Pulling her self from the floor after Paoxiao left the room, door shut firmly behind him, Nastasia watched the door with a worried expression. She was torn between listening to him and keeping herself out of the way or to defy his will and see for herself the situation outside the door. She wasn't weak and felt that perhaps there was some way she could be of help out there on the open deck.
The sharp heavy sounds of fighting, the deep snarls, groans, and yowls of whatever was out there came into the room; though muffled. Worried about the things she was hearing, Nastasia quickly got to her feet and made her way to the door.
Just as her hand was about to reach out to open it her hand froze in mid-air, recalling the earlier scene of when Li Yu Rong had her pinned to the bed "punishing" her. Nastasia's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she bit her lip out of frustration.
She wanted to help but was afraid of becoming a hindrance. In the end, after a long struggle of reaching out to open the door and pulling back, she decided to remain in the room.
It was better to sit still.
Both Paoxiao and Li Yu Rong seemed to be really strong. There was also An Ying who was able to deal with a group of strong men with nary a bit of effort placed into it. If those three were so powerful, then Hui Se Ying and Lu Se Ying couldn't be too far off in strength.
Thinking of it this way helped to calm Nastasia down a bit.
Backing away from the door, she sat down in a padded chair. Though every sound of struggle that slipped through her ears made her anxious, she forced her eyes not to glance at the door. If she continued looking at it, she wouldn't be able to help herself wanting to do something.
Just as her worry for those fighting outside started to become unbearable, the growling sounds from beyond the room weren't as muffled as before. There was a heavy step, wheezing breaths, and snarls so clear it brought a chill down her spine.
Swallowing hard, Nastasia turned her gazing hesitatingly toward the door.
There, standing in front of it, was a creature that could only be born from the minds of the greatest horror writers. And, just to be clear, she and horror films did not go well together. Thus, as she stared at that thing with this thought in mind, her entire body became numb.
Eyes that hollowed into darkness were staring at her as a mouth much wider than a human's gaped open to reveal sharp, jagged, teeth dripping of saliva. Pallid hands tipped with long blade-like claws reached out for her. Jumping up from her seat, she fled to the back of the room, trying to open a window to escape.
If these were the things that Li Yu Rong and the rest were fighting out there, then how were they faring against such monstrous things? Though she was anxious before, it was nothing to terror that began attacking her body now.
It had been a long time since she felt this type of fear.
Nastasia didn't understand how it had gotten in here as there were no openings for something of its size to crawl through. Not that she really cared to know at this moment. Instead, she focused on unlatching the lock of the window's shutters with her trembling hands to escape.
That thing, it brought back all the memories of the horror movies her older sister forced her watch when she was a child. For the longest time, she had to sleep with her mother or grandfather in fear of the human imagined horrors sneaking in to snatch her up. A nightlight present to light the darkness and prevent herself from being attacked unawares.
Although she was older now and knew better, being faced with a creature that looked like a combination of all the horror film monsters that scared her as a child made her feel sick. Getting the latch and pulling open the shutters, she prepared to shove her body through the opening.
A rush of air flew past her ears as clawed hands smashed against the shutters. She was barely able to draw in a grasp of air from the shock before sharp teeth sank into her shoulder. A cold feeling washed down her body, stealing the strength from her.
Eventually, her body sank like a puppet with its strings cut to the embroidered rug beneath her feet. Though she tried to move, the most she could do was to wiggle a finger or a toe. Nastasia squeezed her eyes shut as she gave her utmost to jump to her feet and run from this perilous situation. Unfortunately, she only succeeded in animating her hands from the wrist and twist her head from side to side.
Her heart raced as she felt the thing approach.
There was no feeling as it grabbed her to toss over. Even as she lay against its bony shoulder, her weight pressing down on her stomach as half of her dangled from the front side while the other dangled from the back side, she could feel nothing.
A loud slam echoed in her ears as splinters of wood and dust flew past her head. The thing from her darkest childhood nightmares rushed forward to balance at the edge of the boat. Nastasia tried to struggle free, she tried to scream and shout for release, but the words wouldn't fall from her mouth. Just as how the strength fled from her body, her voice had also been taken from her.
Real panic began to set in as her breathing roughened. She wasn't sure if it were the tremendous fear rising in her or if it was another effect of the creature's bite, but dots of darkness began to float about her vision.
Then, there was a second of feeling her gut rising up to her throat as her eyes trailed the wooden hull of the boat before smacking into the water's surface, submerging below it. The water rushed up her nose; burning. She hadn't had time to take in a breath before they hit the water.
Without any air in her lungs, they began to burn fiercely. The black dots floating in her vision worsened as her heart beat deep thuds in her chest. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, and they kept sinking deeper into an unknown darkness.
Unable to handle a moment more lacking oxygen, Nastasia lost consciousness.