CHAPTER 5:

William now found himself sitting in a corner of the giant library he had landed in an hour earlier. He did not know what to do. He heard no more noise, and all the windows of the library were closed. He had stared for whole minutes, his heart pounding, at the hundreds of books hanging on the various shelves. He doubted anyone in this mansion had ever read all those books.

He had to do something. He had to try to move to another room to find an exit. Detective Murdoch slowly got to his feet, thinking for the thousandth time of the relief that George and the Brackenreids had not come to that nightmarish party.

He slowly made his way to the door, listening intently. He was almost at his goal when the door swung open. William's heart suddenly stopped beating, fear coursing through his veins. He froze in place when someone burst into the room and slammed something that looked like a bat at William. He held it back and caught it with one hand before it touched his head. He looked up at the person who had uttered a cry of rage as he lowered the bat and was left stunned. It was none other than Julia Ogden.

They just stared into each other's eyes, not saying anything, each end of the bat held by the other's hand.

"It's you…" the young woman finally spoke, tears in her eyes. "You are alive."

"You are alive…" William manages to reply with a lump in his throat. "I was so scared that you wouldn't...that you didn't make it..." the young man confessed.

Suffice to say what was on his heart. They were most definitely going to die anyway.

"I was scared too…" confessed the young woman, her heart heavy with fear.

She slowly let go of the bat which remained in the hands of the young man who was still looking at her with downcast and fearful eyes.

"You have nothing?"

Julia shook her head negatively.

"And you?" she asked back, her voice shaking.

"Nope…"

William nodded at Julia and took her gently by the arm, leading her away from the door to a dark, quiet corner of the room. He still held the bat in his left hand.

"I…I don't understand what's going on." Julia said sadly as she huffed and held herself, hands on her hips. "I'm afraid…"

William looked at her and felt his heart clench so hard he thought he was having a panic attack.

"Hey…Julia…" he put his hands on her shoulders and tried to meet her gaze which she looked up.

"Do you know my first name?"

"Alfredo Villari… He told me about you… I hope he is well…" sighed William, suddenly remembering this colorful man who had told him about Julia before the attack.

"Oh…Alfredo…He's so nice, you know. I've known him since I was very little… My father used to take my sister and me to this kind of reception… As far back as I can remember, he's always been there. He never misses any." she concluded sadly as she sat back against the wall, lowering her head to her knees bent to her chest.

William looked at her and sat down next to her. Even in this excruciating situation, she was beautiful. But seeing her so devastated made his heart ache easily.

"I don't even know your name…" whispered Julia after long minutes of deafening silence.

"William…William Murdoch."

Julia looked up, surprised.

"The detective from Station 4?"

The young man looked Julia in the eyes.

"I have heard a lot about you. Some consider you a hero, you know."

"A hero? What makes people believe that?" William spoke completely surprised.

"You save lives, and you solve mysteries."

"You too are saving lives…"

Julia finally looked up at William and they looked at each other for a long time. The young woman dared to get a little closer to the detective. After all, they were going to die tonight. What was she risking?

She gently rested her head on William's shoulder, who prevented himself from smiling. He could not smile in such a situation.

"I like being a doctor… I am happy to have been able to realize my dream. »

"Your dream was to be a doctor?" Interested William trying to calm his breathing hampered by the situation and especially by the sensation of Julia's head resting on his shoulder. It had a wonderful floral smell. He stopped himself from raising his hand to stroke her hair.

"My dream was to be a doctor, but above all, to have the right to do what I wanted in life. I didn't want to be like the others..."

"You are not like the others."

"You don't know me; how can you tell?" Julia raised her head to stare at the young man.

"I know, that's all." William nodded determinedly. "I fell in love with you Julia. As soon as I laid eyes on you. I have never felt anything like it in my life. Generally, I would never tell you about it. But in the situation we are in…"

The Station 4 detective felt his heart racing with anxiety. He felt like he was growing wings. He would never have dared to say such a thing to her normally, but now they most certainly would not get away with it, so what was the point?

Julia looked up from William's shoulder with cotton balls in her ears. Did she heard what he said? They barely knew each other, but it seemed so obvious it was almost scary. They stared at each other for a moment before Julia finally dared to open her mouth to reveal her heart to him.

But, before she could say anything, a loud thump sounded in the hallway across from the closed library door. William and Julia instantly froze and looked at each other, terrified. Another similar noise was heard, and William was the first to react. He motioned for Julia to be quiet and rose slightly but arched his back. He took Julia by the hand and led her forward with him, her back just as arched. They passed between the desks in this manner, although the door had not yet opened. But it will not be long, Julia thought, cold sweat running down her brow.

William suddenly stopped in front of the huge fireplace that sat enthroned in the library. He quickly squatted down and stretched his hands blindly into it. The young woman watched him, feeling urgency coursing through her own veins.

"William!" she urged him.

"Come. You will hide here." declared the young detective, taking Julia by the arm to lead her into the fireplace.

"What? But…"

"There is a cavity on the right side of the chimney. We don't see it at all. Put yourself there."

Detective Murdoch pushed Julia into the cavity, where she buried herself. And William had been right, we could not see Julia. It looked like the fireplace simply had two smooth walls.

"And if he lights up?" panicked the doctor.

"He won't." William said firmly as he started to get up.

"But…"

"Trust me." begged William as he now moved quickly away from the fireplace.

"Nope! Where are you going? Hide with me!"

"There is no space, Julia." Whispered William, returning quickly to Julia. "I'll find something else."

"I beg you…" Julia held out her hand and William took it with emotion.

"It'll be OK…"

The young man let go of Julia's hand at the sound of another thud in the hallway. The latter shook her hand around that of William who did the same by moving away. Unfortunately, the ring Julia was wearing on her right hand slipped into William's. He squeezed his hand tightly around it and silently ran to the other end of the room. Where was he going to hide? There was literally nowhere else to stand so we could not see him.

Suddenly, the door to the library flew open and William crouched down next to a shelf. In this library, there were several desks in the middle of the room. In relation to the door, William was not visible, and he could not see who had entered the room. His heart raced. He was going to have to try to get around the desks so the person would not find him.

William held his breath, Julia's ring clutching in his hand. He heard footsteps around the first desk that was facing the door, on his right. The fireplace was also on this side and he felt sweat pouring down his forehead again. If this man found Julia, he would pounce on him. Too bad for his own life, he would go straight to meet him to hit him as hard as possible with the baseball bat… The baseball bats! William mentally slapped his forehead. He had left it by the door, where the two had been sitting before. Hoping the killer would not find it or conclude that one of the guests had been there.

William shuddered when he heard a gun being loaded. He heard footsteps moving slowly, very slowly toward the fireplace. The young man tensed when he heard him stop right in front. He knew he had stopped in front of the fireplace, gauging the distance between it and the front door. He held his breath. If he found Julia… He would never forgive himself.

Note: Scary… Thank you to those who read my story.