Hellish: Chapter 8

Ivy

Ayan was lying passed out on the bathroom floor. My chest was panting because of the adrenaline filled in me from the encounter. The lamp was still in my hand.

Ty ran out of the bathroom. I was confused but I didn't have time to question him. Sammy knelt down to get Ayan up.

"Ivy hurry, please. Help me get him up. Let's carry him to the bed." Sammy pleaded.

"Yes, you grab his left hand." I agreed and rushed towards Ayan's limp body. I kept the lamp on the floor, I rushed and carefully rested his right arm over my shoulder. That muscled arm was so heavy. Oh, so muscled.

I snapped out of my thoughts, "Sammy he is heavy, come on hurry up and get up on 3." I was going to fall but I balanced myself.

"1....2....3," Sammy counted and we both rose to our feet and stumbled a bit but we balanced Ayan's limp body over our shoulders.

I was very careful with the burn on his shoulder. I didn't want to cause more pain. We walked over the carpeted floor and dragged our feet and his body on our shoulders, all his body weight resting there. We carefully lay his body on the bed.

I have come to the realisation that whenever Ayan or I get attacked by Salvatore, whenever we are near each other, we manage to get each other's heartbeats and body temperatures warm. I still put a blanket on top of him. Sammy sat on the other side of the bed, and I dragged a chair and sat on it near the bed, just beside Ayan.

"Sammy...." I broke down, "I am so scared."

I lost all the control I held over my emotions, and I started sobbing. Head in my hands, I broke down and started crying. I was feeling terrified of the man who is definitely not even a human. Ayan was up, happy and cheerful, asking me to have breakfast with him, not less than 15 minutes ago and now he was lying unconscious on his bed. He stayed in my room all night to be there for me, I didn't have the decency to go with him and protect him.

"This is all my fault Sammy." I continued without letting Sammy to speak, "I shouldn't have left him alone,"

"Come on Ivy, Ayan will be okay. He is just unconscious." Sammy consoled me.

"I got Aloe Vera cubes and water for Ayan," Ty entered the room with stuff to treat Ayan.

"Good, give it here," I sniffled through my tears and got up to take the paraphernalia from Ty.

"Liv, oh why are you crying honey," Ty rubbed my back and gave me the contents he had in his hands.

I wiped my nose with the back of my palm, through my tears. I sprinkled some water on Ayan's face and sniffled some more. I could not stop crying, but I had to help him.

"Ivy he will be okay. Come on Ty help me out here man." Sammy couldn't see me crying.

Ty's face showed so much sympathy, "Oh Livvy that's why you're crying. Awww...come on Livvy he is made of so much more. He has a lot of fight left in him. He will be okay. I promise baby."

I continued to sniffle and handed the water to Sammy, to see if he could get him to get up, "Sammy he is not getting up." I managed to get words in between my sobs but I was trying, "P..please. M...make him g..get up. I am b...begging you. Ty....."

I broke down and hugged Ty who was standing beside my chair. I hugged his waist, his hands were hugging my back and my head rested on his stomach and my hands were wrapped around his waist. The adrenaline high had gone and I was left terrified. I was so scared for Ayan but I was also dreading Salvatore and his presence. He was haunting every part of the day. I couldn't deal with it anymore. Seeing Ayan unconscious after he slept on the floor all night with me, made my heart break.

"Oh Livvy, it's okay." Ty kept consoling me, "He will be okay."

"Ivy this wasn't your fault. You don't have to blame yourself for this. Please don't cry. He will wake up." Sammy kept trying to get Ayan to wake up.

I let go of Sammy and turned to face Ayan. I took his hand and put it on my lap. I started gently stroking his palm with my thumb. It helped me relax too somehow. It gave me a sense of calm in a way. I felt like I was helping.

I kept his hand on my lap and I took an aloe vera cube, and started to rub it on his shoulder so that when he wakes up, it won't hurt as much. I kept rubbing it on his shoulder in circular motions.

Sammy sprinkled some more water on Ayan's face, and he blinked with his eyes closed. I immediately halted my every move. Ty who was rubbing my shoulder gently also halted his motions and stood still.

"Was it just me who saw that?" Ty questioned.

"Um...no I actually saw it too, Ty." Sammy confirmed, "Oh thank God." He started to gently shake his body trying to wake him up, "Ayan, come on, you're okay. Get up please." He continued to very gently shake him, so he didn't get startled.

I started to rub his palms with my thumb repeating the earlier motion. I whispered ever so softly hoping only he would hear it, even though he wouldn't be able to because of the distance, "Ayan....please wake up."

"Hmm....Sammy," Ayan murmured very softly.

"Yes yes.... Ayan, I'm here, you're okay." Sammy consoled Ayan.

"Oh, Thank God!" I breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to hug Ty. He gave me the most reassuring hug and I couldn't be more thankful for his presence right now. Without him, I would have already lost my sanity.

"Ayan, you should rest," I addressed Ayan even though I wasn't sure he could hear me, but I wanted to speak to him, "If your shoulder starts to burn, let me know. I'm here only." I started to rub his palm assuring him again, "I can rub aloe cubes on your shoulder."

As soon as I finished that sentence, he changed his position. He went from lying on his back to lying on his side, with his face facing me and Ty. He withdrew his hand from my lap as well and rested it on the pillow to support his head.

"I think we should let him rest now that we know he is going to be okay.' Sammy announced, "Ty and I already had breakfast because both you of were sleeping and we were really hungry."

"Yeah, Sorry about that Liv," Ty apologised even though I knew he wasn't sorry for eating, "We didn't want to wake you both after the night and my stomach was making all kinds of strange noises."

Sammy continued, " Ivy you should go have breakfast, it is on the table, Ty you go help her and make sure she eats well. I'll stay here till then with Ayan. Don't feel guilty Ivy. It wasn't your fault. For now, forget all of that and get something to eat. Please."

I didn't have to argue with him. I just agreed, "Yes. Okay. Thank you, Sammy." Ty and I got up and we walked towards the door, and I turned back from the door to face Sammy before leaving the room, "Sammy."

Sammy questioned, "Yes?"

"Thank you...yk for everything. Just....take care of him please." I thanked Sammy. I was very grateful for what he did for Ayan and me. I didn't have to ask him to take care of Ayan. He was Sammy's best friend, and I just came along 2 days ago. I didn't want to tell him what to do. I was just out of words to say anything, so I said whatever came to mind. I know for a fact Sammy will take more care of Ayan than I might. But I just said that without thinking, because I was that worried for Ayan.

I shut the door behind me on the way out, out of habit but I realised I should leave the door open just in case. So, I turned back, while Ty descended the stairs. I walked over to the door, but it wasn't a long walk back as Ayan's room was the closest to the stairs. I walked and reached out my hand to open the door when the doorknob turned on its own and the door opened with my palm on the doorknob, but I had made no further movement.

I saw Sammy's face when the door opened. He was as surprised as me, but he realised my palm was on the doorknob and questioned, "Uhh..did you forget anything in here or do you need anything?"

"Oh no, no, I was just thinking of not shutting the door of the room you know. I just shut it out of habit on my way out."

"Yeah, I get it. You know just in case." "Just in case," Sammy and I spoke at the same time.

We smiled at each other at the coincidence, and he stepped away from the door and I realised my hand was still gripping the doorknob, so I let go.

"Yeah, I'll just umm..." I took my hand away from the doorknob and let it rest beside me making the gesture.

"Yeah," Sammy watched my awkward gesture, "Don't worry about Ayan Ivy. Just go and eat first."

I nodded in response and walked away from the door to descend the stairs and I saw Ty waiting on the fourth step for me to finish the conversation with Sammy having heard everything. He wrapped his arm around me, resting it on my neck and we walked together down the flights of steps, reaching the enormous dining table of the house.

"Feast here Ivy. Damn I cannot tell you how much food this man had prepared by the cook. I mean the variety is just Oh My God." Ty was adoring the food that was neatly kept on the table.

He wasn't wrong. There were so many dishes for breakfast it was pretty much like a complimentary breakfast buffet a 5-star hotel would provide. There were 4 jugs, each filled with 4 different coloured liquids. They were 4 juices I presumed for breakfast. There was orange juice, apple juice, carrot juice and some green juice which looked extremely disgusting.

Ty noticed the look on my face when I saw the juice and he explained, "Yeah that's kale juice, Sammy drinks it every morning apparently and he carries some of it to school too, so he sips on that weird green drink till lunch."

"Oh ummm.... that is.... healthy." I was out of words at this point.

Ty just laughed at my choice of words. He let out the chuckle and he pulled out a chair for me and to sit on. There was an empty plate in front of me and there was a half-filled plate beside me, where he sat.

"This is my plate only. I couldn't finish breakfast before the incident happened." Ty clarified.

"I see. Finish your breakfast now. And I don't think the incident is the reason you haven't finished your breakfast yet. I think it's because of the sheer quantity of food you have filled your plate with." I looked at Ty's plate which had half eaten bacon strips, Omelettes, slices of toast, all beside a big glass of apple juice.

"You asked him to make apple juice for you didn't you. Oh my God Ty, he literally had 4 juices made for us. Come on. Don't overstay your welcome." I was shocked at how Ty could not go one day without hi precious apple juice for breakfast.

"Livvy, he came to my room and asked me what juice I wanted. And believe me I said I would drink whatever juice he would be drinking, so he said...." He paused midway to stuff his mouth with some bacon, "I ab habin kabe juice." He continued with food in his mouth.

"Okay you know what, never mind. Finish your breakfast first." I was desperate to end this conversation.

"Okay," Ty proceeded to stuff his mouth with more of the bacon.

I flipped the plate in front of me, to fill it with food. I looked at the table to see what food was there. There were tall containers of different types of cereals, a tall jar of milk, and bacon strips were cooked, but Ty was busy devouring the last of them. There were a few omelettes, pancakes and croissants but none of them were vegetarian options except the toast and butter. So, I flipped the plate back down and took a bowl from the table, poured some cornflakes from the container and added a teaspoon of sugar kept on the table. I poured some milk on it and gave it a mix and tried to eat in silence when all I could hear was Ty's mouth devouring food like he hadn't eaten in days. I poured some orange juice in my glass and took a bite of my breakfast.

I wasn't really hungry. I was just worried about Ayan and I could not bring myself to eat a lot. Luckily Ty understood I was in no mood to talk about anything right now, so he just focused on his breakfast and we ate in amiable silence.

After I had finished my breakfast, I went to load the dishes in the dishwasher, and then I walked over to the fridge to grab a few aloe ice cubes. I took them and wrapped them in a clean piece of cloth and walked upstairs to see how Ayan was doing. I walked up the stairs, and walked in the open door, to see Ayan up on the bed, resting. His back taking the support of the backrest of the bed and he was reading a book, while Sammy was sleeping beside him. He saw me walk in the room and smiled at me while putting the book down.

"Hi."

"Hi. How do you feel?"

"Better, I guess. Sammy fell asleep and he looked tired too for some reason. He fell asleep and I woke up."

"Ahh...well he did fall down while trying to break the door down."

"Wait really!? How come?"

"You forget all that, how is your shoulder? I brought aloe cubes."

"Oh yeah, it is hurting just a little bit," He pinches his fingers together and gestures like a child. "Thank you, Ivy. For saving me again."

"Oh, shut up. Like you didn't save me from him yesterday. You would do the same thing if you were in my position. So, let's skip the thank you's in the future...." I just realised my mistake there and before I could say anything, he spoke.

"We'll be alright Ivy." He extends his hands and holds mine in his, in a reassuring manner. It really helped calm me down.

"Uh huh." I nod trying to hold back my tears. I give him the cubes before they melt so he can ease the pain.

"Thank you. Or should I save this also for the future." He joked with me. He let out a deep chuckle and hung his head, letting the laugh out, for a couple seconds, making his Adam's apple vibrate. Damn he has a nice laugh.

I gripped a pillow beside him that he wasn't using. I picked it up and threw it on his face. I smiled in victory. "You know it's nothing to joke about. Ayan please."

"Ouch.... okay Geez," He started rubbing his skin, where the pillow hit, "I'm starting to get tired of you throwing pillows at my face."

"Well then stop pissing me off." I raised my hand to swat his arm. But he caught it and held my hand over his face.

I looked at his Hazel eyes. They were so beautiful. I could sink and drown and die in those eyes. His face was so chiselled, the strong jaw, almond shaped eyes, cherry lips so fine. His gaze was fixed upon me and I was adoring his face, that looked so.... perfect. It was carved by God, whoever made his face and body, spent a good amount of time making it.

His gaze was deep in my eyes and his lips were slightly parted. I just wanted to get a little close. Get a better look. His grip on my arm was not hard, just enough force was used to stop my hand from touching that bicep, which if I could, I would grip those biceps and then eventually run my hands through those brown locks. I could then let them slip down and grab the back of the neck. Oh My God.

I need to stop fantasising about this man. I need to get my emotions in control. I am just feeling very vulnerable because of all the events that have happened in the past two days. Yes. That is precisely the reason. I need to get my emotions in check. But how can I when this extremely gorgeous man is gripping my arm and gazing into my eyes from the past 1 minute.

"Ahem..." There was a loud knock on the door and Ty was standing at the door, looking at this scene that was happening on Ayan's bed. The knock even woke Sammy up. He jerked his body up and murmured, "Um...what? All good bro?" He looked at Ayan and Ty walked in the door, sitting on the foot of the bed.

Ayan smiled at Sammy and assured him, "Yeah Sammy you just fell asleep somehow and woke me up. Everything is good. If you wanna go back to bed you can."

"Oh no, no. What time is it?" Sammy asked.

"It's almost 12. Liv, we should get going," Ty answered,

"Oh. Yes um...we really should get going. Lemme grab my stuff from the room. You guys will be okay right?" I looked in Ayan's direction.

Ayan smiled the most comforting smile," Yes Ivy. Don't worry so much. I'll see you in school. If anything happens, inform us straight away. We'll do the same. Yes Sammy?"

"Yes of course. Ivy and Ty, you're both always welcome here." Sammy replied.

"Thank you so much...both of you. I cannot thank you enough," I bent to hug Ayan.

I wrapped my arm around his neck, He was smelling of leather and earth. I took a deep whiff of the smell and smiled to myself. We both stayed like that for a couple of seconds when Ty interrupted, "Ivy, come on, we'll be late."

He broke the trance and we both let go. I went to the other side of the bed, to give Sammy a hug. I gave a very warm hug, thanking him in a way words never could. I truly was extremely grateful for all the guys did for me. I let go of him and went to the door.

"Take care, both of you. I'll return these clothes to you soon." I spoke.

"It's okay, take your time Ivy." Ayan replied. "You guys take care too."

"Thanks man, you guys too," Ty wished them both and we left the room. I went back to my room and grabbed the clothes and my jewellery. I put them in a bag and we both walked down the stairs. We reached the porch where I had my shoes. I put them on, taking calm breaths and pulling myself together, not letting my fears get in the way.

We both walked back to Ty's car. I turned around and gave one last look at Sammy's house. I had some pretty great memories here regardless of whatever happened, and I know I might never come back here, I just treasured those memories in my heart and walked out of the place. To finally go home.