7 rings

Chapter 5

"Don't shoot on Mark Benson!" She saved me...

Katherine Norman was looking at him, her stare was ice cold.

What now?

- Mark Benson... Now you know even my last name? Where do you get all this information from? And, why? If you are trying to discover the truth about me, where there is nothing to hide, why can't I know about you?

Thank you, Hilda. Thank you for being the one who understands why this is amazing.

- You said it yourself. - she said. Her voice felt even worse than her stare. - There is nothing to hide. Some people really have nothing to hide. But I do. Mark... - she looked somewhat sad, that intrigued him- Why did you have to do this? And you!- she pointed at Philomena, or, more precisely, where she was seconds ago. She wasn't there anymore, she had disappeared. - Cool. Can you explain... Why?

- I just want to know the truth...

- We all want to know way too much.

I really didn't want to. Why couldn't you just go? Don't you understand, can't you see what is in front of you? If it wasn't you... Why did you do this?

- I'm sorry.- she said, and saw, for less than a second, the confused face of Mark. He felt something hard hitting him in the head from behind. He didn't even have time to feel the pain. everything became blurred, then totally black. Behind him, immobile on the floor, was standing a girl he knew as Marta. She looked way younger than she was, and was wearing a short pastel-pink dress and a bow on her head. She could be easily be mistaken as a teenager. And she was holding a baseball bat in one of her hands, with an innocent smile on her face.

- That was violent. - commented Violet. - You could've killed him... I mean, I still don't get why you didn't. What are we going to do with him now?

Stop asking questions, please. Why can't anyone see? I don't want to kill him, I simply can't. He can't see it, you all can't see it... And I don't want to tell it. So let's just... I don't know, stare at each other. But don't ask anything. Please.

Amazing. I didn't expect it to go this way. This is more romantic than what I have expected.

                                                                  ***
 Where am I?

Mark opened his eyes, still feeling his head aching. He was laying on the ground. On top of him, he saw a big chandelier and sat on the ground. He was in some big room he had never seen before. Around him were some expensive-looking sofas and a fireplace. He turned around. Some dark wooden bookshelves.

Amazing. I don't even know where I am now. I really want to just lay on the floor and never get up.

He looked through the big windows and just saw a big garden. No clues about where he could be. Then he heard a door opening and frantic steps. The door loudly was closed and, in seconds, he saw people running into the room. Katherine was carrying a girl with long dark hair in her arms. She looked very pale and as they ran through one door and went out through the other one, her blood stained the floor.  Mark recognized her. No one even seemed to notice Mark there, which he was glad about. He looked at the floor. It was covered in dark-red drops. He heard panicking voices and stood up.

- Maybe I could help.- heard the girls. They turned around and saw mark. They had layed the Amanda on a table and franticly taken out the emergency supplies box, without exactly being sure of what to do. - I am a medical student.

- Just...- started the tall and blonde one.

- No. - interrupted her Katherine. - Let him try. I have seen this. - she was very pale and looked like she was about to cry. It was the frst time Mark had ever seen her in this state. - Try, Mark. They shoot her throught the shoulder. I have seen this. This can kill her.

Why can I always remeber anything and everything on the exams, but in these situations, I block? Idiotic.

He approached Amanda.

- The bullet is still stuck in there. It's closing the entry for blood. If we take it off, she may just bleed out.

- And waht do we do now?- hysterically screamed a girl he knew by the name of Alison.

- We go to the hospital. But they will start aaking questions... I have a friend there... She may...

- No hospital! Independably of a friend or not!
Mark... Do something... Please.

Ok. My turn.

Mark took everything that was in the box out. It seemed pretty professional after all. He started doing the little they taught them in class. Had had to take out the bullet without killing the girl. He was being held captive in this house, and now he had someone's life in his hands. Maybe he would understand something... One day.

An hour passed. Two.

Amanda...

- Now, she should rest until we can go to the hospital without the vause of the wound being oubvious.

Amanda.

- What do we say in those situations?- asked Katherine- I have never been good with people. Is there some formal variation of "tank you" for when someone saves your friend's life?

- No. There's not. Maybe one thing... The truth, maybe. Look, Katherine...

- Dominica. My name is Dominica Mallory.

That hurts. Evelyn... Evelyn Mallory... Do you remember me? Do you think about me still? Have you ever tried to find me? If I would come to you, what would you say? Would you forget the past?

- Dominica...  repeated Mark.- Can I get the truth?

- The truth... Is there any?

- Yes. The truth. What you hide. Why do you run away from me? Why don't you want to explain this all? The truth, Dominica. The hidden truth.

- Mark... There is no hidden truth. It's all in front of you. Just look.