Chapter 13

The hotel was not as busy as Alice thought it would be. As she walked up toward the entrance, she noticed a suitcase standing unattended. The owner was having an intense conversation over the phone and was looking into the distance. Alice monitored her surroundings. As she noticed no one was paying attention to it or her, she made use of the chance and walked toward the suitcase and casually dragged it away. Inside the hotel she spotted the bathroom and limped towards it, ignoring the stares she received. As she entered the bathroom she walked into a stall and closed the door behind her. She closed the lid of the toilet and placed the suitcase on top

“Oh, thank goodness. Some little bit of luck,” she said when she saw women's clothes inside.

Alice quickly changed. She hid her hair underneath a sunhat and put the glasses she found in the suitcase on. She left the suite case inside the stall and walked out.

“Good day, how can I help you?” The lady at the reception asked

“Hello, I booked a room. Alice Bernardi.”

The lady glanced over at Alice then looked back to her screen and started typing.

“Here is your key card Miss. You are in room 205. We hope you enjoy your stay with us.”

“Thanks,” She grabbed the card from the counter and limped toward the elevator.

As Alice limped out of the elevator she looked down at the key card and followed the numbers on the doors. She looked at room 203 and moved her eyes to room 205. A man dressed in black stood in front of room 205, standing with his back against the door monitoring his surroundings. If Alice wanted to get access to her room, she had to go through him and by the looks of him, she would fail miserably because of the state she was currently in. Alice glanced at him then looked back to the numbers on the door pretending she was still searching for her room. She walked past him while she gritted her teeth to bare the burning pain that ran up her leg with each step she took. Praying with each passing minute that the blood would not soak through to her jean or shirt.

She noticed a trolley with cleaning supplies standing outside a room. Alice had noticed the cleaning lady had just walked into the room, probably to check the room before she moved the trolley inside. She looked over her shoulder and noticed the man looking in the opposite direction. She looked back to the trolley and spotted a bunch of room cards on it. As she walked past, she grabbed one and switched it with her room card. Alice looked down at the number on the card and spotted the door a few meters down the corridor. As she reached the room, she slides the card in, and it opened automatically. She limped in and closed the door behind her. Alice walked toward the bed and threw the hat and the glasses on it.

Inside the bathroom, she stripped down to her underwear and limped toward the sink. Alice looked down at the wounds on her shoulders and leg. The bandages were soaked through. She searched through the cabinets and found a first-aid kit. “Oh, thank goodness,” She gritted her teeth as she took off the bandages. Alice traced her finger over the stitches, looking at both sides of her shoulders, and noticed both had been stitched up. She looked down at her leg seeing the same as well.

One thought ran through her mind, ‘Why would that man save me just to stitch me up and kill me again?’

Inside the shower, Alice closed her eyes as she felt the water run over her face down her body. Letting the warm water turn her skin red.

‘What do I believe? What do I make out of this? This world holds no truth. Humanity has proven repeatedly that it can’t be trusted. Every new wound I get, whether it is physical or mental rips away the last piece of goodness I have left in me.’ Alice clenched her fist. ‘I will make every last one of you pay!’

She climbed out and dried her body leaving the once-white towel red. Alice bandaged her wounds and dressed in the same clothes. She looked at herself in the mirror. The person staring back at her looked depleted. Who was this person? Every time she looked at herself, a stranger stared back at her. Her eyes held no life in them, only an empty shell stared back. She felt sorry for the girl in the mirror. Why can’t this person just get a break? Why does this world hate her so much that it not only tramples on her but pulls her apart?

“You are in one shit of a situation,” she said to the person in the mirror.

She walked out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Alice picked up her phone and called Khan,

The phone rang a few times.

“Alice?” Khan answered in a worried tone.

“Khan, I am at The Diamond hotel. Someone almost killed me.”

“Yeah, I know, I just got word. Hang tight I will send someone over.”

“Do you know who it is Khan?” Alice asked.

“Yes, But I think you already know.”

Alice kept silent for a moment.

“Adriano? Is this his way of testing me?”

“You know he does things differently Alice, but I think he wants you dead. The shareholders of the LLC corporation were in an uproar when you did not appear. They said you are breaching the contract. I calmed them by saying you would be at tomorrow's meeting.”

“Khan, I got shot in both shoulders and my leg.”

“How did that happen, Alice?”

“I did not expect the last guy in the car. I- I was distracted,”

“You better get your head in the right place. Look where it brought you. You almost died.”

“Yes, I know. How the hell am I going to attend the meeting like this?”

“Don’t worry I will think of something,” Khan said

“Thank you. I am in room number 216. A man was waiting on the outside of the room I booked, so I had to improvise.”

“Okay, just wait our people are on their way.”

“Okay, thanks.”