His eyes gave me the glimmer of light he used to give. However, his gaze began to dim. He endured the pain of his badly injured stomach.
My eyes were watering withstand the pain that shook my body to the spine.
Two men were holding blows that were already covered in blood. I believed they were the ones who tormented Barra.
"No, please no!" My screams sounded so raw as the two men swung their punches again, making Barra vomited blood.
Jake and Ronald endured their tantrums, trying to untie the binding ropes, sadly no one was able to. The ropes was so strong.
Haytham walked closer to me then lifted my chin up, "Take a look." He smiled, "How do you feel when you see someone you love getting hurt?"
I really didn't know what that means. His eyes reddened, he raised my face so I could stare into his sharp eyes.
I tried to read his expression. He got hurt. It was clear that something had hurt him and it really stabbed me knowing that all this time he had a hidden wound.
"Look at him, Jazzlin!" His screaming made me cry loudly. The sound of punches continued to be heard plus a groan that made my chest tighten even more.
"Stop it!" Ronald shouted. He pleaded with his voice starting to hoarse.
"I'll kill all of you." Jake threatened but all he got was a punch.
"Jake! Damn, you all." Ronald tried to untie the rope in his hands but the results were staying the same. Jake flew from his position with a bruise hitting his forehead.
I cried in fear. It was a nightmare for me as I heard Barra kept asking Haytham to let me go but this man was so vile.
Haytham laughed fiercely again before grabbing my shoulders. I screamed in pain.
"Let her go, motherfucker!" Barra shouted but his screams got him beaten again.
"This is my happiest day. I'm so satisfied to see you hurt." His laughter was full of arrogance.
"I know what you are after is me." He stopped laughing when my speech came out of my mouth. He also raised his hand to stop his men, "So I beg you not to hurt those who don't know about this." Tears flowed even more profusely, "Tell me what makes you hate me."
He grabbed my hair to make Barra even more angry, he tried to fight back but almost all parts of his body were tied up.
"This is what I hate the most about you. You act holy even though you are the most savage criminal."
What the hell he meant?! Jazzlin as a criminal?
"You are nothing but a murderer." He lowered his head with a smile he was hiding, "You're just a murderer." He sounded frustrated after the words he blurted out, "And the Ainsleys are just a stupid toys for protecting you."
Quiet atmosphere. Nobody made a sound, all seemed to be listening to every word that came out of his mouth.
"Do you know how painful it is when the person you love the most got killed?"
The question really made my mind aware. I got a kind of hurt feeling and it confused me more. I realized one thing. He had never lost someone he loved all this time apart, Janielle. My-old-self.
"How could you be so heartless and kill an innocent pretty girl?" He endured the pain with his trembling voice. Not a word could come out of my mouth.
I understood what he meant as soon as my chest puffed. Jazzlin was the one who hit me that day.
"Y'all don't know, right? This woman in disguise has the heart to kill the person I love the most without the slightest responsibility!" He said as he flew his fist into the air right at me. I froze when his fist missed from my face.
I turned my head towards Barra, the man's eyes avoiding my direct contact. He lowered his head like he was trying to disgest all. I guess he felt as if he had been struck by lightning at the news.
Jazzlin's memory flashed, Barra didn't know about all this.
And yeah ... this all had to do with the agreement letter between Mr. Sumedh and Jeremy Ozza. Slowly my memory was enlightened, but for that one there was still no answer.
Ronald and Jake stared at me in disbelief, until Ronald opened his mouth, "Are you trying to accuse Jazzlin of being the murderer in that poor girl's accident?"
Haytham choked his neck until he coughed, "I'm not accusing, but it is a fact."
"Impossible!" Ronald tried to say between his breaths, "You're a bad liar."
I was just waiting for Barra to open his mouth to defend me too, but he just kept quiet since earlier.
He would hate me. He would hate me. He would hate me.
My mind was messed up. I was not sure about all this either. But, it was true ... I was reborn as someone who had killed me.
"I want justice!" Haytham released Ronald, who was now having trouble breathing, "I want you to throw this bitch to jail!" He said as he drew closer to Barra, "Why are you silent? Wow, don't tell me she didn't tell you about this, huh?"
Barra raised his head with his eyes already sharpened at the man. My chest hurts realizing that Barra was disappointed in me. His face was so tense as his hands clenched into fists.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"So that you stop helping that woman? You know, when you keep helping her, you're the one who's always affected by incidents like this." He chuckled, "Look around you ... your men ... they're all hurt just for the sake of that bitch over there that you keep protecting."
My heart was hurt when Barra didn't even scold Haytham for calling me that. Instead, he bowed limply.
"Is it true?" His hazel eyes looked at me. He needed a direct statement from me. I knew he hoped that I would say I was not the culprit.
It was just, I couldn't lie. I didn't want to.
"He's right." I looked down, "I was the one who hit that girl." My tears slowly dripping.
He sighed sharply.
"But, you need to-"
"Shushh, don't." He stopped me as took off his eyes from me, "I don't wanna hear anything from you anymore." He got hurt because of me.
Haytham was so satisfied with all this, he clapped his hands and then approached me again, "Your boyfriend just dumped you. Should I make a celebration for this?" He smirked, then wiped my tears, "Save your tears for later ... for a bigger thing that will hurt you soon."
"You bastard monster!" I yelled.
"At least I'm not a killer tho." He pulled me out of the room. I kept screaming but, Barra acted like I didn't exist. He was pensive in the same position. Ronald did not move, and Jake was still trying to revive Barra to help me immediately.
Seeing people who used to care for me became strangers was so painful. He didn't even care anymore if I was in danger or not.
I stopped my crying, maybe if I told Haytham really, he would be caught off guard.
"You said you loved that girl, then why didn't you tell her?"
He was silent for a moment before finally going berserk and choking me, then pushing me until my back body felt the cold wall.
"Don't mention her again! You murderer." His eyes stared at me as if they were ready to kill me.
I felt like I was possessed by something strength because I boldly replied, "You never told her that you loved her." My statement made him glare even more and tightened his grip.
"Don't pretend to know. You don't know anythingabout me." I started to have a hard time breathing as his face drew closer.
"Because, I- know!" I tried to say again.
Slowly his grip loosened and my mouth didn't have any brakes so, I said something that made his eyes widen.
"I know who you were! You were a smart boy in class. You had lots of fans. People admired you but you only had two best friends, Janielle and little Alia! You liked to force Janielle to read even though that girl didn't even like it in the first place! She hated everything that had to do with school."
I took one step forward, "You've been adopted since the age of seventeen from the orphanage, and since then every morning you kept visiting the two girls and even bought Alia lots of chocolates! " I stopped trying to breathe.
I thought he would believe what I said next, but what he said made me shudder even more, "Did you hire spies to find out about my old life?" His face was filled with more and more emotion.
"What?" I whispered, "I didn't!" What the hell! Jazzlin didn't even know about me and Haytham, right? Her life was too different from mine and Haytham's old life. So, why should she send a spies to spy on us?!
"Yes, you did that! You're so despicable that you even used Alia to knock me down!" His voice grew louder and filled the silence of the hallway.
"I'm not! Because, I'm her. Your best friend, Janielle Mckeen."