'It seems I interrupted some major event today,' I thought as I picked up a pear and bit on it.

I had to find a hidden door inside this s.p.a.cious room. Apart from the long tables, there were rows and rows of wooden cases, in which cutlery was stacked. Drawers were full of expensive looking silverware. I wondered how the mayor could afford all this, then I remembered his affiliation to Bodrick, and my blood boiled.

Apart from the disorder on the tables, everything in the kitchen looked clean. Whoever was in charge here made sure they kept the entire place spotless. Everything was organized. Big plates were put atop the highest shelf. Smaller ones, for everyday use, were stacked closer, at reach.

There were two stoves in one corner. One of which was still lit. Fire ate the wood that was placed inside it not too long ago. I could still smell the fresh wood being consumed by the flames. Something above the stove caught my attention though.

There was this sconce that stood out in this place. It didn't add to the general aesthetics of the kitchen. There was no torch on it either. It just stood there, rusty and derelict. I walked toward it.

"What are you doing here?" a female voice called out from behind me. I didn't hear her come in.

I turned to see a buxom woman in a dirty ap.r.o.n. She was holding a kitchen knife in both hands, pointing at me. Her hands shook. Her legs refused to hold her weight. She could fall to her knees at any moment.  I remembered I was smeared in blood, then smiled at the lady. She gasped, and backed away nervously.

She was standing opposite the table with fruit plates on it. She had long auburn hair that hid the left side of her face. She had big hazel eyes that looked at me with such fright I was afraid they'd fall off their sockets. She was a kitchen wench, and a d.a.m.n beautiful one at that.

"I should ask you the same," I said, as casually as I could. "You should have left the mansion long ago."

"The mayor requires my help," the woman said.

I advanced toward her slowly, fixing her eyes with a dead gaze.

"You should have stayed home," I said.

"S-stay away from me!" she yelled.

"Or what?" I asked. "You'll stab me with that little knife of yours? You can't even stand straight."

She backed away a little further. Her back hit a shelf and she jumped. I was on her in seconds. I jumped at her, placated her against the wall, disarming her in the process. She let out a soft moan upon hitting the wall. Her voice was sweat against my ear. Her arms trembled as I held them firmly.

 "How long have you been working for the mayor?" I asked. I made sure my eye was locked into hers.

 "What's it to you?" the woman asked. I admired her courage. She gave up on struggling, but her eyes defied me quite fiercely. "You're clearly not from here," she went on. "I don't go out much, but I heard of the one eyed hunter who killed Lord Bodrick's men."

"How long have you been working for the mayor?" I asked once more, tightening my grip around her frail arms. She winced and moaned. I felt my blood boil. What was wrong with me?

This was no time to feel guilty though. I had to decide on this lovely lady's fate.

"I tell you and I die," the woman said. Her calm demeanor unsettled me.

"It depends on what you tell me after that," I said. "You might just live to see the light of day."

The woman scoffed. She looked the other way and bit on her lower lip. It was moist and very red. As she released it, her lip made a little jiggling movement before it went back to its initial form. Was she doing that on purpose? I wondered. Women were dangerous when cornered. They were even more dangerous than demons. It was time to make her know I meant business.

I took a throwing knife from my belt and pressed it against her jugular.

"Do you wish to die here?" I asked. "In a kitchen? Away from your loved ones?"

"I have no loved ones," the woman said. She was lying. Her breath had quickened. Her chest heaved up and down in an alluring manner. I shook the dark thoughts away.

"Come with me," I said.

I twisted her arm behind her back and pressed the knife harder against her soft skin. I led her toward the sconce. Upon realizing where we were heading, she started fighting me off. Her behind sc.r.a.ped against my legs. She was doing it on purpose, the sly wench! I pressed the knife harder, and she stopped.

 "Open it," I urged her as we reached the sconce.

"Open what?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

I gave her hair a good tug. She shrieked as her neck bent backwards. "Don't test my limits woman!" I hissed at her.  

She obeyed. She turned the sconce half a circle, clockwise. She then turned it a quarter of a circle in the opposite direction. Then she pulled it toward her. I heard something click behind me. I couldn't tell where though. I pulled the woman from her hair and tightened my grip around her throat.

"You'll show me the secret entrance now," I said. "Do as I say and you'll live. No harm should be done to you, unless you ask for it. Are we clear?"  

She gave me that defiant look again. I refrained from using more brutish manners. I was taught to never hit women, but this one annoyed the f.u.c.k out of me.

"I have to say, you look better than most in this G.o.d forsaken village," I said. "I wouldn't mind taking a break from invading the mayor's property to have a good time."

"Do as you wish," she said. Her eyes still defied me. She didn't fear death this one.

"You have a lot to lose here," I went on, calm and composed. "You could die. I could force myself on you, kill you, then f.u.c.k you while you lay on that table over there, lifeless."

Her breath quickened once more. She shot a fleeting glance at the cleaver by the table. She didn't struggle though. She rested her eyes on mine. It felt as though she was resigned to her fate. That only meant she was protecting something, or the mayor had something on her.

"You could show me the secret entrance, which I could find without your help by the way, and leave this place, unscathed. What do you say? The mayor won't know it was you."

"I don't make deals with criminals!" she burst out.

"Aaaah, the moral obligation of a kind hearted girl!" I said. "Do you think the mayor's a good man?"

"He's a better man than you'll ever be!" she said. She spoke those words with such conviction that it took me aback. They mayor? A good man?

"What does he hide there?" I asked.

She remained silent.

"It appears I'll have to beat it out of you," I said.

She gave me that defiant look once more. She was making my attempt at sparing her life a lot harder. She decided to stay silent, which annoyed me even further.

"You know what? Fine, don't tell me," I said. "Let's go for a little walk, shall we?"

I seized the woman, twisted her arm behind her back once more then pushed her toward the kitchen double doors. She followed without struggling. As long as she kept me away from the secret entrance, I suspected, she'd do anything.

"Scream, and you die," I warned her. "Call for help, and I'll f.u.c.k your eye sockets before I kill you. You may not take my threats seriously now, but remember them after I open this door."

She didn't speak. Her breath was getting faster. Nothing could prepare her for the scene outside tough. She saw the two guards lying on their own blood. She saw the closest one with his throat cut open.

He died in a strange pose. His right arm was pointing toward the kitchen door, the left was pointing at the wall opposite him. He had soiled himself before he died too. It reeked of s.h.i.+t and p.i.s.s in the corridor now. The poor girl panicked. She could only take a few short breaths at a time. She wheezed and squealed faintly. Then her knees. .h.i.t the floor. Her clothes got soiled in the dead men's blood.

She held her stomach and retched on the man's open neck. After she'd realized what she'd done, she vomited even more. Her hair got wet with blood and vomit. She was sweating, and silently crying.

"Come now," I said then pulled her from her armpit. I took her back to the kitchen and closed the door behind me.

From her reaction I knew. I knew she'd never seen a dead body. I knew she never knew about the mayor's secret. I felt bad for the girl. I felt bad for her innocence, and how she was manipulated by that spineless mayor. She fell to her knees and sobbed the moment we got inside the kitchen. I gave her time to process the shock.

"Death is always ugly," I said. "You think you're a hero by hiding the mayor's secret, but you're not. They'll find your inanimate body in the corridor next to the others, full of s.h.i.+t, blood and p.i.s.s. Is this the way you want to die?"

She sobbed even harder. She was shaking heavily. She wouldn't raise her head to look at me anymore.

"Where's the door?" I asked.

Silence.

"d.a.m.n it woman!" I cried out. "I'm trying to spare your life here, and gain some time. You're only wasting it now."

She looked at me. Her eyes had softened, but she still had that resigned look in them.

"Do what you will," she said.

I sighed.

"As you wish," I said then approached her. She started shaking once more. She cried, helplessly and silently. What could the mayor possibly have on her that would push her to forfeit her life? I pulled her up then led her around the kitchen. One hand was holding her by the throat, the other was looking in every cabinet, every crack between the walls.

I finally found a cabinet that was slightly pushed forward. I pulled it toward me to discover a small cavity in the wall.

"You're coming with me," I said.

 She ran for the cavity and blocked my way. "No," she begged. "Please, you can't go in there."

"What's down there?"  I asked. I realized something was terribly off about this place.  

"Please," she said, and sobbed even more. "They didn't do anything wrong."

"They?" I asked.

She kept crying, holding on to each extremity of the vertical cavity. She clearly didn't want me to go in, but I couldn't understand why.

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"Move aside," I told her.

"NO!" she yelled.

Never trust a woman's tears. I didn't care if they were genuine or fake. I wouldn't feel bad for her and leave this place without knowing what the mayor hid. She was a liability. One I had better silence, but I couldn't bring myself to kill her. I swore I'd never be that man again.

"Move," I said, firmly.

She remained in place.

I sighed then hurled myself at her. I winced as I punched her in the stomach, then pushed her down the stairs in front of me.

"Move," I urged her. "I don't have time for your little games."