DRAG ME UNDER
TOBIAS
"What do you want?" Tobias stammered rather abruptly. His lip started to tremble despite his best attempts at keeping calm and trying to remain cool and collected. His insides were racing and a scream clawed at his throat, wanting to escape. Tobias didn't want to appear weak in the man's presence and tried to stabilise himself on the wooden doorframe.
"I just moved into the apartment building and well, I thought I'd drop by for a friendly hello." The man answered with a smile, though it was more uneasy than friendly. A glimmer sparkled behind his eyes as if hiding an ulterior motive…
"Well thanks for stopping by, but we've got stuff to do—" Tobias spurted out while he attempted to close the door. The man stuck his foot inside and blocked the door, opening it wider with his hands. Tobias fought against his strength but soon found it too overpowering. He dropped his hands and gave up with a sigh.
"It won't take long." The man gave Tobias a grin. "I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself to everyone." He took a step in further, pushing himself into the doorframe. He looked left and right, then his eyebrows formed a frown. "Is it just the two of you two here?"
Christina didn't say a word, so Tobias answered for the two of them. "Actually yes. There are only two of us." He looked over at Christina, silently pleading her to go along with the lie. She hesitated, stunned by the man's boldness, but gave a small nod nonetheless.
"Well, it was very nice to meet you." He gave the room one last glance, and turned defeated.
Tobias nodded and answered in reply, trying to act civilized. He barely managed to scrape the few words out before his chattering teeth ground themselves together. "You too." . The door was almost closed, and Tobias was so close to victory until he heard a loud gasp ring through the apartment, followed by silence. Dammit, he cursed inwardly. He had hoped to get Eric out before Tris saw him—or he saw Tris.
His head immediately whipped around in search for Tris. He found her hovering by the bedroom door, eyes wide with fright, body pale and covered with goosebumps. Tris had her eyes firmly locked on the man at the door, and it seemed he had his eyes on her too. Tobias quickly turned his attention back to Eric, afraid what he might do in that lapse of focus. But the man just stood there, smirking.
"Hello my dear. Long time no see." A small, but evil, grin slowly replaced the smirk on his lips. "It's been way too long." He took a step forward; eyes still locked on Tris. Tobias moved in his line of sight, blocking Tris from his vision completely. The action surprised Eric and it took him a few moments to process.
"No, it hasn't been long enough." Tris answered with shaky breaths.
"Why don't you come closer so I can see how much you've changed?" He asked, smiling sweetly at her whilst extending his hand.
Tris shook his head, feet planted firmly into the ground. She didn't make a move.
Eric puffed out loud and stuck out a hand, calling out to Tris hidden behind Tobias' shadow. "Won't you come with me darling? For old times sake?"
"No." Tobias heard Tris whisper. It was soft and her voice was shaking so much it almost overpowered the word, but she had refused.
Tobias saw the man's frown disappear and a scowl appeared on his face. "Now don't be like that Tris." He spoke seriously, voice warning. "You know how I get when people don't do what I want." Eric's face grew in anger, and his temper rose incredibly. "Don't make me ask you again." He warned.
"She said no." Tobias seethed through his clenched teeth. He took a step closer towards the large man. Every protective instinct inside of him kicked in, and he was fuelled by so much hate, rage, anger that he could've strangled the man with his bare hands (and feel no remorse). "Tris said no. So you need to leave NOW."
The man simply smoothed out the creases that had formed, and collected his posture. "Well then, this was a… pleasant talk." He turned his gaze back to Tobias, "It was nice meeting you, Tobias. I see that you are a very courageous and caring man, I hope that will serve you well." He extended his hand for a shake, but Tobias didn't move. The man withdrew his hands quickly, turning his attention back to Tris, "As for you, I shall see you very soon." He turned and left promptly.
Tobias bolted the door, securely locking it, immediately after he saw Eric's shadow disappear down the hallway. He took a few uneasy steps backwards, hands shaking but his eyes were focused on Tris. Her body had grown stiff and she had barely moved from her spot. Her eyes were widened with fear at the man who constantly terrorized her dreams, and tormented her days.
"Tris?" Tris managed, although staggering, "Are you okay?"
He saw her nod, but he could see her on the verge of collapsing. She was trying to be strong; she was trying not to let him get to her. But Tobias could see that she was clearly shaken and about to break. Her knees began to tremble and her hands wobbled on the doorframe.
He quickly rushed to her side, sweeping her into his arms. "You're okay." He whispered, hoping she would believe but he wasn't so sure that he did himself. With a heavy sigh, he spoke his next words, "I won't let him get to you. I promised, remember?"
Her frail nod was all the reassurance he needed.
The rest of the day went by relatively slow. His eyes kept glancing up at the door, afraid that Eric might force his way in, but nothing ever happened. There was only silence. Christina stayed back to comfort Tris, who actually didn't seem like she was going to break like she had in the cafe. Perhaps it was her new found sense of strength or her sudden realisation that maybe, just maybe, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Either way, she slept through the majority of the day, waking up only for lunch and dinner. Tobias could tell she was still anxious; she was jumpy whenever someone made a sudden movement. Though she was no better than him... He was tense all over, fidgety also. His eyes darted around the room continuously, checking every inch of the apartment in one sweeping motion. Everything was still, except for the grandfather clock which chimed every odd minute. Tobias kept his eyes locked on Tris every other second he wasn't glancing around. Her chest, rising and falling, was somewhat relaxing to him—it reminded him that she was safe and well.
He cast one last glance at her sleeping form before exiting the bedroom. He found Christina sitting cross-legged on the couch, practically chewing away at her nails.
She immediately looked up at him, eyes filled with worry. "How is she doing?" She asked, her voice frantic.
He sighed and shrugged. "Okay I guess. As good as she can be, all things considering…" She nodded in understanding. Tobias' eyebrows furrowed as he recalled the events of the morning. "Why did he come? Why did he show his face? What did he hope to achieve?" He turned his eyes from the floor back to Christina. "What was the point of it all?"
"To rattle you." She answered straightforwardly. "And by the looks of it, it's working." She let out a deep exhale. "He wants to judge, see for himself the type of person you are. To scope out the target as people would say. He's trying to measure how he's going to get around you, either to manipulate you out of the equation or to eliminate you completely. Tobias... You have to be careful. He knows you now, he knows how your mind thinks... And that's a very powerful knowledge to have."
"But I know his secrets too Christina!" He rushed to add in. "He may know me but I know him too now. It's even ground. There's nothing he can pull on me that I won't be able to suspect, and act accordingly."
She sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm not so sure that's true... He was hard to read... Even for me, and you know how good I am at reading people. But you, on the other hand, you were an open book. He probably knows everything there is to know about you, and what do you know? Nothing. He probably had people trailing you since the very beginning, digging into your history—like you had for him—he knows you, Tobias. He has the resources, the money, the people and the time to get every inch of gossip about your life, but you? What do you know? You know that he's heartless, that he's powerful, that he's dangerous. You have no idea how he thinks... You don't know him at all Tobias!" Her voice intensity raised so high that she was basically screeching. "I don't want to seem harsh but you don't know anything about this man. And I think you should be careful what you say or do from now. If I know anything about the man, it's that he will have his eyes on you now."
He shook his head desperately. "I can't let him get to me… and to Tris. I won't, Christina. I won't let him hurt her again."
Her shoulders sagged and she cast her eyes on the floorboards beneath her feet, refusing to meet his stare. "I know, but I think there's nothing you can do to stop him if he tries."
A/N: Ehh… Not a very good or long chapter. I promise I'll try to get a better, and longer chapter out soon! I feel like Tobias' reaction had to be done before Tris' which comes in the next chapter. So it was a bit of a hit and miss in a way—like it probably wasn't the best chapter but it needed to be written. If you enjoyed it, leave a review, if you didn't… leave a review but constructive criticism only to help me improve (I don't want someone just slamming me for my writing and/or plot…) Anyway thank you for reading as always and have a fabulous day/night!
