When the Villains Unite - Chapter 4; Part 1

TW: SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, HOPELESSNESS, SUICIDE ATTEMPT (?), ERRATIC BEHAVIOR, OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE BEHAVIORS

Again and again, my legs gave out and I stumbled even as the Count’s servants led me. Each time I stumbled, they roughly hauled me back onto my feet, as if I were annoying. The whole time, they only ogled at my messy, feminine body.

I ignored their stares and walked with all the strength I could muster in my legs. As I exited the main residence and felt the grass leading to the annex, I picked up my pace and lost my balance.

It was too late, I realized, and my subconscious mind told me to run. Ignoring their grip on my arms, I set off at a brisk pace and finally reached my destination. Tears of relief welled up in my eyes as I looked back at the manor I wanted to leave. If I opened the door in front of me, Bellamy and Damian would be waiting for me.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d come to depend on the Orca brothers; the ones I avoided so much, my life savers.

The servants opened the magically locked door, threw me from their arms, and slammed it shut. I heard them mutter something outside the door, but I didn’t care. I leaned back, enthralled at the realization I was safe, and started to cry.

“Ugh… ugh…”

Even though I was in a comfortable space, my chest felt tight for some reason, and I barely managed to swallow my sobs. I was away from the Count, but I still couldn’t properly breathe, as if something was holding me back.

I exhaled with difficulty. Then, I heard the sound of loud, fast footsteps descending the stairs of the second floor from the two I wished to be with the most.

“Rose.”

My head snapped up at the sound of my name being called at the top of the stairs.

How long I had waited for this moment? I wanted them so badly it felt like I was waiting for an eternity.

My blurred vision cleared as I looked at them, but tears still fell from my eyes. There they were, the Orca brothers, each with a stony expression.

“Ah…”

I felt the blood in my veins run cold the moment I saw them.

I was a fool. The hardened hot chocolate was stuck to my hair and twisted by the wind, my clothes were disheveled as I fumbled with trembling hands to escape, and my face was a tear-streaked mess. And worst of all, I felt nauseous at the smell of hot chocolate mixed with the Count’s body fluids all over me.

I can’t let them see me like this. I was afraid they would despise me just like eight years ago if they saw me like this.

The Orca brothers, seeing me, did not easily move.

As if to break the silence between us, Damian approached me with an indescribable look on his face. At that moment, I knew I had to get away. The fear was rising in me.

I turned my back to them and ran away.

“Sister! Wait!”

“Rose!”

Even as they hurried and shouted after me, I ran straight into the first-floor bathroom, like a deer caught in headlights, and locked the door behind with an iron ‘click.’

I must wash off all these filthy things. Only then can I face them. No, could I face them?

Fumbling around like a blind man in a dark bathroom, I turned on the faucet in the tub and stuck my head under the water.

They were following me, banging on the door, saying something, but I couldn’t hear them. No, I didn’t want to listen, especially when I don’t know what they’ll say. I was too scared to even listen.

The cold water filled the tub more and more.

Bellamy uses magic to heat the water in the tub…

As the cold water poured over my head, I felt like everything I had worked so hard for was being washed away.

I’ll never be the same. I’ll never be with them again. I’ll be nothing but a stain to them.

The sound of the faucet mingled with my own sobs. All the while, I vigorously scrubbed myself, silently praying I could clean the dirty feel of the Count’s hands from my body.

“Ugh… Hmph.”

My soaked clothes felt heavy, but I couldn’t take them off. As the dirt washed off my body, the brownish bathwater overflowed and eventually cleared. My hands washed my reddened skin over and over again, but it wasn’t enough. Then, I felt a hard, glass vial under my wet skirt.

Pufferfish poison.

In my hand was a colorless, odorless venom that, if ingested, was said to kill instantly with a burning sensation in the heart. I couldn’t remember when I picked it up.

Why am I seeing this when I’m not in the right mind? And why am I looking at it and thinking dangerous thoughts?

Maybe this is happening because Rose isn’t dead… what if I die…

Bang!

Bang!

The sound of the door echoed loudly in my head, and with trembling hands, I lost my grip on the vial and it sank under the water. I couldn’t hear them over the sound of the water. As I stared at the sinking glass, I was suddenly curious.

Since the poisoned vial sank into the bathtub, I wonder if the poison will spread.

With the lid tightly closed, there was no liquid leaking out. But like a magnet, my head was drawn down the surface of the water. Once my head was underwater, the air around me became magically still.

My heart softened, as if everything that had happened this morning, and the unfamiliar look on the Orca brothers’ faces just moments ago, were a lie.

I wish I could just stay under the water forever.

The water in the bathtub bubbled up and overflowed as my submerged ears rang at the powerful impact that could be felt underneath.

“Keuh! Kolok!”

I choked out the water caught in my throat as I was thrust up. Physiological tears rolled down my cheeks.

When I looked up, a terrified-looking Bellamy tightly gripped my shoulders and stared at me. When he tried to pull me out of the tub altogether, I collapsed from my low blood pressure and buried my face in his hard chest.

He held me tightly as I lifelessly breathed in his arms, too weak to move. Bellamy’s clothes were soaked because of me but didn’t seem to mind. He was speaking in a low voice.

“What are you doing?”

I flinched at his harsh words, but his touch on my back was so gentle. Despite the coldness, I found myself relaxing and letting my tears fall.

I wondered if I could trust the Orca brothers now. I wondered if they would accept me the moment I spoke the words I had hidden deep inside my heart.

It was out of pure impulse.

“… I don’t…”

“Say it again, Rose. What?”

“Ugh… Don’t hate me…”

poor baby rose 🙁 i could really feel the emotions and turbulence during this part. now, it gets a little better readers

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