63. Rose
ROSE
Dante and I just finished cleaning up the kitchen from dinner when there is a loud and insistent pounding on the front door.
Dante is upstairs in his room on a business call, so I don’t want to interrupt him just to answer the door.
He has been more on edge lately, and I feel like it has something to do with work and his boss, but he doesn’t seem like he wants to share much about what is going on, so I haven’t really pushed the issue.
But if we are going to do this and actually try, he will need to figure out a way to open up a little bit more about what he is going through.
Maybe it’s something I can help with, even.
The banging hasn’t stopped, and now that I’m in the entryway and almost to the front door, I can hear a male voice shouting my name.
That’s strange. I check the peephole to make sure it’s safe, and I see Luc on the other side of the door, looking distressed.
I don’t wait another second and open the door to let him in and figure out what is going on.
“Oh thank god you’re still here! I didn’t think I’d make it in time!” Luc can barely get the words out since he is panting so hard and pulls me against his chest in a tight embrace like he needs to physically touch me to ensure I’m actually here.
“Luc, what are you talking about? Where else would I be? And why are you breathing so hard?” I say against his chest. I can feel the staccato rhythm of his hammering heart against the side of my cheek that is pressed into his chest.
Without answering any of my questions, Luc pulls back to see my face but still doesn’t let go of my arms. “Where is Dante?”
“Um, he’s upstairs on the phone. Why? Luc, you are starting to freak me out. Tell me what is going on. Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“No, you are.”
Just as Luc delivers his ominous response, as if that wasn’t enough to set me on edge, my world goes from looking Luc in the eyes to total darkness.
I can’t hear anything over the ringing in my ears, and I can’t tell if I’ve gone blind or if something else is affecting my vision.
My body feels numb, and I have a split second where I think I might be dead.
That is until the pain reverberates through my limbs all at once.
I think I let out a moan, but I can’t be sure. What the hell just happened?
Smoke is everywhere; is something on fire? My vision is still spotty as I blink rapidly, trying to see through the haze to find Luc, but I’m having trouble sitting up. I press down on the floor with both hands, but the pain shooting up my left arm is so intense it almost makes me pass out.
I’m slowly able to stand and orient myself when I hear someone calling my name. Not someone, Dante. Oh thank god he’s okay! I try to respond, but the smoke is so thick it makes me cough with every breath. My thoughts are singularly focused on getting to Dante and finding Luc.
“ROSE!” Dante shouts frantically, and I can barely make out his outline through all the chaos. I also hear other male voices shouting, but my focus remains on Dante.
“I’m here.” I croak out as loud as I can, limping slightly in the direction Luc and I were standing and holding my left arm against my chest. Somehow I was thrown across the entryway and landed near the bottom of the stairs.
“We need to get out of here, NOW!” I can tell by Dante’s tone there is no room for argument, but I need to find Luc.
“Luc? Luc?” I’m trying to yell, but the ringing in my ears is too loud, and my throat is too dry.
“Rose…” Luc’s reply is soft. A cough cuts off his words, but I hear them.
The layers of dust and ash clear enough that I can see where Luc is lying on the once-pristine marble floor of the entryway.
He’s on his side and trying to sit up but doesn’t seem to have the strength.
There is blood pooling beneath him, and he is clutching his side.
Shit, he’s hurt! Like, really hurt! I can see blood dripping down his face from a large gash in his forehead too.
I don’t feel my own pain as I rush to his side and drop to my knees.
My hands are frantic. I’m not sure if I should touch him, and then Dante is by my side.
“Rose, we need to go now. I need to get you somewhere safe.”
Me? But Luc is the one who is hurt. We can’t leave him. Luc must see the panic and fear in my eyes.
“Rosey, you need to listen to Dante. You need to get out of here.” Every word from his lips seems to take more and more effort than the last. Luc’s breathing is labored, and the blood doesn’t seem to be stopping, regardless of the pressure from his hand.
“No! I’m not leaving you, Luc! You’re hurt! We need to get you help!” Tears stream down my face, and I’m pressing against Luc’s hand to try to help stop or at least slow the bleeding. What the hell just happened? “Dante, call 911! Luc needs an ambulance.”
“Please, Rose.”
The blood rushing in my ears is so loud that I can’t tell if that plea is from Luc or Dante at this point.
“Dante, get her out of here. Save her. For me.” Luc’s hooded gaze meets Dante’s over my shoulder. And Dante must agree in some way because a sense of relief crosses Luc's face as his eyes begin to close.
“Luc, no! You listen to me! You are going to be okay. I am going to get help. I can’t lose you.
Not again!” My vision is blurry from the tears and smoke, but I go to stand because I need to take action and get help.
Before I can take a step away, I feel Luc’s weak grip on my ankle, halting my progress.
“De…” Luc pauses, wets his lips with his tongue, and tries to speak again. “Decaf.”
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, noooooo! “No, Luc! You can’t use that right now.”
Luc’s eyes blink slowly as they meet mine, his grip slightly tightening around my ankle, and I see a wince of pain like that small movement was too much for him to bear.
I feel every emotion on his face, conveyed with that one squeeze.
Before I can bend down again to tell him I am going to get help and to hold on, I am lifted by the waist off my feet by two strong arms I would know anywhere.
“Dante, put me down!”
“Luca has made his decision, and I am making ours.”
No matter how much I struggle in his grip, his strength is no match for mine.
Dante’s steps are quick and sure even though I can’t see where we are going.
I feel him shift my weight to one side as his right arm reaches out, and the moment is followed by a low beep and a blink of a green light, and then we are descending.
Red lights light our path with every step, and I can see from where I am slung over Dante’s shoulder that they turn off seconds after we clear them.
Where are we? And where is he taking me?
Dante’s strides don’t slow as we make our way through what looks like an office, however bare, with a couch on one side and a wall of monitors on another, with just a single chair in front of them.
We pause briefly as I hear another beep and soft click, and then we pass through a door into a dark and cold room.
No, not a room. It feels like we are outside, and I can feel the dampness in the air and the smell of the earth around us, but still no light.
As my eyes begin to adjust, I can tell the space is narrow and long, and the area around me is possibly stone, and the ground below us is wet.
As we emerge into the light cast down from the moon, exiting what I figure is some kind of tunnel, I gasp when I turn around and see plumes of dark gray smoke pouring out above the treetops in the direction we just came from.
Dante gently bends down and places my feet on the damp soil, covered in pine needles and other vegetation.
“Is the house on fire?” I shout frantically at Dante. “We have to go back for Luc!” The panic in my voice must be written all over my face because Dante grabs me with both hands by the shoulders and waits until my eyes make contact with his deep green ones before he speaks.
“Rose, baby, I have to get you out of here. Luca would want you to be safe. He can take care of himself.”
“No! I can’t leave him, Dante! Please, we have to go back!” I can’t help shouting as tears pour down my face.
“Belladonna, look at me. I promise to go back for him once I get you somewhere safe, but we have to move right now. We are too exposed out here, and it’s only a matter of time before they catch up to us.
If they were able to find the location of the house, they might have found the old railroad tunnel too.
Either you come with me willingly or over my shoulder, but one way or another, we are leaving. ”
“Fuck you, Dante! You need to tell me what the hell is going on right now and who those men are, or I’m not going anywhere.
I will go back for Luc myself if I have to.
” I take one step toward the entrance of the tunnel we just came out of when Dante’s arms come around my body, pinning both of my arms to my sides, and I am lifted in the air again like I weigh nothing.
I scream out, not in outrage, even though I am completely losing my shit right now, but in pain.
The angle Dante had me slung over his shoulder made my left arm hang in a way that confirms my shoulder is definitely dislocated, and now with the added pressure, it feels like I’m on fire from the inside.
I honestly forgot about the pain as we made our escape through what I’m assuming was the basement and into this tunnel, but now that is all I can think about and feel.
I am so close to passing out from the sheer agony when I am placed back on my feet and turned to face Dante.
His eyes have gone completely black, and the only word he says is, “Who?”
“Who what, Dante? Shit, that hurt!”
“Who hurt you?”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? Look around, Dante! We are in the middle of the freaking forest after someone tried to blow up your house! How am I supposed to know which one of those guys did this?” I’m gesturing wildly with my right hand, and that is finally when Dante’s eyes take in my full appearance from head to toe.
I’m sure my hair is a mess. I can only imagine the mascara, blood, and dirt streaks across my face, but most importantly, Dante’s eyes settle on my left arm hanging limply at my side, and I don’t think Dante is breathing anymore.