CHAPTER 7:
William remained motionless. The man had continued his walk towards him, although he had stopped for a few moments near the fireplace. The young detective was relieved. He had not found Julia. The hiding place had been well found… But now, she had to go. She must not stay in that fireplace. He would necessarily go back there, and he could find her this time. William had spotted two doors in addition to the entrance to the library. There was one near him and another near the fireplace. Julia absolutely had to escape. She should not have been waiting. She had to leave.
William was panicking. His brain was racing, but he needed to calm down. Julia was brilliant. She was very smart, and she would do the right thing. She would not stay put; he knew that in his heart. Now he too had to go through the door behind him. But before, he had to stay as quiet and agile as possible to avoid the killer in the room with them.
When he heard him approach, William walked around the desk behind him as quietly as possible. He suddenly stopped, holding his breath, trying to figure out where the killer was going. He heard his walk around the desk again and William, panicked, quickly backed up to where he was before. Then, hearing him come forward again, the detective backed up even further to find himself almost opposite the third door of the room.
Suddenly, he saw the killer pass right by him without seeing him and move quickly towards the fireplace. William looked at him with a beating heart and saw him go inside. No… Julia… thought the young man.
But he saw the man come out and huff in annoyance. Julia was gone! She had run away! William tightened the ring of the young doctor who was still in the palm of his hand, and felt courage rise in him. He cast one last glance at the man who was plunging his head back into the fireplace, and rushed to the door, which he opened and closed silently behind him.
He lands in an empty, dark hallway. Directly in front of him was a staircase leading upstairs. William rushed there. Once at the top of it, he noticed another corridor that went left and right. Where was he supposed to go? William inwardly shrugged. It did not matter in the end; the goal was to find an exit and he certainly would not find it upstairs.
He finally decided to go to the right. He opened a door at random, his heart pounding. He jumped violently at the sight of a man standing on the other side of what appeared to be a blackjack table.
"Mister Murdoch!" the man almost yelled.
"Mister Villari!" William sighed in relief and quickly walked over to the previously colorful man.
Now he mostly looked like a terrified old man. But he was so happy to see this man he had been thinking about ever since the attack.
"I'm begging you; you have to get us out of here!" Alfredo panicked, taking William by the shoulders.
The young man was frightened by Villari's reaction. He looked at him a little more prominently and noticed blood pouring from his head.
"You are hurt. Come."
William pulled him with him by the arms to take him to a sofa that was there. He sat him down and stood in front of him. He had shortness of breath and completely bewildered eyes. He looked at him for a few moments and concluded that his wound was not very serious.
"What happened to you?"
"I…I…I don't know actually. I was there. And suddenly I heard the shots and…" Alfredo spoke frantically.
"Easy, easy… Take your time. It's just me here..." William reassured him.
"I…I…" he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I was chatting with my friend, Mr. Fern, when we heard a gunshot to our right. There was blood everywhere…" he buried his head in his hands and gently lifted it to William. "Everyone ran to the front door, completely panicked. But I knew... I knew it would be closed. The killers – there are three of them – they would never have left the doors open. So, I ran up the stairs which was opposite the front door. People ran into me the wrong way and I fell. They stomped on me... They stepped on me, and I almost couldn't get up... That's how I got hurt."
William watched Alfredo raise his hand to his forehead.
"I took the stairs and hid in this room until now…I can't stop thinking…I can't stop thinking about all that blood and especially…all those people…my friends who must be dead…"
William said nothing, just watching Mr. Villari run his hands over his face, tears in his eyes.
"Why were you standing in the doorway when I came in? If it had been one of these three men, he would have seen you directly…" wondered the young man.
"I wanted to face reality. I have nothing left to lose… I am just an old man, nothing more… there is no point in hiding now. I was cowardly. I should have stayed with my friends, downstairs instead of taking those stairs…" Alfredo rambled, his gaze distant.
"What are you talking about…" sighed William. "You can't say such things..."
"Promise me one thing William. I beg you. When you get out of here, I'd like to be buried with my wife…" Villari said suddenly, clutching the detective's shoulders. "I know it's not done normally, because she was buried with her family and it was agreed that I would be buried with mine, but please. She was my whole life. She was the love of my life, and she made me happy for so many years. I want to be buried with her. Promise me…"
"Alfredo! Alfredo! You are not going to die!" William exclaimed almost too loudly. "We're both going to get out of here, you hear me. You are not going to die tonight."
"Promise me, I beg of you… I beg of you."
"I promise you..." William finally gave up feeling devastated by the revelations of this old man who had previously been so cheerful.
His wife had died… She had been his whole life… But he was still able to put on that mask of cheerfulness and be kind and funny to everyone. William watched him calm down slowly, his breathing ragged. He finally sat down on the floor and thought of Julia…He hoped she was safe somewhere. He absolutely had to find her.
Note: Ha! Alfredo is here! Will he and William make it out? Thank you so much for the comment on my previous chapter :) I hope the sequel will meet your expectations.