Chapter 17 This Prison Called Fate Read Count : 88

Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Chapter 17

          Eric ran until he felt his feet numbing. Almost tripping over tree roots as he abandoned the road and entered the forest, knowing full well that Richard would have sent out people to find him. He made his way to the abandon building, even though the mud ruined his shoes and slowed him down, he couldn't complain, the path through the forest was a shortcut.

          Eric could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest, threatening to pop out of the ribcage itself. Finally stopping to catch his breath, a hand supporting himself on a random tree trunk, he felt like vomiting. His insides were churning and his vision was fading from the lack of sleep and breath. 

           Eric's feet was burning and he could feel his cheeks heat up. He thanked the gods when the abandoned building came in to view, he wiped the sweat off his head with the back of his right hand sloppily and walked ahead, his body swaying and threatening to break down any moment. 

          Eric walked in through the broken wall and collapsed on the ground full of broken concrete. He lay facing the ceiling, taking in sharp intakes of breath. The broken fan hanging loosely from the ceiling wasn't spinning but his head sure was from the excessive running. 

         The moment Eric closed his eyes, he suddenly felt like brafing, he got up on all fours in a flash and coughed furiously. With a hand over his mouth, he was relieved he managed to keep it in. He was positive he didn't have the strength to walk outside and he didn't want to have to clean up yesterday's lunch. Eric dragged his tired body up against the wall, and sat leaning against it.

          He cursed his luck, he had to run the extra mile just because of all days the train had to break down today. On the way to the station, he ran into someone who broke the news that the train is not in operation due to technical difficulties and wouldn’t be running until the next morning. If not for that one huddle, he would have been on the way back to the school at this point.

          He still couldn't wrap his finger around why John would come. He didn’t feel like seeing anyone right now. It was precisely why he left without telling anyone that he came to visit his father. He wanted to be alone. 

         Eric remember feeling his eyelids heavy and his body going limp. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could already picture how stiff his muscles would become and how his back would ache when he wakes from falling asleep on hard concrete, and he groaned at that thought, but he couldn't bring himself to care at that point. Tiredness conquering his senses, it wasn’t long before Eric lost consciousness.

                       XXXXXXXXXX

          When he awoke, the first thing he noticed was the sun setting in the horizon and how beautiful the bright orange shoned in between the trees and scattered as it landed in the abandoned building. 

          Has he been sleeping that long? Eric mindlessly thought.

          Eric shifted his body and was genuinely surprised when he didn't feel the stiff neck he was anticipating, rather while he could feel that from his neck below he was definitely on cold concrete, he felt his head resting on someone's tights. 

          “Oliver!” Eric shot up from said person at the speed of light. Has he been sleeping on his brother’s lap this entire time?! 

          “How did you…...? ” Eric asked, staring at his whereabouts then at his brother incredulously. Wide eyed and mouth agape, he was in utter confusion to see Oliver here, save to say his sentence was never completed. 

          “How are you feeling?” Oliver asked. His voice loud and clear, Eric definitely wasn't dreaming. 

          “I’m fine.” Eric answered cautiously. He wasn't lying, he felt refreshed after the sleep, he was no longer nauseous but he was on guard. He hasn’t seen Oliver in over a year. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. Besides, the abandon building has only ever had one visitor, and that was him. Oliver couldn’t have known of this place.

          “Seems like a nice place to relax.” Oliver looked around the building. Eric couldn’t tell if Oliver was being sarcastic or sincere with that smile on his face. 

          “I don’t believe you.” Eric said firmly. 

          “As expected.” Oliver laughed.

          "Why didn't you wake me?" Eric asked when Oliver's laughter died down. 

          "I tried, but you were completely dead to the world." Oliver recalled. 

          “Why did you run away when you heard John came to get you?” Oliver asked, still sitting legs crossed on the floor, he leaned his elbow on his leg and rested his right cheek on his clenched fist. 

          Eric stood up and kicked a broken piece of concrete the shape of a rock, it flew and hit the wall before landing on the ground and shattering into pieces. 

         “He only does what father tells him to and that attitude of his pisses me off.” 

          Oliver suddenly laughed.

          “What’s so funny?” Eric asked. Irritated that Oliver couldn't seem to read the very serious atmosphere.

          “I can tell that you’re lying just by looking at your face. You say you hate him but you know very well that John has no choice but to follow whatever orders father gives.”

          Eric hated that Oliver was right. He may or may not have been taking out his anger on John all this time. “Still it pisses me off that he can just go along with whatever father says without a thought of hesitation.”

          "Let me guess, John was the one that called you." Eric's question was confirmed with a nod of the head of the other. 

          "He's freaking out over nothing, I'm not a baby, I can take care of myself. " Eric pouted. 

          There was a moment of silence before Oliver spoke, “I think John is just afraid of going through the feeling of losing his brother a second time.” 

          Eric was just about to kick another lonely rock, instead he looked at Oliver in confusion, his leg still hung in the air when he asked, “...... A second time?” 

          “When I was somewhere around your age, I ran away once.”

          This managed to catch Eric’s attention. He brought his leg back to the ground and remained silent, waiting for Oliver to carry on. 

          "As the oldest son of the household, father wanted me to take over a business he had. He didn't want me to do medicine I so badly wanted to. So, I ran away thinking that I could run away from this cruel fate. Until today, I deeply regret it.” Oliver said, looking outside through a broken window. There was a thousand questions running through Eric's mind that he had wanted to ask but decided not to.

          Eric didn't ask but it was like Oliver had read his mind, the man carried on saying, "I regret it because I made John miserable the whole time I was gone...... " 

          Oliver suddenly looked up and stared at Eric, continuing, "...... and I learnt that due to my dissappearance, many others had to pay the price." Oliver was staring so intensely, Eric thought for sure his brother's gaze could bore holes in himself. 

          This is the first time that Eric has heard of this and his mind had a hard time processing this much information. “But aren’t you a doctor right now?” Being very careful with his choice of questions, Eric asked, realising the one and only flaw in Oliver's revelation. 

          “When I came back, I decided to do what father wants me to do but I still studied medicine on the side. I couldn’t give up on becoming a doctor.”

         "That's amazing." Eric complimented, his eyes lighting up. Studying medicine while working must have been severely hard. A new found admiration he felt towards his brother. 

         Oliver knitted his brows and merely shook his hand violently, showing Eric clearly that his compliment wasn't welcomed. 

          “I learnt that going against father would be utterly pointless. Our fates were determined the moment we were brought into the household."

         Oliver picked up a rock from the ground as he stood up, he bounced it on his palm a few times before aiming at the wall, saying, "...... I managed to break the shackles binding me to my bed and at that blissful moment of euphoria, I really thought I was free, so I ran and ran, but then I realised I didn’t have the keys to unlock the cage. That no matter how far I ran, I could never escape from Father’s grasp.” With a flick of his wrist, Oliver flung the rock, it flew and bounced off the wall before rolling back onto the ground. 

          Eric watched as Oliver flexed his arm and twisted his hand in circular motions. Did Eric understand what Oliver just told him? Probably not the whole picture as John was probably talking out of experience but he could understand the gist of what Oliver was trying to get at. 

          He looked at Oliver determinatly, saying, “I won’t run away. If I had a dream that father prohibited me to chase, I may have ran away just like you did to show my resistance but by running away I’m only showing weakness to father.”

          Oliver turned to look at him, he smiled at him interestingly, asking, “Then what exactly are you fighting for?”

          Eric didn't even hesitate. "I’m doing this to protect the people I care for.” To protect friends that he cares so dearly for. 

          Oliver looked at him impressively before bringing his hand to rub his eyes that was slightly irritated by the dust particles. 

          “You look like you’re about to cry, Doctor Oliver.” Eric uttered, jokingly. 

          Oliver's smile fell a little and he chuckled. “Why do I feel like I’ve just been insulted?”

          "Cuz I just did." Was what Eric wanted to admit but Oliver cut him off. 

          “Eric, I want you to know that It may seem like John and I are both on father’s side, but we have always been on your side, since a long time ago.” Oliver said and before Eric could even process the meaning of his words they heard the opening of a door and pieces of glass on the floor shattering. Eric turned to see John standing at the entrance of the door.

          Eric blinked in disbelief. How in the world did John manage to open that door?! 

          Eric wasn't given much time to wonder on the door as his attention was brought back to a clearly out of breath and drenched in a thin layer of sweat John walking towards him slowly. Eric noticed that John was visibly staggering a little and it wasn't because of the debris or mess littered all around the building. 

           Eric braced himself for a scolding with every inch that John edged closer. Shutting his eyes tight to prepare himself.

          Seconds passed and when nothing happened, Eric opened his eyes slowly, he saw John standing right in front of him. John wasn't looking at him, the man had his head faced down, bangs covering his eyes, so Eric couldn’t see what expression John was currently wearing.

         What John did next, shocked Eric beyond belief.

          His brother fell onto his knees right in front of Eric. Eric stared at him wide eyed, suddenly a loss for words and his mind might or might not have shut down at that point. 

          “You have no idea how scared I was when I heard you ran away.” John said the first thing since he entered the building. 

          “I didn’t……!” Eric started to protest but was interrupted. He almost yelled out at the sudden jerk of his body being pulled forward downwards. 

          Without warning, John had suddenly pulled Eric onto the ground by his hands and when Eric's knees hit the ground, he hugged him tightly. Eric was so shocked at the sudden happenings, he couldn't stop fidgeting, he desperately wanted to pull away from John’s embrace. It was embarrassing and awkward, considering the last time they met, he was yelling at John. 

          “I’m glad that you’re fine.” John uttered, more to himself than to Eric. The words were quiet but loud as day with Eric pressed so closely to the other male. 

          And all of Eric's initial intention to push John away and break free from the awkward hug dissipated into thin air. 

          It was hard for Eric to even move his hands, considering his head was buried in John's chest, but he did his best to hug back, maneuvering his hands to wrap around the other male. 

          “This is embarrassing but I don’t think I have the strength to stand so could we stay in this position for a while.” John said, laughing.


All Rights Reserved @ 2018 by Anne Teng 


This chapter is short but I hope you guys enjoy it nevertheless! How is your day so far? I hope you are doing fine! Remember guys, to work harder than the devil itself! 

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  • Jun 28, 2018

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