand kissed the top of my head, then grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and turned it around.

“You should go inside. You will catch a cold out here.” He informed wheeling my chair towards the entrance where my ramp laid.

“I don’t want to go inside.” | conflicted hitting the stop button on the armrest, slamming the brakes of the electric wheelchair. Technology has never been better! “It’s cold out here.” He called out bewildered, I turned and stared at him.

“I am wearing enough clothes,” | gestured to the heavy woolen sweater | had on, he stayed quiet for a second and nodded, then wheeledback to where he had found me.

“Where's Verzi?” | asked staring out at the forest. The renowned Dark Woods. The ndidn’t seem befitting now. | think they were more like Funny Woods than Dark! “He... uh... He went out...” He said with a bit of a stammer, they were just so bad at lying. | wonder how they managed to deceiveat first.

“I want to see Lorik,” | informed causing his eyes to widen in shock.

“Bullshit! You are not seeing that asshole. Verzi is finishing him off as we speak.” He cursed, ratting himself out.

I arched a brow, causing him to realize what he just blurted out. He covered his mouth with his hands and then turned his broad back on me. | just chuckled and turned my wheelchair using the little joystick. Was it even called that? Joystick? “I'll go by myself,” | announced already heading for the stairs. He crunning afterand then stopped right in front of me.

“You can’t go in there.” He said with a serious face.

“Are you aware that | am tired of you two treatinglike a kid?” I said in a stern voice. His shoulders dropped and his head hung low, | hadn’t meant that to cout too harsh, but it did.

“I mean you can’t go in the wheelchair.” He corrected, | smiled at him and got up to my feet, placing the fleece on the chair.

“I can walk,” | said with a grin.

“No! You aren't walking.” He contradicted and scoopedup bridal style, tearing a small giggle from out of me.

“What are you doing?” | asked as he walked us in the other direction, “I am taking you down there.” He said in a small voice, furrows bundling on his forehead.

“I can walk. | had my spleen removed, not my spinal cord.” | pointed out and he looked down a twith a serious face, and then looked forward continuing with his steady strides.

“I know. But you haven't healed completely.” He said as he began climbing down the stairs.

| placed my head against his shoulder, letting the sound of his heartbeat soothe me. A lot has changed since that incident. Something insidehad shifted. | was still madly in love with the boys, but I didn’t want to be tied down to them anymore. | wanted to be free, to be let out of the cage. And | wasn’t going to let anything stop me.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked in a gentle tone that made a small echo in the creepy stone staircase. | looked up at under chin and then shook my head. 1 “Nothing,” | said instead, “Hmmmm."” He said.

“You sound like Verzi when you say that.” | pointed out causing him to chuckle.

“Do 1?” “Yeah. You too are so much alike, yet so different.” | said placing my hand on his flat chest, heat resonating through his dress shirt..

The walk into the dungeons took almost forever, but soon, we cto that clearing that always made my heart skip fast from how unsettling it was.

The walls were pure stone, doors made with giant iron bars that creaked painfully creating a ghostly sound. The lanterns didn’t make anything better, just made it all worst. While | was busy looking around, my eyes landed on a half-dead body that looked so pale. It was as if it has been drained off every single drop of blood from the veins. The eye bags were so huge, with dark circles marring the under eyes. It was dressed in a thin pair of shorts, and from here, | could see the outline of the skeleton vividly. | have no idea how ghosts look like, but I tell, | was looking at one! The bulky rich guy who had kidnappedand abusedwas now chained on a stool looking so frail and so weak like his soul could depart at any moment.

A shocked gasp left my lips, and Enzo gently placedon my feet.

“You shouldn't in here,” Verzi called out emerging from the shadows, | looked at him for a good second and then shifted my eyes at the very tormented Lorik who was literally hanging by a loose thread. | had no doubt with this one, but the Gream Ripper was already telling him stories of the afterlife. 1 I didn’t reply to Verzi, instead, on the hushed steps, | walked towards Lorik and perched myself on a chair that was in front of him. His chest rose and fell slowly, and that was the only sign that he was still alive.

“I would like to talk to him. In private.” “Oh hell no!” “What the fuck?” The boys yelled, jumping to secure my sides in a split second. They glared daggers at Lorik who just sat there with his head hanging on his shoulders.

“I wouldn't do anything to her even if | wanted.” He slightly raised his hand, cancel that, his arm that had no hand. Coagulated black blood made a coating around the angry wound. A shudder tore out ofat the unnerving sight, making my stomach churn painfully.

| looked up at Verzi and to find him watching me, his face a little sad. It was as if he was waiting forto yell at him for doing what he did. Because | bet my heart this was all his doing.

“I'll be okay. He won't hurt me.” | informed adding a small smile. The sense of relief evidently washed over him, and he gavea small nod in return.

“Are you sure?” Enzo asked from my left. | nodded at him and he leaned down to kiss my forehead, then the two of them left the clearing.

“Call us if anything happens!” | reclined in my seat and took my tassessing Lorik. When | stepped in here, | hadn't fully seen the damage done to his body, but | tell you, he was better off dead. A proud man like him wasn’t going to live in this world looking like this.

He had deep cuts all around his pale body, and the blood from the cuts was uncleaned which made the blood clots mar him all over. The sight wasn’t pleasing to the eye. I looked lower to his feet, to find them... gone. Both of his feet were gone, leaving just a leg-stick. The only limb he had was one left hand, which was missing two fingers. The stench of blood and death was so heavy around him.

“You can laugh. | know that’s what you cin here for.” He spat in a low voice. Instead of doing that, | got up and searched for a clean cloth, then took a bottle of drinking water and wetted the cloth with it.

| walked to him and began scrapping the clots from him. He winced at first, but then relaxed when he realized | wasn’t going to stop.

In silence, | scrapped the disgusting clots off his back, revealing deep wounds that seemed to have been caused by a dagger, or a sharp knife. The wounds were coupled with the angry purple lash marks all over his back. | didn’t even want to begin to imagine what Verzi had looked like when he did all this. | couldn't paint that picture in my mind.

When his back was through, I looked around and spotted a small sink. | went to it and ran the bloodied cloth under cool water, and then got back to work.

We stayed in a long silence, but | could hear he wanted to say something. “Why are you doing this?” He asked when | began cleaning his hands. “I am a doctor,” | replied plainly and focused on his maimed arm.

“Yes, but why?” “If the wound is not treated, it will be inflamed and it won't heal faster. | think you know that.” | said and scrapped the clot that was covering the whole wrist.

He didn’t reply, just letfinish with what | was doing.

“You must be thrilled to seelike this.” He said and then attempted to chuckle, only to cough out violently making his body shake so bad | thought he was going to crumble into a heap of bones. | cradled his body with my hands until the coughing subsided.

“I'am not,” | said refuting him.

“That's because you are stupid.” He said as | helped him lean back to his seat.

“Maybe,” | said softly and went back to work.

“I so want to kill you right now.” He announced, and | smiled. He noticed this and froze, “You are smiling.” “I'am.” | looked up at his sunken face and fuck! This man was on the brink of death.

“Why? | just said | want to kill you.” “Has that ever worked out for you?” | asked with my smile so big, then refocused my attention on the cleaning.

Words seemed to fail him when my words sunk deeper into him.

“You tampered with my dad’s car in an attempt to kill me. I survived. You kidnappedand shot me. | survived.

You can try another method again, | will survive. Throw anything atLorik and I will survive it.” My words shot straight to his heart causing him to shrink even further. | wasn’t trying to make him feel any worse, | was just telling the truth, and the truth will always be bitter.

He didn’t say anything further, and | didn't either. | jeast cleaned his body in silence, and once | was through, | got up and discarded the cloth, then stood a good foot from him. His eyes landed on me, | smiled at him and said: “I forgive you!” And with that, | turned my back and left him there. No matter how malicious he had been to m e, there was no point holding a grudge to a dead man. Hell would deliver the punishment for me.