Black Rose

Betray me.

He was gone.

He was really gone. There was nothing stopping us from escaping.

I took a sharp breath in and rose shakily to my feet. If I was fast, I could escape. Get away and flee down the mountain, hitch a ride to the police station once I got to the highway. Blake and Gwen would be arrested. Their son would go into protective services, and he would be safe.

I would be safe. This would all be over. But I needed to leave now.

So, I ignored the pain splintering through my body and rushed up the rest of the stairs. I found myself at the far end of the open living room I had seen when I first arrived. Up there, I could hear a faint murmur coming from down a corridor, the same corridor I remember the stairs to the basement being. I hesitated, then stepped towards the hall.

Sure enough, one of the doors was open, and when I inched closer I could see that the room was filled with pale blue and white. I caught sight of a pile of stuffed animals and then the end of a low-set white and blue toddler bed. Gwen was sitting on the end of the bed, whispering to a small figure that was obviously her son. I couldn't see him because of where Gwen was sitting, but I figured she must be putting him to sleep.

She stood up and I instinctively ducked back, my heart pounding. I knew that if she saw me, I would be done for.

"Sleep well, button." I heard her whisper, then the door let out a creak and she stepped out, carefully shutting the door behind her.

I slipped into the open kitchen and ducked under the counter as I heard her pad down the hallway, away from me, towards the entrance to the basement.

I freaked out for a second, worried she was going to go down there. But instead, I heard her open another door further down the corridor, then, after a few moments, the faint sound of voices. She was watching TV.

Feeling lightheaded and weak still, I quickly climbed to my feet but almost toppled over from the pain in my chest.

I let out a quiet shaky breath and realigned myself, then started toward the front door. Trying to be as quiet as possible, tried the handle, but it didn't budge.

Locked.

I looked around, at the nearby entry table, but it was sleek and minimalist, with not a key in sight.

My heart pounding, I turned my attention to the coat closet by the door. Surely they have to be here. So I opened the door and dug through the coat pockets, trying not to pay attention to the jackets themselves.

Gucci. Prada. Armani. Balenciaga.

Jesus these coats must cost a fortune.

I glanced around myself again, as though Gwen might have materialised in the few seconds I wasn't paying attention. When I was confident she hadn't, I slipped one of the coats from its hanger and draped it over my shoulder.

Then, I paused. If the key to the front door wasn't here, maybe there was another door. A back entrance, or a door in another part of the house.

Except the only way to find that would be to go past the room Gwen was in.

I took a small breath then slowly crept across to the corridor, walking down it as quietly as I possibly could. The closer I inched toward the room Gwen was in, the more nervous I felt.

I reached the semi-open doorway and quickly took a glance around the corner inside. Through the crack of the door, I could see Gwen curled up in what looked like a movie theatre, a cooking show playing on the screen in front of her, that she was very obviously not watching. She was kneading her forehead with her thumb and forefinger, and heaving up and down.