Leave if You Have the Strength

Minutes earlier…

Fabrics loudly shifted as Elijah left the bed. His entire visage screamed disappointment and disgust as he dragged his body to peel the blanket off his sweaty body. Even if he was still a little disoriented from the alcohol, he was thinking better now. That was how he figured out how much of a downgrade he got.

Fiona was still resting on the bed, giggling faintly at her victory. She was even reaching for her phone as if hoping to take photos later after Elijah left. For sure, there would be an indication as to where she was and whose clothes were on the floor with hers.

The cold water rushed down Elijah's body as he washed off the sweat and filth he slathered on him. From the scent of the alcohol, the fluids of sleeping with a woman, and even the saliva and touches of that woman he decided to bring back to his unit. Unlike most days, that woman wouldn't be joining him in the shower and helping him wash off. She wouldn't be drying him while smiling at her own stories.

"…maybe I got too harsh…" Elijah opened his eyes as he turned off the water. "…Silvano can easily get something like that, and it's not like he has not been dealing with the others. It's just that… this is the first time they cast their eyes on Keagan. An allergic reaction… What if she didn't get one? What will I be looking at? Would it be worse than Keagan's puke on Madam Chastain's dress?

"Madam was even the one who got so worried about her. Hmm, does this mean that she's guarded against drugs like those? Has someone done that to her before? She's too angry. I guess that is a 'yes.' Should I… look for Keagan?" Elijah took his towel and noticed that there was a clean pink one next to it. He frowned. "I'll wait for her to calm down. She'll look for me if she changes her mind.

"She was the one who walked out." He dried his body and hair using the towel. He then wrapped it around his hips when he left the bathroom. "I should get rid of this woman before Keagan returns in the morning. Will she leave, though? It's midnight."

Elijah kept on murmuring to himself as he walked. He felt like drinking cool water so he just walked past the bedroom. He caught a glimpse of Fiona leaning against the wall across from the door, but the room was so dark. All he saw was a silhouette he assumed was Fiona. Who else was in his house, anyway?

He then spoke loudly as he got to the kitchen and filled a glass of water. "If you're strong enough to stand around, leave. I'm not going to throw you out unless you refuse to go."

When the cool water hit his tongue, it felt like the chill crawled all the way to his back. Elijah immediately stopped and even spat some water back into the glass. He held his mouth and looked around. It had become so eerily quiet that it made him feel like something was wrong.

"Fiona?" He called out, leaving the glass in the kitchen. He saw the silhouette still leaning her face against the wall, so he walked inside the dark bedroom. "Hey, Fiona. I said leave if you have the …"

He reached out to grab the hair, but he noticed something pooling at her feet. It was dark, so it couldn't be piss or anything. When the clouds moved out of the moon's light, the room grew a bit brighter from the drawn curtains of the glass walls. It was better if the dark thing was just poo… but it wasn't.

Elijah pulled Fiona's hair to get her off the wall, and her body fell straight to the floor. Splat! Her fall caused blood to splatter, and Elijah stared down at her naked body. However, it was ruined by the spikes that held her against the wall. Holes were on her body, flooded with blood that stopped coagulating. After all, she was long dead.

"…Fiona?" Elijah called out again, not knowing what happened or what to do. He should have run off by now, but what would he tell the police?

That was when he decided to turn to the spikes on the wall. They didn't seem to be made of metal or anything he had seen before. It was just that when he tried to touch them, they dissolved into black goo on the floor. What shocked him was how the black goo moved to get behind him. He followed it with his gaze, only to see another person in the room.

The person was a lithe-figured woman with long white hair. Her eyes were glinting red as if she was not human. She stood around in her bare skin, but Elijah's eyes were more focused on that black goo that crawled up her body. It settled on her fingers, soon turning into claws long enough to decapitate someone if they were not careful.

"I spent resources to look for you, but the princess is not with you anymore. Where is she?" The woman spoke with a grin, but the teeth were crooked and sharp as if she was a shark. Her mouth also appeared bigger than usual. "I won't ask again, human."

"What are you talking about?" Elijah stepped back, but his heel landed on Fiona's leg. He glanced behind him and realized what would happen if he didn't leave. 

When he turned to the things again, the woman lunged toward him. The claw would swing to shred his face into multiple strips, but something like a gun echoed from behind her. She screamed in pain and fell to the side after trying to reach her back to scratch the bullet off. With her unblocking his view, Elijah saw the person aiming a gun in his direction.

Elijah's eyes grew wide. "Silvano?"

"Hurry and get your ass out of there!" Silvano called out and shot the thing again when she dared to get up. He then pulled away, causing Elijah to run away as well. 

Silvano kicked the main door open and had Elijah leave the unit in haste. He then took out something from his small bag behind his right hip. It looked like a grenade, and Silvano pulled the pin as if it was indeed a grenade. He threw it inside, and it quickly exploded into a fiery hell. 

Elijah was already too far to feel the blast, but he saw how flames ate up his unit. Before he could say anything, Silvano ran to grab his elbow and dragged the man into the elevator that was left open. He just asked after Silvano threw him inside and fiddled with the panel. "What's happening?"

"This place is going to blow."