He Strikes at the Hotel

Chapter Forty Three

Audrey Rose's POV

As the footsteps grew louder, so did Jared's haste. He pulled me forcefully towards the shelves which masked the entrance to a secret door which Zachery and I had found when we first came down here. He moved them out of the way with ease, as if it was just second nature to him by now. He held the knife in my direction and pointed for me to stand by the door as he began to pull the shelves closer towards us, to hide the fact they had ever been moved.

He turned back round to me and opened the dirty, wooden trap door quickly, nudging me to go down before him so he could keep an eye on me. I detested obeying him, but at this point I didn't really have any other option, especially as there was a knife to my throat the whole way.

"So... Who are we going to meet, may I ask?" I broke the silence between us as he ushered me down the steps and down a dingy hallway, which smelt of mould and death. The smell itself made me feel queasy, let alone seeing what the source was.

"Patience, my dear. You will see." Was Jared's only response to my questioning. I considered probing further, but felt it would be falling on deaf ears, with me gaining the same, ambiguous response each time. I sighed in defeat, as I continued down the hallway, still feeling the knife much too close to me for comfort. If I put one foot wrong and stumbled, I would no doubt end up impaling myself. At least that would ruin the fun for Jared and his little ringmaster.

We walked past a room which was different to every other; it had light pouring out of it and looked spotless, each surface was shining and smelt vaguely of disinfectant, mixed with other less pleasant things. There seemed to be a stretcher from a hospital in the middle of the room, which made it look like it was on display. There was no doubt Jared was the hit man behind all of this, but what was this for? I hoped I wouldn't find out.

We continued round the corner until we got to a room which was dimly lit in comparison to the room I just saw, but it was still brighter than the hallway, so my eyes strained when I was pushed in by Jared, they were too used to the darkness by now.

There were plush red leather sofas scattered around the room, with a fireplace which was half alight in the centre of the back wall. If it wasn't for the surroundings of this room, it could quite possibly class as a standard living room. It has dark polished floorboards, candles on every surface, and even a bookshelf which was full to the brim. I tried to see what the titles were, but when I tried to concentrate, all I could focus on was the book which had a red and black cover, with the words 'Medics' Journal on Autopsy, Preservation and Reconstruction.'

I blinked wildly trying to straighten my focus, determined that I couldn't have read that right. Are they going to experiment on me? My face drained of all the colour that it had left as Jared held on to my shoulders so tightly I could begin to feel the bruises form.

"I have her." He said simply. I would have thought with his sadistic nature he would have sounded slightly triumphant at getting another victim, especially me. But he had no emotion in his voice, other than something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was like this was a chore for him, and he just wanted to be done with it for the night. I'm sure this is more tedious for me than it is for you buddy...

He was saying this to a silhouette which was sat facing away from us towards the fireplace. The room was silent other than the few crackles that were still coming from the half lit fire. I could hear the blood rushing through my ears it was so quiet.

"I trust you have gone undetected, Jared?" The silhouette spoke without turning towards us. It was more of a mumble than anything, but the sound made my skin crawl.

"Need I answer that?" Jared spat back, finally with some emotion - annoyance.

"Of course not. I am just all too aware at how difficult my brother can make things." That was when he stood up and turned to look at me. "Hello again, Audrey Rose. Have you enjoyed the party?" Jeremy asked me with a wicked smile tugging at his lips, pure venom in his words.

"What are you doing here?!" I screeched, unable to keep my horrified shock from coming out, which earned me a slap round the face from Jared for making too much noise.

"Now, now. No need to be so boisterous." Jeremy said, looking at me with pitiful eyes. "My brother seems quite smitten with you, Audrey Rose. I thank you for that. It has made it much easier to determine a target for tonight's events. Once we have extinguished you, he will surely crumble." He said through a smile which grew more with each hateful word he spoke.

"You... You monster... Is this all to spite your big brother? Do you realise how pathetic that sounds?" I said as my shock quickly transpired into pure hatred towards Jeremy. How could he do this?

"My brother has everything he could ever want. He is the heir to the throne, he's handsome, charming and everyone loves him. This has been my little way of bringing him back down to earth, by destroying anyone who dares go near him. You, however, had warnings. My dear Jared here explicitly warned you twice, did he not?" He was speaking so rationally that it seemed as thought he genuinely believed there was nothing wrong with what he was doing. He was speaking so convincingly it scared me. My mind then flashed back to Jared's warnings...

"I prepared before he arrived. I know you heard me the day of his arrival. That, I must admit, I did not plan. But I have been watching you two. He's falling for you, as you are with him. This is just too perfect of an opportunity to pass up. Just think yourselves as Romeo and Juliet, it may make you feel better." Jeremy spoke with flamboyant hand gestures, making this all seem more theatrical than what it need be. I was half expecting people to jump out from behind the curtains where I was expected to shout 'He's behind you!'. Obviously, I had no such luck.

I couldn't take his speech any more. He made me uncomfortable the first time I saw him, and now he makes me nauseous. I just want him to shut up. "What are you going to do to me then?" I ask, just wanting to get to the point now, but I felt like he was talking out of pure desperation to get his voice heard.

"Oh... You certainly are a curious one, aren't you?" He said, raising his brow in delight. "I don't want to ruin the surprise... But if you like I can give you a taster?" His pupils dilated, looking murderously at me. I swallowed hard, regretting ever asking. Regretting ever going to the ball. Regretting everything.

Jeremy walked over to me where Jared was still holding my shoulders tight. Jeremy held his hand out as Jared passed him the knife he was holding to my throat earlier. The two men exchanged a look which somehow looked like they were communicating without saying a word.

Jeremy looked at me and smiled, his disgusting, hateful smile. Jared was holding my shoulders still, put grabbed onto my left arm and held out my hand palm side up, right in front of Jeremy.

"Here, sweetheart, I'll feed your curiosity, but only because you were so kind to me over dinner." And with that, he held the bottom of my hand tightly in place as he sliced the knife down the centre of my palm. Dark red liquid oozed out as soon as he pierced the skin, but he didn't stop until he got down the where the fingers started. I held in my scream of pain, as I knew it would cause me more pain if I made a sound. My breath hitched, as I bit onto my lip to suppress any muffled cries. Tears began to form in my eyes, as I looked straight ahead, dead pan into Jeremy's eyes.

"Hmm..." Jeremy cocked his head as he took this moment in. My lack of reaction towards his torture seemed to rattle something inside him. "Interesting."