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The cabinet doors were all open, and the seldom-used dinnerware inside was smashed to pieces on the floor and countertops and the TV–
“What was it that Blake was saying at dinner about his main gate?” Maia whispered, as if scared her voice would inflict more damage on the room as they stared at the words scrawled harshly in what looked like Rose’s favorite red lipstick.WHORE.Just like the note she’d received at the restaurant.
Rose let out a long breath and spun slowly as she assessed the damage, freezing as she saw the curtains by her balcony door flutter in a breeze she hadn’t conjured.
She froze, and Maia seemed to sense the change.
There was a shadow at the door.
Her body finally jolted back into action as she threw Maia forward with her outstretched hands, pushing her back into the elevator as Rose followed swiftly behind. The doors started to close as she jammed her hand down on the button for reception. Too slow, too slow…
The shadow darted forward, like it could catch the doors and prevent their escape, and Rose’s mouth was too dry to even scream. All she could do was scramble back as they shut, catching a glimpse of a dark hoodie and a silver gleam of what could only have been a blade at their side.
Her heart felt like it could beat out of her chest, and she knew after seeing that carnage, after seeing the words scrawled there for her and the figure with the knife, Blake couldn’t be behind this.
“What do we do?” Maia’s teeth chattered as she held herself against Rose. They stayed close together as Rose hit the button for the basement before they could reach the floor for the reception.
“We just need to get out,” Rose said, nodding decisively three times, her hands shaking as she pushed her fallen hair out of her face. “Just get away, okay? We’re fine, everything’s going to be fine.”
“What if they’re waiting for us downstairs?” Maia’s voice shook and Rose’s breath stuttered for a moment.
“They won’t be,” she said with more confidence than she felt. Everything was hazy, the lights, the way the floor moved under them. Dimly, she realized this must be shock and a small giggle broke through and suddenly she couldn’t stop. The doors slid open, and Rose felt like she was in a horror story, half-expecting to find her suite torn up on the other side again, but only the dark parking garage awaited them.
They stumbled back to Rose’s car, hands locked between them, and Rose fumbled the keys in her hands as the car beeped to say it was unlocked, making them both jump.
A door slammed somewhere off to her left and it felt like her heartbeat was in her ears as she pulled open her door and helped Maia put on her belt. Was it the figure from upstairs? Had they raced down the stairs after them? Footsteps pounded along the concrete and Rose revved the engine, hitting the accelerator and driving them forward accidentally instead of reversing.
Maia screamed as they stopped inches away from the concrete wall and Rose swore as she instead threw the car into reverse and backed out of the lot in a harsh squeal of tires.
“Fuck, there,there,” Maia shouted, and Rose glanced in the direction of her shaking finger to see the same hooded figure as before watching them drive away.
“We’re okay,” Rose breathed, trying desperately to keep herself together, to watch the road, not even sure where she was going but knowing they needed to hurry.
Faster, faster, faster.Rose didn’t realize she was saying the words out loud until Maia’s hand touched her shoulder and she jumped, startled to see they’d come to a stop outside of a familiar house. God knew how they’d got there as Rose couldn’t remember any of the drive. Suddenly she was desperate for air, like she’d been suffocating in the car and only just noticed, and Maia followed as Rose left her car idling and jumped out.
Maia said something to the guard at the gate and he waved them in, but Rose couldn’t even take in his concern. Her mind and body felt like they were suspended underwater. Every step felt like pressing through a strong current and her mind felt like it was stuttering, drowning, only to resurface with chattering teeth. She pulled Maia closer as they stumbled up the long driveway, wrapping her arms around her like she could hold her friend together as she muttered under her breath.
At some point she’d lost her slippers without even realizing it, the sharp points of gravel dug into her feet but Rose could barely feel it, her focus strictly on the door in front of them as it grew ever closer.
It flew open before she had time to knock, the security guard having no doubt called ahead, and David Blake stared at them both with a pale face, his hair rumpled and so clearly having just rolled out of bed that Rose felt another wave of knee-shaking relief swamp her. He definitely hadn’t been the one who had chased them out of the suite.
“Rose, what–”
“I didn’t know where else to go.” Her voice was a soft croak as she pushed Maia towards the warmth spilling out from the doorway and Blake caught her instinctively, hands flashing out to steady her as he carefully sat her down on the floor in the hall of his house.
Safe. Maia was safe and Blake, for all his perceived faults, would look after her. Her breath left her in a whoosh as her legs finally gave way and Blake let out a yell of panic that seemed distant, vibrating through her ears like they were trapped in a small tunnel.
Warm hands scooped her up, sliding under her knees, until she was pressed against warm skin.
“Fuck, princess, your feet…”
“I didn’t know where else to go,” she slurred again, eyes rolling in their sockets as she tried to blink his face into focus.
Arms tightened around her and Rose sighed, letting the tension slip away until her body began to shake from the spent adrenaline.
“I’ve got you,” Blake said as the world faded into nothingness. “I’ve got you.”
