Heartbreak Hotel: Concubine

Delirium

December 27.

3:41 am

The beginning. 

I was blank. 
Standing at the door of the room with a sobbing girl, staring at her in utter disbelief. The world of delirium hit me like a wrecking ball, filling my chest with ecstasy, wiggling worms that made my heart thump wildly, that made my blood pump faster and faster. I was happy. Joyful. Not for the fact that  the woman was dead, no. That would make me a hypocrite. But for the fact that this would clear any doubt this coven had of me, this goddamn hole that locked me in a room full of despair and heartbreak. 

I would be free.

No more of these funny, ridiculous feelings. No more of Isaac and his games, his rudeness and the butterflies that ate up my stomach. Those weren't the jolly, happy butterflies, but ones that ripped out your insides and went for your beating life source, breaking it in tiny bits and causing you to suffer for what felt like an eternity. That would never happen again. I would never see him again. The euphoria had to be pushed back though and the stage where I act absolute horror must preform. 

I revealed no trace of my ecstatic state, widening my eyes in fear and sadness. Fake sadness. I gave the poor girl a hug, aware that the death of another comrade was fatal to the already crumbling family. But I didn't feel for them. I just couldn't. I was getting out of this hellhole and nothing could possibly make me stay. 

She pulled back after a while of bawling, wiping her face and attempting to compose herself as best as she can. As best as she's able to. She motioned me to come with her, as apparently the Queen wanted my presence. She held my hand tightly. Dragging me through hallways where girls and boys alike stood, crying and weeping for their lost friend. It didn't faze me. It didn't sting. Not like Angela's death. Simply because I wasn't involved, I didn't feel anything. 
And that was the right thing to be. 

We reached the room I was brought to before. The lair of the Queen B. Same faces stood inside, looking down with mixed emotions. Isaac was standing at the woman's left side, head hanging low, either in anger or sorrow.  

Nobody even glanced at me. 

Nobody dared to. 

"Sit."

She muttered almost absentmindedly, not raising her orbs to judge me with. Not acknowledging the fact that she was wrong. So my confidence had returned. My strength, my bravery. I was breathing in freshly, freely. I was ready to be let out of the chains they have put around me. I was ready to see the regret flood their system, bite them in the ass and show them how wrong they were. There was no doubt. I would be hooked on it. Addicted.

"The forensics found no traces of your DNA on Angela. Nothing of yours."

Obviously, you stupid woman. 

"Another is dead...but you weren't there. I suppose that now you're officially proved innocent."

I offered a nod in return, too happy to answer her words.

"Congratulations. You can return home safely."

The moment paused and I blinked at her with blank eyes. That was all she was going to say? Not even a brief sorry for putting me through hell and blaming me for a crime I didn't commit? No sorry for pointing a gun at my head? For caging me?

Fucking shallow, my dear Queen. Fucking shallow.

My chest bubbled in laughter and I soon let out a loud, melodically annoying laugh that resonated through the room. Finally all eyes were on me, Isaac and her glaring at me with confusion and narrowed, judging eyes. They were so full of themselves, blind to clues, blind to everything around them. Corrupted by this place. Corrupted by her. 

"You locked me up, put a gun to my head, threatened me, almost strangled me to death, almost fucked me against my will...Blamed me for murder, put words and pointless rumors in my mouth and then..."

I paused, giving a smile I didn't know I could pull off. I bet it looked crazy. I bet I looked psychotically crazy. 

"You're no different that the one who's murdering your family. All of you."

Two of the men surged forward, guns unloaded and ready to fire. If she hadn't stopped them with a single raise of a hand and a light 'wait' of her voice, they would have shot me dead. She let me speak.

"You're searching in the wrong areas, wrong corners. You're blind and shallow, my Queen."

"I see you think freedom gives you the right to speak whatever you wish."

"It does. I'd rather be shot dead because of what I say than what you people claim of me."

"Fair enough. Done now?"

"No."

I stood up, my hands clenching into fists, the same way Isaac's body jerked in need to give me a nice punch in the face. I wasn't afraid. Not anymore. I was me again. The smart, blank girl who wasn't scared to give someone a piece of her mind. I was Rose Devlin, the daughter of my father. The daughter that ran away from the darkness and fatality of their world. This world. The lone survivor. 

"Apology would have been nice, we're all humans. But I suppose your minds can't process the meaning of that word, so I'll let it go."

She listened. He listened, gritted his teeth and took a step around the table. 

"And I'm sorry. For both their deaths."

He paused, muscles clamping down with slight surprise as he was just about to reach for me. 

"The two might have some connection to the murders of the college girls."

With that I finished, ignoring the burning gaze of the man I had fallen for. Ignoring his presence. Just like I did that night. I said my last words of goodbye and turned on my heel to leave this forsaken Hotel. I didn't look back, I didn't listen to the silent footsteps of big boots that followed me right after. The puff of his sigh and the deep vibration of his voice that called out to me. 

The girl who cried on my shoulder prepared my belongings as I reached the entrance door. I said no goodbye to her, it would only make me pity her more. I snatched all the things and slung my jacket over my shoulders, exiting to the yard of the mansion. He called out once more, demanding me to stop and turn around. To tell me something I did not wish to hear.

So I stopped. And I turned around. My head tilted to the side as he halted his walking, few steps away from me. He stared dead into my eyes, reading, observing. Trying to get to the answer he was looking for. He wanted to say something, but I could see by the swallowing and the moving of his Adam's apple that his throat had closed up and stolen his voice. He didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to acknowledge the defeat. 

I gave him a faltering smile. Pity and sympathy he didn't want. And my last words. 

"You broke me. I won. I was a number, you were just one. But I won."

His lips parted, an urge to step closer showing in his posture. He resisted, opening his mouth to speak what he had in mind. But I wouldn't let him. This wasn't his time. This was his fall. 

"Farewell, Isaac."

Turning around and walking away never felt so good. Not even when I left my family. Not even when I left them to die. 

•••••

This is where the official game starts. This is where you get to know the real Rose and the history behind both. 

Don't hate me. Isaac will return. Fiercer than you know. 

Tomorrow is the first step into that train. I hope you enjoy the hot, messy ride.

-E.J