Mio Sole

28 [Aurora]

{long awaited!

apparently i haven't updated since August? 8 months is WILD. (i had 4 chapters written, but kind of forgot to put aurora in them??? yeah don't know how i forgot that but had to scrap those, which was kind of discouraging. one of the main reasons for such a long break)

i have the next 10 or so planned out (you guys get an actual plot now...yay) but there's no writing schedule right now, so i don't know when they'll all be written and released.

this isn't dnf'd though! just delayed

anyways, here's a new chapter. hopefully there won't be such a long gap before the next one

<3 swan}

**June 30th, 10 pm**

   "I wouldn't do that if I were you," comes a familiar voice behind the man in a deep growl. The man behind me flinches while the one in front of me whirls around towards the voice...just in time for a bullet to fly straight through his skull.

   Blood squirts all over me. Hot, thick blood, sprayed everywhere. Everything painted in dark red.

I don't have time to stare in shock at the man dropping to the ground before another shot rings out, and my arms are suddenly freed as the man behind me collapses to the ground, too.

Sebastian is in front of me in a second, looking over my body like he's checking for injuries. I look down, too. I'm not injured, I know I'm not—do I?—but I am covered in blood. My stomach churns at the sight.

   Aleksandr slips the gun back into his waistband like nothing even happened. "Go get Giovanni," he says to someone around the corner, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Aurora?"

   I'm not sure I'm breathing. It doesn't feel like I am, at least. It doesn't feel like there's any air in the room to breathe at all. Like the two dead men on the ground took it all with them.

   Sebastian's lips are moving, but I can't hear a word he's saying. Not until someone's hand falls on my back, and I finally suck in a breath for the first time in what feels like minutes.

   The air doesn't relieve the tightness in my chest, though. Not when it still smells like blood. Maybe that's me, though, not the air. Still doesn't make breathing any easier. Not with the 100 pound weight in my stomach, squeezing my lungs. The stench still suffocatingly strong.

   "Take her to Giovanni and wait," Aleksandr says. Niklaus starts guiding me down the hallway, presumably to wherever Giovanni is. When did Niklaus get behind me?

   There's blood on my hands. Soaked into my dress, too. You can't see it, really. Not with the dark material and dimmed hallway lights. I know it's there, though. I can feel it. Feel the thick liquid slowly cooling, drying against my skin. Sticking the fabric to my skin, sure to dry and crack and make the gown stiff.

   Still, to anyone else looking, the dress might only look wet. But my hands and arms...the blood is visible, there. Dripping down my skin towards my wrists, each drop leaving a dark trail behind it. It's probably all over my face and neck, too. Maybe that's why the metallic scent is still so intense.

   "Aurora," Niklaus says as we weave through the hallways. Was it the first time he called my name? I don't know. I can't remember. I don't think so.

   I finally look away from the dripping blood, up towards Niklaus. "Breathe," he says, once my eyes find his own hazel ones.

   "I am," I say. My voice sounds shaky even to my own ears, my words coming out slowly. Niklaus's hand is on my arm—it's sure to have blood on it as well now when he pulls it away—and he pulls me to a stop in front of a door. An exit? I don't know.