Chapter 7 of My Poisonous Kiss
Enjoy!
She hurriedly jogged down the corridor, her eyes frantically searching for that person she wanted, needed, to see. She stopped and looked down another corridor, and her heart once again dropped as she realized that they weren't down that hall either. She ran down a few more corridors, her heart dropping with each empty one she passed, when she heard a sound.
A sound that chilled her to her bones.
She hurriedly sprinted down the corridor towards that sound, praying she wasn't too late...
He squeezed her hand harder, making her grit her teeth to a point she thought they would break. The pain was so intense that it kept her on her knees, paralyzed. She refused to cry out. Refused to scream. But the blinding pain was still there.
"Scream." He said again in her ear.
Xiao's eyes opened and she looked straight ahead. Her eyes changed to pure steel and anger. Adrenaline flew through her veins, and with it came a new determination. A determination to live. It was life or death for her here. She bore the pain through and made herself think that the more she endured, the stronger she became.
She parted her lips, her eyes still opened with a new determination in them, and took in a deep breath. She turned to her captor, and looked him dead in the eye with her glowing eyes of steel.
"No." She said with anger clear in her voice. She then clicked her heel on her other foot, releasing a small knife in the front of her shoe.
The assassin's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't have time to dodge what came next.
"No!" Xiao said with a cry of hate. She spun her leg, and before the assassin could move, dug the sharp point into his thigh.
The assassin cried out but did not release her hand.
Xiao gained her footing and lunged at him again, this time hitting him in his side with her foot before kicking his chest with her other.
The assassin let go of her hand then, and tried to catch himself with his own hands. He rolled on the floor to the opposite side of the hallway. He stood up slowly, and he covered the cut on his side with his hand.
He faced Xiao Qiao and saw her on the other side of the hallway in a fighting stance. Anger was clear in her glowing eyes.
What once made her weak, now made her strong.
His mistake.
He stood staring at her for a few moments before deciding what he was going to do. He turned and dashed down the hallway, trying his hardest to get away from her. Xiao was shocked at his sudden movement to run, but gave chase. She had let him get away once, that wasn't going to happen again.
He ran down the corridor and was about to turn around the corner to another corridor, when a foot struck out and knocked him back.
He was knocked back several feet, stopping Xiao's pursuit as she looked to see who had hit him. He rolled backwards before he caught himself on his feet and he looked up to see who had stopped him.
There, in front of him, was Da Qiao, her eyes filled with rage at him attacking Xiao.
"Goddess…" he whispered.
That was all he got to say when Da reached into her hair and pulled out a pin and threw it at him. It was a razor sharp point that could kill him instantly if it hit his throat or any vital places.
He spun to dodge it while pulling out a dagger of his own and, after he had gotten done spinning, threw it at an already charging Da.
Da Qiao saw him move to throw a dagger, and she instantly dropped to her knees, sliding across the floor, and leaned back to avoid it. However, the assassin had anticipated this, and had aimed the dagger low.
Da Qiao gasped as she felt the dagger graze her thigh as she slid. The assassin started to charge on Da, but Xiao jumped onto the wall beside him, spun, and kicked him back. He dropped but rolled backwards till his feet hit the floor, and he sprang up, intending on grabbing Xiao. She, however, jumped over his crouched position.
The assassin did not stop to think about his positioning. He was in between two fully trained assassins. He instead, leapt for Xiao again. He swung at her with a fist, but she deflected it. Then the assassin felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his shoulder. He cried out and turned to look and see another one of Da's hairclips.
This one was firmly embedded into his shoulder.
He couldn't see anymore. The assassin only knew blind rage. He cried out in hate, and with speed Xiao had never seen used before, spun and kicked her chest with enough force to send her back several feet.
He felt, rather than saw, Da to his side and he turned with the unbelievable speed that he had used with Xiao and grabbed Da. He shoved her front side forcefully into the fall before grabbing her hips, and with another cry of hate, slammed her back into the opposite wall.
Da Qiao couldn't breath. Any breath she had was knocked out of her with his handling.
Her back hit the wall with bone breaking force, and she tried to crumble to the floor to regain her breath. But the assassin grabbed her neck, and shoved her against the wall again, choking her. Da Qiao looked up at him and his icy blue eyes scared her again.
He then opened his mouth to say something.
Da would never know what he was going to say. The sound of footfalls filled the corridor and the assassin hissed and dropped her to face where they were coming from.
Da Qiao dropped to all fours, coughing while trying to gain the oxygen that she lost while she was being held up to the wall. The footfall that she heard stopped at the end of the hallway that she had come from and she turned and was shocked to see Sun Ce and Zhou Yu standing at the hallway with a few guards.
There was a second of hesitation where the two generals took in the scene before them. Then they charged down the corridor towards the assassin. The assassin hissed before turning around to run the opposite way to escape them.
"Follow him!" Sun Ce ordered the guard and they took off running past Da and Xiao who were both still on the floor trying to get their breath back.
Da kept on all fours, looking at the floor trying to breathe and center herself, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Selene are you- oh." Ce said when he saw the blood on her outfit. "Come on, Selene, let's get you to a healer." He said as he picked her up.
"My lord, my sister!" she said in a panic.
"Zhou Yu!" he called to his sworn brother who was kneeling beside Xiao. "Any injuries?"
"Her hand has reopened." Zhou Yu said as he picked Xiao up.
"Come on, let's get them to a healer." Ce said as he hurriedly walked down the corridor with Selene. He came to the corridor that the closet was down, and saw the crowd of people still there.
"Ce, Zhou Yu, what happened?" Jian asked as he ran up to Ce looking at Selene and Aurora.
"The assassin. He ran but I have guards following him. I expect them to lose him so get Quan to start tracking him. I have to get her to a healer." Ce said as he walked passed his father and the rest of the crowd of people cleared a path for him and Zhou Yu to walk through.
Xiao Qiao looked around the horde of people and was surprised to see most of them staring at her. She quickly hid her face in Zhou Yu's chest, not wanting to look at the many stares of the people. When she looked up a few seconds later, she was happy to see the headmistress looking at her and Zhou Yu in shock. She was going to flash her a victory grin but her view was cut off when Zhou Yu carried her into a room.
"Medic!" Ce yelled as he set Da on one of the beds.
"My lord, set her here." an elderly man said to Zhou Yu and motioned to a bed beside where Ce had laid Da down.
"Her hand has reopened." Zhou Yu said as he laid Xiao Qiao on the bed. "You will have to bandage it again."
"Yes, sir." the medic said and got to work on Xiao's hand.
"No one gets into this room, got it?" Ce told his guard. "Unless it's my family or they come on my bidding. No other guard, maid, or medic, got it?"
The guards nodded.
"My lord?" the headmistress asked Sun Ce. "May I have permission to enter and leave as needed? They will need new clothes and such-"
"Except her." Ce ordered his guard and they bowed as he made his way back to Da.
"Aurora," Zhou Yu said, making Xiao look at him. "I have to go help with the search, but you will be safe with the guards here. I will send more as soon as I can."
Xiao smiled. "Do not worry needlessly over me, Lord Zhou Yu. I'll be fine!"
A small smile came to Zhou Yu's lips and he rose. "I will be back for you as soon as I can be."
He turned to leave but before he took one step towards the door to an awaiting Sun Ce, he put his hand on the shoulder of the medic working on Xiao. "Treat her well."
Though the words were said politely, Xiao Qiao knew a threat when it was told. It shocked her that he would issue it on her behalf.
The medic recognized the threat also. He nodded his head vigorously. "O-of course, my lord! I will treat her like royalty."
Seeming satisfied, Zhou Yu turned and walked out of the room with a grinning Sun Ce.
"Um, miss?" the medic working on Da said causing Xiao to look over at her sister. "I'm going to have to rip your dress…"
"What? But I don't have another-" Da started to protest.
"Do not worry about it. I will get you another." the headmistress said before smiling a small smile. "One worthy of a primary maid." she then looked at Xiao. "For both of you." The headmistress then promptly walked out of the room, through the guard she had been given permission to go through.
"Wow." Xiao remarked making the other medics, guards, and a small number of maids and patients in the room turn and regard her. "You know you look pretty bad when even the headmistress is nice to you."
Da gasped and glared at her but the rest of the room erupted into giggles and nodded wholeheartedly.
Then there was a ripping sound and another gasp from Da. The men turned around and faced the wall at the glare that Da Qiao gave them.
"I want guards posted wherever Selene and Aurora are at all times." Ce said as he walked down the hallway, several commanders following him. "I also want guards stationed down every corridor, and double the usual amount. Instead of two I want four."
"Yes, sir!" One said and walked off.
"I also want a list of all the new staff members from the last two weeks. Only give that to Zhou Yu."
"Yes, sir!" Another left.
"Brother!" Quan called to Ce. Sun Ce walked and met Quan halfway, eyes expectant.
"Anything?" Ce asked.
Quan nodded. "A blood trail. It starts in the hallway that you said you found the maids in and moves in another corridor before stopping without any other signs."
"What direction was it heading towards?"
"The maid's section." Quan said grimly.
"You think that he's got some kind of base set up there?" Ce asked, reading Quan's thoughts.
Quan nodded. "Yes, I do. It explains why we can't catch him. There are hundreds of closets down that way."
Ce looked at the remaining commanders. "Get all your units and search every closet down the maid's section. Report to Quan what you find." The commanders all nodded and left, leaving Ce smiling sheepishly at Quan. "Sorry to drop that on your shoulders. Pop is just going to ask me more questions and I don't have time for it."
Quan shook his head. "I understand. But, Ce, this assassin. He has come after Shang Xiang's maid, now yours. Do you think he could be coming after you?"
Ce laughed and started walking slowly, Quan walking beside him. "I was sure you were going to ask if he was coming after you maid next."
Quan smiled. "Indeed. But rather I am wondering if he his finishing the job that the other assassin started."
Ce walked for a few moments in silence before shaking his head. "I don't know." Ce admitted. "But I am ready for him this time. If that is his mission."
Quan walked with his brother for a few more moments of silence before he faced Ce. "Brother, I know there are some things you are keeping secret- No." Quan held up a hand when Ce made way to interrupt him. "I do not have to know them. But, if the burden of these secrets gets too much…" Quan hinted.
Ce stopped walking and put a hand on Quan's shoulder. "I thank you for your concern. And if I would ever need help, I know which direction I can turn towards. I expect you know that I will always extend the same favor in your direction."
Sun Quan nodded, not really knowing how to handle the situation. It was rare for he and his brother to have moments like these.
"Ce!"
Both men looked to see Zhou Yu walking towards them. Quan looked at his brother and nodded one more time before walking away. Ce turned to Zhou Yu with a smile.
"Any trouble?" Zhou Yu asked with an eyebrow raised as he looked at Sun Quan then back at Ce.
"Nah." Ce said as he scratched the back of his neck. "He offered his help."
"Oh?" Zhou Yu asked, shocked.
"Yeah, I was kind of shocked too." Ce said with another smile. "Got anything?"
Zhou Yu shook his head. "Everyone is accounted for. Minus what he's killed, the numbers are right."
"Quan thinks that he's taken base in one of the closets in the maid's section. It would explain why our numbers aren't off. He wasn't even counted."
"Indeed." Zhou Yu nodded. "Have you began a search?"
Ce nodded. "Yup."
Zhou Yu nodded before asking the question that was on both their minds. "Have you heard about our maids yet?"
Ce shook his head. "Nah. It's been at least an hour though. They should be done by now."
"I doubled their guard so they should be safe where they are at." Zhou Yu reasoned.
Ce nodded. "Yeah I know."
There was a moment of silence between the two.
Ce broke it. "Maybe we should to check on them. You know, just in case."
"Indeed." Zhou Yu said with a smile and started walking toward the healer's room, Sun Ce following.
He tilted his head back and took in a deep breath, tasting all the scents of the air. He then sighed and looked down, back at his prey while she worked to heal. His prey. His beautiful assassin. Oh, how she vexed him! But that was okay. He liked it. And the damage she did to him. It wasn't every day that someone hit him and lived to tell the tale. But that was okay too. She was his beautiful bloodthirsty assassin…
He looked to see Him walk into the room. Him. The man that he would one day rip the heart out of and keep for his own. His hold on his spear, part of his disguise, tightened as he watched Him walk over to his prey. He grit his teeth as the man casually addressed her. The assassin felt his other hand clench into a fist.
He felt a touch go to the tip of his shoulder, down his bicep and onto his chest. He turned to see a maid looking up at him with suggestive eyes. Normally he would have sent the whore away with a slap, but she looked a little like his assassin. He smirked and unclenched his hand before tracing a finger down her jaw.
He then looked back up at his prey. She was still conversing with that man. He scowled again and turned and left the room, leaving the maid who he had touched a little vexed. But it mattered not to him. He had a job to do…
"There you go." Da Qiao said as she finished bandaging an old man's arm. "It should be brand new in the morning."
The old man grabbed her hand and smiled at her while he pat it. "Thank you, child."
Da smiled back at him before squeezing his hand. She then turned and made her way to a washing station where she washed the herbs off of her hands.
"Hiya, sis!" Xiao said as she bounded up and started washing her own hands. "Having fun?"
"Actually, I am." Da said with a smile to her sister. "And you?"
Xiao giggled. "Yeah, but the last guy I worked on kept saying I was an angel. I tried to tell him I wasn't but he insisted I was."
Da Qiao laughed. Due to the fact that they were ordered not to leave the room, they had both started helping the medics with the people who were hurt during the storm last night. The girls both knew how to treat injuries. It was protocol for all assassin, the trained ones at least, to know at least the basics on how to treat wounds in case the assassin needed to treat their own wounds when out on an assignment or got hurt.
Da Qiao was trying to get the herb balm out from her fingernails, thinking about everything her instructor had drilled into her head about the art of healing, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked up at Xiao Qiao who was looking at something in the doorway.
Da turned and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Sun Ce walk in, Zhou Yu right behind him. They walked over and began conversing with the commander of the guard.
"Do you think they found something?" Xiao asked in a small voice.
"No." Da said flatly and turned back to getting the gunk out from her fingernails.
Ce shook his head at the guard's question.
Xiao whistled. "Wow. Nice call, sis."
"He's a fellow assassin. We don't leave signs unless it's unavoidable."
"He sure was mad when your pin hit him…" Xiao pondered aloud, her arms crossed as she looked over the room of people.
"Neither of us were expecting that out of him. But, Xiao, his abilities… I'm beginning to think he's trained very well. Even more than us." Da admitted as she continued to scrub her fingers.
"How is that possible?" Xiao asked, disbelievingly.
"His speed, Xiao. You only get that kind of speed with years of training. Years of intense training." Da informed.
"So, what? He's the best of the best?" Xiao did not like where this conversation was going.
Da looked at her. "Who do you send after a fully trained assassin? If what we thought was right, and he is after you, wouldn't they send someone more trained?"
Xiao sat silent and pondered this for a minute. "So what do we do about him?"
"I don't know yet." Da admitted.
"Want to know what I don't get?" Xiao asked as she turned her back to the room and faced her sister.
"What?" Da asked, eyebrows coming together in confusion.
"Why Papa assigned me on this with you. I mean, I like working with you, Da, but killing a prince? You have taken on full families by yourself!" Xiao pointed out. "Do you think he intended to change his assignment all along? But even then, you could still spy and kill them all by yourself." Xiao shook her head. "I don't know. Why did he send me here with you, Da?"
Da Qiao stopped drying her hands when the full impact of Xiao's words fully sank in. "I don't know, Xiao. I really don't know…"
Both of them stared at each other, silently communicating. They were close enough that they knew each other's thoughts without the other voicing them.
"Ladies." A mellow voice said behind them, causing both to jump. Xiao's jump caused her to knock bowls into the water basin. Rather than dwell on that, both turned and bowed down deeply to their masters.
"My lord." They both said at the same time.
"I trust you are both doing better?" Zhou Yu continued.
Both raised up to see amused smiles on both of their master's faces. Da Qiao wanted to slap that stupid grin off of that arrogant, cocky prince's face. No matter what he did for her this morning. He was still that egotistical idiot.
"Oh, yes. Much better!" Xiao said with a smile to match her master's.
"And you, Selene?" Sun Ce asked her, noticing how she was looking every direction but his.
She finally looked at him. "The healers did a great job." She then smiled that dark, challenging smile. "My lord." she added.
Sun Ce, to her utter aggravation, just grinned bigger. She was so going to slap that grin off his face one day…
"We must be going." Zhou Yu said as he looked at the two of them with an eyebrow raised. "But we wanted to check up on you first."
"Does this mean we can leave this room?" Da asked, eyes still on Ce.
"Not a chance." Ce said with that same grin.
Da thought she would scream.
"That's okay." Xiao said carefully as she looked between Da and Sun Ce. "We are having fun patching people up, aren't we, sis?" Xiao asked as she tugged on Da's sleeve, trying to get her sister to stop glaring at the prince.
"Quite." Da said through gritted teeth.
"That's good." Ce said. "You might be here for awhile."
She was going to kill him. She was going to kill him. She was going to kick his arrogant-
"Well, we better be going, eh, Zhou Yu?" Ce asked Yu.
"Indeed." Zhou Yu asked, an eyebrow raised at Ce. What was going on?
"Well, come on." Ce said and started walking away but turned back to Selene. "Oh, I almost forgot. I like the new oufit." Ce said with a smile.
Her outfit was a primary maid outfit as was Xiao's. They were a deep red with gold and tiger skin stitched in. Sun Ce's insignia was etched above her breast, as was Zhou Yu's above Xiao's, marking her as his primary maid.
Da Qiao sent him a glare so dangerous that, if looks could really kill, he would be ashes by now.
"See ya." Ce said and winked before walking out with a very perplexed Zhou Yu.
Xiao Qiao punched her sister in her arm, finally getting her attention off of the way Sun Ce left. "What was that all about?" Xiao asked with her hands in the air.
"He's deliberately taunting me!" Da said in a harsh whisper. "And I'm going to kill him for it." On that promise, she then turned and began to walk away.
"Well good! Considering that was your job in the first place!" Xiao hissed before throwing her hands in the air and walking the opposite direction.
"Angel! Angel!" Xiao turned to see the old man she was working on earlier calling to her, and she smiled and walked over to him. She was still aggravated but decided not to show it to the man. He was a nice man anyways.
"I fear I've dropped my cane." From the chair he was sitting in, he motioned to a black stick on the floor. "Would you mind getting it for me?"
"Sure!" Xiao nodded and began to pick it up.
Wham!
Xiao's instincts instantly spiked. Her head shot up and she instantly looked around the room. She saw no one that hadn't been in there for the last hour or so.
"Angel?" the man called to her.
"Oh! Sorry." Xiao rose and handed him the cane. "Excuse me." she said rather distractedly and walked a few paces forward to get a better look around the room. Her instincts were screaming that something wasn't right. She looked around the room to see if her sister felt it too, but there was one little problem about that.
Da was no where in the room.
She made her way to the door, her instincts telling her this was the way to go. She looked up at the guard, but they were all being distracted by the maids in the room who were flirting with them. As one maid leaned in a little too close to a guard, distracting him completely, Xiao slipped behind him and out of the room.
As soon as she was in the hallway, she felt the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Something was about to happen. She walked down a few feet, being led purely by instinct. She came to a corner and put her back to it before taking a deep breath and looking around it.
There, down the hallway, was the assassin. His back was toward her, his head bent backward. He inhaled deeply and seemed to be tasting the air. Suddenly, his head started to turn toward her direction, and Xiao hid back behind the corner as fast as she could. But it didn't matter. She knew he saw her.
She hurriedly ran down one hallway and then another before seeing double doors. She pushed them open and saw it was a kitchen. She heard footfalls behind her and she hurriedly found a hiding place on one of the lower shelves. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she tried controlling her breathing.
After what seemed like forever to Xiao, she heard one of the doors open. She resisted the urge to take a deep breath. It was so very important that her hiding place remain a secret and she kept reminding herself that. She couldn't let him know where she was. And she knew it was him. The lack of footsteps told her that.
His black form suddenly came into her view and Xiao was so relieved to see him several rows down. He looked to the left and then the right, obviously not knowing where she was. He then tilted his head back again, smelling the air like he had done in the hallway earlier.
Xiao moved from her position and started crawling backwards, away from him. When she shelves started to get taller, Xiao stood and slowly walked backwards, her eyes riveted on the assassin only looking back every now and again to make sure that she wasn't going to run into something and give her position away.
When she came close to an alcove, two hands reached out and grabbed her, one covering her mouth, and pulled her into it. The person didn't need to worry about her screaming. She wouldn't have done that because that would give her position away to the other assassin. She did, however, start to fight back.
Then she looked into the eyes of Da Qiao who put a finger against her mouth to signal for Xiao to be quiet. Xiao nodded and Da removed her hand from Xiao's mouth. Xiao was so happy to see her! She should have known her sister would be here. Da had always had the ability to be one step ahead of her in most circumstances.
Xiao nodded toward the assassin with eyebrows raised, asking whether they should attack now.
Da shook her head and mouthed "Later" to Xiao. Neither of them were at their best, and Da thought they needed at least one day to heal. She nodded towards the door, telling Xiao they needed to leave. Xiao nodded before looking at the assassin one last time and starting to move towards the door, Da following.
They slowly made their way over to it, glancing frequently at the assassin who still had his back to them. Da Qiao followed Xiao for a few feet when she glanced and saw the assassin throwing something at Xiao's direction. Da Qiao gasped and pulled Xiao back.
The object hit the wall and Da and Xiao both looked to see Da Qiao's hairpin. The one she had used on him earlier. Xiao hissed and pulled it out before turning and looking at the assassin. Behind her and Da something fell off of the shelf Da had pulled them towards to avoid the thrown object, making a loud racket that echoed in the kitchen. Xiao looked back at Da, knowing what that meant.
The clock had started.
They now had a minute, maybe less, until someone was there to check on what ever made that noise.
Xiao Qiao turned back around to face the assassin and gasped to see him already striking at her. She doubted, with the late timing she took to look at him, that she could dodge it in time. But she needn't have worried. Da Qiao caught the hand that he attacked with and twisted it to make his arm stiff. She then elbowed his back and Xiao, who went around to his back, helped Da with a kick to his back, sending him face first into the wall.
They both turned and made way to run out of the room, but the assassin spun and grabbed Da Qiao's foot and sent her flying to the floor. She rolled over just in time for him to face him as he was trying to climb on top of her.
His actions were cut short as there was a huge clang and he fell back.
Xiao Qiao dropped the pan she had hit him with and helped Da up before they both took off toward the door. They jumped over various objects, trying their hardest not to knock anything else over. More noise would make more people come faster. When they reached the double doors, however, they wouldn't budge.
"He's barricaded the door!" Xiao cried out.
Both girls then turned to look for other doors and found one set on the opposite side of the kitchen and another on the side that they had last seen the assassin.
"Where is he?" Xiao asked.
Da shook her head. "I don't know. Let's get to the other side to those doors."
Da made Xiao walk in front so she could cover her back. They made their way over there cautiously. Not knowing where the assassin was made both of them weary. Xiao grabbed Da's hand and started jogging down the row over to the door, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.
Suddenly, a stack of pans fell in front of their path , blocking it. They both gasped and turned to run the opposite way. A long sword suddenly stuck out from one of the lower shelves directly in Xiao's path. She was running too fast to stop so she jumped over it to avoid it. When she jumped, the assassin jumped over the low shelf and tackled her, knocking Da back.
Xiao and the assassin fell to the floor and they instantly started to battle each other to get the upper hand. The assassin rolled on top and used his weight, significantly more than Xiao's, to keep her there. He tried to pin her hands down but she was fighting too much for that. He pulled his hand back to give her a ringing slap.
Xiao looked up to see his hand coming down and she was about to block it but a ringing of a blade was heard. The assassin made way to slap Xiao but his hand hit steel as the blade he stuck out to stop Xiao's impediment was thrown into the wall to stop his movement to hit Xiao. He turned to hiss at Da who had thrown the blade.
The distraction was all that Xiao needed. She punched the assassin, knocking him back enough to get her legs loose. She then kicked him, making him slam into the wall beside them. She scrambled up, getting help from Da, and they both took off towards the double doors.
They burst out from the doors, looking back at the assassin before turning around…
…And running straight into the arms of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.
"What the-"
"Aurora!"
"He's in there!" Xiao said as she ran behind Zhou Yu. "He's in there." she pointed from behind Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu looked at Sun Ce with a raised eyebrow and many of the guard who had followed Ce and Yu to investigate the noise in the kitchen looked up at Ce with frightened looks. In just a few days the assassin had made quite a reputation and was feared by many.
Sun Ce's eyes narrowed and he moved Selene behind him, towards Zhou Yu.
"Stay here." he said, moving toward the kitchen.
Sun Ce opened one of the doors and was shocked by the mess in there. He then made his way in slowly and started to investigate everything, keeping an eye out for the assassin. Zhou Yu moved over and held the door open, keeping an eye on Sun Ce and the girls. Sun Ce looked at several different things before choosing to look at a spot on the wall that looked like it had been stabbed and a little bit of smeared blood was below it.
Suddenly, a pan flew from somewhere in the kitchen and hit the wall in front of Sun Ce who ducked backwards. Da Qiao gasped and Zhou Yu ran into the room and glanced at Ce before seeing the assassin run out of the kitchen. He turned and ran back out into the hall.
"Follow him!" Yu ordered the guard and they took off down the hallway. He turned toward the kitchen just in time to see Ce emerge.
Sun Ce looked at the guards running before turning to Selene. "Come on. We need to get them back to the room." He looked pointedly at Selene. "We could talk about why they left later."
"You're guards will lose him, Ce." Zhou Yu cautioned.
"I know. We need to get them to the room quickly and figure out how they left in the first place. You can take point."
Da and Xiao shared a look, wondering how they were going to get out of that conversation. They started walking, Zhou Yu in front, Ce in back, and the girls in the middle. Zhou Yu stopped at a corner, looking to make sure that nothing was down the next hallway.
They resumed walking down several corridors, Zhou Yu stopping at most corners to make sure the assassin wasn't anywhere in sight. They came down a corridor with several doors down it. One door was open and a dim light was coming from it. Zhou Yu stopped, causing Xiao to be in the open doorway of the room, and turned around to say something, claiming Sun Ce's and Xiao Qiao's attentions. But not Da's. In the shadows of the hallway beside them, she noticed a small, insignificant movement.
And it was heading straight for Xiao.
Da pushed Xiao with all her might into Zhou Yu, effectively moving into the space Xiao occupied. Then a huge object hit her with impressive force and Da felt like she was flying. The assassin tackled her legs and pushed her into the open doorway of a room behind her.
"Sis!"
"Selene!"
Da Qiao hit the floor and air rushed out of her. She took a moment to get her breath before trying to get up.
"Sis!" Xiao said and made way to help her.
"Are you hurt?" Ce asked, coming to her other side to help her up. Da shook her head but leaned on him while she got her breath back. Ce's arm came around her waist, pulling her closer to his chest, while he looked around for the assassin.
"Where's the assassin?" Zhou Yu asked Da, pulling Xiao behind him, and leaving one arm back holding her wrist to make sure he knew where she was.
Da Qiao's eyes got wide with shock and she was about to say she didn't know. That she thought that they knew. But the light in the room significantly dulled and the sound of a door closing was heard. They all whirled to see the assassin slide a bolt into place and break the handle off. He then faced them and the realization of the situation hit all of them.
They were all now trapped inside the room with him.
Yeah, kind of short. I had a huge chapter written and thought that it was way too long so I cut some of it off into a little chapter. The next one should come sooner seeing as I have tons of things coming up and I want you guys to have a chapter that doesn't have a cliffhanger in it. So don't be suprised if you get a new chapter within the next week or so.
I want to hear from you guys what you think will happen. When I read a story I'm constantly going over tons of scenerios in my mind about how it's going to play out in the end so I would love to hear similar things from you! Feel free to drop me a little review and such and I'll be sure to get back with you!
ShadowingPassion9532