Blood and Snow

Chapter Eighteen

Belle took a sip from her coffee as she sat down at the table. 'This seems very familiar.' The lawyer thought with amusement. She smiled at Baron, who took a seat in the chair to her right. Baron just looked away, raising the coffee pot to his lips. Belle's smile widened a bit, finding it funny.

Apparently, a big man such as Baron needed a lot of coffee to get his day started. He claimed that the others didn't really care that he did it, as long as he only drinks from a certain coffee pot.

It even has his name on it.

No, I'm not kidding.

Baron took a few gulps from his pot, unaffected by the heat of the coffee, then put it down on the table. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and looked at Belle, "What?"

"Nothing." Belle responded, looking away. She drank the rest of her coffee and set the empty mug on the table. The big man made a "hmph" sound and looked towards the television. The news station was currently discussing a "very strange occurrence" that happened last night.

"Thanks John," the lady on the news said to the weatherman, "The weather outside does seem frightful, doesn't it?"

"Stacie, we talked about this." John called from offscreen in a joking tone. Stacie nodded, her smile fading a moment later. "Thanks John," she said again, "And with that, we're moving on to something more serious... A man was killed last night in Henrytown."

Baron's eyebrows raised as Belle turned her head to the screen, both interests being caught. "The man's identification has yet to be revealed by the authorities. Whoever he was, he was either caught in a bad situation or he must have been a very unhappy individual, as the cause of death had been impact. The poor soul had fell off the roof of a ten-story building."

Baron looked over at Belle, who's eyes widened into a sad expression. She looked down, not saying anything. "What's your issue?" He asked, not meaning to be rude (and not really caring if it sounded harsh). The lawyer shook her head, muttering, "It's just a terrible way to die..."

The man rolled his eyes and looked back at the television, "Believe me, there are ways way worse than throwing yourself off a building."

Belle nodded and slowly stood up. Baron gave her a warning look, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to the room... Is that alright?" Belle asked in a strange tone. Baron looked at her in silence for a moment. "Do you know your way back?" He asked. Belle nodded. Baron narrowed his eyes. "... Don't run off. If I find out that you went anywhere without telling on of us, I'll break your leg."

Belle nodded again, nervously. She mumbled a "thank you" and did her best to calmly walk out of the dining hall. Disappearing into the hallway, Belle dragged herself into her thoughts. 'It's scary how fast Baron can get aggressive, even if he doesn't really mean it... That last part about breaking my leg... that sounds—'

'—"The next time this happens, I'll break your hand. Do you understand me?"'

Her footsteps faltered for a millisecond, her eyes widening the smallest fraction. 'That's why it sounded familiar... They sure like threatening to break my bones, don't they? Though, I can't blame them. I did accidentally make them think that I ran away...'

Thinking back to that day, her pace began to quicken. 'Was Baron really going to stab me? If he was, thank God for Happy stopping him. She could've lost her eye, though... Did I ever thank her for that?' Belle turned to the left and walked straight, then turned right to enter another corridor. Her gaze fell to the ground as she went further, her thoughts drowning out any sounds around her. 'I'll have to thank her later, when I see her again. And Myckenzie, too. She's probably the reason why Mason didn't pull the trigger on me, since she told Mason that it wasn't my fault that I hid under the bed...'