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'Even then, you don't know how to ride a horse.'
'Okay. Shut up!'I had to mentally scold myself.
I heard the ding of the elevator along with some other sounds. I couldn't place it at first, but after it came again, I understood what it was. Struggle. Someone was grunting and some others were groaning. Wherever that was wasn't my business until it was. The closer I got to Alessandro's apartment, the louder the muffled sounds got.
Before I finally reached the apartment though, everything went dead silent. Alessandro lived alone, so I needed not bother about his safety. Whether I felt the need to be stealthy or by just pure default, I opened the door without knocking and realized just how wrong I could have been about someone.
I have a very strange way of reacting to extremes of emotions. For me, the first thing isn't to scream or run. When I encounter a traumatizing situation, my entire senses go completely numb. Back when I was in eleventh grade, something simulating teams happened to me that drew my notice to that trait.
It was the annual summer camp, and we had all unpacked and set up our various tents when we reached the site. When I decided that I had had enough teasing from the tent mates I was paired with, I stowed myself away just a little way from the camp and found a small shed-like building. Seeing this as a perfect spot for a getaway for a while, I slinked into it and basked in the darkness, only to hear noises of movement and rustling. Turning my phone light on, I came across a massive serpent lounging just a few feet from me.
In that moment, the fear that gripped me was so great, it instantly paralyzed every single useful muscle in my body and left me weak and vulnerable. I don't recall how long I hadbeen in that position, before realizing that either the reptile was nonchalant about me or asleep... because I heard from the tour guide later, that snakes always slept with their eyes open.
That same mechanism seized me the instant I stepped into Alessandro's apartment. The living room was dark, but the light coming from the kitchen provided enough illumination for me to see the extent of damage incurred by the fight. I now understood I was hearing from the outside. My vision blurred and my head spun. Everyone was dead. There was blood everywhere. There were two men in suits...much like that night. I didn't want to imagine Alessandro was one of them this time, because truth be told, you can't get that lucky twice. Besides, he was still wounded. The other guys had an advantage.
All the same, I couldn't bring myself to look at the mess and examine it properly...for him. I didn't want to see him.Not like this.
I didn't know I was sitting on the floor with my back pressed firmly against the door until I heard sounds coming from where I guessed was Alessandro's room and I tried to bail.
Shit. I didn't think of that. In all this mess, there must've been a survivor. Someone that would've dealt the final blow. Seeing me, I would instantly be in danger. Killers didn't like witnesses. I forced my heavy legs up and tried to turn around to leave, but the figure emerged from the room... covered head to toe in blood and grunting savagely.
Of course I screamed.
This wasn't a traumatizing situation now; this was a dangerous situation. I wrestled with the door knob, grateful when it flew open and made a giant leap out of the house, but my foot never crossed the threshold. No sooner than I felt the hands restrain me, I felt them swing me back into the house faster before another curling scream could leave my throat.
I tried to fight the assassin off me and beg at the same time.
"Listen, I swear, I saw completely nothing...you... you'll never have to worry..."
"Sienna... Sienna! It's..." the person grunted. I could feel the grimy liquid, a mixture of sweat and probably blood, rub off on my hands where he held me.
Wait. How did he know my name?
"Alessandro?" I tried.
"Of course it's me."
The moment he let me go, I put enough distance between the both of us first before turning back to observe him properly. There was no way he wasn't about to die. Blood was everywhere.
"What are you doing here, Sienna?" he asked me. But I couldn't answer that question now.
"B...blood," I pointed to his drenched body.
"It's not mine, Sienna. Answer the damn question. What the fuck are you doing here?" he seethed.
"I... wanted to talk," I didn't know what else to say. So I just shut my mouth and observed him further, maybe trying to look for a cut somewhere in his skin.
"Well," he took a seat on a nearby couch and had to kick off the body of a dead person to get ample room. "Let's talk."
"Alessandro...what is this?" I gasped. I didn't understand what had happened here, but I knew one thing. It was the scariest thing I had ever experienced.
"Listen, Sienna. I want you to forget everything that you saw here today. Forget everything and forget me. Do you understand? Nothing ever happened and you were never here."
I nodded in compliance. At this point, I didn't know what to think of him. Should I be terrified? Disgusted?
"Did you kill these men?" I somehow found the courage to ask. I had no idea why, maybe to satisfy my own curiosity.
"What do you think?" he sneered.
