No One’s Pov

Vivien’s head throbbed with a dull ache, and her limbs felt like jelly. She tried to rub her eyes, but a sound of metal clink stopped her mid way. Her breath hitched as she looked down.

Her wrists and ankles were shackled with heavy chains to the frame of a bed.

The room was dim. And beneath her was bit rough bed. As her vision finally cleared, she realized she wasn’t alone. A figure sat in a chair just a few feet away, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, watching her with patience and excitement.

"Oh man... not you again," she groaned, her voice raspy.

"Aww, aren’t you happy to see me again, Vivien?" Elias asked. Even in the dark, she could see the pale skin of his. He looked scary.

"I would’ve been much happier if I were looking at your cold corpse, honestly," she snapped, her eyes narrowing.

She tugged at the chains, the metal made a rattle sound. Even Dante, in all his obsessive madness, hadn’t resorted to literal shackles yet.

"Seriously? Are you really that scared of me that you had to tie my hands and feet? Don’t tell me I gave you some trauma while ’killing you," she mocked.

The smirk on Elias’s face didn’t just fade, it turned into something darker. He stood up, the chair scraping against the floor, and stepped into the small light.

"Don’t forget you’re under me now. You’re in my hands, Vivien," he said, leaning down until his face was inches from hers. "And I definitely know you’re not Viella... so be wise with your words."

"So you think Viella can kill you, but Vivien can’t? Ahahaha, that’s funny!" Vivien’s laugh echoed against the damp walls. The chains rattled as she leaned forward, her eyes dancing with mocking light. "I hope your heart is beating fine now. I’d hate for it to have a leaky hole in it."

She gave him a knowing wink.

The air in the room instantly turned cold. Elias didn’t hesitate, his hand shot out, his fingers clamping around her jaw with force, tilting her head back until she was staring right at him.

"You know what I love more than your voice?" he hissed, his face inches from hers. "When you’re silent."

Vivien’s smirk didn’t fade. Even with her jaw aching, she managed to let out a muffled, "Aww, did I hurt your little ego?"

That was the breaking point. Elias snapped. He lunged forward with a violent kiss, his teeth biting down hard on her lower lip.

Vivien hissed in pain, the metallic taste of blood immediately filling her mouth.

But she wasn’t some damsel from a Victorian novel. Instead of pulling away, she surged forward and bit back, sinking her teeth into his lip with every ounce of spite she possessed.

Elias let out a muffled roar of pain and stumbled back, his hand flying to his mouth. Blood started gushing out, staining his fingers.

He stared at her, half in shock and half in a dark twisted admiration.

"You’re such a feisty thing..." Elias said, his voice dropping into a growl as he wiped the blood from his chin. "I will love breaking you."

Vivien didn’t flinch. She just looked down at the dark red splatters now ruining her white beautiful gown and rolled her eyes.

"Tsk, tsk. You dirtied my expensive gown with your filthy blood," she huffed, leaning back against the cold headboard. "Do you have any idea how much Dante paid for this?

Elias looked like he was about to blow a fuse. His jaw tightened but instead of snapping back, he just turned on his shoe and stormed out.

The heavy iron door slammed shut with a thud, followed by the sound of lock.

"Finally," Vivien exhaled, her shoulders sagging as the adrenaline started to fade away. "Damn, I really thought I was about to meet the ’The End’ credits right there."

She took a moment to actually observe her surroundings. The room was a concrete tomb. No windows, no clock, just a flickering light.

There was a basic washroom in the corner and, oddly enough, an old vanity table with a cracked mirror- likely left over from whatever this place used to be.

Her gaze fell to the chains on her wrists. The fresh bruise was already forming, and the constant clink-clink was starting to get on her nerves.

"Tsk, tsk... I really, really want to break these," she muttered, her annoyance peaking. She was tired, she was hungry, and she was still in a wedding dress that now looked like a mess.

What an irritated sight, she actually liked the wedding dress.

With a pure rage, she planted her feet and

yanked her arms apart with everything she had.

CRACKLE.

SNAP.

The sound echoed through the tiny room. Vivien froze, her eyes going wide as she felt the tension vanish. She looked down at her lap. The heavy iron links literally broke just like that!

"..."

"..."

She stared at the broken metal, then at her own hands, then back at the chains. She flexed her fingers, feeling a weird power buzzing under her skin.

"Was I this strong the whole time?" she whispered, looking completely dumbfounded.

She tested the chains on her ankles.

Snap.

They gave way like they were made of plastic.

"Bro!" she hissed to the empty room, a mix of shock and newfound confidence washing over her. "If it wasn’t for the drugs at the mansion, I could have taken down Dante! Heck, I could’ve stole his favorite Ferrari and runaways! Dang it!"

Vivien stood up, the weight of the chains no longer holding her back, and looked down at the skirt.

"Yeah, this has to go," she muttered.

She grabbed the hem of her dress and using her strength..

She tore the skirt up to her knees that allowed her legs to move freely. It didn’t even look bad.

As she stepped out dress, her eyes fell on the broken mirror. Suddenly the image of Alina’s pale, lifeless body in her own wedding dress flashed through her mind.

A shudder ran down Vivien’s spine. Alina had ended up being a corpse In her wedding gown..now she herself also don’t wanna end up like her.

"I am not ending up like her," Vivien vowed. She knew Elias didn’t have the original dagger, but she wasn’t naive. Elias is the aurthor of this book. Afterall, he could turn a pen, a glass, or even his bare hands into a weapon if he wanted.

She shook her head, clearing the fear, and looked around the room for anything she could use. A plan began to take shape in her mind.

Taking a deep breath to steady her shaking hands, she turned toward the vanity and punched the mirror with everything she had.

The glass shattered with a crash. Pain flared through her knuckles, and blood began to drip onto the floor, but she didn’t care. She reached into the frame and pulled out a long shard of glass.

She moved silently to the blind spot behind the door, gripping the glass that made her palm bled.

The sound of the breakage did exactly what she hoped. The iron door opened. Three guards stormed in, weapons raised, looking toward the bed where they expected to find a chained girl.

Vivien didn’t waste a single second.

She surged out from behind the door. she grabbed the first man by the back of his hair and pulled his head back. With a snap of her wrist, she drove the glass shard across his neck. He didn’t even have time to gasp before he slumped.

The other two spun around, eyes wide with shock, but Vivien was already a bathed with blood. She stormed toward the next man, her eyes cold.

Vivien wasted no time, lunging for the second guard’s neck with the jagged glass, but he was faster than the first. He caught her wrists in a tight grip, pinning her against the cold stone wall. "You little-"

He didn’t get to finish. Vivien’s survival instinct and that surging strength took over. She drove her knee upward with force and, as he doubled over, she twisted her arm free and drove the glass shard deep into his temple. He collapsed, his weight nearly pulling her down with him.

The other man had already informed Elias.

Their eyes met. He pulled out his gun and warned her

"Hands up before I shoot you to death " he pointed the gun directly at her forehead.

"Pfft as if I will die" she laughed.

A cold sweat broke behind his back. This woman was crazy like his boss.

She stalked walking towards him.

He tightened his grip around the gun. " I am telling you! I will shoot you"

"Do it~" with that she stormed towards him twisted his arm and jumping over his shoulder wrapper her hands around him and threw him.

Her martial art helped her a bit.

Without giving him any longer time she stabbed trough his skull.

She stood over the bodies, gasping for air, and wiped the warm blood from her face with the back of her hand. Her white dress was now soaked in blood.

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound interrupted her. The alarm.

"Dang it," she muttered. She grabbed a handgun from the guard’s belt, checked the magazine, and sprinted out into the hallway.

She ducked behind a massive pillar as she reached a open loading bay. The place was crawling with guards, they were walking towards the room..

Vivien instantly run towards the opposite side but she noticed more guards were there.

Feeling hopeless she hide behind a desk for now.

Then, a voice enchoeded the hallways, coming towards her? sending a shiver down her spine.

"Oh, Vivien~ where are you~?"

Elias stepped into the light. He was dragging a metal baseball bat across the floor, the screech of metal on concrete setting her teeth on edge.

A dark manic smirk was plastered on his face.

"Baby~ don’t make me chase you. Come out willingly~" He swung the bat casually. "Or else-"

SMASH!

He brought the bat down on a nearby vase, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"This psycho bitch," Vivien muttered, her heart pounding fast.

She looked around. Indeed she was surrounded by his guards everywhere and the trace of blood was enough for them to track her down.

Now she had only one way which was to face him.

"Oh baby~ you know I don’t love to wait~"

Once again his voice came. It was now getting closer and closer.

Vivien closed her eyes and took few breath...there’s no way around now. She has to face him.

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TO BE CONTINUED