CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR : DEAD

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR : DEAD
First it was a drop of tears which stained the note.

I looked at it with glassy eyes barely seeing the words any more.

My hands shook.

It trembled so hard that I dropped the note to the floor.

I could feel my chest closing in.

My heart, or was it my lungs, it twisted hard.

It was so painful that I could not breathe.

This pain was worse than anything I had ever felt.

I had no idea when my knees gave up and fell to the floor, or when a loud sound slipped from my lips.

One I had never heard before.

I barely realized the sound was coming from me till I saw my employees all gathered in my office looking at me in worry.

That was when it occurred to me.

I stood up, not caring about my appearance.

Not caring about my image.

And the last thing on my mind was how I looked as I grabbed my car key and phone from my desk and ran outside my office and down the hall.

I could barely hear or make out what the voices behind me were saying as they chased after me trying to calm me down and make me stop.

But no!

I had to get to Ethan.

I had to save him.

He was the reason I had this nagging feeling all morning.

It was because I knew something terrible was going to happen to him.

I drove into his estate, parking my car recklessly as I jumped down.

I had no idea what happened in the fury of the moment it took to reach the door of his room.

But I knew one thing.

The house was deathly quiet.

And nobody was home.

Not even the staff that worked there.

“Ethan!” I screamed, unlocking the door with my shaky hands as I walked in.

I saw the table in the room.

It was filled with numerous notes and pens.

And also, some papers were squeezed and discarded on the floor beside it, like he had thrown them away.

I walked deeper into the room, my tears pouring harder as I called his name.

“Ethan?” 

But then, no reply came back, and I could not find him anywhere in the room.

The sounds ringing in my head finally stopped as I recognized the noise I was hearing.

And then, I rushed towards the bathroom.

The sound of the showers still on echoed loudly, rivaling against the sound of my heart beats as I pushed the door open.

And when I stepped inside, a piercing scream ripped from my throat.

One so loud that I could deaf me.

“Ethan!” I screamed.

Seeing him lying on the floor.

His eyes closed, his hands limp at his sides, lying in a pool of his blood.

My brain certainly skipped the part of how I reached him so quickly, but I knew the next second I was kneeling beside him.

His skin was warm but turning cold already as I shook him in panic and fear.

“Ethan….Ethan!” I called his name, my voice barely dignified as a whisper.

Maybe I was too scared to speak loudly.

“Please, wake up.

Pleaze…pleaze, please wake up,” I chanted, and this time I shook him hard.

And when I did, I touched something sticky.

Something warm.

My fingers quivered heavily as I moved it away from his back which I held and brought it to my eye level.

And then, I saw it.

It was blood.

“No…no….no,” I breathed, turning him fully on my legs as he laid on his chest.

And then, I saw something that would forever  haunt me till the day I died.

Ethan’s back was pouring with blood.

And not from one wound. 

No, from so many gaping wounds, some older than the rest.

But they were deep, very deep and looked infected.

“What have you done, Ethan?” I wailed, crying harder as my voice faltered.

I stood up with the amount of strength I could gather as I held him by his shoulder.

He was too heavy for me.

Far too heavy.

But I had to save him.

I had to get him to the hospital.

I don’t know what I’ll do if he dies.

My fingers moved to his hands trying to feel his pulse, but I could not feel anything and that only made me cry harder.

His body was getting colder with every second that passed and I knew it.

My phone rang, snapping my attention.

I slipped it out from my pocket realizing that I should call someone for help.

I cannot carry Ethan on my own.

I picked the call without even looking at the caller ID.

And then, Killian's voice filled the quiet air.

“Where are you, Aveline?

Your assistant said you ran out of the company crying.”

My breathing was heavy, as a sob slipped out of my lips.

“Killian please come to the Blackwood’s mansion right now.

Please save Ethan.

Hi…his…

Please save Ethan,” I choked out.