Heartbreak Hotel: Concubine

Last Petals I

I keep a record of the wreckage in my life.

Showered and cleaned, all down to the very tips of my toes. The bathroom was cleaned, the room tidied, the bed made. All the shit that I brought with me was securely tucked away in whatever bag I had brought. Everything was impeccable. Spotless. I returned everything I took, put it back to its place. The curtains were closed, shying away the darkness of the sky. 

It was time. 
I had already wasted enough of it.

The puffiness of my eyes was reduced with cold and hot water, some make up I had put on. My hair groomed and my clothes freshly put together on me. Finally, my eyes fell on my phone. It was of no use for me. It would be of no use in the future either. I placed it safely on the bed, making sure it was camouflaged with the deep color of the bed covers. 

Silently, I hoped that his figure will only haunt the back of my head. Silently, I locked the door and extracted the key. 

I gotta recognize the weapon in my mind. 

February 26th 

Same hour as Rose's breakdown

"Forget what you know, or learned. This is your home now. And I...am your new family."

The first words she ever said to me were engraved in the back of my brain. Always, forever, until I take my last breath. It was like  a curse and a gift at the safe time. She gave me roof over my head, the warmth of a home, the love of a mother.  But she took away the innocence of my childlike mind, she sealed away my portal to dreamland and installed the gruesome doorway to reality. She trained me like a master would their dog, she gave me rewards for every mission I completed correctly. Her family taught me to fight, to take, to kill and give almost nothing in return.

She taught me how to shut out the annoying empathy, the voice of reason. 

She locked my fears away and gave me new ones I would proudly conquer. 

And now...she was dead.

As cold as ice, her skin was pale when we buried her in the grounds of the hotel. Her corpse now lay under the dirt, the ground, decaying until her bones start to show. And only bones would remain. 

The last person from my family was dead. 

Her husband received the word.
The time of war is about to start because of this. 

So why? Why are you of all people on my mind?

My hand tightened into a fist, the blood on my knuckles already dried up as I take down another bottle of whiskey. The burn is satisfying. But it can't chase away the thoughts of her. 
That witch that is mere steps away from my quarters. That woman that brought despair to this place. She is the reason they're all dead. She is the reason for my people's tears. She is the reason I am hungry for blood. 

But I can't bring myself to hate her more than I already do. 

And yet, somehow, by some incredible force, her terrified face, fearful eyes always breach the walls I put up in my mind. I grit my teeth, growl and punch the wall on and on, but I can't shake that image away. 
Why would a killer look so afraid. She was bred to be the reaper of humanity, and yet she took such shallow breaths. She tried to protect us both. 

My jaw clenches and my fist tightens and I throw another attack at a nearby object. My anger is red and seeking more of its own color. I want to rip her to shreds. I want to rip them to shreds. To walk over their corpses and pile them up all together. To sit on their faces and slowly burn them until they're nothing but ashes. 

But who am I kidding. 
The real target was in this Hotel. 

I've paced across the hallway, to her room. I've passed the door so many times, but when the anger seeps out of me, my body simply won't move. I'm afraid to look at her. I'm afraid of what I could actually do to her. And even now, when I'm in front the door again, just waiting for that initial impulse to break it down, I remember her. The way her body pressed against mine, the smell of her skin, the feel of her lips, the spark in her eyes. I want to see it again. I want the comfort I felt back in her apartment. 

That stupid, idiotic sense of comfort I felt while she was with me. Just leaning her back against me. I want to hear her say it once more. Hear the tremble in her voice and see the way she's ashamed of her own feelings. It's like she's too scared to actually accept the fact she was wrapped around my little finger. 

Although, at this point, I have the impression I am wrapped around hers. 

It awakens such hateful emotions, that I almost love it. 

I don't want to think about what she feels. But I want to know. I want to know why she ran from that shithole. I want to know why she was determined to hide herself away from everyone. 

I want to know...so that I can make her suffer. So that I can humiliate her and break her even more. Until she doesn't know what's what. Until the only thing she sees, thinks of and feels...is me.
They owned her for her whole life. 

I want to be the one to own the very air she breathes. 

To make her pay. 
To make her mine in every way possible.

My breath is harsh as I push the spare key into the key hole. I unlock the door. And finally, the mess is revealed. But no trace of her form is in there. I feel the spike of rage and adrenaline, entering the room in utter silence...and stopping in the center of it when I hear...her. 

The painful, heartbreaking sobs that choke out from her throat, were coming from the bathroom. I stand frozen in spot as I listen to her cry. As I listen to her sorrow seeping out from the depths of her soul. 
I feel my anger diminish. 

Moments pass, the quiet takes over. She doesn't move. She simply breathes, as if she's taking her last breath. 

In the quietness, the darkness of the night, the late hour of this day, I hear the barely audible sound of her broken voice.

"I will protect him...For you."

The blankness in my mind represents the confusion in my eyes. My heavy body simply sways to the door that was slightly cracked open. 

"God, I wish you could hear me."

I hesitate. 

The stillness is suffocating. 

Within seconds, I'm out of her room, safely locking it the way it was before. I leave no trace of my presence behind and retire to my own chambers. 

I will protect him. For you.

For who?

I don't want to know. 
But I got what I wanted. 
I got what I needed. 

Those little words of confirmation. 

They were enough for me to destroy her. 

•••••

I keep delaying and delaying, over and over again, until I finally get the courage to write down Isaac's POV. It's hard. Especially because I've only glanced at his character. You guys barely know him. Even I barely know how to put his reactions together.

All I know is that he's angry. That he's angry at her, but that he's also infatuated with her. She confuses him and pushes him over the limit.  

The second book in the series will show you the real deal. Will their relationship finally begin? 

Who knows. It's a rollercoaster. But I hope you're in for the ride. 

The lyrics from Halsey's "Nightmare" fit so well. Rose is slowly bringing back what she had tucked away deep inside her. For the sake of him and herself. What will she do?

The LAST chapter of this first book will be posted next. 

Stay tuned. 
The first round has come to an end.

-E.J