Blood and Snow

Chapter Twenty-Six

For the millionth time in her life, Belle woke up. Normally it wouldn't be weird. This time, however, it was. Because she wasn't in her room. She sat up on the chair and groggily rubbed her eyes. Taking a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the area, she realized with a long glance that she was in Mason's office. 'Why am I here?' She asked herself. Belle tried thinking back to what happened before she woke up here.

The anxiety attack she had flashed in her mind, as well as the faint memory of other people in the room. '... Was Mason the one who calmed me down?' Belle thought with slight embarrassment. "Please, tell me he didn't."

"Did what?"

"Christ!" She screamed, falling out of the chair. Mason failed to hold back his laughter as she scrambled to get back on her feet. After standing up straight, she gave him an accusing glance. "What?" He asked. Belle tried (and failed) to raise her voice, "Someone needs to put a bell on you."

Mason just smiled at her, "It's not my fault that you're blind."

"You scared me!"

"I can see that."

Belle wanted to yell at him, but it was getting increasingly difficult with him smiling at her like that. His smile really is charming. She gave up and sighed. "Why am I here?" Belle asked. Mason stepped closer to her, making Belle want to take a step back. "You don't remember having an anxiety attack?"

Belle froze, 'Damn, it was him!'

"You do remember." Mason said, noticing that she froze. He narrowed his eyes at her, "So, what exactly caused you to become so afraid?"

Belle shifted uncomfortably. 'I can't even try lying to him, he'll know that I'm not telling the truth. Maybe if I tell him about how personal it is, he won't make me answer.' The lawyer thought hopelessly.

"I-It's... not something I want to talk about..." she said quietly, avoiding eye contact. She could feel her dread as Mason loomed over her. His height really wasn't helping the situation. "Are you sure that you don't want to talk about it?" He asked in a deceptively sweet voice. Belle began to shake as she risked looking up at him. Her eyes locked onto his, stopping her from looking away again. "I'm s-sure..."

'I should've answered him...' she thought with a rising panic. The last time she refused to answer, he almost killed her. If she refused again, he might throw her into a wall. He certainly looked like he was about to hit her. "I-I mean!" Belle said quickly, hoping that he won't do anything yet. "I... I guess I can tell you..."

Mason grinned in satisfaction. "I'm pleased to see that you've learned not to say no."

"You should've said yes."

Belle almost slapped herself. 'Not now! Not here!' She internally screamed. Mason frowned at something, making her panic into thinking that she said her thoughts out loud. "Well?" He asked after a tense moment, "Care to share anything?"

"... I... may have overheard what you were screaming about..." Belle started slowly. Mason didn't seem interested in that. He actually looked a bit irritated. "Go on." The man urged her to continue. Belle tried ignoring the "DANGER NO STOP DON'T SAY IT DAMN YOU I SAID DON'T SAY IT" feeling rising in her throat. "I heard you talking about killing someone..."

"What was that someone's name?" Mason hissed through his teeth. That feeling was getting worse. 'I'm going to get hurt for this...' she thought morbidly. "His name... was..."

... She can't say it. That man brought her so much misery, so much fear, that she never gained her old confidence back. He changed her in ways that made her terrified. She can't say his name. It'll hurt to say his name.

"His name," Mason snarled, "is Lefte Barbarossa."

He walked forward, forcing Belle to step backwards until she was against one of the filing cabinets. Her eyes grew wide with panic and fear. His eyes glowed menacingly with anger and impatience. "You know him," Mason said, his mouth forming into a tense smile that showed his teeth. "You know who Lefte is. Which means that you know about his personal life."

Lefte had approached her again, a grin on his face. He made sure she couldn't walk away.

'No!'

"So unless you tell me what you know about him," Mason said with burning eyes, "I'm going to do something that you will regret later."

"I'm going to make high school Hell for you."

'Not now!'

"Mason, please- I-!" Belle was interrupted by a loud metallic BANG! Mason has slammed his fist into the large filing cabinet behind her, barely missing her head. Belle looked at his fist out of the corner of her eye.

He had walked up behind her and slammed her head into a locker door.

'Stop it!'

"What have I told you before?" He nearly screamed in her face. "You will answer my questions! You will tell what you know. If you don't, I'm going to hurt you!"

"But I'm still going to torment you, because I love to watch you cry."

Belle felt cold. This was becoming too much too quickly.

"You should've said yes."

She's going to be sick. Belle's heart was hammering her rib cage. Is it her or is the world around her suddenly much darker?

"Are you even paying attention?!"

" You should've said yes."

'Don't-!'

" You should've said yes."

'He's not here!'

" You should've said yes."

'You'll be alright!'

" You should've said yes."

Mason grabbed one of her shoulders and crushed it, making branches of pain spread to her collar and back. "Answer me-!"

- he grabbed her shoulders, crushing them painfully in his grasp. "You should've said yes."

"NO!" Belle wailed, dragging out the "o". She wasn't even sure if that was what she had said. Her scream sounded inhuman to her ears, like a dying animal being ripped apart while it's still alive. Everything was a blur. Why did her hand feel weird? Where did Mason go?

The world was slowly coming back to her as her breathing returned to normal and her vision began to clear. She looked up from the ground and froze again, her blood turning to ice.

Mason was pointing a gun to her forehead. In the area where his trench coat remains open, the white shirt he was wearing was torn at the chest area. There was a lot of blood. It looked like he had been attacked by a bear. Then Belle saw her hand. Part of it was covered in blood.

Mason's blood.

This was her fault.

"Get out." Mason growled.

"M-Mason, I-I-I'm-!" Belle tried to apologize. "GET OUT!" He exploded, "GO TO YOUR ROOM BEFORE I KILL YOU!"

In a quick blur of motion and the sound of the door being slammed shut, Belle was gone.

[Oops, my hand slipped-]