Instead of answering Liam, Lana exhaled loudly, averted her eyes from him and suddenly stood up.

“Excuse me, Liam… I… I need to go to the restroom,” she whispered and left Liam in a rush. Her eyes had started stinging again, and she needed to get back her control on herself.

Gracy noticed that and smirked as she could execute the first step of her plan. She looked at a particular direction to give a signal to follow Lana.

Lana went to the restroom and looked at herself at the mirror. Her eyes were red and tears swelled at the corners of her eyes. Any more delay and Liam would have seen this dilemma of hers.

She didn’t want him to realise an ounce of her feelings for him. Yes… she knew there was something and Liam’s distance was making her realise things in the worst way it could, Gracy’s presence was smothering her heart and her resolve bit by bit, but she didn’t want to lose it… not yet… what if…?

Liam was giving her a hard time. She was battling her heart very hard not to be swayed. She closed her eyes and a few drops of alkaline water dripped down her eyes and ran through her cheeks, finding their abode in her neck.

She was too scared…

Lana let herself be for a while and just within a minute, she wiped her tears off, looked at her broken looks and tried to recollect herself. She took a wipe and cleaned her face and eyes. She looked at herself again in the mirror.

She was in that state when Lily entered the restroom and saw her standing there looking at herself sadly in the mirror.

“Hey Lana… what are you doing here? Are you alright?” Lily asked and Lana gave a small smile and a nod at her.

“Lana, can you go to the admin instead of me and get the paper bags please? It has the mobile phones to be given away for the raffle draw winners.

They forgot to bring it up here. My stomach is acting up and I won’t be able to rush right away… Can you please help me?” Lily asked with a scrunched-up face while she held her stomach.

Lana nodded. “Thanks Lana.” Lilly muttered.

Lana went out of the restroom and walked towards the elevator. She pressed the button of the elevator and the elevator door opened immediately. She went inside and when the elevator doors closed. She then pressed the ground floor button.

As soon as the elevator descended, it suddenly stopped after one floor and the entire lift went dark.

Lana was alone in the lift, and she suddenly gasped. Small beads of sweat started forming on her forehead. A fleeting feeling that she had not felt from years before came crashing into her heart. She tried to calm her heart and keep it calm. She waited for the lift to start again, but her wait started becoming longer and her hope started going down.

“Oh, God…” she whispered, and she unconsciously extended her hand to hold on the wall of the elevator for balance and as she tried to tighten her hold, her knees weakened and a fear started crawling towards her.

Lana’s entire body shook, and she suddenly lost her footing, slipped down on the floor and sat awkwardly in a corner of the lift. She crouched herself and embraced her knees and bowed her head to hide in between her knees. Her sense of fear was growing bit by bit, and she was trying her best not to break down.

To keep her awful memories at bay she started thinking of things that gave her happiness and the first person who came to her mind was Liam, her bright light. But yet again he brought pain with him, and that pain was all because of her past.

She thought of her friends, and her mind could not stay on one thought. She thought of her mother and a smile passed on her lips, her mom who gave her security and a good life, her mom’s sweet smiles that brightened her every day while she grew up.

‘Mom, I miss you…’ and as she felt nice thinking about her mother, another face popped in front of her and her eyes widened in fear as soon as that face showed up.

Yes, that was her mother, her biological mother, and to avoid that face and memories associated with it Lana tightly shut her eyes.

“No… no… I don’t want to think about you…. No…” Lana mumbled in a fear-filled voice.

Her eyes were shut, and she wanted to even shut her mind. but… she felt so scared and with those fearful memories scratching her mind, she felt her heart throbbing while she tightened her embrace of her bended knees to control the trembling of her body.

“Oh, God… please open the lift…” she pleaded while her tears started to run out of her eyes.

Some more time passed and her face was completely filled with tears and very soon she started falling in the dark pit of her past. Those forgotten faces took shape in front of her closed eyes again and how much ever she tried to erase it. Her already emotionally tired mind succ.u.mbed to those memories and Lana started having flashbacks of that fateful night when she was just a little kid.

Her nightmare came back… chasing her like an arrow… directed to kill…

As Lana was still struggling to shut those memories, she heard her father’s voice, that wicked voice started echoing in her ears and that same scene again played in front of her eyes and she saw a little girl nervously hidden in the closet of her room.

“Lanabelle… My beautiful daughter… Where are you? Come out… come out… wherever you are. Daddy’s gonna find you soon!” Her father’s crazy voice followed by an evil laugh roared in her ears.

“No, don’t go out Lana… don’t go out…” Lana sobbed and said in a fearful voice while those scenes flashed in front of her. She was trying to fight, but her psyche had lost its capacity to fight against dreaded past.

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