I unconsciously took a step back, my hand clenching the side of my dress, it can't be her— but I was so sure that she is there, in the mafia territory, could it be someone bailed her out? But that's rather impossible.
I quickly left the balcony and decided to freshen up in the bathroom. When I got inside the bathroom I made sure no one else was inside and hurriedly locked the door.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my face pale, my hair slightly a mess, it almost looked like I ran away but I didn't, a lot of guests may have left but there are still some people out there and I forced myself to act as normal as I could.
My heart beat is still raising but I forced myself to calm down, my mind starts to wonder- plan, and analyze everything that had just happened.
What could be her purpose of returning? Why does it feel like she's up to something? And why me? It was Annie who saw her that night- but I was the one who got her caught on the rooftop when she attempted to end my life, so I guess that's it?
I was the one who ruined her, so basically she's after me and not Annie. I sighed and nodded, yep, I'm in defeat, may the heavens guide my soul because that unhinged girl won't let me have peace.
But for now, the best thing to do is investigate, I need to gather information about how she escaped and how is she related to my family- most likely my mom's, because she can freely walk in here without the security outside stopping her.
As I was about to open the faucet, the lights suddenly went out, I didn't panic, just stayed calm and alert. The glowing night lights- though dim, it gave me enough light to search for my bag.
Suddenly, my phone rang, an unknown number flashed on the screen. I have a bad feeling on what's happening out there, but I answered the phone anyway.
"Hello?" I spoke in a low voice.
"Let the game begin, tick, tock, tick, tock~" the user then laughed, they are obviously using a voice changer so I wouldn't easily identify who exactly is messeing with me.
"Who are you?" I asked firmly.
"Ah-ah, no questions darling" it said before the line hung up, I tried calling the number but it looks like they trashed the phone right away, just then the lights went back on.
I hurriedly grab my purse and dialed the HQ, reporting the threat that just happened to me as well as the recording of the conversation earlier.
"We'll investigate it and report back to you asap" the agent said, I thanked her then hung up immediately.
"There you are" Drei weclomed me, his eyes worried, I smiled.
"Just needed to use the bathroom, why are you so worried?" I joked, trying to evade the tension in my own system.
"You were gone for a while and I thought-" we both turn to the hallway when a loud crash suddenly echoed from the main hall where the party was held, followed by the screams of some guests.
We both ran back towards the hall and upon reaching the grand staircase, what we saw was disaster. The chandelier was now on the floor, some guests gained minor injuries, the guards scattered to check on everyone.
I quickly look for my parents and saw them on the side, safe and sound, I rushed down the stairs, Drei was already ahead of me, he was now tending to the injured people, asking the butler for some first aid kit.
I rush to my parents' side. "Mom" I called, she breathe a sigh of relief and hugged me, gently caressing my hair.
"Thank goodness you're safe" she said, I smiled timidly at her and look around the place.
"What happened?" I asked her.
"I-I don't know, the guests were just dancing then the chandelier snapped and fell— it seemed to time when a lot of people gathered on the center floor when it fell" mom explained while dad rubbed her back.
I walk back to Drei as he applied some ointment on a man's arm where small cuts were visible, he sensed me and didn't hesitate to give his statement.
"The others needs to have their wounds stitched, maybe we'll have to stay back for a while" he said.
"What? You're having a surgical stitching in this place?" I joked.
"Come on, don't be like that" he ruffled my hair after removing his gloves, I shrugged and before I could even rebut him, someone called me.
"Tinay" Annie appeared from the back doors, she was pale.
"What?" I asked, unsure of what's up with her but I don't want to act harsh to her either.
"S-She's back, I- she called me" she stuttered,my eyebrows furrowed.
"She called me too" I uttered as well.
"What do you mean?" Drei asked, clearly confuse of what's going on, and I don't intend to let him know what's going on.
"Drei, attend to the others, I'll be upstairs" I informed him, already making my move, Annie followed suit, no one spoke but we have the same thing in mind, if I do want to solve this matter, it should be with their help.
"Tinay, how did she know? How come she's here? Is she a mafia too?" she asked hysterically when we reach the top of the stairs.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, I know I told her not to bother me after what happened earlier but right now? It just reminded me of how that psycho traumatized this girl.
"I don't know exactly why, but I do know she's back to end us for destroying her life" I frowned.
"Xiela!" Annie immediately turn to Pierce, her worry somehow subsiding.
"Pierce, she's back, she-she called me, Tinay also received a call from her, the chandelier— it wasn't an accident!" she told him.
"What? Tinay who called?" he asked me instead, know Annie she's not thinking well when she's under pressure, I leaned over railings near the staircase and crossed my arms.
"The psycho girl who m*rdered a student disguised as a s*icide, traumatized Annie, and nearly k*lled me on the rooftop, five years ago" I narrated the suspect and his eyebrows immediately furrowed.
He seem to remember that time, once setting Annie down on a couch nearby, he ran back to the other way- probably to call his friends, oh yeah, the so-called detectives back in the academy.
My uncles also start to evacuate the scene, getting their families to safety, even mom and dad decided to step out, Drei was still assisting with the first aid, I pushed myself off the railings and looked around to look for anything suspicious.
'Let the game begins'...
She's playing, with our lives on the line, and calling for help is a bad idea, the military can't be involve here, I can't risk of exposing mom, not now that she just reunited with her family after these years.
Mom said that the chandelier fell right after everyone gathered in the center, is she's behind it, she might have a spy here— the game master doesn't need to reveal herself until the game is over, a petty trick.
Makes matters worst, she's not working alone, same goes for the reason why she's out of jail pretty early, question is, who are her underlings?
"Annie, are you okay?" the others came to check on her, I turned away, starting to walk towards one of the rooms.
I pushed the door open and figured it was a music room, of course it had to be, I mentally scoffed at myself, I shook my head and closed the door. I walked over to the next door, it wss locked, shrugging, I continued my search.
Finding nothing, I head back to where Annie was, and as if on cue, they all turned to me, my eyebrows met as I glanced behind me making sure that I was indeed, the one they're looking at.
"What's up?" Pierce asked me when I got closer- still refusing to make eye contact with a person.
"What's down" I answered while pointing at then fallen chandelier downstairs.
I let out a deep breath. "Seriously, aren't you guys handling these things back in the Academy? Why don't you put it to use now?" I sneered and decided to return downstairs.
Before I could even take a step, Sam rushed to my side, leaning over to whisper something to me. "I know you're mad but please, can I join you? I-I mean help you, even just us, two" she said, she's acting so weird but I found myself nodding at her.
I eventually found Drei outside, checking on my mom, the guests starts to leave one by one, even 'his' parents.
"Why don't you go home first, mom?" I asked her.
"I can't just leave my parents-" Sam cut her off.
"They already evacuated the area madame" she said politely, Drei gave a a look, I gave him a crooked smile in return then cleared my throat.
"By the way, I need to stay for further investigation about what happened, how about you?" I said firmly, then turn to Drei.
"I'll stay and accompany you, I'll be helpful too" he smiled as if his charm would let me allow him.
I shrugged. "Your call".
"Alright, call us if anything" dad patted my shoulder, I groaned, he laughed at my reaction, he clearly knows that I hated it if I'm being pampered.
The three of us stayed as we watch my parents leave the premises, once they're out of sight, we headed back inside and saw a few maids and butlers lined up while Death gave them command to search the whole mansion for any suspicious items.
Wow, is this his mansion? Why is he leading the search party? But to be fair, if his father and my mom were once engaged then probably because of connection, he is free to do so.
I asked a few maids if they know where the security room is but they said that only three trusted butlers knows where it is and to our dismay, none of the three are around.
"What now?" Sam asked, I put a hand on my chin to think, if we can't access the security room to search for any clues, then we'll do it the hard way.
"What's happening exactly?" Drei asked me.
"We're being hunted down, by some psycho" I rubbed my cheek, he tilted his head in confusion.
"It's a long story, it was five years ago, I'll explain later, for now we need to find clues, any suspicious activity would be counted, I get that this is your field?" I asked Sam, she nodded.
Then she started analyzing some things on the matter. "She's after you and Annie, but the chandelier fell while you and Annie aren't in the area- isn't it suspicious enough?" she asked.
I shook my head, she hummed, looking at the disaster on the dance floor. "She knows you too well, with the disaster happening, the party concludes and the guests leave, leaving you, Annie, and the rest of us here to investigate, we just fell under her trap" she said.
Checkmate? I didn't even notice that. Drei looked at her, stunned, me too, looks like she really does have the potential to be a lawyer.
"I'm a lawyer by profession, a designer by heart" she smiled then the lights went out again.
The three of us gathered, our backs against each other, standing guard on what may happened, our breathing heavy until a green light flickered on the side of the hall and a voice rang all over the place.
"Tick, tock, tick, tock... HAHAHAH" she sneered then silence came, that beach! She's enjoying this way too much, I swear if I get my hands on her- argh!
"She keeps saying that" I groaned.
"What does 'tick, tock' even mean?" Sam asked, then it hit me, oh snap, why did I just realized it now?
"Tine? Where are you?" I heard Liz called me in the dark.
"We're here!" I responded and rush to take out my phone to use the flashlight.
When we had the light, we moved around the buffet table to reach Liz. Just then the lights went back on, great.
We all turned when Icer came in running, he was sweating so bad that I saw Sam gripped the hem of her dress, I wondered (yes, I want tea in the middle of this crisis) what's up?
"Where's Death?" he asked.
"Icer! Where have you been?" Annie also came running with the others tailing her.
"Basement, you won't believe what I saw down there while I search for the control room" he grinned at his team.
"Just spill it Icer" Death frowned.
"There's a bomb, it will blow up in an hour, and I mean blow up, I mean this entire mansion will be on the ground— there's no way to decode it though, there's no controls nor wires, just pure chemicals in bulletproof cases" he reported.
'My guess was right, eventually there's indeed a bomb'
"We need to go" Pierce gritted his teeth and strode past us with Annie following behind him.
We also came to that agreement but before we could even get close to the door, white rose petals suddenly started to fall from above— how is that even possible? I couldn't pin point where are all of these is coming from.
A gunshot then shattered the silent moment, we all fell to the ground and crawl to safety, the butlers also took out their g*ns to fire back, some yelling to protect us.
"Give me a g*n" I told one of the butlers when Drei pulled me down.
"No way you're doing that, look at your dress—" I cut him off.
"Drei, I've been through war, in high heels" I stared down at him while taking the g*n that was handed to me, Sam also has one, I didn't bother asking if she knows how to use it because technically she does, after shooting one enemy down.
I didn't think twice pulling the trigger when an enemy came to view, even if it's dark outside and most of them are wearing a dark suit, I can still locate them by just listening to where the bullet came from.
No one can easily dodge my shots, unless you're a trained person, I can easily predict movements as well, even with just shadows- training with my older cousins back then was pretty intense, and my older sister didn't spare me either.
Three down, a few butlers also fell injured and Drei didn't hesitate to aid them, I saw an opening to my left and I did a ran for it.
"Tine!" Sam yelled as slid behind the fallen table for cover, I gave her a thumbs up.
"Samantha! Get down!" Icer also yelled and ran towards where I was earlier, my eyes twitch when I saw Sam rolled her eyes in disgust.
Seriously, what's up with them? Are they seriously having a LQ episode in the middle of this chaos? I turn my attention back to the battle at hand.
The enemy just kept coming and we are starting to lose numbers, even when the maids came to help, the opposing battalion seems to just keep going, just how many are they out there?
I sighed and throw the empty g*n and reached out for another one from the unconscious butler, I won't assume he's de*d, I checked the magazine and found a few bullets left.
This could work. I gasp when I nearly got sniped on the head, now they have snipers?! I hissed and decided to change location, how can we even escape here? And they seriously just waited for the guests to leave before attacking?
Actually... They are cowards, everyone knows my grandparents are one of the most deadliest mafia in this world of course they need them to leave first and corner us here, alone.
"Cover me" Troy suddenly appeared beside me, where the heck did he come from?!
"I only have 6 bullets, what's that gonna help?" I gave him a smug smile.
"You're terrible, here" he handed me another gun and dashed out suddenly giving me a little time to react and just scrambled to my feet and shoot as many as I can, but then I heard a zip on the air and I tilted my head, a bullet grazed my left neck.
I ducked down, holding the stinging wound, I really hate snipers. I growled and decided that it's time to release my inner monster, I kicked my heels away, ripped the side of my dress and undo my hairdo, simply tying it to a ponytail and had the ripped fabric cover my grazed neck.
I crawled under debris, my arms were bruised by the rough hazards but it was nothing than my former injuries, when I reached the huge pillar, I stood up and checked my ammo, two and 7 from the g*n Troy gave me.
I saw Sam also crawling to the othher side, I whistled and she turned to me, her eyebrows ceased in confusion, I gestured to her to come over and she did— by crawling backwards, this girl...
When she's near, I didn't hesitate to pull her legs, she glared at me but didn't say anything, the enemy finally entered through the windows and the main door, we backed towards the dark, then turn to Sam.
"How many bullets do you have?" I asked her.
She flipped the gun to release the magazine ans with a sigh she replied. "Six, there's still a lot of them", we turn to the crowd in front.
We're crouching down behind the buffet table and thanks for the table cloth, we're somehow hidden from direct sight, there's about thirty of them crowding the exit.
And technically we are scattered around, I can't even pinpoint where Drei is, I wonder if he's alright. Pushing that though away for the meantime, I told Sam my plan.
"The perpetrator is here in this very mansion, I'm not sure when but I want you to cover for me, I need to get back to the second floor to search, keep the men distracted for a while" I told her while handing her Troy's g*n.
"Seriously, you want to go there alone? And what?" she scoffed, I rolled my eyes at her.
"Why got any better idea?" I asked her.
She just shook her head and positioned herself hidden under the table while I ran through the shadows, shooting one light off to keep myself hidden in the dark, the men also went on high alert when they heard the g*nshot.
My shot was followed by Sam and the others also fired, taking advantage of the chaos, I rushed up to the stairs, some tried to hit me but I didn't stop until I was out of their sight.
I moved swiftly, barefooted against the carpeted floor, I began to search the rest of the rooms thay haven't tapped on, the adrenaline on my body keeps pumping my hysterical mind as I opened the doors, into the fourth one, still nothing.
I was about to turn to the other side when I catch a glimpse of a slight gap on the wall, I moved closer to inspect it and found out that it was a secret passage way, I tried prying the door open, pushing it, even pulling it but nothing happened.
I groaned and leaned back to a cabinet next to it, holding into it as exhaustion chased after, just then my hand accidentally knocked over a book which fell on a jewelry box, it opened and a ballerina figure started to spin.
My mind was in haze and I didn't know why I pushed her down- but I'm glad I did because the wall opened I gripped on my weapon tightly and I slowly stepped inside the room.
It was the control room, the screen monitors were blue, meaning someone broke in here to destroy the cameras and the footage- a supposedly solid evidence to catch the culprit, I then tripped over something and I fell to the floor, clutching my arm.
I turn over to see that it was a butler, and he was strangled to d*ath, I can almost feel all the hair in my body tensed up as my eyes landed on the chair in front of the screens.
There sat a bouquet of white roses then I heard a rattle coming from the door, it was a spray can rolling in, it was too late for me because the door slid shut and smoke started to spread across the room, I tried holding my breath but panic surges my mind and finally, everything went black.