Ch. 311..315: Fatal Kiss Of The Vampire Chapter 311-315
Chapter 311: Alone In The Sea
For Ethan, the lower sleeping chamber on the boat was like a prison. With the hatches battened down, he was all alone, and there was nowhere to go. That alone was bad, but the worst of it was the storm. As the waves hit the boat, and the winds took them whenever it may, he felt it infinitely harder than anyone in the upper deck did. At times, as he was thrown from one wall to the other, he found himself wishing for a seatbelt. Later, in those brief moments when the sea stilled, the minutes seemed to stretch into hours.
During one such lull, a longer one, he found himself thinking about Dora and some of the events that had happened in the first couple of days after Kylie was kidnapped. At first, everyone had assumed that Kylie would be found quickly. No one had anticipated that the situation could ever go on for as long as it was going.
When Ethan closed his eyes, he could easily imagine a regular day at the office and how the loss of Kylie had affected it. In one instance, he remembers how he’d come in on one of his days off, just to make sure that everything was running smoothly, but also to shut everything down.
As soon as Dora had heard his voice, she’d come running. “Lord Ethan,” she’d cried. “Why are you here?”
Nina hadn’t been anticipating Ethan’s arrival either; in fact, at the time, she barely even knew him. When she saw Dora’s preferential treatment towards him, though, she followed her lead. Bowing reverentially, she offered him a script. “The director hadn’t realized that Kylie knew you when he rejected her,” she explained quickly. “I will inform him and see if I can’t talk him into changing his mind.”
Ethan thanked her and turned back to Dora. “Are your artists going to participate in today’s shooting?” he wondered.
“Yes,” Dora replied. “I have two promising new artists,”
Ethan slightly nodded. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said. “Cancel today’s shooting. We will reschedule everything after Kylie returns.”
Hearing this, Nina was furious. “I understand shutting down Kylie’s shoot,” she said, “but is it wise to shut down the entire studio? Everything is already in place. If we send everyone home, we stand to lose a lot of money!”
“That’s your problem,” Ethan laughed. “Do what you have to do, but there will be no filming today, not here, and not on my watch!”
Ethan watched Dora as she stomped away. If the situation were different, he would have laughed. Until Kylie was returned to him, though, he knew that laughter would elude him. Lucas walked over to him then. “I’m sorry to bother you,” he said, “but do plan on giving them any excuse or reason for Kylie’s failure to appear?”
Ethan eyed Lucas, and he shot him a dirty look. “I certainly don’t,” he replied. “Let them imagine that she is playing the diva. Better that then the truth, at least for now.”
Dora glanced at him from time to time. She was trying to guess what he was thinking by the expression on his face, but it bothered him not. Everywhere around him, people were wandering around aimlessly. After thinking about it for a moment, he wandered over to the director’s chair, picked up the microphone, and put it to his mouth. “The shooting has been canceled,” he yelled. “Clear out. I don’t want to see anyone here anymore. You will be notified when you are needed. Until then, you will continue to receive your daily wages.”
Dora came over to Ethan and nervously asked him why he was doing this. She imagined the worst. She was worried that he had seen the video that she’d made. If he had, she could easily imagine him having a breakdown and doing things like this. For all she knew, this was just the beginning, and that scared her – seeing the expression on her face, Ethan could practically read her thoughts, and they amused him.
Ethan turned to her, smiled, but said nothing. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a long drag. “What do you think?” he asked her. “Why do you think that I’m doing this?”
Dora’s hands began to shake, and her voice quivered when she spoke. “I… I… I don’t know,” she stuttered.
“Could it be this?” Ethan hissed as he shoved his smartphone in her face and displayed an email that had been sent from Dora to Kylie.
“I don’t remember ever sending this,” she replied meekly.
Ethan closed the phone and shoved it into his pocket. Then, without warning, he got all up in her face and said, “This conversation is not over. I am busy now but, when I have time, we will certainly unpack this. For now, it is time for you to make haste and exit left!”
As Ethan was getting ready to leave the building, Elliot called to say that he was waiting for him outside and that the two bodyguards were with him. Normally Ethan didn’t travel with bodyguards but, ever since Kylie’s disappearance, he’d decided that he wanted to be ready for anything. Before he could leave, though, Dora – refusing to leave on his terms – grabbed his attention again. “I really never sent that email,” she cried. “I think my email was compromised. “Maybe it was Tom who sent it to her? Not only does he know about the camera in my room, but he also has access to my phone and personal computer. I will look into it and keep you up-to-date on my findings, but if you are shutting the filming schedules down in order to punish me, you are making a big mistake…”
Ethan tossed his cigarette to the floor and ground it out with the toe of his shoe. He reached out and grabbed Dora’s left shoulder with his right hand. “Look at me,” he commanded. “Let’s set aside this game of cat and mouse. Just tell me where Kylie is, and things can go back to normal.”
“I don’t know,” Dora cried. “If I did, I would tell you. I thought Ricky picked her up. When I last saw him, he had the trunk of his car open, and I saw a large suitcase in it. The only reason I remember that is because I could have sworn that it was Kylie’s luggage. Forget Kylie for the moment, though. You promised me that you would kill our mutual enemy, Nico, personally. When will that happen?”
Hearing her question, Ethan frowned. Now more than ever, he was convinced that Dora had had something to do with Kylie’s disappearance. Dora saw the look on Ethan’s face, but she continued speaking anyway. “I just want to know if your promise means anything,” she concluded.
“I have never broken my word,” Ethan sighed. “Even though Nico is Kylie’s father, I will ensure that he gets what is coming to him. Kylie has nothing to do with that, though. In fact, if I wasn’t so caught up in trying to find Kylie, I could have already taken care of Nico. I promise that I will still take care of him, but you must let Kylie go first!”
Dora clenched her hands at her side and said, “I already told you that I did not have anything to do with Kylie’s disappearance. You are barking up the wrong tree. Don’t you see that every second that you waste accusing me could be used actually to find Kylie?”
“When I find her,” Ethan threatened, “If she is hurt in any way, and I find out that it was you who took her, you will pay with your life. Think hard about that because this is the last opportunity I will give to you to admit your crimes without fear of repercussions.”
Ethan thought about all of this as the ship rocked back and forth. In the end, Dora had spoken the truth. Every second that he’d spent accusing her had been wasted, and he wondered if things would have turned out differently if he’d seen that then…
Chapter 312: We Have No Other Leads
Finally, Dora stepped aside and allowed Ethan to leave. She knew that he had a car waiting, and she could sense him getting angrier and angrier by the second, so there was no longer any point in bothering him. She hadn’t made any headway in convincing him that she was innocent anyways, and it didn’t look like she would – not until Kylie showed up and exonerated her.
Once Ethan and Lucas were back at the hotel, they told Nate how things had gone at the studio, and he was furious. “Dora Hilton is too bold,” he hissed. “She never should have dared to kidnap Kylie. Once we find Kylie, I mean to snap Dora like a twig!”
“She is a bitch,” Lucas agreed. “We should teach her a lesson!”
The two men had anticipated that Ethan would join them in their righteous indignation so, when he said nothing, they turned to him curiously and were surprised to see that he looked like he was in shock or something. Nate waved his hand in front of Ethan’s eyes and said his name, but he didn’t move an inch or say a single word.
Lucas put his hand on Ethan’s shoulder and said, “Ethan, don’t worry. Dora may be shameless, but I am convinced that we will find Kylie and that she will be unharmed…”
Ever so slowly, Ethan’s expression changed. He looked up at Nate and Lucas. “It’s not that simple,” He sighed. “As long as Dora refuses to cooperate with us, we have no other leads…”
***
That night, Ethan had driven to the beach by himself. He liked to walk out onto the dock and feel the water’s spray as the waves came up from the sea. He liked to look up at the sky and see the moon and the stars. This far from the city, they were brighter, and they helped him think.
There were a number of yachts tied up on the left side of the pier. He recognized the one at the end. It was Stephen’s, and just the sight of it provoked emotions within him that he couldn’t define. He strode towards the boat but, before he even got close, two big men stepped out and approached him. “Who are you?” one of them demanded, “And what do you want?”
“My name is Ethan Parker,” Ethan replied. “Why are you harassing me?”
“The young master is on board,” the second man replied. “He has asked not to be bothered. I will tell him that you are here, though. Perhaps he will see you…”
As soon as the man was done speaking, he ran back to the boat and left the first man to watch Ethan.
After a few minutes passed, Stephen hopped out of his boat and approached Ethan. “It is late,” he said. “Why are you here?”
“I suppose I was looking for you,” Ethan replied. “I admit that I hadn’t known why I was here until I saw your boat. Until then, I had been following my gut instinct. Now that I am here, why don’t you invite me in? I am cold, and I could use a warm cup of coffee.”
Stephen nodded, and with a smile, he said, “Mi casa su casa. You are welcome to come aboard.”
Once they were seated, Stephen looked at Ethan and said, “I assumed that you would come sooner or later.”
“And why is that?” Ethan wondered.
“I’d heard it through the grapevine that Kylie was missing,” Stephen explained. “You know that I have feelings for her and that she has a feeling for me, so it doesn’t surprise me that you would eventually point your finger in my direction.”
Ethan’s face turned red with anger suddenly, and he flipped the table. “Kylie does not have a feeling for you,” he roared. “If she is with you now, it is because you kidnapped her!”
Luckily the coffee hadn’t been served yet, so there was no damage done, and Stephen was able to calmly right it and act as though the event hadn’t even happened. “Temper, temper,” he laughed. “Have you always been such a slave to your emotions?”
Ethan suddenly stood up. He walked over to Stephen, seized his collar, and pulled him up by it, and then he pressed him against the wall as hard as he could. “Where’s Kylie?” he snarled. “If you tell me now, I will be lenient with you!”
Stephen remained smiling. He took a casual look over his shoulder to where his guards were at. “I could snap my fingers,” he laughed, “and my guards would be all over you, so go easy. I admit that I have Kylie. She is hidden, though. If you killed me now, you would never find her, and she would die of starvation.”
Ethan relaxed his grip slightly. “I have a lot of resources,” he argued. “Do you really think that I couldn’t find her?”
“You would find her eventually,” Stephen replied, “but she would have long since starved to death.”
“What do you want?” Ethan moaned as he let Stephen go. “If you are looking for a ransom – whatever it is that you want – I will pay it!”
Stephen giggled at Ethan’s proposition. “I don’t want money,” he said. “I want you to quit sniffing up my skirt. She is safe. It is you that is putting her in danger. For the moment, we will continue on as if nothing about our relationship has changed. There will come a day though – very soon – when the three of us will sit around this very table, and Kylie will be given that chance to choose between us who she wants to be with, and I am willing to respect whatever she says.”
“Is this your trick?” Ethan snarled. “I am not stupid. I know when someone is stalling.”
“I can see that you are not stupid,” Stephen replied calmly, “but I am not stalling. Even if I was, though, there is nothing you could do about it.” Without giving Ethan a chance to reply, Stephen called to his guards and said, “I am ready for Ethan to leave. Please see him out.”
***
The next day, Ethan received word that Dora had opened up an investigation as to the whereabouts of Kylie. Now that he knew who the real villain was, he felt a lot less animosity towards her. When he thought about her now, and what she was up to, what he felt was mostly anxiety. On the one hand, he knew that if she figured out Stephen’s involvement in Kylie’s disappearance, she could jeopardize her life. On the other hand, he knew that if he told her what he knew, there were equally frightening repercussions to consider. In the end, he decided to play dumb. He could go a little easier on Dora while pretending that she was still his number one subject.
He had thought about what Stephen had said long and hard and finally come to the conclusion that he had to trust him. He needed to stop investigating him and wait until things played out on Stephen’s terms. He knew that if Kylie were given a choice, she would choose him every time. In the meantime, he decided he would try to figure more about the video and enforce some consequences where he saw fit.
Shortly after noon, Ethan called Dora and said, “I heard about your little charade, but I don’t see what you’re hoping to prove. We all know that you kidnapped Kylie!”
Ethan heard Dora sigh on the other end of the line, and he could tell that she’d been crying. “I am not guilty,” she replied. “I know now, though, that the only way to prove my innocence is to find Kylie and bring her back to you safely. I have two teams out looking for her. I know that my good name will be tarnished if she is never found forever, and I refuse to allow that!”
“Have you found any leads yet,” Ethan wondered, hoping that Stephen’s name wouldn’t come up.
“It seems rational to assume that Kylie is still in Hamorna,” Dora replied, “so I have my men checking all of the local hotel registries.”
“Well, good luck with that,” Ethan replied as he hung up the phone. Leaning back in his chair, he found himself feeling sympathy for Dora. Out of her love for him, she was desperately searching for the woman that he loved. Things would not work out for her, he knew.
***
That night, Ethan appeared at Dora’s home. He went straight to her door while two of his men pulled another man out of the car and followed after him. The man between them was beaten bloody and would not have been able to stand on his own, even if he’d wanted to. When Ethan knocked on the door, Dora’s butler opened the door and, when he saw the bloody man, his face turned white, and he nearly fainted.
“What is this all about?” the butler gasped.
“We are here to see Dora,” Ethan replied as he pushed the door open. “We will let ourselves in while you go and find her.”
When Dora came into her living room, she found Ethan sitting comfortably on a chair with his guards on either side of him. Across from them, there was a badly beaten man whom she did not recognize.
“What is this?” she cried. “I have no idea what this is about, but you had no right to bring this man into my house!”
Ethan’s eyebrows rose, and he said, “I would think you would recognize this man. Take a closer look. We were just talking about him earlier.”
“I certainly do not recognize him,” Dora assured them.
“Oh, really?” Ethan replied as he stood up and walked over to the bloody man. Once he was in front of him, he grabbed him by the hair, pulled his head backward, and wiped some of the blood from his face. “Take a closer look,” he commanded.
“Oh my God,” Dora cried without even having to get closer. “It’s Tom Thomas. Ethan, what have you done?”
Ethan let go of Tom’s head and met Dora’s eyes. “You said that Tom was responsible for the video,” he replied. If you were lying, then this is on you. If you weren’t lying, then he has gotten what he deserved.”
Dora looked at Tom sadly and said, “You really did wrong by me. I trusted you, and this is what I get…”
Tom stared into Dora’s eyes, forced himself to smile, and said, “If you need a Judas, I’ll be that for you…”
Chapter 313: I Would Still Choose Her Over You
It was almost morning and, as the storm settled, so did the boat. It was still raining, but Ethan knew that it wouldn’t be long before Stephen un-battened the hatches, and he would be set free. After sitting up all night with nothing to amuse him but his thoughts, he wondered if today would be the day that Stephen finally sat them down and asked Kylie to decide between them who she wanted to be with. When he’d walked away from Stephen’s boat that first time, there had been no doubt in his mind that she would choose him, but things seemed different now – and that difference scared the shit out of him.
He had been scared long before this final engagement on the boat, though, and he’d done everything in his power to distract himself. He’d even laughed when he’d beaten Tom, knowing that he was innocent. Dora had thrown him under the bus, so he’d punished him for teaching her a lesson, and Dora, who’d been caught by her own lie, had been unable to say a thing.
Standing in front of Dora, he had put out his cigarette on Tom’s forehead, and the smell of burning flesh had permeated the air. He drew it in through his nose and made a ring of it as she blew it out of his mouth. “Don’t cry out now,” he’d told Tom. “In medieval times, you would have gotten much worse…”
Despite Dora’s attempt to stay calm, tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, she could stand it no longer. “This is not right,” she said. “You are upset about Kylie, and you’re taking it out on the people you know and love!”
Ethan looked at her coldly and said, “I only love Kylie. Even if she was the most stupid, useless, ugliest woman in the world, I would still choose her over you!”
Finally, the dam broke, and Dora began to cry. “Even so,” she replied. “I love you more than she ever could. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
After saying that, Dora threw modesty out the window and swiftly took off all of her clothes. She didn’t care who stared at her, so long as Ethan took notice of her. Her heart completely died, though when he turned away from her before she’d even pushed her panties past her knees. Feeling completely ashamed, she covered her breasts with her right arm and her cunt with her left hand. Bent over, she’d hobbled into the next room, and that had been the last time that Ethan had seen her. He had sent his men to check on her the next day, but nothing of any importance had come from that.
Before leaving, Ethan made a fist and punched Tom in the throat so hard that he crushed his windpipe. Tom brought his hands to his throat and began to wheeze. It only lasted for a second, and then he fell over onto his side. There was blood bubbling out of his mouth, but he was dead.
Ethan turned to Elliot and said, “He may have been an idiot, but please take him away and ensure that he is given an honorable burial on hallowed ground.”
Elliot nodded and said, “I recorded the event just as you ordered. When you are ready to make use of it, let me know, and I will get it for you. Is there anything else that you might need from me before I go?”
“I think we’re good here,” Ethan replied. “I received news that Nico is in Seattle, and I have arranged for Stephen to provide me with a safe passage. Apparently, Nico has taken up with a large crime boss – he’s living an extravagant life and hanging out in nightclubs. It is my intention to put an end to that right quick.”
All had gone well, he realized, from then until the moment that he’d boarded Stephen’s boat. It was only then that things had begun to go wonky.
Stephen looked out the window and realized that the sun had risen so slowly that he hadn’t even noticed it. He looked out the window and saw that it wasn’t raining anymore, and the sea was calm. He hadn’t been let out though, and the boat’s motor wasn’t running, which made him worry that something might have gone wrong overnight. He looked up to the ceiling. “Good morning,” he hollered. “Is somebody going to come and let me go?”
***
When Kylie woke up, she found herself in a state of shock. The first thing that worried her was that she was alone, but when she looked out the window and saw that the boat had docked, she smiled. She had grown sick of being at sea, and she was anxious to be on solid ground again.
Kylie yawned, climbed out of bed, and went to meet Stephen in the kitchen. He had just finished making pancakes, and while they ate, he said, “I just have a few things to do. Once they are done, I’ll drive you to where your crew is waiting. I’m sure that they will be happy to see you after all of these days.”
Kylie smiled but refused his offer. “You’re busy,” she said. “I can call someone to pick me up. It is not a big deal.”
“Alright,” Stephen replied. “Just know that if you need anything, I am just a phone call away.”
Lucas arrived at the port a half-hour later to pick up Kylie. As she got into his car, she said, “I knew that it was a long shot to call you, and I was surprised that you were here. What brings you here, anyway?”
“When Stephen told me that he was coming to Seattle by boat,” he replied, “I took a plane. If he needs anything, I want to be there for him. When I got your call, though, I expected him to be here with you…”
“He’s still in his chambers still,” Kylie replied, “and I didn’t want to wake him.”
“Alright,” Lucas laughed. “Let’s get you to the set.”
Chapter 314: Calm Down
Once Kylie was out of sight, Stephen scurried down to the lower deck to release Ethan. The door popped open, and there he was, sitting on the edge of the bed and giving him the evil eye. “The storm settled hours ago,” he shouted. “What made you think that you could just keep me locked up? And why isn’t the motor running? Is there something wrong with the boat?”
“Calm down,” Stephen sighed. “Kylie and I slept through the storm, so we didn’t wake you up when it ended. Then, when we finally did wake up, we thought that you were still sleeping. The motor isn’t running because, while the storm ran its course, it pushed us all the way to Seattle. In the morning, all I had to do was throw a rope over a post and pull us in.”
Ethan thought about that for a moment. It seemed reasonable; there was still one question that he hadn’t asked. “Where’s Kylie?” he wondered.
“Lucas came for her,” Stephen replied. “Kylie wanted to get an early start. She would have brought you with her, but she thought you were asleep, as I already told you, and she didn’t want to wake you up. If you want, I can drive you to her set.”
Ethan knew that Stephen was a snake, but, for now, he had to trust him if he wanted to get where he wanted to be. “Alright,” he replied. “Let me eat and get dressed, and then we can go.”
***
Kylie was in make-up when Stephen and Ethan arrived. She’d already been through the wardrobe, and she looked gorgeous. As they watched her, though, she began to panic. “My script!” she cried. “Has anyone seen my script? I haven’t looked at it in days!”
Lucas looked at Ethan, but Ethan just shrugged. “She must have left it in the Garbo Palace,” he said. “But there must be an extra script around here somewhere. Have you checked your office?”
Lucas’s face turned red, and he scurried off to look for it in his office.
Lucas had a lot of questions that wanted to ask Kylie, but he recognized that it wasn’t the right time to ask them, not while she was expected to perform in only a few minutes, from a script that she barely remembered. He hoped that Stephen and Ethan would be gone when he returned, but he only got half of his wish. Stephen was there, but Ethan was not.
Once Kylie was done with her make-up, Lucas handed her a script and showed her to her private room. The door had her name on it, and there was a platter of fruit on the table, and, most importantly, it was quiet. There was no place in the building that was better suited for her to read her lines.
“Would you read through them with me?” Kylie wondered, and Lucas nodded that he would. Lucas closed the door behind them, and they sat down across from each other. Before they got into the script, though, Kylie asked him how Elizabeth was doing.
Lucas had been drinking tea, and when he heard the question, he began to choke. Once he was okay again, he looked at her with animosity and said, “You were the one who brought her to Hamorna and then left her alone. She disappeared that night, and now you have the nerve to ask me how she is!”
“What are you talking about?” Kylie wondered. “I don’t remember taking Elizabeth to Harmona…”
“What the fuck, Kylie?” Lucas hissed. “Are you sick in the head or something?”
Just then, Stephen barged in, and Kylie looked at Lucas. “Please,” she whispered, “can we talk about this later?”
Stephen smiled as he grabbed a piece of pineapple from the tray and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, and then he said, “You’re needed on set. The director would like to start shooting.”
Kylie followed after Stephen, more afraid than she’d ever been in her life. She hoped that as the filming began, and the other actors fell into their roles, the script would just come back. She knew that it hadn’t been that long ago that she’d had these lines memorized, but her memory had been acting up on her lately.
Lucas showed her where to stand, a place across from two other actresses. The one said her lines, the next replied, and then it was her turn to chime in with her two cents. Her mind went blank suddenly, but her mouth opened anyways, and, much to her surprise, the line jumped out – and her heart skipped a beat. At first, she was ecstatic, but when she looked around, she saw that everyone was disappointed.
The director called “Cut,” and called her over. Once she was in front of him, he said, “There is something going on with you. You have always been a master of facial expressions. In that scene, though, it looked like you were wearing a death mask.
“I’m sorry,” Kylie cried. “I don’t know what happened. “Please let me try again. I will get it next time. I promise!”
The assistant director waved his hand and told everyone to take a break.
“We’ll go again,” the director sighed. “We’ve already filmed you in half the scenes, so get your shit together. If you can’t get your shit together, this movie will be dead in the water, and I will be forced to sue you for all you are worth.”
Kylie returned to her room to practice her lines in front of the mirror. It was frustrating because it only took a minute to realize that the director had been right and, no matter how hard she tried, she could not get her face to do what she wanted it to. Falling into her chair, she began to cry. The tears had only flowed for a second thought when Cliff popped in. “Stop crying!” he commanded. “The director will have a fit if he has to send you back to make-up for touch-ups.
Hearing this, Kylie pulled herself together. She looked at him and thanked him.
“It is nothing,” he replied, “but we’ve got to figure out your block. We both know what you are capable of, we just need to figure out a way for you to access that talent.”
Cliff looked at her curiously. “When you look at me,” he wondered. “who do you see?”
Chapter 315: What Else I Could Do?
Kylie reviewed her script as quickly as she could, flipping from page to page to retain as much of it as possible. Occasionally, she looked up and took notice of Cliff’s presence. As long as he had his back to her, she was fine, but, as soon as he turned to face her, her mind went blank. She found the fact that he’d taken over as a stuntman disconcerting. Eventually, their eyes met, and Kylie approached him. “What happened to the original substitute stuntman?” she wondered.
Cliff smiled mischievously. “What do you think happens to cause stuntmen to disappear?” he laughed. “They get hurt!”
Kylie frowned, and she asked him if there was only one backup stuntman. Rather than giving a verbal reply, Cliff nodded and gave her a single thumb up. “I am surprised that William didn’t sign up to be a stuntman,” Cliff added. “I browsed his Instagram. It seems that he is brave enough…”
Kylie did not properly understand what Cliff had said, but she still felt compelled to reply. She smiled at Cliff awkwardly and said, “You are right about one thing; that guy is not afraid of anything.”
“What about Ethan?” Cliff replied. “Isn’t he afraid of Ethan, at least?”
Kylie looked at Cliff curiously. She couldn’t see what he was getting at, and she didn’t want to fall into one of his fucked up traps. Just then, thank God, Stephen joined them – and just in time to save her from Cliff’s mind games.
Stephen looked Kylie over and asked her if she was okay. “You look very tired,” he said.
“I am having problems with my lines,” Kylie replied awkwardly, as she moved to wrap her head with her knuckles. Before she could make contact, though, he grabbed her hand and brought it to her side. “It’s my fault,” he said. “I should have forced you to rest for a couple of days before I brought you here to join the crew.”
When Cliff saw the intimacy between Stephen and Kylie, he was confused. He hadn’t seen Kylie since the day of her disappearance, so there were many things he didn’t know. Before that, though, he’d been aware of the ‘shirt scandal’ between William and Kylie that had gone viral on Instagram. Before that, he’d thought that Kylie was with Ethan, but the scandal had proven otherwise. Now that it seemed that she was with Stephen, his good image of her was seriously tarnished. It seemed to him that she went through men the way that other women might go through purses.
Cliff snorted and walked toward his assistant. He no longer felt as gung ho about this stuntman gig as he previously had. He had no desire to see his own clean reputation dirtied by Kylie’s bad reputation.
Even though Kylie and Cliff had no speaking parts together – in fact, Cliff had no speaking parts at all – Kylie felt that Cliff’s attitude towards her had changed. He was constantly scowling at her, and it made it even harder for her to concentrate on her lines. By late afternoon, she’d been scolded three times by the assistant director, and at day’s end, he asked Kylie to take two days to get herself together and properly memorize her lines. It was very frustrating for her.
On the way to the hotel, Stephen tried to encourage her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I have faith in you. You have done this before. You are a great actress with natural talent. You just need to get your head in the right place, and it will all come back to you!”
“I feel so worthless, though,” Kylie sighed. “I don’t know. I almost feel like giving up…”
Once they were settled in the hotel room, the housekeeper brought them tea and biscuits and informed Stephen that the Old Mr. Cecil had called on him.
“I know,” Stephen replied as he turned to Kylie and wrapped his free arm around her. “My parents may come here,” he said. “Are you ready to meet them?”
Kylie looked up at him nervously. “Your parents?” she wondered. “I don’t know if I am ready to meet them… What if I say no?”
“Don’t be scared,” Stephen replied. “Don’t you know that my parents are also your parents.”
“How can that be?” Kylie asked curiously. “Have I met them before? If so, I have no recollection of ever meeting them…”
Stephen smiled but, instead of answering her question, he said that he needed to call his parents. Kylie frowned then as he picked up his phone and went to the terrace with the housekeeper hot on his trail – as if the call was part of some great secret they were keeping from her.
Once they were alone, the housekeeper looked at Stephen and said, “Young master, Kylie’s situation is still unstable. If she goes back to work again, she’ll be in contact with too many people. I am afraid that it will have a negative impact on all of the work that you have put into her.”
“I am afraid to isolate her any further at this point,” Stephen replied. “She loves acting, and if I deprive her of that, I am afraid that it will make her very suspicious… If I were able, I would take her to a place where no one knew her and start a new life. If that were possible, Kylie wouldn’t know anyone other than me, and I would never have to worry about her leaving me. If I deprived her of acting though, it would be like depriving her of the very air she breathes.”
After being brainwashed by Stephen, Kylie had become gentler and more dependent on him. Unfortunately, though, this new Kylie was a hollow shell of her previous self. The housekeeper looked at Stephen nervously and said, “Are you at all worried about any long term effects your brainwashing might have on her brain?”
Stephen looked at him coldly and said, “It would be better to completely wash away her memory and rebuild it from scratch than to lose her. Don’t worry, though; that is just a last resort.”
***
Stephen returned to the living room and found Kylie watching TV while eating pistachio nuts. He sat down beside her and, with a smile, he asked her what she was watching. She took his hand, but her eyes remained fixed on the screen. “It is an old show that I was a part of,” she replied. “It seems to me that I used to be a better actress.” Kylie frowned. “I don’t know what’s become of me…”
Stephen picked up a pistachio nut and carefully peeled it. He popped it into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and asked Kylie if she had ever considered another career.
Kylie shrugged absently. “What else could I do?” she wondered. “Acting has always been my life…”
“My family owns a few hotels,” Stephen replied. “My parents have always hoped that I would take over the family business. If you were willing, we could operate the company together.”
Kylie picked up the remote control and clicked the pause button.
Stephen glanced at the screen and noted that she was watching The Tea Maiden.
Kylie looked at Stephen sideways and asked him very seriously if the idea had been his or his parents. He explained that it had been his and his parents. “I hated seeing you suffer today,” Stephen explained, “and nobody wants to see it happen again; not me, or my parents.”
Kylie’s eyes narrowed. “Did your parents ask you about my career just now,” she wondered, “when you called them? Is that what this is actually all about?”
Kylie knew that, generally, a rich and powerful family like his would not accept into their family someone that came from the world of the arts. To them, it was a shameful occupation.
“You need not worry about my family,” Stephen replied. “In matters of the heart, their opinions matter very little to me. I only suggested the hotels because I do not want to see you get hurt again like you were today.”
“I don’t know,” Kylie replied. “I will think about it.”
Stephen leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “That is all that I ask,” he said. “Now, why don’t you go to bed and let me review a medical report.”