Ignoring his pain, Joseph rushed inside and slammed the door shut. He made sure that the automatic lock on the door was working. If Emma manages to enter, he and the woman who helped him are done for. They would be fishes in a small, confined barrel with only pillows for protection, basically death.
The woman was at the phone, calling the authorities when she saw Joseph frantically shutting the door and crawling to the opposite end of the room. He then just sat there with the slightest glimmer of relief washing over his face.
Joseph propped himself up against the wall and pressing his hand against the wounds on his side. His clothes feel like a towel after a long and hot bath; soaking. Joseph's eyelids were slipping slowly down, increasing its weight by a tonne every second.
A loud smack came, followed by pain on his left cheek. It jolted his senses back up for a moment. In front of him was the South American woman. She then held his face in both her hands and shook it.
"Stay awake. The ambulance is on its way." She said before reaching for a fresh towel. The woman pressed it against his side and his hand guided her to properly apply pressure on top of the wound.
The woman, while examining his wound, asked Joseph how it got to this and who did it. With his eyes heavily drooping over his eyes, he retold the entire day in short sentences. He barely had energy to speak at this point. Joseph wasn't even sure what the woman heard him say through his mumblings.
"Hey, stay awake." The woman shook him. "Talk to me. What's your name?" She asked as she tried making him focus on something. Joseph answered and they started talking. The drowsiness that overwhelmed him earlier dissipated.
She introduced herself as Elena, a bag-packer going through Asia. She was working as a bartender in New Jersey after finishing her grad school. Just a normal millennial exploring the world. She sat next to him and kept him company while keeping the conversation alive. Elena was an incredibly warm presence. She would crack small jokes to keep Joseph's attention.
With every second that passed by, Joseph felt increasingly worried. He was worried that Emma would find a way inside the room and murder the woman helping him. Was it selfish to come inside? Did he put her life at risk?
"Hey, are you alright?" Elena asked when she saw the expression on Joseph's face faltered.
"Get out of here." Joseph weakly mumbled. "She is dangerous."
"Don't worry." Elena smiled, "She won't stand a chance against the two of us." That also made Joseph smile a bit.
A knock came. Joseph warned Elena. She slowly crept forward and looked through the peephole. The digital lock suddenly beeped and the door flew inwards and hitting Elena in the face. She staggered backwards. Standing in the hallway was the blonde psychopath, Emma
Emma walked in coyly, grabbed Elena's hair and slammed her head against the wall. Emma then pushed Elena towards the bed. The momentum threw Elena all the way to the opposite side of the bed where she fell to the floor with a thump.
"You already have someone else? Stop breaking my heart, Joseph." Emma said with a mix of sarcasm and genuineness. Emma approached him slowly and crouched in front of him. She was so close that he could smell her perfume. The fragrance, although sweet, smelled sickly in this moment in time.
"Just get it over with and leave her out of this." Joseph tried sounding like he was in control of the situation. Both of them knew he wasn't. In fact, his heart was pounding so much it could pump out all of his blood and kill him before Emma would get a chance to.
"Don't worry, I changed my mind." Emma stood and towered over him, "But I won't let you live either."
Emma turned her attention to Elena who she thought was behind the bed. Her expression turned when she realised that Elena was not there anymore. A hard smack sent her stumbling forwards. Behind her stood Elena with a table lamp in her hands.
"Get the hell out of my room." She warned.
The hit must have been brutal because Emma was on all fours and she didn't look well. Elena lunged towards her and landed another blow on her back and Emma screamed in pain and drew the knife she hid under her shirt. She blindly slashed at Elena and it cut Elena on her legs. Elena backed up and put herself at a distance.
Slowly, Emma gained enough energy to stand up and face Elena. Her face was red with anger and her nostrils flared, there was nothing in her eyes except rage. Fear overwhelmed Joseph's entire being. He was scared of her before but now, that fear just increased tenfold. With her jaw clenched and her teeth gritted, Emma rushed forward with the knife in her hand.
Her fight-or-flight response kicked in and Elena swung the lamp in her hands but it was useless, Emma was too fast. She parried the lamp away drove the knife into Elena's stomach. She pulled it out and did it another couple of times before prying the lamp from her victim's hands. Emma then brought down the lamp full force into the side of Elena's head and sent her slamming against the wall. Like that wasn't enough, she grabbed Elena's hair and swung her weak body towards Joseph.
Elena fell and lay on Joseph's lap with blood pouring out of the deep wounds on her abdomen. Tears welled up in his eyes. This was his fault. She could have lived. He should have let Emma killed him in her room. If he had stayed in that dreadful room, things would not have turned out this way. Two people too many have died because of him.
"What was I sayin-... oh, right." She started, "I won't kill you, but I won't let you live either." Emma crouched once again in front of him and Elena.
Emma placed her knife in Joseph's hands and guided it to Elena's neck. Elena's eyes widened. Joseph pleaded, he begged for her life. He begged that she kill him and let Elena live. He begged and begged but Emma just smiled as she cupped his face in her hand and made him watch even though he was already closing his eyes.
Her grip was far stronger than Joseph's at this point. She moved his hands like it was a ragdoll. With the knife in Joseph's hand and Joseph's hand in hers, Emma stabbed the side of Elena's neck slowly. Tears rolled down his cheeks and all over Elena. Guilt, sorrow, regret all flooded him. Emma's finger pulled up his eyelids after she was done. Staring back at him were the glassy eyes of a deceased Elena.