"Why did you increase the number of bodyguards? Five were enough."
The woman's all sides were guarded by bulky men and women, adding up to nine personnel. Although she was tall and wore heels, her sight was still blocked by their backs.
"Just in case, Eirene. Just in case. We never know." The manager told her. "And we are also leaving tomorrow."
He had read many death threats to the woman. Hundreds and thousands were empty threats, while some were considered dangerous and unpredictable.
The email Karim showed him was of the latter. There was a possibility of that happening.
It was hard to read the sociopath's moves, and it was obvious from the language he used that he was violent.
And Jaxon wasn't risking it. He thought increasing the number of bodyguards 'subtly' without exactly explaining the situation to Eirene was slick. He was wrong.
At first, Eirene frowned, but she didn't pressure him into telling her why. "Okay."
And continued to walk over to the elevator. They were on their way to her hotel room, located on the top floor of the hotel they were staying for the night.
It was already late in the night, so no one was there when all eleven boarded one lift noiselessly with unfriendly glares.
When they had passed two-thirds of the floors, the leader of the guards, Taylor, nicknamed Taytay, began talking with the rest of the team through a walkie-talkie. Four more bodyguards were already on the floor, doing a sweep and checking for any hidden devices in the room.
So when the lift's door opened, they weren't welcomed by a wall but by two men and two women who each nodded.
"Alright," Said Taytay after they escorted Eirene to her room and handed her the card key. "The side and the front are going to rooms are going to be occupied with us and Mr Easmon. As you have requested, we will not be checking on you in your sleep. However, we will be taking turns looking out for the door. We will not turn the doorknob. So I advise you to place a glass cup on the knob so when somebody does try to break in, the glass cup will fall and break. Your luggage is right next to the couch. And the hotel phone is plugged out."
"Thank you," said Eirene. "Good night everyone."
"Good night to you too," Taytay replied with a sweet smile.
"Good night." A chorus of wishes was sent and the door was shut.
The bodyguards then dropped the manager at his room and went into the room where they were going to have a long night.
"Let's get it on!" Taylor cracked his neck and checked the gun under his suit after coming back to the door of the actress's room and stood there.
----
As if the switch for sleeping was broken, no matter how long Eirene lay in her bed, she couldn't sleep. Part of the reason was her talk with Ares from the day before, but mostly, the unknown anxiety she held inside her heart kept on making her breathless.
That's it.
She thought and sat up after one more tossing. If she couldn't sleep, why try to force it. Also, she forgot to bring her sleeping pills. Besides, there was only going back home, and she had as much time for sleeping on the plane.
In the dark, she pulled out her phone. The brightness of the screen blinded her for a hot second before she changed into dark mode and set the brightness to zero.
She mindlessly opened the gallery and stared at the pictures of her daughter. But what it did was add more anxiety over her. She had a bad feeling about tomorrow, and it wasn't going away, even with the power of her little angel.
Eirene closed the phone to drink bottled water on the bedside table. She didn't know what to do. She did not feel like doing anything.
She again opened her phone and looked at the time. It was three in the morning, and it had been four hours since her manager and bodyguards have parted.
She once again opened her phone. This time, she tapped on the messaging app. Her fingers glided along the list of names and conversations until she clicked on one.
Before she realised it, she was typing, "Are you awake?" After putting the question mark, she harshly deleted whatever she had typed.
There was a huge time difference between them. She didn't want to disturb him.
Yet, she typed the exact same words when her devil self took control of her for only a second and sent it.
What have you done, Eirene?!
She scolded herself internally with a blank face on the outside. As much as she wanted to take back the message, it didn't allow her.
The woman sighed in defeat and lay on her bed. Just seconds later to get a vibration from the phone in her hand.
[Good evening.]
[I am.]
[My friends told me you are in Qatar for a magazine shoot? May I ask how it went?]
-----
Although talking to Ares for the rest of the night (morning?), didn't erase her anxiety, it numbed her to it but with the price of being in a state of awake and asleep all the way to the airport.
Jaxon brought her to her seat first along with three bodyguards, just to get told by a cabin attendant that there was a problem with the bodyguards' ticket and he had to solve the problem.
By that time, Eirene was surrounded by a group of her fans, her cabin attendant nixies and they vowed to protect her while they were gone.
In the meantime, the actress did her best to give out autographs and took photos for those who wished.
Just a few seconds after she finished, there came a loud bang like the slamming of a heavy metal door, and the ground shook. It felt as if they were on a back of a big awakening beast.
The sudden movement caused Eirene, the cabin attendants, and basically, everything unbuckled to collapse on the hard floor defencelessly and painfully.
"What the heck?!"
"What's happening!"
"OW!"
"What's that noise?"
"Oh my god!"
As everyone voiced out their frightening thoughts, Eirene's clear voice shut them all up. "...Is the plane moving?"
From where their skin was in contact with the floor, they could feel a strong vibration and a faint noise of wheels grinding on the runway.
Wordlessly, people exchanged unsure and terrified glances before they wobblingly stood up and saw the view from the window. The aeroplane was indeed moving and it was taking off.
Silence and fear filled up the room. They were confused and terrified of what was happening. People were supposed to be boarding, but instead, it was taking off. Something was definitely up, but all of them were scared of what that something was.
The second wave of force struck them as the wheels officially took off. As Eirene fell, the side of her head made nasty contact with the hard armrest. Gasp escaped through her open mouth as the back of her head landed on the floor.
As she tried to stay awake and grasp what was going on, the wail of a cabin crew who fell on the previously broken glass sounded in her head. It was loud and piercing.
Weakly, Eirene raised herself with the help of the armrest that cut the side of her head. It was coated with her blood and made it hard for her to grip it. She failed once but succeeded on the second try.
Now smeared with blood, the once luxurious, business-class seat, looked like a murder scene. But she had no time to admire the work. She had to find Jaxon and know that he was safe.
Eirene tried to take a step towards the end of the cabin, but strength suddenly faded away from her. Before she could fall on the floor starting with the knee, somebody shook her awake.
"EIRENE!"
Like an adrenaline rush, her eyes shot up open. Jaxon was holding her by the arm with an alarmed and panicked face.
"What's going on?!" She asked as she hang onto his arm.
"I don't know, but we have to hide!" He shouted as he checked behind him and urged all the people in the business class to follow him. "I was going back to the checkpoint when I realised I forgot my phone with you and just as I walked in with other passengers, one of the cabin attendants closed the entry door and pulled a rifle out of nowhere."
He led them to the bathrooms and began stuffing them in. When all of them couldn't fit, he gestured for them to lie on the floor and hide under the seats.
While Jaxon lay on the other side of the seat, Eirene faced him. Her head bled, and the shaking of her whole body couldn't stop. Her breathing was irregular, and she was terrified that her breathing would make everyone be caught.
Through the space underneath, he reached for her shaking hand and held it. He gave her a nod.
With beads of sweat ready to drop from the man's forehead, the woman knew sh*t was really happening. Although Jaxon was not licensed as a professional bodyguard, he had various black belts in martial arts and experience as a former navy.
He was calm and collected all the time, and seeing him being in a panic mode meant that things were BAD.
Just as Jaxon was about to continue with what happened at the entry door, the sound of relaxed footsteps entered the pin-drop silence cabin.
Subconsciously, everyone stopped breathing and concentrated on that single sound.
The person walking, most probably the cabin attendant Jaxon saw, didn't seem to mind stepping on the broken glass. Her speed remained constant.
Every person except the one walking prayed that she wasn't searching for any of them and they'll make it out alive.
Abruptly, the only sound in the room was no more. None of them was courageous enough to open their eyes and see what caused the stop.
But they didn't need to wonder for too long.
"Peek-a-boo..."