Assassin Thirty Two

Six: Run Rabbit Run

Ivy slowly brought the spoon to her mouth and sipped at the now cold soup. She had her eyes fixated on the guard who sat opposite of her and he watched her too. Every move of hers he monitored, from bringing the spoon to her mouth or the way she would place the water cup back into the same exact spot everytime. He was starting to get frustrated with her slow eating and Ivy could sense his discomfort as he would sit there and clench then unclench his fist.

"T-there's a hair in my food." Ivy mumbled, pointing to her plate of soup.

The guard sighed before he furrowed his eyebrows, "where?"

"Right there, see?"

He leaned forward in his seat but couldn't see any visible hair. "I don't see anything."

"See? Look, right there! Are you blind?" Ivy questioned and the guard leaned over the table, overlooking the bowl of soup.

"There's noth-" Suddenly, Ivy grabbed the back of the guard's head and smashed it down into the bowl of soup. She held his face in the soup as hard as she could. The guard began to struggle against her hold, fluttering his arms out as he tried to grab Ivy. Letting go of him, she bolted out of the room. A loud and long sentence of curse words bellowed from the room as she took a right turn out of the room and headed towards a room. There was a wall that was just a bookshelf with hundreds of bookshelves or little ornaments decorating it. She knew that the guard she tried to drown in her soup would be right behind her so trying to slow him down, Ivy shoved books off and smashed the vases on the ground. She then tipped over the coffee table, causing the glass to shatter all over the marble flooring. Heading out of the arch way, she then rounded the corner down a hall, past yet another dining room until she found some doors leading to the outdoor area. Hurriedly, she unlocked and pushed them open, giving her access to the outside world. Slowing down she suddenly stopped and took in her surroundings. There was a large pool and spa to one side with furniture on the other side. Small lights dimly illuminated the space and then beyond the balcony it was swallowed by complete darkness. Hesitant, she thought she could run into the unknowingness of the darkness or go back inside and hide.

Just as she was going to take off running again, an arm snaked around her neck and began to choke her. Clawing at it, she was overpowered and began to feel her face turn red due to the lack of oxygen. Ivy tried to kick as she struggled in his arms. "It's unsettling, isn't it? That you could easily run into darkness, away from the only sense of life for miles. I'm not trying to stop you, Princess. I'll just give you a minute to think. Now, you could come back inside with me and we'll sit down with some ice cream. I'll tell you what I have planned and, well, you only can really say yes to it. Or, you can run. Run into the dark and not look back. You could hide in the neighboring woods until the sun rises. I'll try and find you after about a day, knowing you will be exhausted and your body won't go any further with the lack of food and water. Or, knowing the circumstances of the training you've had, you will find a way to hide from me for a while, maybe three days, maybe a week. And those woods are no joke. You could get lost in there and it will still take me a week to find you. After a week, you'll be most likely dead. Either from hypothermia or from wild animals like snakes." Valentino mumbled into her ear as her struggle began to slow and weaken.

He suddenly let go of her and shoved her forward, causing her to fall on her hands and knees. Ivy gasped for air when Valentino leaned forward and tugged on her hair, pulling her into a kneeling stand. "So, go on, run my little bunny."

Ivy stared up at the moon and the grey clouds surrounding it. She had two choices to weigh up. Run now and not look back. Freedom. Independence. Loneliness. But most importantly, no answers. She could run for days but then she'd be stuck; lost. She could find a road or a sign, some evidence of life and escape but she had nothing to her, just the clothes she was wearing.

"W-What's your plan?" Ivy muttered, her eyes boring into the night. Valentino pulled on her hair, making her head fall back and her eyes meet his sadistic ones.

"What was that Princess?"

"I-I'll stay." She whispered as her eyes glassed over. There was a heavy feeling settling quickly in Ivy. Exhaustion? Sadness? Defeat. A tear left her emotionless eyes and she flinched when Valentino softly ran his thumb on her cheek to wipe it away.

"Good choice." He let go of her hair and Ivy's head dropped as she stared at the ground. Valentino began to walk back inside and Ivy had no choice but to follow him.