Chapter 7- A Being Capable of Evil

“I damaged myself badly, but I didn't realize it at the moment. All my life experiences should have taught me a lot of things, but all I got out of it was a single, definitive truth. That I am, in the end, a being capable of evil. I never set out to intentionally hurt someone, but when the situation called for it, I could become totally self-centered, even cruel. I was the type of person who could impose a never-healing wound on someone I cared for by creating a convincing excuse.”

Raphael repeated the quote that he tried to remember over and over, as he sat at the edge of her bed and waited for her to wake up.

The fact that Tami only stirred and mumbled in 12 hours worried Raphael. She should've been awake by now. And the silence in his huge house, thousands of miles away from Tami's home was gnawing away at his conscience.

So, he remembered a quote he used to cite when he was a teenager, and had pushed a bully down the stairs after he picked on a new kid.

Raphael was sent to anger management afterwards, where one of his 'assignments' were for him to find a quote or saying that he believed matched how he felt most of the time.

Now ten years later, it seemed fitting. His intentions were somewhat pure, yet the lasting effect of the whole situation was scary.

It wasn't too late to send Tami back on his jet and back home. But that's where the self-centered and almost cruel part came in. He didn't want to, and he couldn't. And this led to yet another part of him using a somewhat 'convincing' excuse.

He sighed as he made a move to leave, deciding that he would take a shower and grab breakfast for both of them.

He was also very tired, since he didn't sleep last night. After Nick dropped him off at the air terminal and Raphael's pilot arrived, Raphael sent Nick on his way, making him believe that this was all a part of what he and Tami had planned--why he went to Nassau in the first place. Nick knew something was definitely wrong, but he didn't make a fuss about it.

Raphael then realized that he needed Nick's silence once the news of her going missing goes out, so he had come up with a convincing lie that would definitely grant him as much silence needed.

After he got to his house that he owns on the coast of the Grand Bahama, he rested Tami in a room he imagined would be hers, and transferred everything that Maddie had sent to that very room.

Mrs. Garcia was in her own room on the other side of the mansion when this all happened. So another contributor to Raphael's headache was the conversation he dreaded with the woman. She would, after all, have to meet Tami soon. She will have to clean her room and be her company when Raphael couldn't. And even though Mrs. Garcia didn't speak English, this was a good thing.

He ran his fingers through his short hair as he let the warm water glide over his toned muscles. It eased the tension in his body somewhat, but the tension in his chest was something different. He wanted her to wake up so badly, yet he was afraid how she would react when she indeed awakened.

'What if she doesn’t fall in love with him by the end of summer?', he thought to himself as he wrapped a towel around his waist. This would all be for nothing, and she'd definitely bring the authorities into it.

The authorities.

That was yet another contributor to his headache. It didn’t really occur to him that this was a felony, until he was already on the plane.

But then again, even if he noticed that it was indeed a felony before he drugged her, he probably still would've went along with it--No..He definitely still would’ve done it.

A being capable of evil.

All he was holding onto, was the little hope that her big heart would see passed his actions and accept him. Of course, there were more ways of going about things with her, but she was his and only his. Deep down this was all the doing of Raphael who gets what he wants, and does things HIS own way.

Tami was his light. His beautiful butterfly that he couldn’t just let fly away again.

With a deep sigh and a keen ear for movements, Raphael unzipped his suitcase and grabbed some clothes.

He hadn’t gotten the chance to unpack yet, since he went straight to Nassau after leaving Puerto Rico. He also was dreading doing so, but he always did personal things like this by himself.

He could've easily hired someone to unpack his clothes, buy his pills and arrange his things, but he was a very personal man who had a pet peeve against such things. Only Mrs. Garcia could touch his personal things, and that's because he had known her since he was a child.

His eyes caught a thin pink fabric that was still tied to his duffle bag, and his heart soared in admiration as he ran his finger over the pink ribbon that was Tami's all those years ago. The same pink ribbon that she wrapped around his booboo.

As Raphael stared at the pink ribbon, he just knew right there and then, that this was right. There was no way the woman in the room down the hall wasn’t meant to be his. He admitted, it would be hard, but she will come around.

She has to.

He was on his way out to get breakfast and probably tell Mrs. Garcia about their new house guest, when a loud, heart wrenching scream echoed through the hallway.

He rushed to her room, seeing her very much awake and terrified. But when her eyes landed on him, she relaxed in relief, yet he knew her relief was misjudged.

"Raphael. Thank God. Where are we? Why am I handcuffed to this bed? Help me please" She pleaded, letting out a dry cough at how parched her throat felt.

With a heavy heart, Raphael walked further into the huge room slowly, retrieving the water from the night stand to bring to her pink, plump lips. She greedily gulped it all down with her eyes still trained on the man, questioning and confused as he had ever seen her.

She drew for air once the bottle of water was done, and she took a while to catch her breath before speaking again.

"Raph where are we? What's happening? Did I drink too much and pass out last night? Is this your house?" She bombarded him with questions, though he could see that she hadn’t quite caught on fully yet.

He gulped, not entirely sure how to break the news to her. "Yes this is my house" He answered the question that seemed the easiest. He grabbed the keys from her nightstand too, as he let his cold fingers glide over her thin wrist. "Sorry about the handcuffs. I didn’t want to risk you waking up in the middle of the night and running away"

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she observed him. Tami could see the reluctance and fear in his eyes, yet she couldn’t understand why. She found it odd that he took her to his house instead of hers, since his driver knew where she lived. But as his friend, she understood his concern. Yet, there was something that he wasn’t telling her, and she could tell.

The crashing of waves was evident to her ears, telling her that they were indeed on the coast, which was a far way from her home, since she lived closer to town.

"Raphael what's wrong? Where’s my phone?" she asked, realizing that it was well in the morning, and her family would be worried.

"What would you want for breakfast?" He asked, completely avoiding her question and eyes.

Tami grew a bit annoyed by his act, and the urgency to let her family know she was okay was outweighing her patience for her old friend.

"Raphael" She started sternly. "Where is my phone? I need to call my family. After that I will have breakfast with you and you can take me back to town."

"No Tami"

"Excuse me?" She raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"I said no. Your phone is back in Nassau" If she was confused then, she was sure as hell confused now.

"What are you talking about? Aren’t we in Nassau?"

"Where in Grand Bahama. We will remain here until the end of summer. We will grow closer, and you will be mine. By the end of the two months, I'll have my pilot fly us to the US for your commence of medical school, where we will remain until you are through-"

"What the hell are you talking about Raphael? What the hell do you mean by we're in Grand Bahama?" She jumped from the bed as if it was on fire as she glared at the man she thought was her friend.

He too got alert and he stood a good distance away from her, but close enough to catch her if she tried to run. Her big brown eyes watered as his heart broke at the sight, and he constantly had to remind himself that this will pay off in the long run.

"You can't keep me here for two whole months Raphael!" She practically screamed. "And for what? So I could-I could fall for you!?" She sounded incredulous as she scrunched her face in an expression that tore his whole world apart. Yet, he stood firm on his decision.

"Tami if you would just-"

"No!" She cut him off. "Oh my gosh you're crazy! What happened to the Raphael I knew? You kidnapped me?! How dare you!"

Luckily, this house was miles away from any other mansions here on the coast of the island, and it was huge. So Raphael didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing the commotion.

"Tami I need you" He finally admitted, pleading with his eyes for her to understand. But she simply shook her head slowly as her eyes spilled with water, and she gazed at him in disbelief.

Her eyes then darted to the door, and he did too when he caught onto what she was planning.

He knew she couldn’t have gotten far, since he installed maximum security, and she would’ve gotten lost somewhere along the line. But he caught her against his chest nonetheless when she made a run for it.

She writhed and screamed in his grip as he brought her towards the bed and laid her gently on it. He then took the handcuffs and placed them back on her wrist as she cried.

"Forgive me Tami," He mumbled as she sobbed into a pillow. "But I need you"

And with that, he dragged himself towards the exit, making sure all her windows and the balcony door were closed before he headed down to get her and himself breakfast.

Tami couldn’t believe what happened. She couldn’t believe Raphael kidnapped her. It then occurred to her that she only started to get woozy after he brought her the cocktail last night, and that's when it hit her.

He drugged her.

Her heart broke as the feeling of betrayal ate away at her heart. This wasn’t the nine-year old she met years ago. This was a cruel, selfish rich man, who was obviously spoilt and believed he could get anything he wanted.

And why her? He was a good-looking man with this much money, which seemed like could be enough to buy the whole country. So why her?

'I need you', he had said. But why her? Why her in particular? She didn’t know, and she didn’t care.

She knew she would have to find a plan to escape soon. Her life, family and mental health depended on it. But for now, all she could do was cry.

She cried for the sweet little boy she once knew who was obviously gone, cried for the feeling of helplessness for being here against her will, and cried for the pain in her chest that she couldn’t understand. She knew she cared for Raphael, so the level of betrayal of trust was enough to make her heart break.

This man--this thing-- was not the Raphael De Léon, that she knew and loved sixteen years ago.