Silver Sailboat Hotel
When Emily returned to her hotel room, she mechanically stripped off her wedding dress and stepped into the bathroom to shower. Once she had finished, she sat on the couch wearing nothing but a voluminous T-shirt.
For a few moments, her mind was blank, and then it all came flooding back to her, like a movie replay.
She remembered how Nancy had taken her hostage. She recalled how her stepmother had tormented her, and she remembered how she had managed a desperate escape.
She remembered the wedding in the woods tonight, and she recalled that the man in the sunglasses was now her partner.
She had married.
If Klaus kept his promise, she would be free in a year's time, a blessing in disguise.
Emily, you must be strong; you must not let fate easily defeat you, she said to herself.
If you cannot speak, at least you can walk and write with your hands. Even though you are blind, you still have a sense of smell. Even though...
No, do not curse yourself like that. What if it turns out to be true?
Emily let out a heavy sigh, and it was the loss of her wolf that truly grieved her.
Emily had only spent a day with her wolf before losing her, but she would never forget her wolf's name, Shirley.
She firmly believed that someday Shirley would come back to life.
Even after Emily had comforted herself repeatedly, tears still escaped from the corners of her eyes. Though she was not a weak person, grief still breached her inner defenses.
Emily cried out to release her emotions, and once the gloom of grief had lifted from her heart, it was empty again.
She felt tired after a little drinking, either because she had expended a lot of energy after so much crying, or because she had not drunk enough.
She fell asleep in a daze, and in her dreams, she dreamed that she was lying in an open meadow, with no human in sight, only a gentle breeze brushing her cheeks and bringing a coolness.
The meadows seemed endless, stretching to the horizon. She looked around and saw the mountains looming in the distance like a beautiful painting. The sky was as blue as a wash, and a few white clouds floated leisurely, as if they were natural embellishments.
In this dream, she felt herself one with nature, as if she had become a part of the meadow. She felt the pulse of the earth, heard the howling of the wind, and smelled the fragrance of flowers and plants. All the worry and pressure were gone.
Suddenly, the surroundings of the dream changed.
The sky, which had been bright, seemed to have been pulled down by an invisible hand, and it became extremely gray. This gloom was not just a change of color; it carried with it a heaviness and depression that made one involuntarily feel an inexplicable uneasiness.
At the same time, a biting blast of cold air crept in. The cold air was not as direct and violent as the usual winter wind, but like an invisible net, it slowly and silently enveloped her. Every inch of her skin felt the cold tingling, and it seemed as if a thousand tiny ice needles were gently piercing her body, making her shiver.
Cold, really cold.
...
Klaus stood in the gloomy garden, a lighted cigarette in his hand, the smoke wafting through the air. His eyes peered through the faint smoke toward the lighted balcony beyond. The light from the balcony fell upon his face, reflecting his complex expression.
Klaus had finished his half-pack of cigarettes, but he was still hesitating about going back to his room.
Tonight, must have been a tough night for Emily, Klaus thought to himself. He remembered what he had done to her in the woods, and he could feel how helpless she must have been then.
"Maybe I should go see her," Klaus muttered to himself as he tossed the extinguished cigarette butt into the trash can and walked towards the villa gate.
Klaus opened the door to her room and saw Emily asleep on the carpet, surrounded by crumpled white tissues. The cold air from the air conditioner blew directly over her head, her body curled up and shivering.
"Silly girl," Klaus whispered as he walked over to Emily and crouched down. "Of course, it feels cold to sleep under the air conditioner."
Emily squirmed a little, and her cheeks flushed like a sunset after drinking.
Klaus lifted the sleeping Emily from the carpet, carried her into the room, and gently laid her body on the soft bed.
As Klaus's hands were about to be withdrawn from Emily's body, she gently hooked them around his neck.
He could have released her hands, but he didn't. The sweetness of the peach scent emanating from her body appealed to him deeply.
Klaus looked down at her, propping up the bed with one hand and caressing her flushed face with the other.
His fingers slid down Emily's cheek, from the nape of her neck to her collarbone, and just as his hand reached the middle of her lower abdomen, she suddenly released her grasp on the hand around his neck.
She lay on her back, facing away from Klaus, her breathing even and like a gentle melody. Her bare legs were white and slender.
Klaus's gaze slowly traveled up her legs until he spotted the scars on her arms.
Lust vanished in an instant, and Klaus stared intently at the dark red scars on her arms.
The scars reminded him of what had happened to her, and he was enraged.
Klaus noticed her shoulders tremble slightly, and then he heard her whisper a soft cry. So he embraced her from behind, pressing his chest against her back. Gradually, she regained her composure and fell asleep in his arms like a baby.
Slowly, Klaus laid her body flat on the bed and, with his head bent, he licked the scars on her arms with his tongue until they seemed to fade.
While alpha wolf saliva can aid in healing wounds, it would require professional treatment to fully remove the scars on Emily's arms. Klaus decided it was imperative to take Emily to the hospital for a thorough check-up.
"Maybe there's something else about her that I don't know," Klaus frowned.