Cold Devotion | ✔️

Chapter Seven

Blood is covering my hands... red, red, red. Blood splatters cover Colton's shirt. Everything seems to go in slow motion as the man falls to the floor with a thud. My hands shake as I look at them, the blood forever staining my skin and my memory. I killed someone... I killed someone. What have I done? What have I done? That person was a son, maybe a brother, someone's boyfriend or husband and I have just killed them. I can imagine his mother's and father's cries as they are told that a monster killed their child and my body feels like shutting down at the image.

I stand there, just staring at his lifeless body, for god knows how long. The only thing that gets me to walk away is the sound of more people and more gunshots. My breathing becomes shallow as I force my legs to move down the corridor.

I have no clue where I am going and I have no clue where Colton is.

"Drop the gun!" someone shouts from behind me and I freeze. "Put your hands where I can see them and drop the gun!" I turn around, ever so slowly, so that I am facing them and I place the gun on the floor before holding up my crimson-stained hands in surrender. The persons presses their gun against my forehead and I want nothing more than for them to just shoot... stop with the fanatics and just shoot.

"Why do you want me?" my voice is shaky and my knees feel like they are going to buckle any second.

"Why do we want you? Isn't it obvious... you're the lead commander's daughter. When we take you hostage or kill you - either one. The lead commander, your father, will have no choice but to surrender to get his little girl back," they laugh a sickly laugh and I'm actually baffled as to how wrong they are.

"You actually think that if you kill me or take me hostage my father will actually care?" I laugh and they fall silent. "You'd be doing him a favour in getting rid of me, I won't be a problem anymore. He'll probably thank you... never in a millions years would he surrender for me," they have really screwed up haven't they.

"What do yo-" blood splatters everywhere - over my face, my body, Colton's shirt, the floor, the walls. They drop straight to the floor - a bullet in the side of their head. I look to my left to see who shot them but I don't see anyone. Another person is dead, they are dead.

Tearing my eyes away from their body, I waste no time in running down the corridor and opening the first door I see.

My shaky hands pull down the handle and I throw myself inside before slamming the door shut and locking it. It's a tiny storage room filled with random things and cleaning products. I slide down to the floor, bring my knees to my chest and bury my face in my bloodied hands.

Begging for the images to stop, for the guilt to calm, for my mind to slow.

For this regret and remorse to stop it's mission to slowly kill me from the inside out.

***

I don't how long I have been in this room but time seems to have slown as a whole, if not stopped completely. I reach for the lock on the door, slowly twisting it, then hesitantly pull down the door handle. The door opens and I peer out, checking if anyone is in the corridor.

After seeing no one, I force myself to stand and venture down the empty corridor. It feels like it's been an eternity since I was asleep in Colton's room... what would have happened if I was by myself and I had decided to go back to my room? I shake my head, convincing myself to stop thinking about the what ifs.

I walk down the corridor and my whole body feels numb - mind and soul. The images keep replaying and replaying in my head and they won't stop. They are relentless and will do anything to remind me of what I have done.