Chapter 135

It was the third time I opened my eyes and found myself in an unpleasant situation. However, this time, my back rested on something soft. The muffled scent that filled my nostrils wasn’t as intoxicating as it could have been.

I felt like a wounded animal. I didn’t recognize the type of theater I had gotten myself into, but no one had warned me that I would be prey, desperately running from a hunter.

I rubbed my eyelids with my wrist, inhaling courage and clearing my thoughts.

That’s when I realized I wasn’t trapped. My hands could freely take me out of here.

I got up, scanning the space where I had been lying.

It was a room. Quite large.

The decor was an open invitation to a museum. The artwork on display carried a disturbed feeling. The Renaissance statues were the product of a painful history. I saw some without arms, others showing their organs, their faces twisted in anger and pain, some that conveyed nothing. Just emptiness.

The walls were clean and pale, with ample space for a bookshelf filled with books. I recognized them from afar.

Shakespeare.

There were several versions. From different languages. Common formats as well as rare collections.

The violin resting on the shelf was the last clue to complete the puzzle.

I was in Dante’s room.

“Do you feel better?”

A short man with glasses entered.

I didn’t know him, which strangely allowed a more comforting feeling to settle in if it had been Faulkner or one of the others showing up instead.

Still, I tensed.

“When I get out of here, I’ll have a more pleasant answer,” I replied. “But thank you for your concern. I’m more than grateful.”

He laughed.

“I’m new around here.”

“We’re both new then. But you seem much happier than I am. You’re not trapped. You weren’t kidnapped. You still have clean clothes. Lucky.”

Once again, a pure laugh escaped him.

“I’m almost like an intern. I’m helping the doctor with his work.”

I pursed my lips.

“Ah. Well, I don’t care.”

He laughed a little more.

Christ, he was so happy.

I took in the space a bit more and noticed I was lying on a large bed, my clothes replaced with an ugly tunic that had a rather unpleasant smell.

“Why am I dressed like I’m in a psychiatric hospital?”

His face tightened, the questions popping up on the tip of his sharp nose.

“Dante asked.”

“Dante doesn’t give orders.”

“Here he is law.”

“Well, he can shove his laws up his ass,” I shot back, annoyed.

Suddenly, I got out of bed. The tension broke as soon as I stood up. I swayed to the side, leaning against the mattress. I didn’t know what crap they had injected into my blood, but damn, I wouldn’t doubt that with one more dose, I could be dead.

“How long did I sleep?” I asked, my head throbbing as if my neurons were gunpowder waiting for the right fuel to explode.

“One whole day.”

“Shit.”

I had been in a brief vegetative state. That drug had been serious. They weren’t kidding about trying to kill me. It was a warning that at any moment, my consciousness might never wake up again.

“I need to get out of here.”

“Wait a minute.”

The guy couldn’t stop me, as my steps were hurried, though my nervous system was in full chaos.

The hall was different from the maze-like illusion where I had passed out. It was brighter, though the statues continued haunting every corner of the perimeter.

The rooms were closed off by doors, and my only option was to go straight ahead.

I walked down the straight line until one of the intersections led me into a huge room separated from a mini kitchen by an island.

Three heads were seated, eating as if they were normal people. Their gazes moved to me as naturally as if it was normal for a girl to be locked up in this dump.

Indifference shone in their orbs. It was almost as if I were an amateur ghost who didn’t scare them, even if I spun my head or tore off a limb in front of them.

“You…”

Barks broke the atmosphere and my speech. The shock that hit my heart was enough to make me jump back.

“Calm down, Rachel.”

Rachel?

The Rottweiler continued barking at me, her rage salivating through those sharp teeth. Jaxon stood up from the table, walking towards her. He crouched down, petting her fur, which calmed the animal.

“Sorry, she’s aggressive with strangers,” Fish informed, keeping his hands on the dog’s back.

“Excuse me?” My tone of voice amplified the traces of anger that still dominated me. “You kidnapped me, and you’re apologizing because of a dog?”

Jaxon snorted.

“Yeah. What did you think I was apologizing for?”

His irony unlocked a type of anger I had never experienced before that day.

“You’re holding me in this damn place for some insane reason!” I yelled.

“Damn place? It cost more than your hair hydration, princess,” Asher opened his mouth at the island where he was having breakfast, raising the knife he used to cut the bread.

“Shut up, you son of a bitch.”

“You’re worse than Rachel,” he sang, laughing in my face.

I was starting to look crazy.

Whatever they wanted from me was taking my mental health and any dignity I had left.

“You don’t make demands here.”

Cole stood up from the table, heading toward the door of the perimeter.

His angular eyes, pale skin, and hair soaked in oil were features that still stood out. His Korean descent, if I remembered right, in conjunction with Thai, made him stand out from any mere mortal passing by his side.

His bone structure was more fortified. I had seen him a few times on campus, but I hadn’t had the courage to notice the details of the rings on his fingers and how he continued to be the mirror of violence.

“Miss Gray, let’s go back to the room.”

The intern or whatever he was grabbed my arm as he reappeared behind me. My reaction was to push him, quickly heading for the kitchen counter and grabbing the knife that was extended.

I closed it with both hands, flailing it through the air, pointing it at everyone who was staring at me or waiting for something to happen.

“I’ll kill you all. I’ll ruin each one of your lives,” I screamed, my blood boiling inside me like a storm. “Let me out of here!”

Asher let out a small laugh with his mouth full of bread, typing on his phone, while Jaxon kept his eyes on Rachel, playing with a sponge ball. Cole stared at me with the same judgmental orbs from seven years ago, but then he sighed deeply and shook his hair, showing his exhaustion.

They didn’t give a damn.

“What’s your intention?” I asked, clenching my teeth. “Why are you doing all this?”

“You wouldn’t understand, just like you never did,” Van Doren replied.

“I thought that…” I swallowed dryly, pausing to reflect on how that day still hurt more than being stabbed in the chest. “You had nothing to do with what happened. I accepted that you had been betrayed just like me.”

Cole chuckled, picking up his dish from the table and walking to the sink. I stepped back, pointing the knife at him.

His eyes moved to the side in a quick inspection, then returned to focus on his porcelain plate and cup.

“You never asked us. Dante did what he had to do, and we did our part. He had his goals, we had ours. But we’re united by the same cause.”

“Kidnapping me?”

“Nothing’s about you, Emilia. Never was. You’re just a cheap means to get us where we want to go.” His voice was acidic. “As soon as we have that damn map, because I know you have it, your life won’t matter, just like a corpse.”

I fumed through my nose.

I had avoided confronting Cole all these years at college, thinking he had forgotten the inexplicable hatred for me.

But no. In fact, it seemed to have been amplified.