The Maid's Guide to the Mafia

29

There were times in my life where I had really thought I had seen the anger that could fuel in a man's eyes. When I was young, it was my mother. I honestly thought there was nothing worse than her occasional beatings, but then I started working for the estate. That was were I learned about the true hatred that lay in their eyes. Warwick, Cullen.. There were thousands of them.

But that was nothing compared to the utter loathing incarcerated in Alister's ones right now.

From the moment he saw me, shock and horror spread through his face, but then his eyes quivered over to the guards.

That was when all hell broke loose.

The two guards were pushed off me before either of us had any chance to react. That was when the ripping started. I huddled up into the staircase corner as I fearfully watched as Alister heavily lunged into them. They were yelling, begging for him to stop, but he couldn't. Right then, the man plunging into the two seemingly helpless guards wasn't the Alister that I knew. Not by a long shot. It was as if a monster had taken over his place with its only motive to kill.

The guards' screams echoes in my head and I prayed it would be over soon. For a few glances, I was able to make out what the men looked like. Their jaw looked almost torn off and their smug faces looked unrecognizable to the point where their own mother would have trouble deciphering them. The fresh bruises on their faces looked worse than mine and after the torture I went through, that was saying more than enough.

Admittedly, I was frightened of Alister when I first saw him. It was no wonder after what I had heard about him. But it wasn't like this. I had never seen this animalistic side of Alister before and it was terrifying.

The guards stopped moving. If it hadn't been for the slow rising of their chest I would have guessed they had been mauled to death, but by the look on Alister's face, even that would have been better. From the angle I was sitting in, I somehow managed to see their ripped throats and their bloodied up torso did not manage to cover up the bones that sticked out through their pierced skin.

Numb. That's how I felt. Even with all the violence around me, I couldn't concentrate. I felt dead. Empty.
I just wanted everything to be over.

The fact that these men would probably never be able to walk again was not enough for Alister. He wanted them dead. Just as he was about to strike the final blow, I was suddenly put out of my daze. I couldn't let him kill them.

"W-wait." I called out weakly from aside the corner. My voice sounded so quiet and broken that I wasn't sure if Alister would be able to hear me.

But he did.

As soon as his eyes met my startled ones, his raging expression morphed into one of pure concern. I couldn't blame him. There were only so many whips my skin could take and even though I couldn't see my face, the open slashes that still sprung out blood were enough to tell me it wasn't going to be much of a step-up.

With one look at me, he forgot all about the unconscious guards and rushed over to my side. He kneel beside my slumped out, defeated pose, his concerned eyes going through each and every whip that had landed on body and his eyebrows furrowed back into his enraged expression. He was about to go and have a round two with the unconscious guards but before he could leave, I carefully placed my bruised palm onto his large one.

"It wasn't them." I whispered hoarsely, hoping he would hear me and let them be.

Alister turned his face back to mine. He face still held a certain amount of fury but he seemed less interested in the guards and more interested in my weak state.
Before I knew it, he gently picked my barely-conscious body up into his strong arms. After what I had just saw, the more logical part of me was terrified of him touching but I still couldn't help but lean into his touch. I could tell he was trying his very best not to hurt me or accidentally touch a painful spot.