Magenta

Silence lingered in the mansion’s corridors like a gelid mist, yet the echoes of that grievous night invaded Magenta’s mind. She rested on her bed, only wearing her underwear. Her face was buried in her pillow, and her blood-stained dress lay torn on the floor. She wished everything was just a horrible nightmare. A nightmare from which she would wake up soon.

However, the reek of blood in her hands was too real, and his perfume pervaded her nose and brain.

. . .

Someone knocked on the door several times.

But deep silence was her only answer.

The minutes passed.

Magenta overheard Ronner’s voice on the other side as he grabbed his keys to unlock the door. She didn’t react. She couldn’t care less about his presence.

Slowly, the door opened.

Ronner sighed at the sight of her pitiful state and paced over to the bed. He sat next to her.

“Look,” Ronner started, taking a deep breath. “This was never my intention. I was winning time for them to stop him, but I never imagined those idiots would do such a thing.”

Magenta said nothing and remained still like a corpse.

“I was honest when I said I would spare him if he released Persen, but he would have never listened to me, you know that.” He caressed her back. “Persen is furious because you tried to kill his man.”

“Wish I killed the three of them,” Magenta mumbled.

“Well, had he been a normal human, he’d be dead by now. I didn’t know you had such a good aim.”

“Why did you stop me?” She buried her nails into her thighs.

“Because you were out of control, risking your own life. If you go against Persen, you go against The Hunters. Your whole empire would’ve been destroyed.” He massaged her shoulders.

“All this because of that Nephilim . . . “ Magenta stared over her shoulder at him. Two dark makeup circles surrounded her eyes, along with multiple black trails staining her cheeks. “Wish you never found her.”

“Don’t blame the little girl.” He leaned on her back, wrapping his arms around her. “We need to move on. Remember our main mission.”

“Stay away from me.” She pushed him away, her empty eyes shooting a glare. “I want to be alone.”

“Alright.” Ronner stood up and started toward the door. “By the way, should we let his family know?”

“No . . . His child doesn’t need to bear with that pain at such a young age. It’s better this way, just the way he wanted it.” She bit her lower lip and scowled at Ronner. “Now, go!”

Ronner rolled his eyes and closed the door behind him.

Magenta remained still for long minutes, contemplating the silence of her mind. However, her pride pushed her to sit up and lift her gaze. The Lady couldn’t allow herself to become such a pathetic creature. Not yet.

She stood and locked the door, making sure Ronner was gone, and then grabbed her cell phone from her nightstand. Magenta still remembered his number and quickly dialed it with trembling fingers.

. . .

As soon as he picked up, The Lady knew it was the right thing to do.

“Who is it? I don’t recognize your number,” the nurse’s boyfriend questioned nervously.

“I’ll be short and concise, so listen carefully,” Magenta said, clenching her fists. “Lacacia forest. You’ll find a small cabin at the top of a hill. I’ll send you the location and the code numbers to unlock the doors.”

Adrian made a pause as if trying to process her words. “Is this Magenta?” He swallowed. “Why are you doing this?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions and listen.” She scoffed. “I’ll get rid of the men guarding the cabin, so hurry up and get your girlfriend outta there before 4 a.m. Otherwise, you’re a dead man.”

“I-Uh . . . “ he stammered. “Understood.”

“One last thing.” Magenta leaned her ear on the door to ensure Ronner wasn’t around and returned to her phone. “If you manage to escape, there’s only one place for you to go.”

“Is this . . . the place I think?”

“Yes.” Magenta gritted her teeth, feeling fury and sorrow burning her insides while tears trailed down her cheeks. “I swear on Marcus that . . . I will finish what he started.”

*°*°*

Remnya

Remnya stayed in her room for the rest of the night, clueless about the events unfolding outside. She had heard a big explosion, but Gorth assured her everything was under control and guarded her door until she fell asleep.

In the morning, Remnya headed to the dining hall for breakfast. A gelid silence lingered in the mansion. Speaking to Maria, she found out Magenta had left early along with Ronner. The maid seemed distracted, her eyes swollen, and her smile faker than usual. But faithful to her personality, she said everything was alright.

Remnya thought about meeting Zeo, but she was still mad at him. Nothing had happened last night; he had lied to her. But what troubled her the most was not knowing why. Zeo had never done anything like that before.

Instead of confronting him, she preferred to wait until her anger faded.

Magenta returned in the afternoon. Remnya was sitting on the branch of a Blackwood tree in the garden, a book lying on her lap. She noticed the lady strutting toward her.

“Get ready, we’re going out,” Magenta said, standing beneath her. The lady was wearing all black from dress to heels, a rare color for someone like her.

Remnya widened her eyes. Magenta had never come personally to tell her such things. “Where are we going?” Remnya asked, spotting eye bags under her sunglasses.

“Shopping in the city. Pick some nice clothes. I’ll come for you in twenty minutes.” Magenta’s voice was thin and lifeless. She regarded her with a weak smile and then rushed to return inside.

Her strange behavior triggered a lot of questions, but Remnya brushed them off. Going out with Magenta was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She darted to her room and did as the lady said, picking the best clothes she could find.

Magenta came for her as promised. She walked into her room without saying a single word. Remnya observed her with confused eyes. The lady paced over by her bed, brushing the sheets with her fingers, and peeped through the window. Magenta closed the curtains and turned the lights off before facing Remnya with a fragile demeanor.

“Anything wrong, Magenta?” Remnya asked.

“No, my dear.” The lady reached out for her hand and smiled. “Let’s go?”

Remnya grabbed her hand. It was tense, and her fingers were as cold as her rings.

They walked to the entrance hall. Magenta gestured at Maria, who was waiting for them by the door. The maid nodded and bolted away with a pale face. Remnya blinked. Were they playing a game where she was the only one unaware of the rules?

A limousine stopped in front of them. A smile drew across Remnya’s face when she thought the driver was Marcus, but it quickly faded when she saw Gorth instead. As they got in the car, Magenta whispered something in his ear, and finally, they drove away.

The farther the mansion disappeared behind them, the more nervous Magenta looked. She was sweating and taking deep breaths. The car accelerated through the narrow streets of the neighborhood until it reached the crowded part of the city. Magenta closed her eyes and leaned on her window. Remnya glanced at her, hardly recognizing her without that imposing aura she admired so much.

A loud whistle resounded in Remnya’s ears.

The driver’s windows blew up into a shower of sharp crystals.

Magenta screamed when a bath of blood splattered across the interior of the car.

Remnya witnessed how Gorth fell onto the passenger seat with a smoking hole in his head. Her whole body froze as she saw her arms and dress covered in red.

Quickly, Magenta took off her seatbelt and stretched her body, trying to reach for the steering wheel. She got ahold of it but couldn’t reach the brakes in time.

A truck flashed before their eyes.

Remnya stretched her arms, trying to grab Magenta’s body, and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact.

The windshield exploded.

Their car crashed into a truck parked on the side of the avenue. The impact shot glass needles toward them like bullets.

A loud silence whistled in Remnya’s ears as everything came to a halt, followed by the beats of her heart.

She opened her eyes. The front of the car was buried under tangled metal, but the seatbelt had held her tightly in her seat, along with the airbags. However, Magenta lay unconscious in her arms. Remnya trembled, refusing to believe her eyes. She didn’t understand how, but she had caught Magenta, avoiding her body from being catapulted against the windshield.

Remnya pushed the door open with all her strength, bending the steel surrounding her with ease. Even though glass debris had hit her face, none of it hurt her skin. Remnya staggered out of the car and took a moment to breathe. She returned for Magenta and helped her to lie in the backseat. Relief eased her mind when she realized the lady was alive though unconscious. Remnya ran to the driver’s seat, and the sight horrified her.

Gorth’s body was barely recognizable under the twisted, sharp metal.

She crouched and held her head in her hands. “No, no, no,” she murmured.

People began surrounding the scene, and a familiar voice was heard in the distance.

“Out of the way, idiots!” Ronner roared, pushing people out of his way. A policeman tried to stop him, but he smashed his head against the sidewalk. He ran to Remnya and hugged her.

“It’s okay, my girl. Everything will be fine.”

“Ronner! Please help them!” she shrieked, gripping him.

“The ambulance is on its way. Don’t worry.” Ronner checked on Magenta and then pulled Remnya away with him. He took her to his parked car a few meters away from the scene. “You need to calm down, please. Are you hurt?”

“Nothing happened to me.” Remnya covered her face. Besides the glass debris in her hair and blood staining her dress, she was unharmed.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here. I’ll save them.” Ronner squeezed her body. “Now, please. Get in my car and wait there. I need to talk to the doctors.”

Remnya bobbed her head and curled up in the backseat. Her heart kicked against her ribs as she panted and covered her ears. The wail of sirens was unbearable.

The minutes felt like hours until Ronner returned.

“They took her,” Ronner said, opening the backdoor. “The doctors say she will be alright. I don’t know how you did it, but you saved her life, Remnya.”

“What?” Remnya uncovered her ears, widening her eyes.

“It seems like you stopped Magenta when she got launched from her seat. I saw the marks of fingers on her arms and torso.”

“No way . . . “ Remnya mumbled, staring at her hands.

“Yeah. If you hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t be alive now.” Ronner smiled, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Remnya took a deep breath and locked her eyes on him. “What about Gorth?”

He ruffled her hair and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry, Rem.”

Before tears could form in her eyes, Remnya felt a powerful impact on her head. Her whole body weakened.

Her mind became blank, and her eyes closed as she dropped into the backseat, unconscious.

“I’m sorry, my girl.” Ronner caressed her face, stepped out of the car, and locked the doors.

Viper walked among the crowd, staring at Ronner with lifeless eyes. He stopped in front of him.

Ronner handed him the keys to his car. “All yours.”

“What will happen to your woman now?” Viper asked in a monotonous voice.

“I’ll take care of Magenta.” Ronner glanced at the ambulance and sighed. “Can’t believe she tried to take our girl away.”

“Is it because of the butler?”

“Yeah . . . but he had to go. Sorry for blaming it all on you two, though.” Ronner chuckled as he slapped Viper’s shoulder. “Magenta would’ve thrown a tantrum if she found out I ordered his death.”

Viper bobbed his head with a stone face. “I’ll take my leave now.”

“Take care of my girl.” He smirked. “She’s still a soft flower.”

“Understood.” Viper opened the car door.

“Oh, by the way.” Ronner winked at him. “Nice shot! You blew out his fucking brains.”

Viper returned a stare that could freeze a soul. He nodded and drove away with Remnya.

*°*°*