Fatal Alliances: Chapter 24

The sunlight licked my face, begging me to wake up. Just five more minutes, I needed this sleep right now. Almost as if on cue, I heard knocking on the door. As I forced myself to get to the door, I opened it to find Vandermir standing in front of me with a disapproving look. I was so tired and still into sleep I was only squinting at him and shutting my eyes.

“Why aren’t you ready yet?” He asked annoyed at me.

“Hmm…” was all I could manage to say, still hungover from my nap.

“Greene.” He iced.

His voice was like a bucket of cold water on me.

“Geez, I’m up.” I snapped back straining my eyes to stay open.

“Good. We have a slight change of plans.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have to make a stop at the Floris Hotel near the airport.” He said.

“Floris Hotel? Why?”

“A woman came last night for a party here, we think she has some kind of information or connection on the men connected with Frank Dawnly’s murder.”

“The same men who are against you and Rocillie?” I asked.

“Yes. So hurry up, we’ll leave for Japan straight after we go to the hotel.” He stated and left.

That sounds exhausting. Finny not too long after Vandermir left, came to me with some clothes he picked up from my house. It kind of creeped me out that he went through my personal stuff but in the end, I was thankful for it because he picked out my favourite clothes and shoes. I wore my brown timberland boots over my blue jean along with a white tank and light brown leather jacket.

There, I’m all ready for traveling. Or maybe a trip to the Wild West? Ha.

As I packed my luggage into the car, Donnie smirked at me.

“What’s with you?” I arched an eyebrow at him questionably.

“Even with all that clothes on, I still find you even more beautiful than usual.”

“You know something Donnie,” I said folding my arms at him, “I think you’re pretty messed up.”

“What?” he laughed.

“Well not at much as Vandermir, but you’re pretty screwy as well. I mean, do you take every opportunity to flirt with someone?”

“Don’t rate me so low darling, I don’t flirt with just anyone.” He grinned.

“Really?” I laughed, “You did that to every girl you’ve passed this morning.”

“Did not.” He scoffed.

“Did too.”

“Enough you two,” Ricardo said as he passed us and went into the driver’s seat while Finny followed and sat in the back.

Adrian came up to us with his usual cold ambiance, “We’ll travel together. Hurry up and get in. I’ll be here in a minute.”

With that, he left and Donnie kept his gaze on me. This time, it was fixed and mischievous.

“I knew it.”

“What?” I asked confused.

“You have a thing for Vandermir.” He smirked.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s the most absurd thing.” I spat.

“Denial’s just the first part, kitten.” He laughed.

“You’re insane,” I said with a scowl and went in the car next to Finny, and Ricardo in the front.

How could Donnie even think such a thing? I had no such feelings like that for Adrian. I mean, yes he was probably the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen but he had such a nasty attitude. I honestly hated every other aspect of Vandermir. And I’m sure Adrian never saw me in that light as well. Donnie was absolutely insane, he should just grow up. There was absolutely no such thing between Vandermir and me.

About five minutes after, Donnie and Adrian came in the car. I didn’t like being in the middle of two guys, it was strange. I was always accustomed to being with my sisters, this was just so new to me.

“Are you okay? You seem tense.” Finny asked me.

“Huh?”

“You know Finny, if I got a dollar for every time you asked her that question I’d be making more millions than usual.” Donnie laughed.

“Well, at least some people care.” I retorted back.

“You know Greene, you remind me of someone I knew,” Adrian chuckled, “Donnie’s dog. She was always so irritated with the smallest of things.”

Did he just tell me I remind him of a dog? What a man you are Vandermir. Keep calm and don’t kill him yet, Juliet. There are plenty of other times you can do that.

From the corner of the mirror, I saw a slight smirk on Ricardo’s face. That seemed to annoy me a whole lot more. He was the last person I had expected to take part in my sufferings. Wasn’t he the emotionless one anyway?

“Why are you smiling? Concentrate on the road.” I stated dryly as I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Guys, don’t make fun of her. I happened to like that dog anyway.” Finneas smiled.

“Finny!” I said hitting him on the stomach slightly.

After a long and torturous journey, we arrived at the hotel but before we came out Ricardo sighed and looked at his phone.

“Alright, so here’s what’s going to happen. Adrian, you’ll deal with the lady, Finny and I would check out the function for the men, and Donnie check if you can get any information on their check in’s and background information.”

“Wait, what about me?” I asked.

“You behave like a good little dog and stay where I tell you to stay,” Adrian stated as he came out and shut the door.

God, I hate that man.

As I followed them in, everyone went their own way and left me following Vandermir.

“What exactly are you going to do?” I asked.

“That’s none of your concern.” He stated as he stopped and looked at a lady from across the hall.

She was quite a sophisticated-looking woman, with a straight long scarlet dress and short blonde curled hair.

“Stay put.” He said to me as he left.

This was ridiculous, was I going to have to stay in one place and wait on him till God knows when? It was tiring to be bossed around all the time but I sucked it up. I mean, if this is the way I won’t get myself and others into trouble then fine, I’ll wait. I had lost sight of Adrian, it seemed like he had exited the hall through another exit with that lady I saw earlier because she too wasn’t in sight. Sitting on the sofa outside the hall I looked at my exhausted face on my phone camera when suddenly I saw a strange image behind. A girl, around my age, looked so familiar. Where have I seen her before? She had these outstanding blue eyes that glowed from a distance and long blonde hair, a perfect Barbie image.

Blue eyes, blonde hair? I know this girl, this….oh my gosh…Finny’s sister!

Although it must have been years when that photo of her and Vandermir was taken she didn’t look like she aged a bit. But…I thought she was dead? That’s was Finny said anyway? No, actually now that I think about it he never actually said she was dead, but the way he spoke about her, how he lost her. I thought it meant that she wasn’t alive yet there she was, perfectly healthy and alive.

Is every person I thought was dead suddenly not?

Quickly, I got up to try to meet her but lost her in the crowd. Darn, she was so close. But wait, why did I want to talk to her? Finny and Vandermir want me to know nothing about that, their past, then why should I bother anyway? Why was all this still so important to me? I had such a strange feeling about that girl. What’s up with her anyway? I didn’t know why but I felt like somehow and at some point in time I’ll meet her again. I just know she has some kind of connection to everything, to Vandermir and somehow to me. That’s what my gut said anyway. It didn’t make sense but there’s something more to everything that I know out there.

I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind, so much was going on already, I didn’t need any more problems. Maybe I should freshen up anyway besides we still have a long trip ahead of us. I noticed the washroom not too far away but as I went there a maid stopped me at the door.

“Hello Madam, I’m sorry for the inconvenience but this washroom is under some renovation.

You can use another though, just take the elevator right there and go up to the eighth floor, that washroom isn’t too far away.” She smiled.

“Oh, okay. Thank you.” I replied and did as she said.

She was right, it wasn’t that far away. I made sure and kept my phone on just in case Vandermir doesn’t see me back there and throws a fit about me being disobedient. As I went into the restroom and washed my hands I had such an odd feeling. Something didn’t seem right. Maybe it was just that I skipped breakfast and was feeling weak. Yeah that must be it. Why should I be afraid in a restroom anyway? There were a few other women in here as well. There’s nothing to feel scared about.

“Hey, can you open this? It won’t open back.” I heard a young girl ask another who tried to open the door but it didn’t budge.

I noticed the air becoming foggy, smoke? I noticed that a cloud of thick smoke was coming out from the vents above. What the heck is that? Suddenly, a girl fell to the ground while another yawned and did the same. Panic stung me, oh God, what’s happening? I had to get out of here!

Holding my breath, I opened one of the cubicles and noticed a small, tiny window from above. Could I even fit through that? I was on one of the highest floors of the hotel, what if I fell through and collapsed to my death? Or maybe it had one of those fancy small balconies outside. It was a risk I would have to take. I didn’t even know what kind of unconsciousness this smoke was causing to everyone here. It could be fatal and that was not the way I expected to die, not by some soft foggy sleeping smoke in a toilet room. I jumped on the top of the toilet tank and opened the window. As I peeped outside and took a breath, I saw no balcony but there was a ledge I could probably stand on if I came out carefully. Struggling, I squeezed my way through the window holding on to the edge of the wall tightly.

Oh My God. No, No, No, No.

I hadn’t realized how high I actually was, there was nothing keeping me from plummeting to my death and the harsh winds were no help either. Not to mention my insanely awful fear of heights. This was probably the craziest thing I ever did in my life. I clutched onto the small bricks on the wall of the hotel as I tried to not think about how high I actually was. So high that the cars on the street looked like little specs of dust. Slowly yet carefully, I dragged my feet along the side of the wall until I noticed that I reached the top of a large window.

Thank goodness, maybe someone would help me in, but first I needed to get to the ledge below which was another deathly situation. I was about to knock on the top window when I noticed the two people inside. Vandermir and that lady he was with. What? He held her around her waist dangerously allowing her to throw her arms around his neck in such a seductive way. As she intertwined her fingers through his hair, he trailed kisses along her neck to her lip. He was kissing her. What the hell? Suddenly, she pulled away and smirked wickedly at him.

“Give me a minute.” She said and went into her bathroom.

Taking one more movement to the side, I slipped. My hands grazed on the cold stone concrete ledge yet I managed to hold on to it. I was probably going to die. My boots hit the middle of the window as I hung from the above ledge. The ledge below was so far, I couldn’t make that. I was sure I would have missed that and fell. I abruptly heard the window opened and Adrian raised an eyebrow at me.

“Having fun there, Greene?” he smirked.

“Oh yes, because dangling for my life is loads of enjoyment.” I snapped frantically and frustrated in a hushed voice.

“Clutch on to me,” he said.

For the first time since I’ve met him, I felt like listening. I swung my legs around his waist as he caught me and held me onto him. Letting go of my damaging hold on the ledge above, I threw my hands tightly around his neck. I didn’t want to let go of him, not yet.

“See, this is what you get when you don’t listen to me,” he whispered into my ear with a soft vibrating chuckle that tickled my soul. That felt oddly wonderful.

Suddenly, I heard the door in the bathroom turning open. I let go of Adrian as he pushed me behind one of the large curtains.

“Oh, you opened the window?” the woman asked as she came out in a short purple dress.

“Yes, it was getting a bit claustrophobic in here,” he replied coolly like nothing just happened.

“I see. Well, I must admit Mr. Vandermir you have a way of getting what you want.” She said as she played with his tie.

“You’re no different Ms. Harper.”

I hadn’t realized it before but he was edging her away from my sight. The door to get out was right there. All I had to do was get out yet I felt like the world was on me. Sucking my fear up, I silently made my way to the door. Almost halfway there, she was about to turn around when Adrian suddenly pulled her to him.

Turning the doorknob as if my life depended on it, I thankfully managed to make it out. The weight of the world that was on my shoulders just moments ago seemed to decrease. I’m not dead, yet. 

I honestly had no idea what Vandermir was up to. Was he seductively getting information out of her? Gross. But I think that’s exactly what he was doing. I ran through the hotel to find Finny or anyone else. It was clear that I couldn’t tell Adrian what just happened because he was busy. What was this smoke anyway? Looking up, I realized that the vents were producing that same thick air as in the washroom. God, this wasn’t good. Was this some kind of conspiratorial attack on the hotel? When I turned the corner, I bumped into Finny who wore a panicked yet worried expression.

“Finny, the smoke, it’s-”

“I know, you have to get out of here now.”

“What about everyone else here? They have to get out too!” I frantically exclaimed.

“It’s just sleeping gas.”

“But what’s it-”

“I’m not sure. Just get out of here now, I’ll meet you down in a minute!” he said and headed in another direction.

This was crazy, I tied a scarf across my nose and continued out. What was funny was that everyone was completely oblivious to what was going on. I noticed that only in certain rooms of the hotel the gas were penetrating from. How odd. As I was about to enter the elevator, I heard the voice of the lady Adrian was with. She was shouting to someone else from the room nearby. She was arguing with someone, and I could have sworn I heard her speak another language as well.

“I have never seen the girl!” she shouted again.

Cautiously, I looked into the room when I saw the woman standing boldly between two men dressed in dark ruffian clothes with black shades and a thick black leather jacket. One of the men cruised a long disgusting scar across his face. It looked as if it had just been stitched up. The woman clenched her teeth together and kept her hand on her hips.

“And tell Rocillie I do not work for him hence he cannot question me again. I will only answer to my master.” She replied, but this time in a more soothing tone of voice.

“You wretched woman.” One of the men hissed as he clasped her hands from behind and suddenly placed a knife to her neck.

“You think you’re so smart.” she spat, “Trying to smoke out this place just to get-”

Suddenly, my elbow accidentally knocked the vase at the side of me. It shattered into a million pieces as all attention was on me. Great.

“You!” the scar-faced man roared as the other man slashed the woman’s throat and her body slumped to the ground. I screamed at the sight. He killed her! As I was about to turn around, I fell to the ground but got back up quickly. Their feet echoed behind me as I ran. I heard their voices, they were speaking to each other but in Russian.

“Girl!” the man called out angrily again.

Gosh, next time, don’t look for trouble when there is none, Julie!

I swiftly turned into a large room when they were out of sight and hid in a large closet.

‘Please, please, please, don’t look here’ I silently prayed while looking through the crease of the door. My heart was racing faster than a sports car. I couldn’t get the image of the woman whom they killed just a few moments ago. Maybe if I wasn’t there, maybe she would be alive right now? I shut my eyes trying to get the thought away. As I opened them, I saw a large scar-faced man grinning at me through the crease. I screamed at the sudden sight. Slamming the door open on his face, I pushed past them and held a large lamp in front of me for defense.

“How lovely you are. I never expected you to be this appealing.” The man without the scar grinned while the other elbowed him to stop.

“Stay away from me!” I warned as I stepped back into the balcony.

My back hit against the railing and I noticed a large filled pool below me. There was no one there, maybe it was newly built and still under some renovation. I swore I saw Adrian and Donnie from a distance there. They wouldn’t be able to hear me even if I screamed so that would make no sense anyway. An idea came to my head but it would be the craziest, stupidest thing I ever did in my entire life. 

Don’t think about it Greene, you could kill yourself.

Panic swarmed through me as I felt the man’s cold hand clutch onto my waist.

“Let go of me!” I yelled as I hit him with the lamp in his face and edged away from him.

 ‘Okay, go kill yourself Julie’ I thought as I ran and jumped on the chair and table off the balcony. 

My heart leaped out of my chest as I hit the hard water in the pool. My ears and nose burned from the sudden impact. Yet, almost like a pool noodle, I managed to pull myself to the surface of the water. I staggered as I got myself out. That took so much energy out of me. I felt like a phone battery with only 2 percent of charge, weak. I couldn’t walk anymore, my legs gave way but I never hit the stone ground. Someone prevented me from doing so, strong arms held me up. The sun blazed upon me as I tried to open my eyes, all I saw in front of me was the scorching grey eyes of the person who held me.

“Juliet.” I heard another voice call to me from afar, it sounded like Donnie.

I coughed and shifted myself up.

“What the hell is wrong with you Greene?” Adrian’s asked in a cold and angry voice, “You have a death wish before the end of the day?”

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