Strangers To Freedom

Chapter Three

    Confused, Rin stood there with her back against the wall for some time, but her curiosity got the better of her and she sneaked to the door and open it ever so slightly. When she had opened enough that she could peek through the gap, she stopped. She saw the silhouette of what she thinks would be the man, crouching down behind the banister. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some movement coming up the stairs. Opening the door a little wider, she caught glimpse of a man climbing up the stairs, his rifle at the ready. Just as she was about to scream to the crouched man that the man coming up the stairs is armed with a rifle, there was a blur of movement, just as the man stepped up onto the landing.

    Rin could not believe her eyes, she saw the man get up onto the landing, and a blink later, he was lying down on the floor, eyes staring at her but lifeless. Rin’s mouth was agape with wonder as she could not believe her eyes. The man repeated the steps over and over, either stabbing them with what looks to be a dagger, or snapping their necks, before dragging the bodies into the room across the landing. Seeing how efficient he was at doing this, she couldn’t help but wonder what he did for a living before this. She decided that it was for the best that she follows what the man had told her to do and she closed the room door, both partially afraid of the man’s skills and also thankful that he did not kill her on the spot for trespassing. She crossed the room and sat on the bed.

    Perking her ears, she could not hear anything other than a slight muffled release of what she thinks would be the men’s last breaths. She surveyed the room from where she sat and found that there were multiple bells that were attached to some hooks that were beside the window. Rin went over and inspect the bells closer. She noticed that each of the bells were attached to a very thin hair-like wire that went towards the window. Pulling the curtains aside, she sees that the wires go out the window and is not clearly visible outside the window, but in the general direction, she knows that it goes downwards from where she is.

    She whirls around and dived for the bed as she heard some muffled gunshots and several heavy thuds as bullets seem to have embedded itself in the walls thinking that someone was firing in her direction. The muffled gunshots went on for a while longer before it was suddenly silent once again. She felt some pain begin to creep up from the right side of her lower abdomen, rising upwards. She felt some warm and sticky liquid on her clothes as she reached down and grabbed her side.

‘Oh crap, I got shot.’ Rin thought to herself. ‘After surviving for weeks, this is how I am going to go out? Perhaps it’s not too bad to die like this. It doesn’t hurt too much anyway.’

    The door opened and she heard some footsteps heading in her direction.

‘This is how I am going to die?’ she thought to herself, shutting her eyes tightly. ‘Guess it is not too bad a way to go. Hopefully they will make it painless, maybe just a shot to the head?’

    She felt someone pick her up and set her on the bed. She started to shiver as thoughts begin to swarm her head.

‘NO~! Are they going to r**e me first and take advantage of me before they finally finish me off? Could it be that they are going to defile my body and before putting me out of my misery? Should I fight it? Should I take it and resign to my fate?'

    No sooner when these thoughts left her mind, she is hit in the face with some cloth. She opens her eyes and realized that someone had tossed some clothes onto her face. She sat up and saw that the man was seated at the edge of the bed, his head in his hands as he looks to be tired out.

'Change your clothes.' he said gruffly. 'You fell on my bowl of tomato soup.'

    Rin pulled up the hem of her hoodie and sniffed. He was right. It was tomato soup. Embarrassed, she got off the bed and went to the toilet to change. Rin also decided that since she is already in the toilet, she might as well take a shower. She undressed, stepped into the shower and close the fiberglass partition behind her. As the warm water rain down on her body, Rin let out a long-satisfied sigh as she let the last hour's worries wash off her. She began to wash off all the accumulated grime and dirt off herself before washing her soiled clothes. Rin began to think back and question why this man was so violent, who this man really is and what was his objective. On one hand, she felt he looked rugged, cool and dependable if he would just clean up a little, but on the other hand, he scared the living daylight out of her with his violence and his ruthless nature.

    After showering, she wring out her clothes and began to dry off. She needed to ask him more about the lights as she is having issues making her way around the house in the absolute darkness. While she is sure that he had a good reason for it, it was very annoying when she walks around and begins to bump into things. She dressed up in the clothes that he had tossed to her and got out of the toilet. The man was still seated at the edge of the bed facing the door. Noticing that she had stepped out of the toilet, he turned towards her. Despite it being dark, she could not help but feel conscious that she was not wearing any undergarments.

'Sleep on the bed tonight. I'll keep watch. There might be more where they came from.' he said standing up and heading out the door.

'W...wait a minute.' Rin said. 'I have a few questions of my own. Who are you? What are you? And could we have some lights on in the house, it is becoming a bit creepy and a little hard to make my way around without bumping into things.'

'Who or what I am is not important, and turning on the light is what drew them here in the first place.' He hissed, before stepping out the door and closing it behind him.