back to you | paul atreides

four

TW // Blood and fighting

"Guards!" I yelled in a panic.

I wanted to dive for Lady Jessica, but the man who I thought was a caretaker was hovering over her body, not allowing me to grab her.

Despite having trained my entire life in combat and reflexes, in that moment it felt like I had to learn how to walk again. I wanted to run, move, do anything, but my body stayed frozen in place.

The man took off running toward the castle, clearly not seeing me as a threat. His movement shook me out of my panic and I chased after him.

To his credit, knocking out the Bene Gesserit was a smart move. Without her, we had to resort to combat the fashioned way. I felt guilt pulling at my chest having left her there, so I crossed my fingers that she would be okay. I knew though that I'd feel ever more guilty if I had let the man get away.

I turned a corner and spotted the intruder frantically poking his head in every room. I realized he held a knife in his hand and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I was defenceless and had no access to a shield.

Before I could act, one of the guards came running by with his gun. This caught this intruder's attention.

"To the safe room!" The guard yelled. It took me a minute to realize he was yelling at me.

"Miss Ophelia!" He bellowed in my direction. "Safe room!"

He raised his gun and aimed it at the man, but just as he was pulling the trigger a knife flew into his eye.

I let out a noise, watching the guard fall over himself. Blood gushed from his eye and spilled onto the floor. The sight brought a sick sensation to my stomach.

The man walked over and pulled his knife out of the guard's head, wiping his blood on his trousers.

I still had yet to move. The man looked up and caught me eye.

"Flowers. To think you thought I liked flowers." He laughed and spat on that dead guard. "Lead me to the safe room."

It was like someone had flicked a switch. I took off running in the opposite direction but I could hear him right on my trail. I wasn't going to lead him to the safe room, not when that's where everyone would be hiding.

"Lia?"

I couldn't contain my giggles but Paul was far enough away that he couldn't hear me. He was making his way around my bedroom cautiously, knowing I would most likely try to jump out and scared him.

He leaned over to check under my bed but I knew he wouldn't find me there. I was tucked at the back of my closet, the door opened just an inch so I could see out.

"I know you're in here." Paul teased. "Come out so I can tickle you!"

I tried to hold my hand over my mouth to stifle the noise but my laughs were too loud to go unnoticed. He opened the closet door and slipped out onto the floor.

My laughing intensified as he attacked me from above. His hands were attacking me everywhere. He was tickling me under my arms, my sides, my neck, and worst of all my feet.

Turning a corner, I noticed one of the pillars that Paul always used to hide behind as a child. It was a bad spot to be, but It still managed to conceal you from someone walking by.

I quickly slid into place and held my hand over my mouth. I was panting from running but I couldn't let him hear me. I thought for a minute that maybe I'd be safe here.

I felt something whizz past my ear and jumped as a knife landed in the wall next to my head. I felt a sting at the side of my ear, and brought my hand up to touch it. When I pulled my arm back my hand was red.

The man growled in frustration behind me and I let out a scream as he tackled me to the ground.

The air left my lungs as my chest hit the ground. Gasping for air, I watched as the intruder scrambled to grab his knife from where it stuck, but I reacted quickly by grabbing hold of his ankle.

He tumbled forward, not expecting to be held back. I pushed myself off the floor and lunged for his knife but he grabbed my arm. I reacted by twisting my arm from his hand and bringing my knee up to his chest. He folded over in pain and I kicked him backwards.

I yanked his knife from the wall and was ready to make a run for it but was held back by a yank to my shoulder. The force spun me to face the man again.

My eyes widened and I raised my arm overhead in an attempt to strike, but my reflexes weren't fast enough. He held my arm right before the blade could touch his face, spun me around and pinned my arm back.

I let out a yelp from the pain and released my grip on the knife which allowed him to take it from my hand. He pressed my arm into my back even harder, as if playing with me.

"Should I dislocate your shoulder?" He teased, his breath hitting my cheek. I cringed. "Or would you rather show me where the Duke is hiding?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I growled in frustration as I tried to yank my arms free but to no avail. I brought one of my legs up and kicked back at his knee.

He grunted a little but didn't budge. Instead he was fast to bring the knife to my throat and pressed the blade to my skin.

"One wrong move and I slit your throat." He growled in my ear. 

I remained frozen in place, not wanting to move against the blade. 

Suddenly, I jumped at the sound of him screaming into my ear in what I thought was pain. The blade dug into my throat harder as he arched his back, but his grip on me loosened enough for me to slip away.

I stumbled forward to the ground, bringing my hand to the skin of my throat which stung. I managed a look back to see Paul pulling a knife from the intruder's back. The man dropped to his knees and Paul stabbed him one more time in the side.

I had yet to process what I just witnessed when Paul ran to my side. He knelt down beside me, his eyes wide in a panic.

I released my hands from my neck to see blood. Lots of blood. 

"Lia," He spoke with a tone of warning, although to no one in particular. "Your neck, it's... Lia!"

His eyes moved quickly, looking me up and down several times, clearly unsure of what to do. I was happy to know it wasn't just me who suddenly forgot everything they've ever learned despite a lifetime of training. I let out a laugh, but it came out as a strangled cough.

"Did he...? Your throat was slit." Paul was shaking his head, holding his hands in front of him as if he wasn't sure what to do with them. I could feel my body getting weak and I let my torso drop to the floor. 

My vision was becoming less and less, but from the corner of my eye I watched as Paul frantically pull his shirt over his head and ripped it in half with his teeth. He folded it over and pressed it to my neck.

"Lia!" He screamed into my ear. I opened my mouth to tell him to shut up, but nothing came out.

I was flushed with an overwhelming urge to sleep. It felt as if I was had been awake for 24 hours straight and I was finally allowed to shut my eyes.

My eyes fluttered, unsure whether to stay open or close. My body finally decided on sleep. The last thing I could remember before shutting my eyes was the feeling of my friend lifting me up in his arms and my head leaning into the comfort of his bare chest.

***

i keep playing with the font of the title and my description, but i think i finally found something i like. 

let me know what you guys think! i think i have an idea of where i want this story to go ;) but lmk if there is something you'd like to see (eg. relationships, character growth/personality, etc)

with love,
via <3