He took her to the dance floor.
She held his hand anxiously, yet firmly.
The sweet, slow music has began. The melodious tuned of violins perfectly blended with the harmonious notes coming from a grand piano being played by one of the members of the orchestra. The sound is simply heartfelt and romantic, that it hooked up a few couples to stand up from their seats and dance along with it.
As soon as these two young people found their spot, at the middle of the dance floor altogether with the dim spotlight pointing at them, they started to glide with the music with slow steps.
He held her hand, putting his other hand onto her waist.
She let her palm touch his shoulder as she held his hand too.
Soon, they stared at each other's eyes.
Blue meets dark brown.
All of a sudden, they let out a small laugh, breaking the awkward moment between them.
He gathered his breath, taking this moment to talk to her. With his eyes glued into those shimmering orbs, he smiled.
"You're shaking, Miss. Don't worry, there's nothing to worry about. I'll take care of you.", he told her gently, as he led her to make a few rounds on the dance floor, gliding with the slow rhythm of the music.
His smile made her heart skip instantaneously. Yet, she managed to switch her emotions; fortunately she's wearing a mask. Good enough to conceal that dreadful nervousness within her.
"I-I am so sorry if I bumped on you. I didn't mean it. I wasn't paying attention at where am I heading to." she said softly, struggling to sound casual to him.
They could recognize the music growing louder, slower, sweeter...and more beautiful to their ears.
"No need to say 'Sorry'. Actually...I wasn't looking at where I'm going, and I got lost in my thoughts...s-so..."
"Ah...I see. A-Are you an acquaintance...or a close friend of the Doctor?"
They pranced around, holding each other's hands; their eyes never looking away from one another. The music goes on playing.
He felt a bit anxious after hearing that question to the masked lady; still, he managed to find out a straight reply.
"No, not really. I'm one of the waiters here." he answered directly, which made the petite, black-haired woman chuckled.
"How interesting, Mr. Waiter. Aren't you suppose to serve drinks to all of the guests?"
He let out a scowl, his lips pouted childishly.
"T-That's WHAT I am going to do...until you suddenly bumped me."
His face, letting out a goofy grin, made her laugh. She can't stop smiling at him...especially that childish face of his.
"Heh...it looks like I'm interrupting your work, Mr. Waiter."
"Oh no! This is fine...as long as I could dance with a fine-looking woman like you...it's worth it."
"How could you tell if I'm fine-looking, eh?"
Alfred simply let out a sigh and inevitably held the masked lady closer to him.
"I could tell it...by looking at your eyes. Something behind that mask is...different."
The raven-haired woman laughed lightly.
"Is that so?"
The music is gradually reaching its end. They've been looking at each other for minutes. Their faces seemed so close, it looked so intimate that they don't have the chance to turn away their heads from one another.
He could feel butterflies flying inside his stomach.
She could hear her own heart beating too fast.
He noticed those deep, enthralling eyes behind her black feathered Venetian mask.
She recognized that there is deep, unique beauty in his sapphire orbs behind his glistening Zorro-like mask.
She bit her lip, her knees almost shaking with unease at this situation where she's in now.
"Of all the women here tonight...why me?" she thought, looking at those shimmering blue eyes which are staring at her.
As the music goes on, she found herself swaying with the blonde man; her feet now gliding with his in a slow tempo. She could feel that warm sensation in that hold of his, making her heart skip in an unexplainable emotion.
But then, something's wrong with her. She could sense the inner conflict within her as she stared at him...for quite long. She noticed that genuine smile on his face as he let his hands guide her while they dance with the music, right here on this floor.
As they both felt that their hearts almost stopped themselves from beating, the music ended, followed by a warm round of applause.
They suddenly let go from each other's arms.
He slightly coughed.
She sighed heavily.
"I-I have to go now. Thank you for the dance...and I-I'm sorry for what I did earlier." she said to him as she turned away.
"Wait." he shouted.
She stopped walking.
"It's a pleasure dancing with you, Miss. Hope to see you again...without your mask." he uttered with that captivating smirk on his face.
She felt a lump in her throat.
"I-I hope so..." she simply replied.
"Oh...you reminded me of someone that I met recently...the two of you have the same eye color." the blonde told the black-haired female with a playful grin.
"I-Is that so...hmmm..." she simply said and slowly walked away.
The time she turned away from him, her expression changed instantly. The moist in her eyelids began to form. After blinking her eyes, Maria sighed and glanced at the recognizable blonde guy, who was still standing at the middle of the dance floor.
"That was close..." she mumbled, her mind wandering again.
She wondered how in the world did that guy recognized the color of her eyes. With all honesty, she can't deny that that guy's a keen one. All the while, she thought of him as a goofy guy, an obnoxious blonde and sort of...well...a clueless gentleman...way back the day that they first met. She even planned to spank him if it weren't for his immaturity and impulsive behavior for carrying her just to get away from those men chasing them.
At this point, she feels...confused. Afraid. Sad.
She remembered that smile of his once more...her face got gloomy.
She felt that she's betraying him. For the love of God, she knows that she wasn't deserving to receive such a sincere smile from someone whom she had just met.
Most of all, she doesn't deserve to be with that guy tonight. She wasn't supposed to be here, if it wasn't for her...life-threatening job which made her live for years.
No...rather...it was this job that made her already dead. If not physically, her heart and soul died with it.
She perfectly knew who that man is. The reality that she danced with the familiar persona isn't good. It'll make things worse...most especially...
BANG!
A loud explosion alarmed everybody. People started running, panicking. Women began screaming with horror as they ran out of the building.
Suddenly, she ran with full speed. Apparently, the American caught her arm in no time and pulled her.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME GO!" she shouted at him.
"DO YOU THINK I'LL LET YOU GO ALONE? LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! QUICK!" he said as he hurriedly took off his coat and put it around her body. Then he wrapped his arms around her. They ran out of the buidling together until they reached the main gate.
They saw thick black smoke coming from the basement of the building. Red, yellow and orange blazes of fire showing their might and glory before everybody's eyes caused a grand commotion. All of the guests ran to their respective luxury vehicles right at the wide parking lot and drove away in a straight row. The guards assisted the vehicles towards the exit, while others who have their cars inside the basement looked at the blazing area with fear and trembling.
Still his arms wrapped around her body, Alfred spoke softly, his voice shaking.
"A-Are you OK?" he said towards the black-haired maiden.
"Y-Yeah. Thanks." Maria replied softly.
It was then that something struck her mind. Like a bolt of lightning, these words escaped from her mouth. Her face looked terrified, making the young blonde got more worried.
"My brother...no...no way! NO!"
Maria ran around the place, searching for him...Yong Soo. Her forehead was getting cold and sweaty with fright. Her hands were dread shaking nervously as she called for him several times. Alfred simply followed her anywhere she goes.
"Kuya...no...you can't be...no...no way! Where are you?"
Soon, the fire trucks arrived. Groups of firemen started running towards the blazing basement with their water hoses. In a split of a second, water came out from the hoses, putting out the fire nonstop...for almost an hour.
The ambulance arrived next. The entire medical and rescue team accompanied the guests who remained at the parking lot of the building sat on the benches which the fire department provided. They began examining them, asking them if they got any wounds or burns.
Alfred sat on the grass, making contact with his colleagues. However, it seems like they couldn't be reached.
"Geez...where are those dudes when I need them?" he hissed, until one of the firemen approached them.
"Sir, we found this while putting the fire out inside the basement. Seems like someone's inside there for so long...worse, that man's already burnt to death. Poor fella'. He never made it." he told the blonde, giving the burnt mobile phone to him.
He turned around, only to see that the black-haired female disappeared like smoke in front of him.
That moist in her eyes turned into tears as she ran away from the building, screaming for his name.
"YONG SOO! YONG SOO!"
Quickly taking her dashing heels off of her feet and carried them all the way to the main highway, she ran as fast as she could; the mascara already smeared onto her eyelids, her face looked pale and her lips trembling with fear.
Apparently, she looked like a harassed woman; her expression filled with terror, her evening gown mostly covered with ashes.
She attempted to get back to the building. However, she knew that things will get worse if she did that.
And so, she never stopped running. Feeling the sores on her feet, making her wince.
She run...just like old times. Just like the first time she attempted to escape from that hellish world which raised her to become the most despicable person that she is.
She ran like the wind, days after Padre's death. Along with her things, she made her escape that cold night.
Minutes later, the alarm rang.
Looking back at that big, dark mansion, she tried not to cry.
Leaving everything behind her is the only thing that she must do. Even if it means, leaving all those few good memories that once made her feel and live like a normal person.
However, when she reached the beach, someone caught her right foot, thus made her stumble to the ground.
The only thing that she remembered was the smell of chloroform, excruciatingly affecting her sense of smell. She did everything, just to remain conscious. She then saw a pair of eyes, looking at her sternly.
Soon, everything went dark.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the bed.
She was back in her room, except with handcuffs around her wrists and security roaming outside her room. She noticed a sheet of paper onto her lap, with bold letters on it:
"DON'T EVER TRY RUNNING AWAY FROM ME, BELLA...BECAUSE YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO ESCAPE...EVER."
Her fists clenched in wrath, tears streaming from her eyes as she shouted wildly that night.
City lights beyond the horizon.
Stars glimmering on the sky.
Maria lay down on the bench.
She ended up having sore feet after running for hours. She knew that she's way too far from the building now.
The chilly wind blew upon her face as she was staring up above the sky with a blank face. Withstanding the awful aches on her feet, she raised her legs in a vertical alignment, exposing her skin. With a sad look, she sighed heavily.
"Hmm...this isn't good." she mumbled.
The next thing that she saw was a group of men, walking towards her, their faces looked droopy and their movements were sluggish. The scent of alcohol awakened her in a not-so-good way as she saw them approaching.
"My, my, will you look at that!" one of the drunk men spoke and let out a whistle.
"We got a fine catch! A VERY...fine catch!" his comrade agreed as he looked at her from head to toe, his expression seemed ecstatic.
"Hey, babe! Wanna hang out with us?" one of the men asked, his voice sounded hoarse.
She never said anything, except stepped backwards, trying not to cause any commotion with the drunk bastards.
Suddenly, one of those men grabbed her arms.
"GOTCHA'!" he shouted as the others laughed hysterically.
"You are a bunch of maniacs...damn it...get your hands off of me." Maria said angrily as she spitted on one of them in the face.
The man whom she spit at stared at her devilishly; his eyes filled with anger. Soon, he wrapped his arm around the female's neck and gripped it tightly.
Maria's face went paler as the man was closely choking her to death, while the others started tearing her evening gown. One of those men was holding a knife, the others were unarmed.
She felt their hands touching her legs, along with those fingers caressing her skin in vile perversion. As soon as she felt one of those hands reaching her underwear, she slightly smirked.
Must be the tables have turned for her now. And she liked it in some way.
She found an opening; using one of her heels to aim one of the drunk's head, stabbing his back. The rest of the bastards started to step back.
She swiftly noticed the one who choked her and the other man who was kneeling at her while touching her legs deviously.
Instantly, she used her legs to grab the man's neck and made a smooth twist effortlessly. Next, she pointed her other heels to the one kneeling in front of her, stabbing his arm. Blood came out from the two wounded men, their voices shaking with terror.
The others who were standing beside her began shouting frightfully after realizing that two of their comrades were dead in front of them. The dead man's neck was almost snapped like a withered, broken branch of a tree. The other man's right arm was almost cut because of the deep wound, crimson fluid pumping out from his body.
At the back of her dress, she took out a revolver, aiming it at them.
"Touch me...or I'll kill you all." she said with furious eyes.
Suddenly, those men began running away in fright. Maria looked at them as they disappeared in the dark. However, she thought that these men shouldn't get away.
She pulled the trigger and shot them all. Up until their last breaths, the last thing that these men saw were bullets firing at them.
Silence.
The soft sounds of crickets began humming.
The night's getting late.
Maria put the gun down and sat on the bench. Putting the revolver back from where it was, she looked around, expecting that no one saw her.
She felt relieved as she closed her eyes in peace. The air began to get colder.
Her throbbing heart began to relax; gradually, her heart beats began pounding slowly. She put her hand onto her chest and looked at the mess that she did. In a while, she decided to dispose the bodies discreetly without leaving a trace of evidence on them.
After a couple of minutes, she went back to her seat.
Maria stood up and started walking, without any clues on where she'll be staying for the night. But, not far from the bench, was a voice calling her.
"PUT YOUR GUN DOWN!"
Maria stopped walking.
"Put your gun down...now." it called her again.
Her heart started to pound fast and her hands were getting uneasy as she thought of taking the gun out from her back once more.
She took a deep breath as she heard faint footsteps coming at her. Though she wanted to run away like hell, her feet couldn't move. Not to mention that those sores on her feet are getting...disturbing for her.
At this point, she doesn't stand a chance.
The voice asked her again, this time, it sounded soft and calm.
She felt a quick tap onto her shoulder, causing her knees to tremble. This is the first time that she felt her knees shaking like this...in the most horrible way.
"Put the gun down." the voice told her.
Maria turned around and saw a recognizable pair of eyes staring at her.
Her face got terrified.