Eunoia

𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢

A soft hum played from her lips as her hands dug in the soil, preparing to plant yet another flower. She had already almost filled on the space that Dante had provided her, but she kept finding or buying more flowers. 

Dante had left early morning upon receiving a call into work, Opehlia didn't object. He had been taking care of her the past few days and she knew he had a business to upkeep.

She stuffed the potted plants down into the soil, covering it with dirt around it as she hummed to the music playing in her ears. A classical tune had her entranced in her work.

Zelda had joined her in the garden; Opehlia had decided even she needed some fresh air, so she kept her on a little harness close by but let her roam free. Zelda of course stayed close, sniffing and rubbing in everything, to eventually find a spot in the grass, away from the shadows of the shade and in the warm, nimble rays of the sun.

Ophelia's thoughts remained at bay through her activity, except one imposing question which itched at her. Begged her to go find out.

What happened to the man?

She sighed and leaned back on her toes as she kneeled, looking down at the vibrant red flower, its petals spread and stretched out in the sun as it basked in it. 

She'd seen where the basement was, watched Dante go down there multiple times and return with a certain darkness lurking in his eyes.

But he'd see her, and it'd soften in a split second.

She could go down there and see if the man was there, and okay. The last thing she'd ever want is someone to get hurt because of her.

After all, she had come home late after many warnings from Dante.

Would he be mad for me to go down there, though?

She pondered on the thought more a moment, making her moving thoughts stop in their tracks. For him to be angry at her…she didn't know what she would do. She can't even stand the thought of it.

But did he have to know?

That thought kicked things back into motion, and Ophelia grabbed the little blur leash connected to Zelda's harness and picked her up.

“Let's go baby,”

________

The heavy door creaked open louder than she liked, and she quickly did a scan of the room to make sure no one was close by or watching. But upon seeing no one, she began to defend down the stairs after closing the door behind her.

It was dark, barely anything to be seen in front of her so she held on tightly to the railing to make sure she didn't slip and fall.

A strong stench filled her nose, one that almost made her gag at how horrible it was. She couldn't put her finger on what the particular stench was, but she didn't wish to smell it much longer.

She put her sweater sleeve over her nose, but as she did so, she took a step in the wrong direction and slipped on something slick.

A squeal was to be heard as she tumbled and fell down the stairs, landing thankfully on her stomach and not hurting herself too badly.

She groaned, picking herself up and feeling what felt to be puddles of water beneath her.

As she stood, a string hit her face. She pulled it, and a dim light clicked on, to reveal a sight that had her gasping.

Before her sat the man tied tightly in wire, cutting through his clothes and into his skin which he bled profusely from. He had cuts on his face and bruises, swollen eyes and lips and what looked to be a broken nose.

Something caught her eye, and she looked down to see what she fell in was indeed not water.

No, it was pools of blood draining from the man's body, and she had fallen in it.

Her clothes, skin, her face was now all covered in blood, and she swore she felt her heart stop beating.

She turned her back to the man to look around, each sight bringing a more erratic but short breath. There were tools, knives, saws, anything you could think of that can be used to torture someone, including syringes and needles.

“O-Oh…my god,” she barely breathed out, when arms wrapped around her and the cold steel of a blade pressed into her throat.

“Hi pretty.”

______________

Dante arrived home later than he wished, the stresses of work complications weighing on him as he walked through the door. Tiredness was etched in his features and tousled hair.

It was nearing dark, only maybe half an hour of daylight remaining.

He made his way up to the bedroom, half expecting Opehlia to be laying comfortably on the bed with the little beast by her side and a book in hand, wired headphones dangling from her ears.

But the room was empty and made.

A feeling deep in his gut churned within him, and he walked towards the window to peer into the garden. Little fairy lights were wrapped around a few branches of the trees, giving light in the dim darkness.

But it was empty as well.

He checked a few rooms such as the library and the piano room.

The library was held empty, only an empty seat with a book on it to be seen in the rows of bookshelves.

The piano room looked like it hadn't been touched today, other than the music sheet on the piano.

He walked pacingly to the kitchen where a few of the maids lingered, all gathered around, smiling and chit-chatting.

“Have any of you seen Ophelia?” He asked, his eyes barely scanning over on of the women who had her eyes on him. Always had her eyes on him.

“No sir,” they all responded at different times. He left quickly before any of them could say anything else.

He rushed up to his office while checking his phone, sending her a few messages and watching impatiently.

He made his way into the office, quickly typing into his computer and pulling up the camera feeds from the past few hours. It showed nothing, no movements through the house except the maids and guards.

As he clicked through, his eye caught onto movement on one of the cameras, one for near the back halls of the house.

“Cazzo!” He slammed his hand down on the desk, getting up and grabbing his gun from the drawer.

He gathered guards together, having them search the entire perimeter to find any clue of her whereabouts. He followed with some, keeping his gun close as they searched through every room in the house.

But there was nothing.

“Don,” a guard snapped his fingers, pointing the floor and Dante neared quick, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Bloody footprints followed the hall into the back exit which led into the woods.

His jaw ticked, eyes dancing with a darkish glint.

“Porta tutti a cercare nel bosco,” he commanded, and the guard nodded as everyone else began to descend out into the night with flashlights and heavy armored guns. [Get everyone to search the woods.]