THE TORMENTOR
The Tormentor - Episode 47&48
( Blêed•For•Me, Ixora )
Book 1 in the Mindf+ck Trilogy
_________________________
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or reposted in any form, or by any means without a written permission from the author.
Copyright © 2025
_________________________
Mercilessness, Ruthlessness, madness and devilishness.
Ixora has witnessed all of these from the devil, but never has she expected to witness confusion from him.
As he stood in front of her on the bridge, caressing her ear shell while their eyes trade something she can't explain... She felt his newness.
Warren Creed wouldn't hold her this way.
He wouldn't use that calm voice.
He wouldn't save her from a car that's about to fall off a bridge—he'd have pushed the car inside the bridge.
He wouldn't look at her with these eyes.
And lastly...he wouldn't call her name.
So who's this?
She tried releasing herself from his grip, but it's as tight as steel.
"Who're you...?" She gulped.
"You always come to Crescent Hospital with your friends... Evelyn and Nadine... Evelyn fuckin likes me, but when she confessed, I turned her down! That was yesterday, wasn't it?" He replied, and for the second time...her eyes widened.
"No...no that was three years ago, that happened three years ago!" She shook her head.
"Three f+ckin what?" He frowned, his brows tightening altogether.
"What happened to you?" Ixora muttered, noticing the multicolored liquid below his lashes.
"I do not f+ckin know!!!" He shrieked, and she flinched, her bones freezing to the marrow.
Noticing her fear, he let go of her, shoving his fingers in his hair and taking some steps away from her.
"Warren" she called, but he refused to turn back to her.
"Warren do you have amnesia?" She spoke again, and that was when he turned back fast.
"Amnesia?"
And then the Porsche made a squeaky sound on the bridge edge again, reminding her of Stonia.
"Mum!" She gasped, running fast to the car.
She tried taking her out through the open door, but Stonia is on the other side.
She attempted shoving herself to the other side through that same door, but she couldn't.
"Mum!! Mum wakeup!!" She yelled, hitting the leather seat. "Mum!!"
"Get up" Warren said behind her, and she stood fast, then he punched the windscreen with his wounded fist.
The glass broke, and he successfully pulled Stonia out before the car tumbled into the water.
Stonia coughed out, and Ixora knelt beside her on the road.
"Mum?" She held her cheeks.
Stonia's eyes opened after another cough, and she groaned at the pains coming from her arm wound.
"You're back" Ixora said in relief, but Stonia's eyes snapped to Warren who's standing there with the brooding confused eyes.
She spranged up and held his shirt, attempting to flip him.
She couldn't, so she threw him a punch.
Warren caught the punch and turned Stonia around, easily locking her arms behind her.
"Arh!!" She grumbled.
"Warren please!" Ixora's eyes widened, and she almost went to forcefully take Stonia from him, but she decided not to.
She has never been a match for him, so she's not gonna endanger her mum's life.
Warren glanced at her before looking down at stubborn Stonia.
"You're her mother? That's the only reason you're not in pieces yet" he said nonchalantly, his voice still fuckin deep, and his darkness still prevailing on his features as he locked Stonia's arms tighter.
"Warren...you can't hurt her again" Ixora said as carefully as ever, trying to coax him though her chest is still slamming.
He might not be in his right memories, but a devil is still a devil.
"Again?" Warren muttered, but then his eyes caught the gunshot wound scar on Stonia's upper arm.
Did he shoot Stonia before?
"Aren't you Elder Creed's son? leader of the antichrist boys, and you brazenly followed us to Capetown? I'll kill you! Call the cops Ixxie!" Stonia struggled in his hold.
But Ixora made no move.
"I just told you to call the police!" Stonia shouted.
"Stay calm, he's not gonna hurt you" Ixora replied.
"What!" Stonia frowned, and Warren let go of her.
Stonia made to go for him again, but Ixora covered him from her.
"Are you protecting him right now?" Stonia's eyes widened.
"I'm protecting you from him! He won't hurt you doesn't mean he can't! I think there's a mistake somewhere" Ixora replied sharply.
Stonia managed to relax a bit, then Ixora faced Warren.
"We need to get to the hospital, I think something is wrong with your memories" she calmly said.
Warren just smirked and took her hand in his own, holding it firmly.
It fitted in perfectly as his hand is bigger.
The extreme warmness of his hand is still there, and as usual, it sent chills down Ixora's endodermis.
And when their eyes met, she was quick to look away.
With reluctance, Stonia called the hotel for another car.
--
[California, Ortega's Mansion]
Mrs. Grace Ortega took off her shoes first when she arrived, then she flung them around, leaving them to go missing in corners of the living room.
Barefoot, she walked to the cellar where she grabbed a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.
Sh opened it with a loud pop and poured it down her throat.
It wet her chest, her breà sts, and her her stomach, but she kept drinking, revelling in the remembrance of how Rafael slapped her.
Her cheek is still so red from the slap, and it still stings.
Staggeringly, she walked back to the living room, dropping herself on the couch and resting back.
"Rafael... you obviously don't know what I can do. If you do, you wouldn't have done that" she laughed.
"You'll pay the price" she nodded, dropping the bottle on the table.
She took her phone out of her bag and dialled a line.
"Yes?" She stood.
"I and my men arrived at Capetown since yesterday, but it hasn't been easy. Warren is also here and he's always around her" a male voice spoke.
"What the hell are you saying? Trap her, inject her in Capetown before she'd come back to Cali, as simple as that! If you must kill Warren to inject her, then do it!" Mrs. Ortega shouted.
"Stop talking like Warren is some spineless okra! We're didn't plan to face that lunatic. Our main target is Ixora. We'll wait for when Warren lets his guard down around her" the voice said.
Mrs. Ortega took a deep but restless breath.
"By now she'd have started getting crumb memories of how we made her agree to testify, and that can't happen. That memory has to stay hidden forever, so do whatever you have to do and give her the shot." She said and hung up.
She took the wine and drank from it again, then she got a call with 'Dear Daughter' on the ID.
She swiped green with joy.
"Hey, sweetie" the woman smiled, sitting back on the couch and mounting her legs.
"Hey mum" Evelyn's voice came.
--
[Creed's Family House]
Elder Creed was already asleep when Lydia got the call from Warren, so it's a rough issue.
Elder rarely sleeps, and today that he luckily slept, Warren had to go OD in another country.
She doesn't want to wake him at all, so she has been pacing around his doorstep since an hour ago.
"Lydia?" Matron's voice made her turn to see the woman walking towards her in her nightwear.
She was already sleeping, but she woke up to go drink water in the kitchen when she saw Lydia pacing.
"Matron" Lydia said.
"Why are you pacing?" Matron asked worriedly.
"I'm just not feeling sleepy" Lydia smiled.
"Not feeling sleepy? And the remedy is parading Elder's doorstep?" Matron replied suspiciously.
"Lydia? Matron?" Elder Creed's voice came from inside, and they both went in to meet him sitting up in bed already.
Their voice woke him actually.
"What's going on?" He asked strictly.
"Warren... overdose" Lydia replied, and his grey lashes raised.
"What!"
"But he's in Capetown!" Matron said alarmingly.
"Exactly my point, what if he goes into hiding forever this time. What if we never find him?" Lydia replied.
"Call the embassy, call the embassy!!" Elder Creed shouted, and Lydia rushed out to do that.
Matron helped the old man into his wheelchair, wheeling him out of the room.
--
[Capetown, An Hospital]
"It's dissociative amnesia, caused by your excessive drug intake. Your lost memories will come back when the drugs leaves your system" the doctor in front of Warren said after series of tests from specialists.
"Dissociative amnesia?" Ixora replied behind him. Her wounded forehead already got treated, and there's a small plaster on it.
Warren leaned forward on his chair.
"You're telling me i forgot everything that happened after I left the hospital three years ago?" Warren replied with smirky lips.
"You're a doctor, too. I'm glad you understand. In your memories, you never left the hospital, you're stuck in the hospital cos maybe after you left the hospital, something tragic happened, and you badly wanna forget, so your brain filtered out the memories." the doctor said.
"Something tragic really happened. Evelyn felt hurt cos of his rejection, so she framed him for her father's murder, and my stupid self testified against him to support Evelyn. He was sent to jail" Ixora stuttered.
Warren stood. "I went to jail?"
"Yeah, and I'm a big part of why you went. But when the secret leaked two months ago, Evelyn died in an accident, and you decided to take it all out on me" Ixora held his hands.
"You hate me so much, Warren. You hate me madly, and you hate when I call your name." She said sincerely.
"And you hate me too?" He asked the question she wasn't expecting.
"Huh?" She sniffled.
"Do you hate me too?" He repeated.
"I never did, and—"
"Done, now can I get some food? I'm starving" Warren interrupted, and her mouth widened.
"But—"
"I'm back from prison, I lost that memory, I don't hate you and I feel good. You do not hate me too, so I see no fuckin reason to have that guilty look on your face, scrap it." He cut her off again.
Ixora swept her hair back, and he even helped her do it, combing the strands with his long fingers before pulling her closer, possessively by her waist.
She gulped for the umpteenth time tonight, her nose catching a strong whiff of his earthly scent as he looked down at her.
"In my lost memories, tell me I already broke up with Kelsey" he said, removing a lash from her face.
Ixora couldn't blink.
The hammering happening in her chest and the way he's being all touchy is enough to mute her.
"Do I have to thrust my d+ck into your c0ck-sucking lips before you talk? You're all grown now, I can do whatever the fûck I want to you" he said, and she immediately tried moving away.
He pressed his fingers tighter to her waist skin, and she shivered.
"Are you...scared of me? I can feel your fear, moth" he said, touching her hair again.
It's like he's obsessed with it.
"You said you're... starved. Let's go to my hotel room. I'll have the hotel chefs cook for you" she awkwardly said.
"Great" he took her hand again, leading her out of the doctor's office.
Stonia who has been sitting in front of the office spranged up.
"I don't have to tell you how annoying this hand-holding shit is" she said hatefully, looking at Ixora's hand that's trapped in Warren's palm.
"I'll take him to the suite, for dinner" Ixora replied.
"The suite? The one I payed for with my money?" Stonia said.
Warren dipped his hand into his back pocket, bringing out an amex card which he placed on Stonia's shoulder.
"Even if I lose my memories a million times, I'll be rich with that card in every version. I've owned it since I was born so you can have it and charge the damn room from it" he said, pulling Ixora away.
"That insufferable bastard!" Stonia shot, rushing after them.
Throughout the drive to the hotel, Warren never let go of Ixora's hand, and even though she badly wants to relax her mind, she couldn't.
She's thinking of that day at the hospital after Warren turned Evelyn down.
—3Yrs Ago—
Evelyn already had tears in her eyes when she got back into the car with the girls, and it was Nadine and Ixora who did the job of consoling her.
"I hate him!! Cos he's hot? How could he reject me like that and those nurses were laughing! I hate them all, and he's gonna pay for turning me down! I'm just sixteen? I'll show him what a rich sixteen year old can do!" Evelyn shouted.
"He's rich too though...his father is the richest after your father in this city" Ixora replied.
"Wait...are you defending him?" Evelyn faced her.
"What" Ixora blinked.
"He stared at you earlier!!! And you couldn't even look him in the eye! You're the boldest of us Xoxo, you can look even the devil in the eye but when it comes to a boy you like, you're always shy, and that only means you like him. He likes you and you like him too, you betrayed me!" Evelyn kicked back.
"Stop it, Evie" Nadine said.
"No I won't! You're closer to Xoxo than me, I'm like the third wheel of this friendship, and I'm very sure you know she likes him but—"
"I don't like him" Ixora interrupted.
"Swear" Evelyn replied.
"I don't like him" Ixora repeated, biting her own tongue at the lie.
"Good, cos I'm about to deal with him in the cruelest way ever" Evelyn said vengefully.
"My vacation with my parents is tomorrow, I'm missing you both already" Nadine said.
"Use the TV well during that vacation, I'm gonna hurt him so bad the news will travel far" Evelyn scoffed.
"What are you gonna do?" Ixora asked.
"Wait and see" Evelyn replied.
—Present Time—
The car finally arrived at the hotel, Warren is still holding Ixora's hand even as they entered the elevator.
Stonia followed them with anger brewing in every inch of her, wishing she could cut off Warren's hand and gift it to a zoo.
They arrived at the suite, and Ixora ordered their suite chefs to make pasta which got ready in thirty fast minutes.
The meals were set in front of Warren, and he ate slowly like he does, but he couldn't taste anything.
It's like he's eating chalk.
He didn't complain though, he kept eating just to fill his stomach.
"You should call your friends" Ixora suddenly said.
"If they can't contact me within 24hrs, they'll find me. I'm sure they know why I'm here" he replied.
Ixora sat in front of him, and he continued his tasteless meal.
--
[California, Sunday~Crescent Hospital]
It's already two days after the hideaway party since the party happened on Friday.
Serena and Kelsey are still stuck in the hospital, though only Serena is still receiving treatment on her hand.
Kelsey is perfectly fine.
They're currently out of the ward though, making their way to the doctor's office.
Serena's facial doctor is in this hospital too, actually.
They both entered the office, meeting the doctor who's a fat smiley man.
"Serena Martinez?" He said surprisingly.
"How's it going with the face building?" Serena asked, clutching at her bandaged hand.
The doctor took them inside his inner office for VVIPs, and there he showed them the series of new works going on.
Works which include Ixora's duplicate face building.
Kelsey gasped when she saw the ongoing work in the clean wired glass, and Serena smiled.
"I told you, trust me, things will fall in place soon" the doctor said.
"I trust you" Serena replied, still clutching at her bandaged hand.
If she gets Ixora's face later, all her chances of being with Konstantin will be lost, but getting Ixora's face is her major goal anyways.
She'd get pampered by Aunt Stonia and Rafael.
She only has to kill Nadine so Konstantin won't have her too, so It's a fair game.
Her smile widened.
--
[Nadine's Place]
Life without Ixora has been like hell.
And the worse part? Nadine hasn't been able to call her, and it's driving her crazy already.
On Sunday nights like this, she doesn't miss drive-in cinema movies with Ixora, but now she has to go alone since the house is suffocating.
Being the only daughter of business moguls is a torture at this rate.
She only sees her parents twice or thrice a year. They do nothing but send excessive money and stupid expensive gifts every week.
She sighed out frustratingly, dragging her foot on the ground as she walked to the park, looking at her palm patch which reminded her of Konstantin.
She entered the car and forced herself to drive out of the house, but surprisingly, she met someone waiting in front of the mansion.
Anfisa.
She quickly got down from the car, blinking.
"The lady from the snack store?" She said with another blink from her big eyes, and Anfisa came closer.
"Anfisa Barinov, Konstantin's older sister" she said, and Nadine gasped shockingly, covering her mouth with a palm.
"I've been to ILC for fun a lotta times, and I saw you everytime" Anfisa said.
Nadine continued covering her mouth.
"The guys are all currently in Capetown, and it was boring at the hideaway, so I used your surname to look for your house, and I found it. Where are you going? Let's hit the road together" Anfisa smiled genuinely.
--
[A Park]
Bethel removed the face cap she's wearing after she came down from her taxi, and she payed the driver before looking around like she's searching for someone.
It didn't take long before she saw Clover smiling at her from beside a street lamp pole.
"You trickster!" She threw him a small stone, and he winced, coming closer with a crackle.
"Hope your brother didn't follow you?" He asked.
"He's currently barbing at the salon. I told him I was going to the city library for an hour, so we must not spend more than an hour" Bethel replied, following his lead.
Clover actually offered to show her his workplace, and she had agreed.
He took her to the crowdy part of of that opposite road where rogues are smoking and trading illegally.
It's a total gangland, and she had to cover her nose as they walked past.
At the end of the gangland, there's a warehouse with an entrance where huge bouncers are standing guard.
"She's my gee" Clover told them when they nearly denied Bethel's entry.
The men gave her scrutinizing looks, then Clover pulled her in.
She was immediately greeted by crowd, free flowing music, naked ladies—strippers, and alcohol.
"Welcome to Black Market underground clubhouse" Clover faced her, and she gasped as the neon lights danced around her face.
"You own this big club?" She blinked, adjusting her big round earrings.
"Not particularly, but I'm sure you know who owns it, I'm an underboss to the person, and I'm also the DJ here" he replied.
"I know the owner of this place?" Bethel blinked again.
"Yeah, but it's a talk for later. The dance floor will be open in ten minutes and I'll have to play as the DJ. Before then, let's chat over drinks" he replied, taking her to the bar.
They sat face-to-face.
"Tell me about ya brother?" He said.
"Are you planning to kidnap Romeo? You're too interested in him" she retorted.
"We're both mathematics students, I just wanna know him better" Clover shrugged.
"Not telling you anything about my brother" she insisted, but Clover immediately dropped a bundle of dollar notes on the table.
Bethel smiled, slowly drawing the bundle closer to herself.
"Fine...let's start from his childhood. He once went missing when he was young" She said.
"Hmm, interesting. I'll get drinks before we continue" Clover winked, signalling at the bartender.
--
[Capetown]
Thankfully, Warren still remembers where he had parked his car at Grand hotel parking lot since that's where he lost his memory at, so Ixora followed him to take a look.
They met the car just the way he left it—with broken windows from his deadly punches.
"You should take a better look maybe it'd help refresh your memories" Ixora said.
Warren leaned on the car, stretching his hand inside.
His phone is still where he left it, below the seat.
He took it out and began checking the number of missed calls he got.
Ixora stayed behind, watching him scroll aggressively on the phone screen.
The former devilish Warren wasn't aggressive.
He was calculative and eery, and his anger showed through his eyes and voice, but this new one?
If he's angry or frustrated, his actions shows it, and he's aggressive and violent as f+ck.
The two past days he spent with her in the hotel, he's either speaking aggressively to Stonia or trying to choke the hotel staffs.
He actually choked three hotel staffs cos they stared at him too much, and they had to be medically attended to.
The doctor says his aggressiveness is cos of the lost part of his memory, and he's gonna remain dangerously aggressive till he gets it back.
But the unexpected thing is...he controls his aggressiveness around her, and she's kinda grateful for that.
This version of him doesn't hate her, and she's happy for that too.
But would she be greedy to say she's wishing he stays this way a little bit long?
She wants it so fuçking much.
The way he looks at her, she likes it, and the way he holds her...
"They'll be here soon, the guys" he said, interrupting her thoughts.
"How did you know?" She asked.
"I traced Konstant's line, we all have a tracker on each other since highschool" he replied.
"Oh..." She sounded, and he took her hand again.
"Where to?" She asked.
"Where do you wanna go?" He replied, and she smiled a bit.
"Cinema..." She said.
"Boring" he bluntly replied, and she almost changed her mind, but he was already pulling her to the waiting car.
Ixora stayed silent throughout the drive to the cinema, and it didn't take long before they arrived.
Luckily, it's not filled since he chose an unpopular one.
"Popcorn? Ice cream?" He asked, and she tightened their handholding.
Why is this suddenly feeling like a date?
Seeing Warren as a normal guy isn't on her list of expectations at all.
"None, I prefer McDonald's french fries" she replied, and Warren looked around to sight McDonald's not far from there, but it's packed with people trying to buy.
"Don't f+ckin move from here" he told her.
"I won't" she replied with another small smile, then he's left to get it for her.
She couldn't fight a larger smile that graced her lips immediately.
The smile would have lasted longer, but her neck was tightly grabbed, and she was slammed against the car suddenly.
"Argh!!" She whimpered as three threatening faces came to view.
Konstantin, Capri and Ashton.
Expectedly, It's Konstantin who held her neck, gagging her angrily.
"I clearly saw you with him here! Where the hell is he!" he demanded.
The people in that angle moved away, and Ixora tried fighting Konstantin away, but she couldn't.
She's got skills, but it's just not applicable to any of these guys. They're hella stronger.
She coughed, but Konstantin only gagged her more, and the other two at the back watched.
"Where is he!" He switched from her neck to her hair, grabbing it tight.
Ixora winced again, her scalp feeling like it's automatically on fire.
"He's... he's..." She pointed at the McDonald's stand.
Konstantin let go of her, and some of her hair curled on his fingers.
She fell with red neck and painful scalp as the guys left, and she immediately began coughing again.
She rushed to the ice cream stand behind the park and asked for a cup of vanilla to ease the stinging in her throat.
She was given the ice cream, and she brought it to her lips to eat.
But...she couldn't.
She could smell chloroform in the cream, thanks to the fact that Warren once showed her the chemical in the abandoned church that night.
Now why would anyone try to give her chloroform?
She slowly looked up from the ice cream and saw it's not the ice cream man who's in the stand.
They are men in suit, and they're surrounding the stand too.
She immediately dropped the ice cream, and her phone mistakenly fell with it to the ground.
She jumped over, running fast down the park.
The men went after her, into the dark night.
--
Warren came out of the McDonald's stand, holding a large box of fries in his right hand, and he wasn't surprised to see his friends are already waiting.
"What the fûck are you doing, War?" Ashton questioned.
"Aptly explain" Capri added.
Konstantin furiously took the McDonald's from him and threw it off.
"Are you insane? What's up with you? Did the OD f+ck up your head this much?" He glared.
But Warren's ears isn't functioning for them right now.
His eyes are on the car, and Ixora isn't beside it anymore.
He pushed past the guys and went to the car, but she's really not there, so he turned around again.
"F+ckin talk! I'm running mad here!" Konstantin snarled at him.
Then he noticed something...
Konstantin's fingers, there are strands of blonde hair wrapped on it.
"What did you do to her?" He meanly demanded.
"Did to who?" Konstantin fired back.
"Ixora" Warren replied, his voice riding off the edge.
Capri and Ashton couldn't hide their shocks at the back.
Warren never says her name, It's always Dirty Little Liar.
"Where the hell is she!!" Warren growled like a stabbed lion.
"To hell with her! What the hell is wrong with you!!" Konstantin growled right back, and then... Warren did the unimaginable.
He slipped his hand on Konstantin's neck, wrapping it tight and slamming his back violently on two cars—one after the other.
"War!" Capri and Ashton chorused shockingly.
Konstantin didn't fight back as Warren brought his face closer, his eyes darker than midnight.
"If a nail on her finger goes missing, Konstantin, you'll go missing too" he seethed ferociously before adding;
"Even our friendship won't save you from me"
TBC.
No comments