But Maxim's head snaps back, and his body goes limp beneath Adrian. A stream of blood starts to run down the side of his face.
I can't process it. My brain won't let me.
Adrian rolls off Maxim's lifeless body and fires at the two guards, but its more quiet than any gunshots i've ever heard.
The guards drop, their bodies going limp on the floor.
The complete lack of emotion on Adrian's face as he holsters his weapon and stands is something I've never witnessed before.
Blood splatters his face and his hands, and he turns back to me, and I scramble on the floor, my entire body shaking.
This monster is going to kill me next.
He has to. I'm a witness.
But he doesn't move toward me like a killer would.
He crouches down, lowering himself to my level. His knees touch the floor, and he stays there, his hands resting on his thighs, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths.
His dark eyes lock onto mine, and they're not cold. They're not empty.
"I'm me, Elena," he says, his voice tight. "Please come. I'm here to save you."
The words hit me like a physical blow, and something inside my chest cracks wide open.
The fog from the pill starts to recede, just enough for the truth to pierce through.
This is real. He's real.
"Adrian?" I say, my voice cracking. "Really? Is it you?"
His jaw tightens, and he nods.
"It's me, Leni," he says, his voice rough and raw. "It's me. Now please. We have to go."
11
ADRIAN
"Can you stand?" I ask.
Elena blinks at me, and for a moment, she doesn't respond. It's like she's looking through me instead of at me.
"Po?i sa te ridici?" I ask again, softer and in Romanian this time.
She nods slowly, and I reach out to help her, but she shifts her weight and pushes herself up using the wall instead. Her legs tremble, and she sways slightly, but she doesn't fall.
She doesn't take my hand.
I drop my arm back to my side, my chest tight.
She's right there. Right in front of me, alive and real, but the way she's looking at me, or rather, not looking at me, doesn't sit right with me.
I glance around the room. Three bodies lay on the ground, with blood pooling across the expensive rug. Maxim's corpse is sprawled near the overturned side table, his face a ruined mess.
The silencer kept things quiet, but it's only a matter of time before someone notices.
I turn back to Elena. She's standing now, her arms wrapped around herself, her shoulders hunched inward like she's trying to hold herself together.