Madness

The wait was painful enough for our frightened cat. She observes a spike in her level of nervousness when the bodyguard leaves her behind, alone in this room with an unknow beast. She laments inside, he was like a support, like a brother. . . Out of the corner of her eye, she observes the silhouette in the half-light standing with a straight back against the balcony's railing.

he's taking his time, say so, the cigarette must be at least a meter long...? she thinks.

Not that she's looking forward to facing him. She does her best to camouflage her anxiety, holding back the faint tremor of her hands resting on her knees. Her chest is stuffy, showing difficulty breathing right. Everything is done to make her as uncomfortable as possible, obviously. It was enough, this moment of inattention, for the man to miraculously appear behind her. Suddenly, she has goosebumps. A slight shiver running down her spine. He walks steadily around the sofa to which she is practically nailed by an invisible force.

- Drink up.

He's holding, now handing her a glass filled with liquid of suspicious color. What kind of beverage...? Despite her doubts, she does not hesitate to receive the glass with both hands. Mr. Yale sits next to her at a reasonable distance. He's not a real beast then, she thinks, adding +1 points for this attitude.

Linlu takes timid sips from the glass, unable to see what Yale man is doing. She doesn't dare take a look at him, but she can guess. He is also drinking.

She can feel that burning gaze on her and contrary to what she was thinking it's not the gaze of a predator on a prey. It's more complicated than that. The male gaze isn't unfamiliar to her, of course, that is why she can discern a bit. Making assumptions here and there. The heart of a man must be complicated, not that it has multiple layers to peel off OF but by its simplicity and crudity. It's the simple wooden boat swaying on the turbulent ocean of life, of whatever it is. Her past boyfriend was a perfect example of that, she finds it a bit funny. A smirk appears on the corner of her lips unconsciously, it's self-mockery. She willingly drinks the bitter and fruit tasting alcohol until the last drop meets her tongue.

The silence is quite awkward to say the least… for Linlu.

- How is it? He asks, out of the blue on a nonchalant tone.

Taking a second to consider her answers, Linlu responds.

- It's very tasteful, I would say not bad...?

Under the dim light, she can't see the smirk that has appeared on his tired face. If she did, Linlu would realize it's the same smirk she made just a minute ago.

- She hated it, though. What a shame.

Mr Yale appears to be reminiscing about some kind of past. His tone is a bit heavy, filled with some regrets. Linlu understands that any of her answers would be wrong in this situation, so she keeps silent in the end. Obviously drinking in this silence but after a while the man opens his mouth.

- Name? his voice is rather... blunt, like yeah, seriously.

She facepalms, marinating in an awkward silence. She thought he knew in advance for a thing and second... Is she a dog? Can't he talk in full civilized sentences?!!

With a raise of her brow, she answers shortly.

- Linlu.

Giving him back his attitude. Who even wants to know His name. He simply hums in return. This Yale man reminds her of the kitten in that rabbit hole. At least the crybaby kitten could express himself decently, Linlu misses him now... Then, she hears rustling beside her. He stood up and already walked to the bed.

Her grip on the cup tightens but to her surprise, oh what a night of great wonders, he lies down like a corpse. He probably drank too much, the bottle on the small table is empty, not a single drop of liquid remaining.

Would such man dare to sleep soundly in a stranger's presence? She actually has doubts, yet his breathing slows down, his quiet exhales; soft and relaxed. Carefully she walks over and even after standing by the bed for a minute he doesn't react.

He is asleep.

She has never been very lucky that is to say... a lifetime of luckiness must've been waiting rampant solely for tonight! She strides toward the door but remembers the bodyguard right before touching the doorknob. As Linlu thinks a bit, she feels her eyelids starting to be heavy as minutes pass.

Like the textbook student she is, how can she not recognize what is happening? It's some damned sleeping medication! Tasteful alcohol my ass, what a violation! Linlu feels anger and resentment towards Sleeping-like-the-dead-Yale-man. No wonder he went to dreamland, resting as easy as a newborn.

Linlu abandons all attempts to escape, it's futile at this point. The medicine seems to be kicking in so might as well fall asleep comfortably, in her case, on the cramped sofa. She shivers slightly, a breeze seeping into her bones. Then, finally, sleep catches her. A sleep disturbed by many anxieties, as always.

---

Leslie Yale opens his eyes after roughly four hours of rather light sleep. This is the maximum rest he manages to find with the aid of sleeping pills. More pills would make him sleep better, he supposes, but the doctor refuses to let him fall back into the addiction he came out of. He stretches briefly, almost forgetting where he dozed off. The private club.

He notices the mass sleeping on the couch. Confused he frowns, holding up his nose bridge. He forgot the girl, Linlu's presence. As a matter of fact, he also forgot she shouldn't have drunk from his bottle, the amount of medication surely knocked her out for the next 12hours. What a mess.

He tucks his shirt back into his pants in a steady movement. The shadow of fatigue hangs over face like the scythe of death, his droopy eyes just increasing that impression of extreme fatigue. Let's not even mention the eternal dark eyebags. He himself is a mess, a usual mess.

Leslie is not really a good customer for the club. In the sense that he holds the title of "His awful highness" for what is: always an incident where the women he calls for storm out of the room after only an hour or two. The details, only insiders know that he just lets people leave freely. The club has warned him not to let his guard down as such, but Leslie is pretty stubborn, their lecture would enter his right ear just to leave by the left ear on the spot. It is no wonder he got a little surprised seeing Linlu asleep, still here. He has no plans to stay here, he doesn't feel much sympathy either for the miserable people here.

His bodyguard enters the room at his notice.

- Wait an hour before sending her back.

The bodyguard instead of simply nodding actually speaks up.

- Yes, sir please wait 5 minutes for the 2nd guard to arrive.

Leslie shows irritation.

- Im not going to die in the span of 5 minutes, Helser should be glad I even allow bodyguards. He scolds pulling his smartphone out, his words are not directed at the man watching him.

Following that, he strides out without care for what the bodyguard has said, ignoring his alarmed expression.

As for who Helser is, it's Leslie's friend of long date who has become his therapist some 3 years ago.

Leslie makes a call, this one directly connecting to the other side.

- Leslie ah, don't make the bodyguards' work harder than it is, you even signed a contract. Says a male voice on the other end.

- I'm not going to kill myself on the way to my own car. he bluntly states.

When such crude words come out of his mouth, Helser doesn't answer for a moment. This has been a forbidden topic for a year now, the same time he forced Leslie to be accompanied by bodyguards.

Its only when he hears a door slam that Helser comes back to Earth.

- Sorry. Whatever, the 2nd dog is on my tail now. Leslie says, glancing in the rearview mirror at the reflection of a second quiet car.

He's not sitting in the driver's seat, might as well make the bodyguards useful for a point.

Before Helser has time to answer, Leslie quickly cuts the chase.

- Bad sleep irritates me.

- You know -

Leslie hangs up, not letting this guy spell the declaration of independence's equivalent in the field of Psychology. His ears would bleed for hours.

The car dash panels indicate 5:23 am.

---

Felix, the bodyguard, is left with the heavy burden of having to wake up a dead dog. After some considerations, it's not so bad? This changes from the monotonous routine with Mr. Yale. That distinguished man always makes trouble what's more. How annoying.

An hour passes in the blink of an eye. Linlu barely moved, truly in another realm of reality. Felix shakes her vigorously for a solid minute but to no avail. His patience is running out, he's no gentleman.

- What even... He grunts.

Well, what are his options? Might as well test out anything. A cold shower will do, he says after some thinking. He drags her body into the bathroom attached to the huge room.

Chilling water spurts out from the shower head submerging Linlu not only underwater but also in the deepest confusion. She was roused from her peaceful sleep in such brutal way. Her breath was caught in her throat. Barely conscious, she struggles but two iron-like hands grip her neck and arm. The water makes its way in her nose, her mouth, she can barely breathe. Breathe is quite the big word when Linlu's currently choking.

Finally, she feels the pressure release, her upper body being yanked from behind. The hard floor greets her ass beautifully. She grunts in pain, what beast decided to make her his toy, she swears. For a second she thought it would be Yale man but turns her it's his damned bodyguard. She shouldn't have expected less from the people here. She retreats in a corner at the sight of him, like a wounded beast stubbornly holding on. Yet, Felix is ​​not planning on making any more moves. His main worry was to wake her up, now it's done, he can go home or back to Mr. Yale's side. With a shrug of his shoulders, he leaves.

Linlu is panting, still frozen in the same position. Her hair is dripping wet and so are her pitiful clothes. Her heart is also beating wildly. She thought she would die, just like that, on the spot. The feeling of suffocation was overwhelming, turning her brain into mush. She puts a hand on the back of the neck, the warm sensation from that man's hand has yet to disappear making her uncomfortable, so uncomfortable she feels the urge to scratch this area. Her brain has yet to register this thought that she's already scratching her neck with all of her strength. A spark of madness flashing in her brown pupils.

- Get off me, get off me, get off ... She whispers in a trance, warm blood now mixing with the water droplets on her fingers.

It hurts yet, it doesn't hurt as much as he hurt her. The same fate awaits her forearm. Her heart is tight with anxiety, she doesn't really understand her behavior herself. She needs to... Her eyes are blankly staring at her bloody hands. Only then does she regain some composure.

The bathroom door opens, Anne appears with the same plastic smile glued to her face. She doesn't utter a single word. Likewise, Linlu's attitude is pretty cold, not allowing any presence in her own bubble. Did she even notice the newcomer's arrival?

Everything then happened quickly. Linlu can't remember the exact succession of events such as when Anne hastily took care of her wounds, or when she, herself, put on different clothes handed to her... until the moment she was thrown in that dark place once again.