275 Where Is He?

Hearing those words from him almost made Astrid puke at the thought. 

"If it be that anything happened to him, I still would never be with you. Willingly or with force. It would never happen. I would rather I..."

"You would rather die than to be with me? Tsk, be careful what you wish for, darling," Clive interjected her speech and closed the gap between them. 

Watching him approach, Astrid backed away till she felt her leg touch the bed and stopped walking backwards. 

'It is up to me now. I have to escape without showcasing my powers.' Astrid thought to herself as she took in her situation properly. 

"I think I have allowed you stall for time a lot already. Time to tame that mouth of yours."

'You wish!' Astrid voiced out in her mind. 

She reached through her mind link for Snow but she could not get in touch with him. 

It was as though he was completely blocked out from her mind or the reverse was the case, she was blocked out from his. 

'No, this is not good.' Astrid said to herself. 

Just about that sane time, Clive moved loser to where Astrid stood close to the bed and before she could say anything, he leaned down on her, wanting to use his weight to crush her but Astrid was smarter. 

Just as she felt his body weight began to go down, Astrid escaped to her left hand side. 

Clive almost fell on the vef and quickly supported his weight with his hands as he turned to the left side to glare at the person in question. 

After escaping from his clutches, Astrid moved over to the side and was about stepping past him when Clive stretched forth his hand to stop her. 

As quickly as he fell, he rose quickly and darted to the side where Astrid was. 

Noticing the impending danger, Astrid moved away but unluckily for her, Clive caught her hand and pulled her close to him. 

The moment she was within range, she steeped hard on his foot, hoping to make him yell from the pain and he would release her. 

What she got actually was something she had least expected and miscalculated. 

The next thing Astrid knew, a hot and hard slap landed on her face sending her falling backwards and unto her bed. 

Her eyes spun in their sockets and her head became fuzzy and drowsy all of a sudden. 

It was as though she was hearing different kinds of sounds in her ears. 

"You wench! I have tried to play nice with you. It is as though you want to see the other side of me."

Irrespective of all he was saying or the terrible look of dread that was etched deep in his eyes and showed his ruthless and killing intent, Astrid ignorednhim and winced at the sharp pain that stung her right cheeks.

As he spoke, he moved closer to where she was and climbed unto the bed. 

Astrid could feel the bed go down under his weight and knew she was in for some trouble. 

He lounges for her and caught her hands, pinning them both at the top of her head with one hand while the other dropped over face to her chest, down her ample breast to her stomach only to stop at her waists. 

She tried putting up a fight as she struggled to free her hands but all her attempts proved abortive as Clive locked her in place. 

At the same time, she tried using her legs but that singular action only made Clive angry and the separated her legs then settle himself between them.

With that current positions, Astrid was thoroughly pinned down with little or Jo escape route left for her.

******

Meanwhile after Jareth got the information he could get from Lucas, he left the tired man behind and ran towards the small village. 

"You are not allowed to die or be eaten by any animal, is that clear?" Jareth asked Lucas in a cold voice. 

"Yes sir. What are you going to do?"

"Get her from his clutches. Catch up when you can." Without another word to Lucas, Jareth ran ahead. 

He raj with a top speed as though his life depended on it. He knew the feeling he had today was real. 

He felt so stupid for leaving her alone like that and hoped nothing bad would happen to her before he got back. 

'Astrid, please be okay. Just hold on a little bit more, I would soon be there. I promise, you would be alright.'

Even though he said those words in his mind as though she could hear him, he also said so to encourage himself and make sure he gets there before things go wrong. 

"Snow, I am counting on your love and jealousy for your master, please keep her safe till I return."

About thirty minutes later, Jareth arrived at the village and immediately made his way to Clive's house in great strides. 

With the rage eveident on his face and the killing intent in his face, the villagers paved way for him to pass as everyone knew better than to disturb him. 

Jareth's eyes blazed with an unknown fire as his breathing became uneven and ragged as he marched on. 

By the time he got to Clive's house and was about knocking on the door, Jareth paused and his ears twitched. 

He narrowed his eyes as he stared hard at the door. 

From where he stood outside, he could hear different voices speaking in the room and stopped his hands from hiting it. 

"I can't believe he fell for it," one of the men said. 

"Pff, who wouldn't? Besides the leader said it in such a way that he could never refuse." 

"Stupid elf, just because he won the duel he thinks he got it all. Our leader is just too smart for him," another man aired his view. 

"Hahhaa I believe he would be dead by now, nothing like watching the horror in her eyes when she sees his dead body."

"Oh please, but I do wish I could have a go at her. Like I mean that elf was too possessive of her. Good riddance."

"What about the merman?" A fifth voice suddenly called out. 

"He would face the same situation as the elf ofcourse. Our leader was too smart. He basically killed three birds with one stone without having to do anything but give an order."

"Three birds?  Don't you mean two birds?" The first man asked. 

"No, I mean three. This is why, he eliminated each opponent, the elf and the merman which is two birds and then then he gets to have her which is the third point."

"Where is he by the way? Lucas should be arriving now with the elf's dead... "

Bang!! 

The door slammed open with a terrible force, causing all of them to sit at the edge of their seats. 

At once, all heads turned towards the door and their eyes opened in horror as they saw the person they least expected to see standing at the entrance of the house. 

Just like a ghost in a child's nightmare, Jareth took the first step in, slowly taunting their minds and heart as his eyes moved from person to person like a serial killer counting and taking note of his preys. 

"Y–you–u... What... Are you... doing here?" Brad stuttered as he looked at what seemed to he Jareth's ghost. 

"WHERE IS HE?" 

His voice came out with all the cold and grievance he could muster. 

"He... Who?"

"Where is Clive!" Jareth hollered at Brad. 

"He... He has gone to her. I... "

Not giving any chance to say anything more, Jareth shot a deadly glare at Brad before rushing off in the direction of their house. 

"Dammit. Astrid, please hold on, I am coming."

****

Back at their room, Astrid struggled to free herself from Clive's hold and only ended up with another hot slap. 

"Curse you, beast."

"Oh, I may be a beast to you but you can do nothing. At least I am a better beast as compared to your baby beast. I can make you feel things better than what that elf ever made you feel."

"Get off me. Help! Help! Hmm," her shouts and screams turned into muffled sounds as Clive covered her lips with his huge hand using force. 

Astrid shook her head and tried to trash her body around under his weight but nothing she did seemed to have been working. 

Successfully after much trials, she ended up biting his hand  and he pulled away. 

"Help!"

Yes, she was in a situation where she could have used her powers and easily freed herself from his clutches, honestly she felt the need to do so. 

However, she failed to do so, because she feared exposing herself or actually doing something worse. 

Either way, she tried to reach out for help again when Clive's wandering hand roamed her body. 

"Jareth! Snow! Help!"