THIRD PERSON

It has been six hours since she stayed in the Ancestral Mansion. And now she was sprinting down the third-floor corridor, trying to figure out if she was in a haunted house or a survival game. Sending a defenseless woman to a den of wolves, she didn't know Salvatore's Family was full of lunatics!

"Welcome to the secure vault. You can enjoy 25 minutes of undisturbed rest and recovery here, free from external distractions." She rolled her eyes when she heard a man speak upon entering the room.

Secure vault, my fucking ass!

Bumungad kaagad sa kanya ang mahabang mesa na puno ng iba't ibang klase ng mga armas at patalim. There was another table of gauges and medicines with syringe tranquilizers. She looked around for cameras, and when she found one, she raised her middle finger before shooting it.

Binaba niya ang pang-itaas na bahagi ng dress niya upang tingnan ang natamo niyang sugat mula sa pagkakasaksak ng batang nakasama niya sa elevator kanina. She thought the child maid was not part of this thriller drama, but she was wrong. She stabbed her without batting an eye.

She should have known that age doesn't matter in this house. Everyone was trained to kill.

"This should do it." She whispered after she finished bandaging her wound. Her white dress was splattered with her blood, while her face and neck were drenched by her sweat and her enemies' blood.

"Just how many brides got killed because of this ridiculous family initiation?" Hindi niya maiwasang tanong sa sarili.

She thought Kage was different. Losing a woman's innocent life just to prove she's worthy of being a Salvatore is absurd. Isn't it enough for a woman to accept them as who they are? Can't they just abolish a stupid rule?

When marrying into this family, your first bleed won't be on the bed but on this house. How funny!

"You only have five minutes remaining from external disturbances." The unknown man announced.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed a few sedatives on the table. During those hours of trying to survive, she tried her best not to kill anyone despite them trying to shoot and strangle her to death. She only wounded them enough to stay unmoving until she made it out alive.

Paglabas niya ng pinto ng kwarto ay kaagad siyang nagtungo sa hagdan papuntang 4th floor ng mansyon. Taking an elevator would be easy, but she learned her lesson. There could be someone waiting for her to give her an advance meet and greet in hell.

"Oh?" She halted on her feet when she reached the end of the corridor where the stair was located. Kunot noo siyang lumingon sa madilim na corridor na dinaanan niya.

"Am I missing some steps?" Wala sa sarili niyang bulong sa sarili. Sa tuwing nilalakad niya ang corridor ay nakagawian niyang bilangin kung nakailang hakbang siya.

The first and second-floor corridors were 201 steps, and the third floor is only 191.

"Saan napunta yung ten steps?" Akmang babalik na siya sa dinaanan niya nang magkaroon na naman ng pulang ilaw sa paligid, senyales na tapos na ang oras ng pagpapahinga niya.

Suminghal siya bago ikasa ang baril na hawak. Maingat itong umakyat ng hagdan papuntang fourth floor. Sa mga pagkakataong ito ay pinagdasal niya na lang na sana wala siyang makasalubong sa hagdan, pero tila ba si Satanas ata ang nakarinig ng pagdasal niya dahil nakakailang hakbang pa lang siya ay may nakasalubong siyang lalaki na may hawak na palakol.

"Look what we have here, a little rat sneaking in the darkness." He waved the stainless axe he was holding. "You know what I'm famous for in this house? I am famous for dismembering every woman's body that entered this trial." He introduced himself proudly.

Is that something he should be proud of?

"Let's see, your neck is pretty. I'll give you a quick death. What do you say?" She smirked and raised the dagger to the level of his face.

"Killing me won't be that easy." Sa pagkakataong ito ay ang binatang kaharap naman ang napangisi. Oh? I've never seen a bride with such confidence before. He'd love to see those domineering eyes begging and crying for her dear life.

But those thoughts immediately vanished when she swiftly shifted her position and disarmed him. Pinanood niya na lang na mahulog ang palakol na hawak niya hanggang marinig niya ang matinis na ingay mula sa pagkahulog nito.

When did she-?

"I stood in front of you as one of those brides who sacrificed their lives to be one with this entire family of retarded fuckers!" Walang inhibisyon niya itong sinipa sa ngalangala bago hablutin ang kwelyo upang panlisikan ng mata.

Samantalang bahagya namang tumaas ang sulok ng labi ni Kage na siyang prenteng nanonood ng mga kaganapan sa Ancestral Mansion. Nakaupo lang siya sa madilim niyang opisina habang sumisimsim ng alak.

"Retarded fuckers? That's one way to describe us." Aliw na aliw na wika ni Himeros habang nakatitig sa kung gaano katapang tingnan ang babaeng nasa screen.

Himeros Pavlos, one of the three caporegimes of Salvatore, the Head of Russia.

"Say, where did you find this feisty wife of yours, consigliere?" A man with wolf-cut hair mused. His name was Ezio Casimiro, the Head of Spain.

"Did you train her? If you did, you're breaking the rule." Seryosong wika ni Bullet habang pinaglalandas ang daliri nito sa ibabang bahagi ng labi niya.

Bullet Turner is also a caporegime-the Head of London.

"See that fierce face?" Napatingin ang mga ito sa screen kung saan kitang-kita ang paniningkit ng mata ni Sachal.

"Which part of their body did you cut, huh? An arm? A leg? A finger? I'll return it to you tenfold!" They heard her say. She was holding the same steeled axe he owned. Her eyes were piercing as she spoke.

"Answer me!"

Kage couldn't help but to grin."That same face will beat the shit out of me the moment she escapes the mansion." Although he was prepared to take the beating of his wife, he could only imagine how angry she was. Hindi niya alam kung ano ang iniisip nito sa kanya.

Hindi na nag-abala pang magbigay ng komento ang mga ito. The consigliere they know isn't the type to be spoiling women. But looking at him now, he changed. The once aloof and cold lawyer who only knows how to threaten people knows how to smile now.

The Mistress of the Salvatore Family, the last three generations have no official mistress because none survived the Ancestral Mansion. They all died, proving their worth.

But will this woman be any different? Well, seeing her shooting CCTV cameras now and then was quite entertaining. She knows a thing or two about guns.

"You proud bitch!" The man in the screen pushed her down, dahilan upang magpagulong-gulong ang mga ito pababa ng hagdan.

"I usually cut their body parts when they're dead, but I'll make an exception for you. I'd love to see your pretty face suffering in pain!" Mabilis itong kumilos upang damputin ang palakol na nakalapag sa sahig. Sachal stood up and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You sadistic bastard! I will also make an exception to kill you!" She was angry, yes. She had no idea how many women lost their lives because of them. Hearing him saying those atrocities only wants her to avenge them.

"The last woman who came here. . .what was her name again?" Panunudyo ng lalaki habang naglalakad papalapit rito. "Ah, yes. Maria!" Malademonyo itong tumawa.

"She died in this same stairs. She only lasted for three hours. And guess which part of her body I dismembered first?" Pinasidhan ng tingin ng lalaki ang kamay ng dalaga kung saan nakasuot ang singsing nito.

"I cut her ring finger to remove her ties with the Don. And who knows, a vein ran directly to your heart located in the ring finger? She died!" Nandidilat mata nitong wika, animo'y tuwang-tuwa pang alalahanin ang ginawa niya.

"And another woman before her nags and screams the loudest, so I cut off her tongue. You know, a woman should be silent and pretty like a doll. Those who act all knowing are unsightly." Ang huling pisi ng pagtitimpi na meron siya ay tuluyan ng naputol dahil sa narinig.

Sachal dashed in front of him with only a dagger in hand. He attempted to punch her in the face, but she dodged it by lowering her head; she shifted her weight to the left and raised her right leg to kick him on the nape.

And before his body could stumble down, she grabbed him by the neck and pushed him near the railings of the stairs, having his upper body hanging down.

Hinihingal naman na napalinga ang lalaki habang nakatingin kung gaano kalalim ang babagsakan niya kung sakaling tuluyan siyang itulak ng dalaga. How is this woman so agile and strong? That's what he thought.

"Why are you doing this? Why must you kill the brides?" He attempted to spit on her face, but she slapped him-hard enough to make him dizzy.

"Sasagot ka o ihuhulog kitang tangina ka?" Nawawalang pasensya niyang asik dito. The man was a foreigner, and doesn't understand what she said, but hearing that firm yet aggressive accent made him understand he will fall to death if he continues to resist.

"If the bride manages to survive. . . everyone in this mansion will die." Hinigpitan niya ang pagkakasakal dito.

"What do you mean?"

"E-everyone in the mansion is a sinner-spises, traitors, and assassins that were caught and sentenced to serve the mansion." Hinihingal nitong hinawakan ang pulsuhan ng dalaga habang pinipilit na panatilihin ang ulirat niya. She really slapped him hard.

"Our only role is to become a test for the mistress of the family. We can be hunters, but also prey. We can only kill or be killed." She scoffed in disbelief.

So everyone in this mansion, including those old butler and maids-and that child committed a crime against the family? They could only survive if they killed the bride. But does that justify everything?

"How can I survive without killing anyone?" Natatawang napaangat ng tingin ang binata sa kanya. If she's this kind, she's not fit to be the Mistress.

"Killed or be killed. That's how you survive," mariin nitong turan.

"The fourth floor is your last destination, and if you managed to kill those people-then you will live. But no one has ever been there for the past generations." She's had enough of this game. Kinuha niya ang syringe na may lamang sedative sa bulsa niya bago ito itaga sa leeg ng lalaking kaharap.

She threw him down the stairs like a bag of garbage before looking at the steps up ahead. He means to say the difficulty rises every floor of the mansion, and those in the 4th floor are probably notorious killers.

Akmang aakyat na siya nang balikan niya ang lalaking tinulak niya kanina sa hagdan. Gigil niya itong sinipa sa sikmura at ginawaran muli ng mag-asawang sampal bago ibangga ang ulo sa malapit na pader.

Inayos niya ang pagkakatali ng buhok niya bago bumuga ng malalim na hininga. From the first floor to the third floor, there was blood all over the ground and the walls-but all of them were sedated. She swear to Satan she will survive this mansion without killing anyone. Dahil ang taong papatayin niya ay ang may pakana ng kalokohang ito.

Her head did a little tilt when she saw a camera ahead. "Are you enjoying?" Tinutok niya ang hawak niyang baril dito, walang pakialam kahit na magsayang siya ng bala. "If I survive this, I will divorce you," nakangisi niyang banta rito bago barilin ang camera.

Kage cursed in his mind before clasping his hands together in his crossed legs, slightly shivering from the thought that she'd actually file a divorce.

The caporegimes inside his office turned at him. His expression was firm but looks threatened, and it actually appears to be amusing.

His lips formed a loop-sided smile before looking at the other side of the camera in the fourth floor where he sees his wife confidently walking in a white bloodied dress and converse shoes.

Oh, to receive a personal threat from his wife. How sweet. Much appreciated. Very heartfelt.

𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄
ᴮʸ ᴳᵒˡᵘᶜᵏʸᶜʰᵃʳᵐ