Ariana blinked twice and squinted before putting away her fists, "Alexander? What are you doing here?"
"To save you." Without another word, he grabbed her arm and dragged her around the corner as the heavy footsteps grew closer. His ears had always been accurate. From the sound of those steps, that man was midway down the other hallway. If they didn't leave now, she would get caught.
She followed his pace as she had complete trust in him. Once they have turned another corner, he halted his steps and remembered that there was another way to escape from that man. He counted from the last brick from his right and stopped at the tenth brick.
Using his thumb, he pressed against it to unlock a hidden passageway that he had used when he was young. Nobody knew about this path other than him and his parents. Within seconds, the bricks shifted and a new path appeared.
Ariana looked at him and then back towards the dark road ahead. He whispered, "hurry.." His hand was holding hers as he leads the way into the darkness. The moment they walked in, he pressed his thumb to a specific brick to his left side and let the entrance close up.
"What are-" His palms covered her mouth as he took deep breaths. That's when she realized that his hand was wet. 'Is he nervous? His hand is soaked,' she thought to herself as she remained quiet.
Her attention focused entirely towards where the entrance was as she heard the familiar footsteps rushing past their location. Her heart rate sped up when she heard an old man's voice chanting, "I don't want to die."
Alexander didn't let go of her mouth until he knew for certain that the man was really gone. He whispered, "Are you alright?" His tone sounded weaker than his usual whispering voice.
She answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you here? A mission?"
He said, "Really. It's to save you."
"How did you know that I was here?" The cease between her brows deepened as his voice sounded a bit faint even though he was standing beside her.
"You'll understand when we get back to my room." He continued holding onto her hands as they walked further into the dark. With her mini flashlight, she avoided slippery rocks that were on the floor. She was quite amazed by his calmness as he walked through the dark without any assistance.
It felt as if he could walk in and out of this path with his eyes blindfolded. They remained quiet until they got out of the shortcut path that led them to his bedroom. When they exited, she saw a familiar face.
She immediately let go of his hands when she saw the unconscious Chen Nan laying on the bed. Quickly, she rushed to check up on his condition. Fortunately, once Chen Nan had heard her voice, his eyes rolled underneath his eyelids and opened slowly to meet her worried gaze.
"You're awake! Does it hurt anywhere?" She gently touched his arms to see if he was injured.
He sat up slowly and shook his head a few times. His vision improved after shutting his eyes for a few seconds and opening it again. "Ariana? Why are you here? Where is this place?"
His words reminded her that Alexander hadn't explained anything to her. When she turned around, she saw how pale Alexander looked with sweat dripping down the sides of his face. Now that Chen Nan had woken up, she concentrated on him and observed his odd behavior.
"What's wrong with you? Are you injured somewhere?" She walked to his side and reached up to feel his forehead. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw blood on her palm. She gasped in response and turned her head back and forth when she realized that she had made bloody handprints on Chen Nan's sleeves.
In other words, the blood belonged to Alexander!
Seeing Ariana's expression, he still settled his mood to comfort her, "I'm alright. This kind of wound won't kill me."
"You dare say that when you're bleeding this much?! Look at your arm! So much blood is leaking from your back!" She didn't know what she should do since she didn't know where she could or couldn't touch.
Chen Nan got off the bed and went to help Alexander settle onto the bed. With the medical kit that he had found in the room, Chen Nan cut the back of his bloody shirt with a pair of scissors to inspect the wounds. Meanwhile, she stepped aside to organize the necessary tools such as alcohol, cotton swabs and whichever supplies were accessible from the kit.
Once in a while, she would lower her gaze to peek at his condition. Since blood came from his back, they laid him down on his chest. From the mirror's reflection in his room, Alexander could see how she reacted to his whip marks. This was the first time he had ever revealed the nasty scars and wounds on his body to her.
Before he started treating the opened wounds, he had sanitized his hands thoroughly and wore a clean pair of surgical gloves. Chen Nan instructed what he needed, and Ariana would place the tools to his hands. With their chemistry, he successfully closed up the wounds and redid the stitches.
"He should be fine as long as he doesn't get out of bed for at least a week. His wounds are quite deep, and I have no idea how he endured the pain. Whoever caused these wounds must have wanted to take his life or something." Chen Nan tried to speak as low as possible, but his words were still heard.
Ariana's fists appeared once again. She bent down and asked, "Who?" Her eyes were full of fiery and Alexander recognized the ignited flames in her eyes. He smiled lightly, "You don't need to know. You two should get out of here when you get the chance. I'll show you the way out."
"No. We're on a mission, and we aren't going to leave just like this." Ariana refuted and was not satisfied by his response to her previous question. He was avoiding her, and she didn't know who he was trying to protect.
With her arms crossed, she stood steadily and looked at him, "Was it your leader? Boss? Who beat you to this extent? Why didn't you retaliate? Aren't you always on high alert?"
Her questions stacked one after another, making it difficult for him to answer even once. Chen Nan patted her shoulders lightly, indicating that she should stop at where she was right now.
Alexander knew her personality very well. Once she has determined to find something out or do anything she thought was right, she will not give up. He was ready to tell her what had happened and thought that she wouldn't listen to Chen Nan's hint at all.
When his lips parted, she also shut her lips and swallowed back the words that she wanted to say. This was the first time someone managed to control her and make her take a step back.
A thought lingered and processed to his mind... 'Right, she's already his wife. That's why she has changed.'
Chen Nan noticed the few seconds of disappointment from Alexander's expression that quickly went away. 'This guy...he...'