"What happened to your face?" I gaped.
He turned around, and placed the hood back on. I groped for the knife in my pocket. I could feel the pattern of the handle. I moved my fingers on the sharp blade of the knife.
Adrian turned around," I never wanted you to see me like this."
"It doesn't matter,Adrian." I touched his hood softly.
"I had to get you out of here before Gabriella tries to hurt you."
He held my arm, but I shook it off. I had to distract him to keep him here.
"I can't leave without Chase. Gabriella has made him a hostage. We need to find him first." I bit my lip.
Adrian held my face in his hands. I could see his blue eyes shining in the moonlight under his hood. The side of his face was burnt with fresh meat-coloured wounds. I looked into his eyes, and for a second, I stood still watching him.
"Lily, I want to be honest with you. I am not who you thought I was. I have lied to you about so many things. But I could assure you that I could never let anyone hurt you and I love you."
"It's not the right time. We need to find Chase." I turned around but he caught my arm.
"We might not see eachother again. So, let me say what I always wanted to."
"Look Adrian, I don't know...." I broke off in the middle of the sentence.
"I'll not let Gabriella hurt any of you. But you have to trust me. She's just seeking her revenge."
"Yes, she is. She wants me to kill you." I told him.
Adrian smirked," Ofcourse. So, she sent you to kill me?"
He held my arms tightly and squeezed my body. He would have broken my bones if he squeezed any further. I let out an agonizing scream.
"You're hurting me, Adrian."
I felt a drop of tear fell from my eye. He pushed me back towards the wall. The thick wall hit my back like an Iron slab.
"Go ahead, kill me then." He smirked again.
I held the knife tightly in my pocket, and looked into his eyes. He signaled me to look at the mirror next to him. A pair of eyes were watching us from a distance. I couldn't understand what he was trying to do
I took out the knife from my pocket and held it tightly in my hand. I attacked him, but he dodged it so easily. I followed him out of the room, trying to stab him.
When I reached the corridor, he pulled my arm and dragged me into a hidden room behind one of the walls. It was a small bedroom, covered with the "apparent" white sheets and blankets of dust. He lit the candles on the golden candle stand placed at the side table.
"What are you doing?"
He walked towards me, and took the knife from my hand and placed it on the side-table.
"I am sorry. Gabriella was watching us. I had to hurt you."
He rubbed my arms softly and bent his face close to mine. I thought, he was going to kiss me but he backed away.
"But why?"
"I killed her Adrian, she'll kill you. Fair and Square.She's just taking revenge."
"You killed Adrian?"
"Apparently, yes. Stay here,I'll find Chase. Gabriella must be busy searching for you, so she won't be able to keep an eye on Chase."
"She can come here looking for me, can't she?"
He smiled," I know this place more than she does. I have wandered in these corridors for long. She doesn't know about this room."
"I'll go with you."
"No, stay here and stay safe."
I touched his arm, and he looked at me. I took off his hood, and kissed his burnt cheek.
"I love you, and this doesn't even matter."
I brushed back his hair,and he smiled.
"I love you too, Lily."
He went out of the door. I picked up the knife from the table and placed it in my pocket. I might need it later.
Damp, dirty and thick walls held the cold air trapped inside the room. I had felt this sort of coldness before too. It was the coldness of death. I thought about the resident of this room and it wasn't hard to know about him/her. The only indication of life in the room were the little hand prints on the window panes. The dried red paint of those prints were covered by a thin layer of dust.
The room belonged to a little child and the only child that used to live in this house was Gabriella. But why would her parents keep her hidden in this room behind the wall?
There was nothing else in the room which would tell any lost part of this strange story. I pulled off the blanket full of dust from the bed, and sat on the clean sheets. There was no clock in the room, and my cellphone had died long ago. I had no idea how long I sat there waiting for Adrian to return. But he didn't.
I was worried about Chase and Adrian both. I couldn't sit here waiting for Adrian to return. I took the candle stand and sneaked out of the room. It was very dark and still in the corridor like there was nothing left in this house, but death. I walked slowly with measured footsteps through the corridor. There was no one there. I checked all the rooms at the ground and the upper floor. There was only one place left to check and that was the basement. I took the spiral staircase down the unknown darkness of the basement. I left the candlestand upstairs, as I couldn't risk being noticed. I fumbled through the corridor and reached a dead end. There was nothing there. I had to find the room where Gabriella had kept Chase. I tapped every single inch of the wall but there was no hidden door. It was a corridor made of solid walls.
I reached the spiral staircase, and decided to climb back upstairs. But suddenly, my hand hit a small door handle behind the iron handrail. It was a small door, too small for me to get through it without bending. I opened the door and peeked inside. It was the same room where Gabriella kept us. If this was the way out of that room then why we haven't found it. I opened the door, and bent to get through it.
When I got inside, the door closed itself. I turned around to see that this secret door was located behind the burning fireplace that's why we couldn't notice it.
There was someone sitting at the couch facing to the opposite wall. I could see the top of his head.
"Chase?"
But there was no answer. I rushed towards him. When I reached infront of him, I was shocked to see that it wasn't Chase but Adrian.
Chase's coat was wrapped around him.
"Adrian?"
I touched his face and it was cold as ice. I took off the coat and I saw blood dripping through an open wound on his chest. He was stabbed by the same knife with a pendant around it similiar to the one I had in my pocket.
"What's going on?"
I heard Chase's voice,"Sorry, we changed the plan at the last minute. Gabriella thought that you might have some residual feelings for him. So, we gave you the fake knife."
"WHAT?" I turned around.
There was only Chase standing behind me, without Gabriella.
"I'm sorry, Lily. But what we did was right for all of us."
"How could you team up with Gabriella against me?"
I bit my lip to stop the flooding tears. It was so hard to believe that Adrian was gone. He was dead. I never knew that witnessing the death of death himself could be so painful.
I sat on the floor next to Adrian's chair and kissed his hand.
I wanted to tell him, how much I loved him. I wanted to shout for the world to know that it doesn't even matter who he was. I was ready to call him mine, no matter how dangerous it could have been.
I stood up and touched my lips to the cold marble lips of Adrian. Chase placed his hand on my my shoulder and I pushed him away.
"I HATE YOU FOR DOING THIS TO ME."
"He wasn't good for you. I did, what I thought would be good for you."
"Who are you to decide that?"
"I love you,Lily."
Hearing those words from the murderer of someone I loved felt like insult. I understood how Gabriella must have felt about her husband. I could understand her reason for taking revenge from Adrian but I might forgive Chase for what he did. But I would never forgive Gabriella.
"Where's Gabriella? She said, she'll take us out of here."
"She wanted to give me some time alone with you. She'll be here, any moment."
It was hard for me to stay in the room, watching Adrian's dead body for so long. I kept walking here and there waiting for Gabriella. Chase helped me move the couch towards the fireplace to keep Adrian's body warm. I don't know why I was doing that, but Chase just helped without asking.
I sat on the floor beside Adrian and placed my head on his lap. I was holding his stiff hand, which was warm now because of the fireplace. I kept talking to him about all sort of things including my plans about colleges. He was a very good listener. He didn't even interrupt me once. I could have done anything for his interruption at this moment.
Chase spoke," Gabriella has tricked us. I think, she isn't coming."
Before I could reply, I heard Gabriella's voice.
"I couldn't leave without completing an unfinished bussiness."
I stood up, and walked towards Chase.
"Take us out of here. You got your revenge. He's dead now, happy?" I managed to say.
"No, I'm not happy yet."
"WHAT?" Chase frowned.
Before i knew it, She threw a knife at me, straight at my heart. But Chase came infront of it. The knife hit him on the shoulder. Gabriella was about to throw another knife when somebody happened to her. She started struggling with her own hand like someone was forcing her to stab herself. She stabbed her heart several times with her own hands and fell on the floor.
Chase pulled me towards him with his unharmed arm. Adrian's body vanished from the room and everything blacked out.
When we woke up, we were on the hospital beds. I don't know what happened, and how we reached there. But I knew one thing that Chase saved my life, so did Adrian.