His gun had been quickly aimed out at the leather armchair between the dining room and living room ready to shoot whoever was hiding behind, Elias may have wanted to run away but he'd damn well empty his gun before he went down. He paused when he saw a pale hand sticking out on one side delicate and wearing a thing gold chain bracelet; he knew that bracelet very well, very well, because he'd bought it. Panic drained away from his face and his heart rate slowed.
"Ashley?" He called out quietly. "Ashley, it's all right. It's me, it's Gold."
The blond poked her head out carefully as though the intruder was some kind of mimic faking Elias' voice but grinned wide with relief as soon as she saw it was indeed him. Ashley had seen Tinker Bell go over the railing and had tried to help but when she'd heard the footsteps at the stairs she'd panicked which had caused her to hide behind the chair thinking Clown Mask would come and finish the job, no, it was Gold.
The elder man gestured for her to join him and Ashley did so quickly, she saw this man as a father figure and trusted him completely. She'd got no idea why this horror was happening but the girl knew she'd be safest with him.
"Gold." She gripped him tight in a hug that knocked all the air from his lungs but it broke apart suddenly when Tink let out another painful groan.
"Ashley, I have to carry Tink. Can you hold this for me? The safety is off so just point and shoot."
Elias offered the blond his Beretta and was pleased when she hesitantly took the weapon, she knew he couldn't do both and there was no way she could carry Tink to the panic room; yes, Ashley knew about that.
Mister Gold lifted Tink carefully into his arms and winced when she cried out in agony, her legs hung limply over his arm. Both were broken and he suspected there were several fractures to her pelvis, he refused to let himself wonder if she'd ever walk again and focused on carrying her to his room. Ashley followed behind him with her neck sunk into her shoulders in an attempt to be as small as possible like she could just vanish into some kind of void.
"Ashley watch behind us but hold onto my shirt." He tried so hard to sound brave and calm, so hard.
She nodded and grabbed onto his rumpled shirt before turning her head to watch the hallway behind her after they'd climbed the stairs. She gripped him tightly, her nails biting accidentally at his back but Elias didn't really register it due to the amount of adrenaline surging around his body like a bullet train. The House Of Scarlet stretched on in front of them as though it were the Minotaur's labyrinth, the walls even seemed to grow cold and dank around them, as they slowly moved towards Gold's room. There were so many doors and access to other areas of the house in the main hallway, that was what he'd wanted when he'd built the place but now that mad man could pop up from literally anywhere.
Elias ground to a halt forcing Ashley to practically bounce off of him when they heard a loud smash come from the floor below and knew they had to hurry. Elias didn't want to move to quickly with a half conscious Tink in his arms but he didn't have much of a choice.
They reached the panic room after what felt like forever and Gold had Ashley shut the closet door behind them so he could quickly open the door where he found but Mulan, Aurora and Ariel on the cold metal floor with drops of blood scattered everywhere, like a bad horror movie; Gold nearly laughed when he remembered he they were all in one. Brown eyes searched the hidden room in search of his sweet Belle but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Ever so carefully he set Tink down softly and shut the door before speaking, voice flooded with concern. "How did you get in here? Where's Belle? What happened?"
"Calm down." Said Ariel in an equally panicked tone, it was almost as though she were asking herself as well as him. "Belle found us. Aurora got stabbed and Mulan is bleeding real bad."
Gold dropped to his knees ignoring the way his ankle screamed violently at him and took Mulan's rag covered arm into his hands, the tank top was doing little to keep pressure on the wound and so Elias pulled it free.
"Ashley pass me the first aid kit out that drawer." He pointed but didn't look up.
Ashley set the gun down on the metal surface under the camera monitors before doing as he asked, passing it to him quickly. The room wasn't very large but Gold had managed to pack everything he and his girls could possibly need into the small space. The room had been designed to be able to fit all thirteen of them if needed.
A first aid kit wasn't going to cut it but it was the best they had; where is Victor when you need him?! Elias took one of the large sterile pads and ripped the packet open which he pressed quickly against the slowly leaking wound, he had Ashley hold it down while he wrapped bandages around her wrist as tightly as he could, it wasn't the best but it would do for a while. If Mulan and Tink didn't get to a hospital soon they'd not live much longer of that he was certain. When Mulan's dark eyes started to slip shut Gold slapped at her cheek somewhat more harshly than he'd wanted but he couldn't let her fall asleep.
"Ariel, don't let Mulan sleep." He ordered.
Though she was awake and knew what was going on Gold found himself worried about Aurora once he'd done his best for Mulan, she'd been stabbed in the abdomen and god only knew how much damaged had been done to her organs, Ashley pressed hard against the red wound praying her friend would be alright.
"Where's Belle?" Elias asked again.
"Belle went to find Ruby, Zelena and Tamara. She said- said Cruella is gone." Mumbled Aurora with a heavy heart as sparks of pain surged through her body.
"And you let her?!"
"We didn't have much choice." Argued Ariel.
"Ashley stay here and help Ariel, keep an eye on Tink. Don't let any of them fall asleep." The blond nodded assuredly, she could do this. "I have to find Belle and the others. I have a contract to keep them safe and Elias Gold doesn't break deals."
Thankfully he got a few smiles from his quip, just a tiny boost to morale. He grabbed his weapon and looked pointedly at the cameras to make sure no one was outside or in the halls then he went off to find the woman he loved; Belle made him brave.
~X~
Rain splattered down harshly on Victor and Jefferson but neither would let it ruin their evening, it was just a little water after all. The two men were giggling away to some stupid joke Jefferson had made as Victor unlocked the garage door and pushed it open to finally step into the house. It had been odd for them not to see Robin, Graham or Will but in this storm they were probably camped out in the security rec room playing cards and just monitoring the cameras from there instead.
The blond doctor stepped aside for his husband to go first and then sighed, grumbled really. "I didn't lock the car did I?"
"Knowing you, probably not." Jefferson laughed at his lover and gave him a quick kiss. "Go check or you'll be wondering all bloody night and I have plans that can't be interrupted."
"Oh do you." Victor grinned as he pulled the dark-haired, slightly shorter, man to him by his hips.
They locked into a deep kiss that only ended when the need for air became too strong. The pair had been married for years but to anyone who saw them they still looked like newly weds; probably always would.
"Go on already."
The doctor obeyed his insistent lover and quickly jogged back towards his car. Victor hated the rain, it was wet and caused every bit of fabric he wore to stick to him, so he thanked Gold for the multi car garage. His hair had already plastered itself to his pale forehead guiding cold rain water into his ocean like eyes just from the walk from the restaurant to the car. Thunder was loud and only a second or two behind sharp flashes of light meaning the storm would be overhead in the next few moments, it was truly horrid outside. After checking that the silver car was indeed locked Victor peeked out of one of the garage windows to the dark storm outside, while it looked nasty from inside the house the doctor thought the house probably seemed rather beautiful from outside. The house all lit up in the darkness almost like a ship on the black sea, he may have hated rain but he rather liked the way The House Of Scarlet glowed at night. Walking back to the door he expected to see Jefferson waiting for him but his lover had gone, probably naked on our bed by now he smiled.
Suddenly there was a flash of lightning which lit up the practically pitch black hallway and Victor's heart fell, Jefferson had collapsed to the floor just inside the house with his hands clutched to his throat. The blond thought nothing, said nothing, he just raced to Jefferson's sides in horror.
His throat had been slit, a deep slash, and everything in Victor wanted to scream as he pushed Jefferson hands away to replace them with his own. The stench of blood assaulted his nostrils, that horrid iron stench, but he couldn't let himself focus on that, couldn't panic, he needed to save his husband. Somehow the blond managed to gather his lover into his strong, blood covered arms while holding pressure to his throat and charged the few steps to his office, he didn't even bother to shut the garage door letting the sound of heavy rain slapping on the roof echo down the halls in the darkness; Victor didn't care.
There was so much blood coating everything as the doctor slumped Jefferson down onto his examination table desperately praying he could save the dark-haired man. Victor didn't know what had happened, who had done this, and slammed the exam room door shut locking it quickly leaving the handle bloody.
"Jeff, baby, stay with me!" The blond pleaded.
Doctor Whale surged into action pulling away the damn cravat his husband adored, or at least what was left of it, from Jefferson's throat to gain a better look, the House Manager stared desperately at his lover shaking in pain he tried to stay still; tears sparkled fearfully in his beautiful eyes. Victor thanked every deity there was when he saw whoever had done this didn't know what they were doing, the blade hadn't gone deep enough to cut through Jefferson's trachea and too far to over to have damaged the carotid artery so oxygen was still getting to his brain, if they'd been damaged Jefferson would have lost consciousness already but cerulean blue eyes proved that wasn't so. The muscle and skin was shredded though, Victor did all he could to help his husband, shoved his sleeves up without bothering to unbutton his crimson stained cuffs and grabbed sutures and bandages.
"I need more light!" He hissed to himself.
~X~
Belle carefully descended the back stairs reusing to let her legs shake, Cruella was gone she knew that and with the state Zelena had been in she guessed the redhead had died too. She hoped that Elias had managed to find Ashley and the others by now but what about the guards? Belle prayed they were alive, maybe unconscious and tied up somewhere. She paused when she noticed the garage door door wide open letting the rain and thunder bounce around, she took a few steps forwards only to clap her hand over her mouth to stifle a sharp scream when looked down to see a pool of crimson blood splattered at the edges. Whose blood is this?! Her bare feet squelched in the ooze sickeningly, a trail led across into Victor's office and when she poked her head in the trail of drips and splats continued into the exam room.
Suddenly there was a rumble of thunder and a crash of lightning which lit up the hallway eerily as the light bounced off the dark hallway walls. Desperate for some quiet she closed the garage door only to wonder if that had been a terrible choice, she stood quietly a moment listening, she could hear something but it was muffled and sounded metallic; Belle didn't want to go near that sound. Bolstering her courage Belle wiped her feet of blood as best she could on a clean section of the floor then headed around the corner to the security rec room as lightning continued to flash threateningly.
When she reached the door the terrified young woman found it ajar, so when no obvious movement came she pushed it open further; empty. The cameras still ran showing the house's exterior on all sides but no one was there to man them. On a small table pushed up against the wall to her left Belle spotted a cup of coffee which she pressed two fingers against; stone cold, none of the guards had been there in a while.
She turned back to the hall and glanced out the massive window to the pool where Cruella still floated, her body blown back and forth by harsh wind. Who knew if Mulan and Aurora would live, she couldn't just leave Will, Robin and Graham to the same fate if by some miracle they still clung to life.
The security hut wasn't far only from the side door, just a straight shot down the side of the house and a little to the right. Twenty yards or so, thirty at the most, and almost as soon as Belle had made the decision she found herself crashed against green painted, wooden door of the hut. Wind sent her hair everywhere, bare feet sopping wet but fortunately now clear of whoever's blood she'd stood in. Desperate to find someone alive and get out of the rain she pushed it open but something lay behind the door fighting her. The auburn-haired beauty pushed with all the might her little body could muster.
"Graham?" She called out over the thunder. "Robin? Will? Are you in there?"
She took a deep breath before slamming against the heavy door with her shoulder so hard that it would bruise, Belle wouldn't stop though even with the rain flattening her auburn curls to her forehead, mascara slipped down her cheeks softly but Belle paid no attention to that instead focused on getting into the security hut; the phone in the house was dead and the one in Graham's security hut was the only hope left. Wasn't like she could leave the property, she'd be dead due to the storm before she even reached the next house.
Finally, finally, the blockage gave way and Belle almost fell through into the hut. She screamed, loud and grainy but nothing was heard over the rain. Now she was inside even through the blackness blue eyes could see what had been blocking the door … Will's lifeless body. Belle fell to her bloody knees with tears welling in her cerulean orbs, the youngest House Of Scarlet guard lay dead on the dark wood. His deep hazel eyes had glazed over long ago and remained bloodshot from the mace Nottingham had sprayed him with, Will's neck jutted out at a strange angle and the auburn-haired beauty could only imagine the horror Will had felt in his final moments. Ever so gently she raked her hand softly over his eyes, they were stiff where rigor had started to set in but thankfully Will's dead eyes stayed shut giving the illusion of some peace.
She sat there a moment as she forced her breathing to calm down, she'd seen far too many of her friends either seriously injured or brutally murdered for one lifetime. Will hadn't deserved this, hadn't deserved someone to snap his neck and tuck him away like a dirty little secret. Will had been Belle's age, he should have had years to live … not this.
Belle blinked rapidly as she forced tears away, quick blinks which marched away her blurry vision only for the cerulean orbs to lock onto the phone rested on the desk beside the security monitor which displayed the driveway. The phone was heavy in her hands but Belle cared not, raised it to her ear and her heart dropped, there was no dial tone, nothing. Belle refused to cry, not again, she wasn't even sure there were any tears left to roll down her cheeks. They were alone, cut off in the dark with nothing but fear, Mulan and Aurora needed a doctor sooner rather than otherwise … Belle didn't want to think about otherwise.
She didn't put the phone down, it was useless so she just dropped it letting the black plastic smash back onto the desk. The thunderstorm raged on around her with a thick wind coming in from the west forcing the green, wooden security hut to creak and warp, each boom of thunder was a violent scream from the heavens and angrier than the last. Seeing Will though Belle fell deaf to the evil surging around her. The young guard had been propped up against the wall where his lifeless body would have gone unnoticed but he'd slipped down to block the door, if Clown Mask had done this to sweet Will what had become of Graham and Robin?