Out of Time

chapter 3 - merlot

Jesse practically jumps off me as soon as the door closes. I take a shaky breath - in relief or nervousness, I'm not sure. Jesse gawks at me in shock. All that can be heard is a slight hum, probably due to the lights or the air conditioner.

"What the fuck was that?" he asks. I nonchalantly shrug. I don't particularly have an answer to him. "This place is so much more messed up than I thought." He continues to stare into space, evidently mortified by our predicament.

He gazes around at the weapons and dangerous items that are lined up in the room, his face inscrutable as ever. My mind remains murky as I disentangle my consciousness with jaundiced memories. I shakily rise from the tiled floor and wordlessly make my way over to the dead soldier.

His body had tumbled down the stairs after Alec had shot him, merlot droplets smeared down towards the bottom level. His dead eyes, cloudy and unfocused, stare right back at me. He is an innocent victim.

The boy's juvenescent features we lax, and his body was disturbingly contorted from his tumble down the stairs. He was clearly a new recruit due to the vibrancy of his uniform, the multichromatic triquetra tattoo also signifying his low ranking in my father's company.

The soldiers that paraded around the Ashwood Estate followed a stringent ranking system. The lowest ones in the hierarchy - like the poor boy - are commonly known as the rabbles and have Trinity Knots on their arms. They often were clueless and could be easily manipulated to get small things. Unfortunately, as time progresses, they learn not to listen to me.

The plebes are the soldiers with the intricate green four-leaf clover drawn onto their necks, and they are slightly higher than the rabbles. They were trained, and their slight benightedness can possibly cause some unforeseeable situations to occur. Previously, uneducated plebes have taken my punishments too far and been met with severe consequences from my family.

The second highest group in the hierarchy are called the defts, and they have a blue Celtic Spiral on their backs. Although their tattoos are barely visible, they are easily recognisable and notable. They know what's going on and are usually trusted with crucial tasks, like dragging me in from outside and guarding the house's perimeter. They are also very experienced, which means you need to be very cautious around them.

The highest group is my father's inner circle, aptly titled the gentry. These elite members had vermilion Dara Knots on their necks. The people that wore these were exclusive, and only the most trusted members of my father's army wore them. Of course, Finn and Alec are among the handful of soldiers apart of the gentry.

I flinch as I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jump to the side, only then realising that I had been staring at the corpse for a couple of minutes.

"You need to get out of here," Jesse tells me. I scoff before turning to him.

"Oh really? I would never have thought it," I bite back dryly.

"How are you going to do it?"

"I don't know. I've never gotten far."

Silence envelops us. And then I spring into action, almost tripping over the boy as I sprint up the stairs.

"Oh shit, Alec is waiting for me. Come find me later."

"Wait, Lara!" Jesse calls after me. I ignore him and dash up to Alec's office. My head slightly aches from the crying, but I disregard that too. I need to get to his office.

I reach it after about a minute of running. I feel the bandages on my stomach getting wet, so I realise that I've started bleeding again. I shakily knock on the door.