I feel helpless, being dragged down the hall like I am now. I try tugging my hand back but it's no use. I don't know where he's taking me.
"Where are we going?" I repeat again, feeling panic rise into my throat. He pulls me through the corridors into another room, one I've never been inside of.
When the door comes into view I fully panic. I know this room. I remember Vincent used to go in there all the time but he told me never to go in there. He repeated it often, sternly, that I wasn't allowed to go into that room. Why is that changing now? What's in that room that's so important I wasn't allowed inside?
When the door opens I'm hit with a vile aroma and I'm instantly nauseous. My eyes snap to the tip of my toes. I don't want to see what's in here. I cover my nose and mouth with my hand hoping to keep the potent smell out of my senses.
Vincent turns around, facing me. I see his toes touch mine, "Take a good, long look Alex..." he says coldly. I can feel his fingers wrap around my chin. I close my eyes before he can pull my face up. He uses his other hand to take my hand away from my mouth. The nausea rises up high into my throat and my mouth waters. I don't want to look.
"Open your eyes, Alexandra," I hear him say, he sounds demanding. If I don't he's going to make me.
My eyes open and I look directly at his eyes. I swallow quickly to keep the contents of my stomach where they belong. I watch Vincent step to the side and I see them.
Sitting against the wall, half rotting and half mechanical skeletons are there. A distressed sound escapes my throat at the sight of them. Their skin and organs are burned onto the skeletal figures, their mouths open and their heads tilted back as if still screaming. The smaller one, who would have been Theresa, has her hand crossed over her chest, gripping onto the opposite shoulder.
I cry out and my body bends over, no longer able to contain the nausea, vomiting on the ground. I try regaining myself and pull back but Vincent holds onto me too tightly, keeping me from moving. I cry, yelling out at him and trying to turn away. I shut my eyes tight. "Stop, Vincent! Let me leave!" I scream at him, fighting against him to get out of the room.
"Do you want to end up like them?" He asks, sounding too calm for my liking.
"No!" I holler in response.
"Then stop fighting!" He yells, grabbing my shoulders and making me stand, my back to him and the corpses in front of me-which I can no longer see because of the tears. My nose running and blocking out the smell. I make myself stand still. I can feel my body trembling. "I wanted you to see where my only fault was. Now if you don't want to end up like your friends, then I suggest you listen well." He says.
I can't keep myself from sobbing. I've never seen anything like this before. I can't believe he's just kept them here. I curl my arms up to my chest, leaning back against his hands, "H-how did you hide them from the inspectors?" I ask through my broken voice.
I hear Vincent hum and I watch the room change. The air hisses, making the smell disappear and the corpses evaporate. I look around, now confused and troubled with spinning emotions. I wipe my eyes.
"They aren't here.." Vincent says, grimly. "This is a hologram room."
I feel my chest tightening with anger. I step away from him and turn around, "Why the hell would you do something like that?!" I yell, getting in his face.
His eyebrows raise and his lips tug up into an amused smile. "Because I wanted to see you cry."
I try and hit him but he evades my reach, moving away from me. He backs up again and he disappears behind a frozen hologram of him and my mother.
They're facing each other. She looks angry, pointing at him, her body slightly bent forward. His arms are crossed, a frown across his face as he looks down at her.
They start moving, "I know you did something to her!" My mother says angrily, "where is Alexandra?! What have you done to my daughter?!" Every step she takes Vincent mirrors backwards, the distance between them staying the same.
"You're delusional, woman. Alexandra went missing eight years ago. If she were still alive don't you think she'd have found a way to get ahold of you? You always spoke about how intelligent she was." Vincent says flatly. He's convincing enough that I wouldn't have questioned him more.
"I KNOW my daughter is alive! And I KNOW that you did something to her! So tell me what you did to her, NOW!" Mom quickly closes the gap between them.
Vincent opens his arms, gesturing to the area around him, "You're welcome to search for her."
"And I'll find her," Mom says. She turns around, I can already tell how determined she is to find me.
My eyes shift over to Vincent's sudden movement, when I see the knife in his hand. My eyes widen and I realize what I'm watching. I'm about to watch Vincent kill my mother.
I watch him swiftly approach her from behind and he wraps his arm around her shoulders, holding her to him and putting the knife to her neck. I step towards the hologram, as if I can make it stop, make it so that he doesn't kill her. But I know she's already dead and I can't do anything about it.
My mom yells out and tries pulling his arm off. "Let go of me, Vincent!" She demands.
Vincent holds her there, "Yes, I am the one who took Alex. And yes, she's still alive, but I'm not giving her back. Nor would she go back with you. She doesn't remember you, and she never will, cause she loves me more than she ever loved you. And I don't share my things, not with anyone, and especially not clingy mothers such as yourself."
Vincent's arm tightens, making my mother yelp, "And the Kitt girls?" She asks hoarsly. I can tell by her face that she already know's she's not going to survive this. She just wants to know before she goes.
"I killed them. They were too close to her." Vincent growls.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you and your parents," my mother says calmly. " But you didn't have to take Alex away from the only family she had left. You're still a kid, Vincent. If you need help we'll help you... I-" before she can finish, Vincent presses the knife into her skin and runs it through her neck. Her body immediately falls limp and he drops her corpse on the ground.
"I love her too much to let her go," he says firmly, looking at the woman he just killed. "If I get help, then I lose her. Never... I will never let her go."
I back away, my nausea returning and my heart pounding. I can't believe he killed her. And I can't believe I just allowed myself to watch that.
I back up more and fell myself run into Vincent's chest. His arm wraps around me just like before he killed my mother. My heart races more, and I put my hands up on his arm, wanting to pull it off. Then I remember how serious he was about me listening. I take a deep, shaky breath and try to relax myself even while I tear up.
"Would you like to see it again?" He whispers to me and the hologram begins to rewind, just to when he slits her throat. I close my eyes. I can hear it, I can hear the knife cutting through the skin, muscle, esophagus, trachea. I can hear it all. I sob quietly as it starts again. It keeps replaying.
"M-Make it stop," I shudder out at him.
"Will you listen to me and stay here if I do?" He asks quietly.
I nod, "Y-Yes, Vincent," I almost whine at him, just wanting the torment to stop.
When i open my eyes, the hologram is gone. My heart is still pounding heavily and my knees buckle.
Vincent grabs me, picking me up, using his arms to support my legs and my back as he carries me back to my room.
"I'll be staying with you tonight," Vincent says coaxingly as he lays me down on the bed and puts the cuff back onto my wrist. He kisses me right below my ear making me shudder again and feel weak to the point I'm sure I'm about to pass out. "It's okay, you won't remember this when you wake up."
I feel panic fill my head but before I can protest, the darkness overcomes me like a wave.