CHAPTER 3:

William had remained at the bar, his drink already served for a while, but still intact. He could not help but stare at the young woman who had spoken to him moments ago now. Julia Ogden. She was beautiful. He felt different right now. As if he could dare anything in his life. He had been with a woman before. He knew she really loved him. She wanted more and for his part… he did not feel the right thing… He was not in love.

But today, when he laid his eyes on this woman, he felt a real thing. Something real. He had to go see her. Talk to her? In fact, he had been frozen at the bar for more than an hour, trying to get up to meet Dr. Ogden.

Then, he felt his heart jump when he suddenly met her gaze. They stared at each other for a moment before the young woman looked away with a slight blush on her cheeks. This gave William the strength and courage to finally get up to meet her. She might be in the middle of a horde of women, but he would still go see her. He would go ask her to dance maybe. Was he mad? He did not even know how to dance.

"Detective Murdoch? I'm not wrong?"

William turned to his right as he had barely stood up. He stopped himself from rolling his eyes when he saw a man he recognized as Brice Parker, the head of Station 2 in Toronto. Definitely, he would not be able to talk to her... He was afraid he would not be able to do it before the end of the evening. And he did not know if he would have the courage to visit her outside of this reception. It was now or never.

"Mister Parker. Yes, it's me." William replied politely as he followed the young blond woman with his eyes towards the bathroom.

"So. How's business going at post number 4?"

William stopped himself from sighing. He had to get out of this discussion.

"Everything is going well…" replied the young man evasively. "Look, I just have to go…"

But William never got a chance to finish his sentence. He never had a chance to find an excuse to sneak out of this conversation to see Julia Ogden. Never… They all heard an awful sound of explosion that echoed in everyone's ears. A howl, cries of terror and incomprehension. Panic seized the entire room and William watched the guests and Mr. Parker run in all directions. Some men pulled women's hair back and passed them. Most tried to head for the main exit, in complete panic. William, who immediately understood that the main one would not open, suddenly got down on all fours and went to the other side of the bar. He hid in one of the corners and noticed a door not far from there on his right. He did not know where it led, but he figured it was better than the main hall. He had to try his luck when he could. At the best time. He should not miss.

The young man stopped himself from breathing out of fear. He covered his ears as he heard the new wave of panic that swept through the crowd at the realization that all the exits were now closed. Three or four shots rang out again and horrific noises of flesh and blood...

"Now you all shut up! Everyone down!" suddenly yelled a man with a voice so deep that William's ears twitched.

"Down!" exclaimed a second man before another sound of explosion sounded.

Other muffled cries were heard, although they were much less numerous. And the detective had little trouble understanding why, given the previous shots...

"What are you doing?" William heard in horror a third man speak. How many were they? he wondered in terror. And what did they want from them?

"Well, I'm having fun. What's wrong?" replied the first man bitterly.

"We're here to kill people, that's all. So, you shut your mouth." whispered the third man.

William took even more fright. They were three and they were there to kill… Nothing more.

"Okay… So… One, two, three… and… YOU!"

A gunshot rang out followed by that awful blood wet sound.

"One, two, three and… YOU! And you! hm…" he paused terrifyingly, and William clapped a hand over his mouth in terror, his heart pounding and leaping with each shot. "YOU!" amused the first man again followed by sneers from the second.

William absolutely had to reach this door if he wanted to get out of it. But now he was paralyzed. He could only think of two things: his certain death if he stayed here and Julia Ogden who could be in this room, lying with her hands on her head or already dead, a bullet in her heart. He felt his heart clench so hard at the thought that he thought he would die of something other than a bullet in the chest. He was in a nightmare; he was sure of it.

He could not pick her up if she was in the room. If he went there, he might put himself in danger and could not try to save her. He hoped she was somewhere else. He had seen her going to the ladies' room before the attack, maybe she was still there? Safe. He was hoping…

As a silence tinged with panting breaths of fear was heard, William finally managed to move. He passed one hand after another in front of him silently. He tried to get out of the hole he had been hiding in, under the counter, behind the bar. He moved as slowly as possible, trying not to panic. A panic that only increased when he heard crying and footsteps heading towards where he was. He stopped short, at the edge of the counter. He stuck his head behind it and his face crumbled from the horror he saw. Blood everywhere, lifeless bodies between those of people still alive, terrified, hands on their heads, face down, backs shaking with fear. The three men, large and long rifles in their hands, in a circle, their eyes fixed on the guests of the evening.

William could not help but stare at the crowd a little longer, even though he knew it was dangerous. If one of the men decided to turn his head, he would see him, and it would be over for him. But he was looking for Julia Ogden. He does not see her. A tiny hope rose slowly within him. Maybe she managed to escape? But where?

The young man finally managed to reach the door. He silently straightened up and lowered the handle. He quickly slipped into the room and closed the door behind him, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible and praying no one heard him. He also hoped that some guests had been able to escape.

He looked up at the deafening silence of the room he was in. Library.

Note: It starts strong... Thank you very much for the review I received on my previous chapter. It was too nice and more I really hoped to make feel something with this story! Hope you like the sequel :)