Walking fast out of sight, my co-worker handed me a handkerchief and asked me, a concerned expression was drawn on her face.
I answered her with a hand sign, I'm fine.
And totally was not!
At first, she's having a second-thought whether to console me or what, but I smiled at her bitterly, mouthing repeatedly that I am fine and she can go back to her duty. I heard her rant, "Didn't they see your name plate? Tsk." She protested and reached for the comfort room. I fell silent, just a typical scenario I was used to.
She pointed out the spilled alcohol on my polo shirt, and the tension lay low. She offered to help me clean the dirt, but I exclaimed with a begging manner that I'm really fine and she can go back inside. But the seemingly performers in the comfort room looked at us unwelcomingly, so I shooed her away. At last, she finally went back unwillingly with the glimpse of concern that never faded in her face.
Making a friction nonstop to wash away the stain on my shirt, my cheeks become reddish on the other hand. The charged fee for the glass I broke will surely reflect on my payslip!
I jolted with a loud bang heard at the door, "Why, she's not yet dressed up?" A voice was heard, narrowing her sharpened look towards my direction.
The performers who threw judgmental stares at us earlier became busy with little to no response to the woman in her mid-40s' question. Face-palming, with an irritated expression, she closes the gap between us. To my surprise, she started unbuttoning and undressing me. I shook my head repeatedly while protesting. Caught off guard, she clothed me in a bloody red dress; she effortlessly placed the mask on my face, without a doubt, the dress perfectly fitted on my curves.
Got mesmerized for a moment, that I have forgotten she mistakenly took a person forcefully, the protest on my mouth has no impact at all, no words came, paused for a moment. I was being dragged with the other performers.
Where am I being dragged into?
My heart was pounding nonstop.
We entered the room, blinded by darkness, with hazy vision, my eyes squinted, making adjustments to the room's coldness. Suddenly, the atmosphere becomes heavy, unlike the lounges' serenading yet addicting ambiance; this place sends a shiver down my spine.
A cough was heard, clearing the throat. It broke the pindropped silence of the four corners.
"My apologies for the delay, gentlemen. To enrich the night's event, here are my gifts to highlight your experience at your expense!" With a jolly tone, it announces, it embodies the temptation of a fox, alluring the unknown guests with the term 'gifts'. At the very moment on, I was being pushed to a soft surface.
As the aquamarine light turned on, its luminescence swallowed the whole place. The loud and banger music was turned on too, partnered with a giggling voice, the whole picture has suddenly made my body freeze. Absorbing the situation, the room was filled with 'performers', men in suits and luxuries, with mighty demeanor, carrying various surnames embedded with the corporate world's riches.
The intoxicating smell of you-named-it alcohols splattered on the glass table, blue pills packed on plastic wrappers— paraphernalia were evidently shown too. I blinked twice when my eyes scanned pieces of metals... swift knives are being used as a replacement for darts and a masked man threw a shot at the target— an almost naked to half woman was standing still, above her head was an apple, seeing her facade smile, I saw her eyes flickered with fear, guns were loaded— a revolver was also used to a "russian roulette" game wherein one bullet was loaded and after 3 trials, if you are lucky enough to not face the grim reaper tonight, you will get a house and lot, or a branded car outside right after you took your chance. Playing with fire moment.
I was there, being consumed with the sudden turn of events, speechless, my mouth run dry. My legs are being nailed down to one place only.
My brain is not functioning properly either.
What could a mute person like can do in this situation?
I tried lifting my leg a little, shaky, and I took the chance to step further onto the corner. The crowds run wild when the 'performers' have started stripping off their clothes.
My mind went blank for a moment, panicked, I reached for the table near me to gain some support and hide from the crowd.
Lewd sounds were heard after. The place became a pleasure-pleasing-plea brothel. I gulped when I saw a man start harassing the woman's lips, aggressively ripping her upper garments, the woman reached for his bulky manhood.
I turned away my face due to the unpleasant sight.
All types of curses were being played in my head after. Never in my wildest dreams to be in this kind of side job. It did tempt me, but my stomach says otherwise.
How the hell am I suddenly pulled into this kind of situation?
I was so near finishing my duties. I was so near...
At that moment, another surprise interrupted the scene.
A voice echoed through the whole room, "Raid the room, no one will be left untouched, make them breathless!"
Men in suits stationed inside, heavy feet, calibres pointing at everyone inside the room, vigorously without a feign moment...
My eyes widen, raining bullets devoured the room, everyone was heard screaming in pain, running wild for their lives, alcohol and blood splattered on the floor, walls, and clothes are complementing its complexity. One after another, lifeless bodies piled up everywhere, eyes opened, breath was furiously running out of oxygen, I consciously covered my mouth, sweating was also variegated with the salty liquid on the corners of my eyes. Hugging my knees down, I was the hustler in this game called hide-and-seek.
Run.
The only thing registered in me.
Scarlet, iron-smelling liquid paving its way near my shaky feet. My body goes backwards frantically, not wanting to get tainted. My mind goes into survival mode, my body won't.
The loud, crazy noise of guilty pleasure became a place of a cemetery that fast. Another wave of bullets was planted everywhere when they entered the passageway to the secret room. Gunmen's pursuits are these socially high-class people. Glass shattered, everything goes broken, and that is the time when reality snapped out of me.
And I'm stuck in this dilemma. When I saw them walked inside the secret room, I crawled out of the corner and took the chance to run, soon enough to celebrate and reach the door... as I trailed the piling corpse of the VIP gueste, the hem of my dress touched the porcelain and made a smashing sound enough to be heard and catch the attention of the men in pursuit.
"Trail her down!" the seemingly commander of them shouted, pointing at me as a mouse that is now being persecuted by its predator.
I never hesitated about my instincts; I ran off. Adrenaline rush overtook my body, I consciously found myself going upstairs to the rooftop.
Heavy feet are after me, pursuers are one step behind me. As soon as I reached the door, I locked it nervously, heart pounding, catching a breath, the door lock broke down, impacted with the force, and I lay down on the floor. Got hurt in my other foot, and the pursuer reached for my neck. I coughed.
Being choked, put up a fight for my life, got the chance to kick his ribs. Speedily stood up and ran to the corner...
Dead end.
The rooftop's wind tousled my messy hair, the mask slipped away, falling off to the depths, I got cornered. Helpless. Inhaled the moment. The threat is nearing. Before the man even touches a strand of my hair, I jumped off, grabbing his collar, falling off midway, I push him off the rooftop and hold on to the railings just a split second before it even drags me too.
I gambled my life!
I heard him curse before hearing a sound of something that had fallen off the ground. I never look down. Weighing my own weight, I hold on tightly.
"Help!" I screamed. Helplessly arching my lips to utter a succor. No words came.
I crumbled for a moment, but I have no time for this. With a beam of hope, I tried pulling on an arid railing to support my weight to push back on the top of the corner of the rooftop.
Beating the moment of hurriedness, I successfully reached it and was finally able to alight on the floor and quickly ran on the darker side of the rooftop, wherein I was able to hide from scavengers who committed nothing but murderous intent.
At that moment, I frantically thought, "Why was it happening to me? I just wanted to earn... to survive in this world. Why did it have to be... who happened to witness a scenario and a world I do not fit in?"
"Don't hesitate—if she shows up, put a bullet in her."
As these words were spoken by my perpetrators, it sent shivers down my spine. I unconsciously covered my mouth with fear, my eyes becoming watery again.
Footsteps were nearing my place, playing the rhythm of my heartbeat...
Echoed heavy boots behind me, irritated voices closed in—men who wouldn't stop until they had me cornered. The night air bit cold against my skin, and the rooftop stretched endlessly beneath the dark sky.
I turned sharply, searching for another way out, but the edge of the rooftop loomed closer with every step. Panic clawed at my chest—there was nowhere left to run.
Then, out of the shadows, a hand shot forward. Strong. Unyielding.
He caught me by the waist, pulling me sharply into the darkened corner between towering walls and the rooftop ledge. My back collided with his chest, the sudden closeness stealing what little breath I had left. His grip was firm, possessive, almost dangerous—but it kept me from stepping into the open where my pursuers would see.
I froze, trembling, my lips parted but silent, my eyes wide as I tried to turn toward him.
"Don't move," he murmured, his voice low, a command more than a plea. I just nodded silently as if I were just a commoner who had to kneel before their king.
My silence was deafening, but he felt it—the frantic rhythm of my heartbeat, the way my fingers curled slightly against his coat as if torn between fear and desperate trust.
FOR A MAN who could never recognize faces, it was her trembling presence, her angelic features, her petite visage, her unwavering stature of principles, and her quiet defiance in that moment of terror that carved itself into his memory for the first time. Long after the footsteps faded and the danger passed, he knew she was someone he would not forget.
Her worries suddenly disappear. She immediately stood up and used a hand gesture to say "thank you."
However,
in the heat of a moment.
"Caught you, you thought you could outrun them?
No one escapes—not even you, Kitten."