Fei dipped his head low, collecting his thoughts in the midst of the boisterous crowd of reporters who continued to hurl questions at him. He breathed deeply, preparing himself for the final execution, but his stomach wrenched painfully at the thought of going through with this.
He turned around with his hand still resting on his chin as he watched Rob and Tawnya argue heatedly over Sakura Kasugano. No one could see him frown behind his sunglasses as he kept his eyes on Tawnya’s face. Despite the concealer makeup, the swelling of her eye made the bruise look obvious. Tawnya looked emotionally brittle, and it was his fault. His entire fault.
“Oh I such goo director,” Rob raised his voice in a sarcastic tone. “I do no such thing to tell you to act this. No start real fight.”
“It wasn’t planned for God’s sake, it just happened,” Tawnya protested, shielding her eyes from the flashing, blinding lights.
“Tawnya, are you suggesting that the thirty or so spectators that watched you start the fight with Sakura Kasugano are lying?” a female reporter said with an unforgiving stare.
“Why don’t you tell us more about how you ended up with a bruise on your face last week?” a blonde journalist cut in.
“That’s none of your business,” Tawnya retorted, unconsciously covering her face with a trembling hand.
“Is it true that you had dinner with the Japanese martial artist?” another reporter yelled.
“We believe that Fei Long was at the scene while you were both dining. Why were you there, Mr. Long? Do you not trust your girlfriend?” another half-jeering voice said.
Tawnya clutched her head, willing herself to shut out all the voices that were hammering at her. She had no idea how to answer these questions without harming her contract with Fei Long, one way or another. Fei wanted her to meet Ryu, Fei wanted to believe that she was not a schizophrenic; Fei wanted Tawnya to continue their charade. She had to be faithful to him, but she knew it was Fei Long who had evidently led her to Ryu.
They are all against you,” his demonic voice pounded in her mind, sounding more sympathetic than usual.
“Fei, Fei Long,” a reporter queried, “does your silence mean that you knew about the meeting Tawnya Blaze had with this Ryu Hoshi?”
“You have no ally; trust no one except your own mind.”
“Fei, how can you ever forgive Tawnya for her betrayal?”
Tawnya suddenly felt her body warm up as Fei wrapped his arms around her in a gentle cuddle. She took in his familiar scent. She rested her face against his chest and felt her head soothed by the comforting strokes of his hands.
“I’m here for you, Tawn,” Fei said softly, as if they were the only two people in the room. “No one can harm you under my protection.”
Listening to the commands of her mind, her heart pumped faster. With her ears pressed against his chest, she could also hear the thunderous thumps of his heart too.
“We can get through this together,” he assured her, kissing her hair a few times.
Tawnya’s reddened eyes widened at the memory of Fei uttering those same words moments before leaving her to Ryu. His face had seemed so serious, so sincere. Her heart was beating so strongly, she thought she might faint, but she willed herself to push Fei away.
“You’re in on it too, aren’t you,” Tawnya yelled, her body shuddering uncontrollably. The room was stuffier than ever.
“You’ve been using me for your own twisted schemes,” she continued, screaming over the deep voice that was keeping her caged in. “You never cared, you...you only ever cared about yourself!”
Fei tried to step forward to cuddle her into silence, but was rammed back by another angry thrust.
“You’re only trying to keep me sweet now so these idiots don’t know our relationship is one big hoax.”
Fei stood rigidly. He could feel his right eye twitch as he watched Rob’s mouth drop open. The guilty feeling of pushing Tawnya over the edge kept clawing at him.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Tawnya said, facing the stunned crowd. “Fei and I were never in a real relationship. He forced it on me, paid me big bucks to play you all. Yeah, I’m just a media hooker.”
“Fei Long, is this true?”
“Fei, what is she talking about?” the reporters yelled simultaneously.
“The man you see is not the man you believe.”
“You can’t control me anymore, Fei.”
“Tawn, have you taken your meds?” Fei said, calmly reaching out for her.
“He is playing with your mind.”
“I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy,” Tawnya muttered to herself.
“I’m sorry,” Fei said assertively, expressing his sentiments to the media pandemonium in front of him. “Tawnya is in no fit state to answer any more questions.”
“Try me,” she yelled at the throng, cutting in front of him.
The flashing lights continued to attack her vision. She squinted as she spoke. “Ask me anything, I dare you.”
“Ms. Blaze, who is Ryu Hoshi?” a loud voice at the back said.
Tawnya stammered. Her eyes shifted rapidly left and right. She was confused by the probing voice in her head.
“What is your feeling towards Fei Long right now?”
“How long did you plan to continue your fake relationship? Didn’t you not think we would find out?”
“How much did HKL International pay you to have relations with Fei Long?”
Tawnya began to hyperventilate. The inner voice shrieked for her to stop, to look away. She scrunched her eyes shut, finding sanctity in the darkness of her gloved hands, but this only amplified his voice to full volume. It was a solitary voice now.
“There will be a time when you can finish all this,” his rasping voice told her with great confidence. “No more reliance on anyone but yourself.”
She breathed harshly into her hands, her eyes flickering silently, listening to his voice intently.
“The man you see...” he said, conjuring Ryu’s face in her mind, “...is not the man you think he is.”
Ryu’s serious face scowled at her, ferocious, until his eyes turned blood-red.
“He sees something sinister in you, but it is he who is a threat. Ask yourself, why did he ruin your face?”
She could feel panic rivet her. It was enough to make her dizzy, tilt sideways and smash onto the ground.
“There will be a time when you can end all this, alone.”
Tawnya felt herself being lifted to her feet by the rough hands of Rob and Fei, who peered into her face with crazed concern. She tried to twist away from them, to loosen the hands holding her down in a gentle death grip, but she was too weak. Feeling suffocated, Tawnya shot her head up into the flashing lights. Her ears tuned into the yells and howls of reporters and her co-star telling her to “snap out of it.” Her eyes blurred for a second before focusing on Fei, who was pointing threateningly at her.
“Ladies and gentleman,” Rob announced to the crowd.
Fei held her in a cradled grasp that was difficult to escape.
“As of now, Hong Kong Long International no longer be representing Ms. Tawnya Blaze. Her condition is big liability and I work no under threat. Tawnya Blaze pay lump compensation to Miss Sakura Kasugano and her future action no be my responsibility. Thank you.”
Rob dropped the microphone with a loud thud to the floor as he stood mournfully in front of the blinking crowd.
“No!” Tawnya screamed, squirming out of Fei’s clutch. “You can’t do that, you bastard.”
“My cash cow let me down,” Rob said with a shake to the head, continuing in Cantonese.
Tawnya gasped and suddenly sprinted out of the conference hall. She barged through the fire exit doors and took a sharp left into the bathroom. She held herself tight against the door for a second before bursting into a tearless echoed wail. Feeling her knees shake, she collapsed to the floor, catching sight of her broken face in the long mirror. The bathroom was quiet, except for a loud dripping tap t
hat caught her attention for a second.
She stood and reached for the tap, but her fingers froze. There were soaked playing cards in the sink. Sensing that she was not alone, she felt her heart pulse erratically. Terror-stricken, she spun around, hearing faint, soft laughter.
“I know you’re there,” she said loudly, but the echo of her own voice was her only response.
Tawnya turned the tap fully, splattering cold water over her clammy face.
“Tawnya,” something whispered.
Startled, she let out a wheezy gasp, splashing water all over the large mirror. Her own face stared back at her, wet and red around the eyes.
“Am I going mad?” she said, watching her lips move as she spoke.
“Mad, I say not. Losing your mind, yes.”
Rose smiled at her, her face in the mirror as if it were Tawnya’s own. Petrified, Tawnya turned around to see no one standing behind her, then, with great caution she touched her face, wondering whether it was still hers. Her hand trembled over the swelling Ryu caused, and she was puzzled as to why Rose’s face had replaced her own. She knew her own eyes were furrowed with fear, but Rose held no expression at all.
“This is crazy,” Tawnya whispered, placing a finger over her moving mouth.
“You will end this,” came Rose’s words.
“Are you really there?” Tawnya asked, testing her sanity. She traced over the mirror with her shaky fingers.
“Soon.”
The piercing pain in her heart came back overwhelmingly. It felt like a stabbing knife. Angrily, Tawnya smeared the mirror with her wet hands, and raced to the shut window on her right. She opened it high and peered over, wanting to jump, but now Rose’s reflection shone on the window glass.
“You can’t escape.”
Just then, her heart felt weak. She clasped at her chest and she tore at her hair with her forehead resting on the ledge. She had seen this before, not once, but twice...in Ryu. Tawnya had watched him struggle to breathe, dragging his feet across the grass as if he had a lead ball shackled to his ankle. His eyes had reddened from the sheer pain he felt, replacing the kindness of his face with a demonic scowl.
“Slowly taking over, my little star.” Rose’s voice felt far away. The room tilted away, and Tawnya hit the floor hard, with arms and legs shaking.
She was laughing.
“The Akuma assails,” Tawnya said, except it wasn’t her voice. She clutched sideways at the floor with a demented smile, scratching at the black tattoo on her wrist until the lines were bleeding. “Now this is the end.”
*****
Chapter 26:
TWO HEARTS