The loud thud of the man's body falling to the ground pulls her out of the trance she was in, her eyes bulging as the shock of what just happened dawns on her. She lets the gun fall to the floor from her shaking hands, her breathing coming in short as panic takes over her mind and body.
What the fuck did I just do? Did I kill him? Am I a murderer now? Why did I shoot at an innocent man and knock out a maid? What have I become?
She rubs her now sweaty palms on her jeans shorts as her feet automatically start stepping back in a feeble attempt to turn back time. Alex hears the woman groan again, clearly in pain, and the realization hits: the least she could do at that moment is to try to get some help for them. The heavy weight of the collar on her foot reminds her that there's only much she can do, having been tethered to the bed. She turns to the almost conscious woman, holding her body up after she turns her around, not paying attention to the blood smearing onto her clothes. The maid looks up at her, her eyes blinking slowly as she scrunches up her face in confusion and pain, still trying to make sense of where she was and what was happening. Alex scans the room desperately, looking for anything that could prove helpful. Her eyes land on a bottle of water scattered on the floor, and she lays the woman back down on the bed facing up, leaving the bed and fetching the bottle for her. She helps her to sit up on the bed, the woman's hands now holding her head in her hands.
I did this... I had a reason though... I am not to blame. They made me into this... But I hurt her... I didn't mean to... I'm a terrible person... No, I'm not…
She places her hand on the woman's shoulder, holding out the bottle of water towards her. "Here, drink this." The woman takes the bottle from her hand, opens it, and slowly takes a sip and another. Alex notices the wound on the back of her head is still bleeding, so she tears up a chunk off the sheets, tying the piece around her head to prevent further bleeding. The woman sits still, her eyes slightly closed, as she allows her to finish with the wrapping.
"Lie down and rest up... I'm really sorry this happened to you," Alex whispers, guilt laced in her voice as she struggles to look at the woman in the face.
"Ugh…Where am I?" The woman asks, her eyes scanning around the room for clues. Her eyes slowly grow large as the answer pops in her head, fear now very evident on her face. The woman scrambles to get up from the bed, almost falling flat on her face since she was still unstable on her feet from the blood loss but she holds onto the bed for a couple of seconds before she stands up straight. Turning to the door, she stops in her tracks, a scream bursting from her throat as she stumbles back in shock.
"I shouldn't… I'm not supposed to be here…" The woman mutters under her breath, her voice shaking, while her eyes are trained ahead. That's when Alex remembers that there was a body lying in a pool of blood right by the door.
Fuckk…How could I forget about him? He's definitely dead now…
She rushes towards the man's body in hopes of checking on his pulse but stops, hearing footsteps and voices coming up the stairs fast. She steps back, panicking as the sense that she's in danger floods her mind. She could barely make out silhouettes of men rushing down the hallway towards them, but that was enough for her to scatter backward, her heart beating so fast, threatening to tear through her chest. Her first instinct is to find a way to protect herself from the looming danger, so she picks up the gun that was lying at her feet on the pile of the covers that had fallen on the floor.
She could make out the face of the bodyguard who escorted her into the castle, and he seemed to be talking on the phone for less than a minute before he looked at his phone in fear as the other three men who had accompanied him rushed past him towards the half-dead body on the floor. She raises her shaking hands, her finger on the trigger again as her eyes meet his. For some reason, his gaze was warm, and that made the weight of her guilt multiply by tonnes, tears of frustration and guilt slowly dripping down her cheeks. She aggressively swipes the tears away using her left hand as she struggles to keep her firm stand, the end of the gun pointing towards the men by the door, her angry expression warning them not to come any closer to her. The men tense up, scrambling on their feet to stand on attention, two on each side of the hallway with their faces expressionless. She looks at them confused by the way they are acting, but it's not long before she knows the cause of it all. The sounds of his heavy steps got louder the closer he got. She knew who was coming even before she could see his frame.
It's HIM… I can feel it in my bones... My whole body is screaming for me to run…run far away from this place, and him. I can feel his gaze slicing straight through me. Shit… my sweaty hands are NOT helping... He cannot come closer... No no no no no… I will not back down, not this time... Not without a fight...
She takes a step back, and another, her knees threatening to give way, her body weight suddenly becoming heavier than they can handle. She feels the hairs at the back of her neck stand, cold sweat dripping down her spine, and her breathing becoming uneasy with every passing second. She glances towards the guards, and she sees their heads bent so low, the tension in their bodies very evident as they stand still like statues, as if they were afraid that they would offend him just by breathing. She looks back towards the hallway, her eyes meeting his, red eyes burning through her skin and flesh. She forgot to breathe as she quivered under his gaze, his whole form becoming visible as he steps into the light made from the open door.