Waking up, Laura felt more tired than she had when she had fallen asleep. Her head felt as though it were stuffed full of cotton. She rolled over out of bed, and nearly fell over, as her legs and feet were not yet fully awake. She dressed with her eyes closed, accustomed to her surroundings and not needing her eyes. While she was slipping on the arm length black silk gloves that she had taken to wearing in order to hide the holes in both of her hands, she opened her eyes to the horror that was her bedroom.
Everything had been thrown awry, and her curtains had been torn from the window next to her bed. Her bookshelf had been knocked over, and all of her books were torn from their bindings, and strewn across the floor. The door that had once hung between her bedroom and the hall had been removed, along with the door across the hall, which would lead to her sitting room. Both were reduced to splinters across the floor. She slipped on her boots which sat next to her bed, to avoid her feet being injured, and slipped out into the hall. She looked to the left, and saw that the door leading to the rest of the castle was still in its place, and appeared untouched.
Moving into her sitting room, She found all off her furniture torn to bits, and stuffing from pillows and cushions was tossed everywhere. On the coffee table by what was once a very comfortable plush armchair, was a piece of paper. The table and paper were the only two things in her entire apartment that was left untouched. Picking up the scrap of paper, she found a note, which had been hastily scrawled:
You have only two weeks to live, girl.
Give it to me, and I might spare you.
You cannot hide from me.
There was no name on the note, and no clue as to what ‘it’ was. It was apparent, though, that he had not found it.
Laura folded the note, and pocketed it. She quickly threw on her leather jacket on the way out of her chambers, and strode hurriedly through all of the halls between her rooms, and those occupied by Nathan, The Master’s second in command. When she reached his door, she got nervous, and didn’t want to knock. This was mainly due to her sudden realization that it was roughly two in the morning, and Nathan was most likely sleeping. She did not want to wake him, for fear of having to deal with his anger, but at the same time she feared what might happen to her if she said nothing. She checked to make sure that the note was still in her pocket. The fact that it was still there made her feel no better, because it meant that she had not dreamed the last hour.
She apprehensively knocked at the door, and was shocked to be met not by Nathan, but rather by a blonde woman in a towel, who gave Laura a confused look as she opened the door. “And who are you?” She asked.
“Oh.. um… I’m sorry Lindsey. Is this not Nathan’s room?” She stuttered.
“Oh. Hang on.” She turned, and yelled into the apartment. “Nathan!”
A man hurried out to the door, slipping on his shirt. “Who is it?” When he saw Laura, he groaned. “Oh. It’s just you. What do you want, Laura?”
She handed him the note she had found in her apartment, and explained the condition she had found her rooms. Though she was shaking in fear of her life, he didn’t look the slightest bit concerned. In fact, he looked rather bored with her.
“Oh. Is that all. Well, I’ll have someone go to clean up your rooms, and replace your sheets and furniture. As for you books, there isn’t much that can be done.”
“What about the fact that this man is threatening my life?” He rolled his eyes.
“You are an assassin, Laura. Are you telling me that you cannot fight off a simple catspaw? If that’s true, are you sure that you deserve to even be called an assassin. If you cannot fight for yourself, maybe you deserve to be killed.” She felt her face get hot with anger, though she held it in.
“By the way,” he continued. “What is ‘it?’ What do you have that this guy wants?”
“I have no idea. He didn’t say, but as far as I could tell, nothing was missing from my apartment.”
“Okay then. Well, thank you for bringing this to my attention, Laura.” He turned to return inside. “Now I won’t be surprised when you are found dead in your room. Goodnight now.” Lindsey slammed the door in Laura’s face before turning to follow Nathan back into his apartment.
Why am I surprised? She questioned herself silently. Men are useless. I’ve known this my whole life. Anyway, it isn’t like there is a single man in this castle that doesn’t want me dead. For all I know, it’s Nathan who is behind all of this. Or perhaps it is The Master. Either way, I am on my own.
When she got to her room, she was surprised to find that her room had already been cleaned, and all of her ruined furniture and sheets were replaced. She found new, clean blankets on her bed. Well, she thought angrily. At least he was nice enough to make me comfortable for when I die. She collapsed on her mattress, and fell asleep almost instantly.
