I knew that Liam was there beside me .
I could feel his hands wrapped around me .
But a part of me felt awfully lonely and scared .
I wanted to call him to wake him up but my voice did not work .
I could hear a voice sobbing at the side of our bed .
A man was sitting behind Liam .
" Look what you did ," he wailed ," Look what you did to your father ."
It was Mr. Dane , my father , he was wearing his favourite green suit . While keeping his gaze on me , he slowly climbed up on our bed .
" You are sleeping with my murderer," he crooned ," My princess , how could you betray me like that ?"
' Get out !,'I wanted to say but my voice did not work .
" We are a family but you are now sharing bed with my killer ," he said ," Do you like how my blood tastes ?"
As he opened his mouth , a red river gushed out drenching my husband. I tried to scream , I tried to wake Liam up now that he was drowning in the blood.
But he would not wake up .
" Isn't it your fault ?," father said ," Isn't it you who turned him into a filthy murderer? "
" My fault, it is my fault," I agreed ," I got you killed , I am in the wrong , please let him live ."
My father started laughing and slowly my husband started laughing too . Even when he was choking on the blood , he could not stop laughing.
" Liam , Liam ?"
When my husband looked at me , his eyes were red like my father's," Come here ," he called me ," Taste it , taste the blood ."
" Liam ?," I felt like ice water was drowing me now .
" Julia , isn't this what you wanted ? ," he asked ," You can have his blood now ."
I screamed in terror as his arms wrapped around me .
" Julia ! Julia , wake up ! Wake up please !"
I could not stop screaming , the terror vibrated me to my bones .
" Blood ! Blood ! There's so much blood !," I shouted .
I could still see it everywhere. I was scared that I would be drowning in a red river .
" Dear lord , oh , Julia , just look at me ," I recognised Liam's voice," I am here ! You are safe !"
I was terrified that he was going to pour blood on my face .
But I could not leave him alone there . Especially when my father was there with us .
" My father will kill us !,"I warned him ," He is going to kill us !"
Liam's strong arms pulled my palms away from my face ," Julia ! Your father can not kill us !," his voice was soft now ," He is dead ."
" But -," I looked around , the room around us was empty of another soul except us .
And Liam....he was wearing a clean white shirt . There was not a drop of blood on him . His eyes were gentle like a calm autumn sky.
I sobbed in relief.
" Does it hurt somewhere?," he himself looked like he was in the verge of sobbing ," Julia, please ,can you tell me what can I do for you now ?"
" Hold me ," I told him between my hiccups. I wanted to inhale his scent to calm my heart down . I wanted to feel him in my arms to bound my to the safety I had under his roof .
He wrapped his arms around me , squeezing my face in his chest ," I will call the doctors in a minute ."
I shook my head ," I just had a bad dream ."
I could feel him shuffling nervously ," Julia ....you were screaming like you were in terrible pain."
" I-I was scared ," I hiccupped ," I am fine now , you are here - s-so I am fine now ."
I knew that my father was dead .
And I did not believe that there was a place called hell where monsters like him could stay .
I knew it but I could still feel his shadows surrounding me .
In my dream , my father was right about one thing . That I was the reason that had pushed my husband to take such an extreme desicion.
If not for me , he would have been alive .
Even if he was slowly killing me and my family , still.....he could have been alive .
Was my peace worth of a person's life ?
Was my peace worth of the blood that now smeared on my husband's hands ?
The questions tormented me . I knew that I did not hold the significance that my husband thought that I did . His pure love made him see me through pink tinted glass.
And I was ashamed of taking advantage of it .
Liam , would not take no for an answer when he cancelled my today's plan .
Even though I was flying out the country tomorrow and had a lot of work , I could not do anything about it .
I had long realised that when it came to my health ,he was stubborn to the point that it was frustrating .
For the first time in months , I spent my morning watching the city wake up with a cup of coffee in my hands .
The city was bustling beyond the glass . The last night's fear seemed stupid now .
After sometime , I felt some movement beside me .
I looked abd found Jasper there .
" You don't look good ," he said ," I don't see how you are going to travel tomorrow "
I put my head on his shoulder," That's okay , besides you will be there ,right ?"
He smiled ," Yeah , without me , you won't be even an inch closer to find the real Mira Palmer."
" How is she ?," I asked ," I mean , what kind of person is she ?"
" Spoiled and had anger issues like any entitled girl from an upper-class family ," the way he said it , it sounded almost endearing .
I frowned . It did not feel like he was cursing her at all .
That was not right.
That was never right .
The way he said it....I was pretty sure that there was more to the story than he was letting on.
" Oh , don't worry , she will be very happy to see you ," he said .
Certainly he was wrong.
I realised that when I had walked into an old room of a nursing house in Yokkaido city , a rather quiet tourist spot at the foot of a mountain.
As soon as Jasper had opened the door , a jar had shattered on the floor.
I flinched back ,taking in the woman who was sitting before me .
She looked like she was in my age or ...a little younger than I was .
She sat on a wheelchair, her face was red in anger .
" Are you that unhappy that I left you ?," Jasper laughed , as he talked he made signs with his hands .
My eyes widened with the realisation as I saw woman make similar hand gestures . A silent conversation followed between them.
" Jasper ?," I asked .
Jasper did not look back at me , he was looking at the woman , along with his voice , his fingers moved signing out the words ," Shasha , this is my sister .. you said that you would like to meet a dancer right ? She can teach you to dance ."
The woman before me started making a lot of angry gestures .
I looked back at my brother , nervously,"What is she saying ?"
" Oh ,she is saying how happy she is to meet you ."
I was pretty sure that Shasha , a. k.a the real Mira Palmer was signing out some curse words .