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Misconception

Note: Rewritten but not triple checked for spelling and grammatical errors. If you see any feel free to comment

I sat there, shaking as he poured bucket after bucket of freezing water down my back. The tiles beneath me were tinted red, a swirling of deep madness flowing down the drain. We'd been here a hour and it was still stuck to my skin. 

Shivering, I wiped at my wet eyes, my cheeks bruised from crying. They were rubbed raw and I couldn't stop myself from touching them. I blotted gently with my fingertips but It was like they were swollen with my tears, bloated and oozing with every press.

"Zambi." I spun at her voice, her petite body creeping through the door silently. "Have-"

I didn't wait for her to stop speaking to the boy, I didn't even think of the mixture of water and blood covering me. I threw myself at her, wrapping my arms around her slender neck and squeezed. She felt so warm, so comforting pressed tight against me. My lips trembled, my eyes burning with a fresh swell of tears.

She shushed me softly, her hand rubbing at my back as I cried into her shoulder.

"Has Zambi been taking good care of you?" She hummed, petting my hair flat against the back of my neck. 

She spoke to Zambi in his native tongue, prying me from her to guide me to the tub. It was just as cold as the buckets had been. I felt my legs shake, ripples sending a rocking wave to the waters surface. I watched Vera pour in soap and splashed it around with a rag. When she placed it on my skin, I was too numb to feel the coarseness of the fabric. She scrubbed me clean with a working hum. It was soothing. It was everything I had wanted while Zambi had been silently dousing me with ice.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Rozalina." I looked up and into her saddened eyes. "But if it makes you feel any better, the master is waiting just outside for when you're done. He has been this whole time."

"He has?" I eyes stung as I blinked away stubborn tears.

She nodded, smiling in a way that only made the sinking sadness in the pit of my stomach worsen. "Don't tell him I told you this, but he's a little scared to face you. He feels this is his fault."

"He said that?" I wanted to get up and go to him. I wanted to get the chance to explain what had happened in my own words and tell him that I knew, somehow, it had been him who had saved me. But Vera pushed on my shoulder, forcing me to stay.

"No, he didn't have to say anything." She sighed, rubbing the remainder of the blood from my chest and neck. "He's not the type to say things like that out loud but I've been with him long enough to know exactly what he's feeling."

I watched the swell of emotions shift and churn in her gaze. I bet she had seen all of his bad moments. Like a mother to all, I bet she was always there when he needed someone to hold him.

"Wait here." She rose, her little body crossing the bathroom quickly.

The cabinet on the opposite side, filled with glass bottles and towels, was her primary objective but she grabbed this and that along the way until there was one last thing she needed on the bottom shelf. I watched her bend down for it, her dress hiking up the back until I saw her exposed calf. It made me freeze. It made me question everything. Right there, right below her knee was a dried bloody handprint. It was half formed and thick. There was no mistaking it. And thinking back, I realized she was wearing a different dress than she had been before. This one was thinner, less intricate than the other one.

"Vera, where did you go?" My voice was hesitant, weak, and she noticed. I saw it in the way she momentarily paused before turning around to face me. "Earlier I mean."

"I went and got help." She smiled.

Not saying another word, she approached with her handful of things. I didn't question her, not on the handprint and not on the oils she poured into the bath. I simply watched her every movement as if waiting for her to sprout wings. 

"Don't look at me like that." She didn't waver in her task, didn't even look up. "I did what I had to do."

I waited a moment, contemplating many thing. Mostly it was what to say next. I could tell that she wasn't going to tell me exactly what had happened, otherwise she would have already done it. So, I picked a question that was simple to answer.

"Are they alive?" She looked me straight in the eyes with a bone chilling calmness.

"Yes."

It wasn't the answer I had been hoping for, though I didn't know that in the moment. The disappointment was a little bit of a shock. I didn't know I could be so cruel. They fully deserve something close to death but I had no right to judge them. I had no right to want another person dead, let alone two people. That was something heartless humans did. 

Yes, they had hurt me and perhaps they had tried to kill me. But we all had our faults. I couldn't say that I hadn't hurt people before. I had robbed and thieved my whole life. Some of the things I had taken were more precious to the victims that then their own lives were.

"Thank you." I grabbed her arm to stop her in what she was doing. It was important that she knew just how grateful I was. I made her look me in eyes as I said it again to make sure she understood. "Thank you, Vera."

"Of course." She smiled, reaching out to caress my face.

She finished bathing me, something I would never get used to and set me right in a free flowing dress. There was no corset or petticoat, just a single layer over my undergarments. It was exactly what I needed.

And when I stepped out of the bathroom, I had completely forgotten Dominik was there waiting.