Chapter 14

I was in a deep sleep the next day when Dolores woke me up, a look of concern in her eyes. It took me a minute to remember the night before. As memories flooded my brain, so did anxiety and terror. I might have been sleeping under the roof of a murderer. I thought Dolores would be mad at me, but instead, she just looked worried. When I apologized, she told me not to and gave me a hug. She did her best to get me to eat something.

At first, I refused but eventually I took a few bites to put Dolores at ease. I knew that I still would likely have to use Dolores's affection toward me in my favor. I needed all my strength if I was going to try to escape this hell I was in. I did not want to end up like the dead man in the picture.

I concocted a plan in my head all day. I had an imperfect visual map of the house and made an educated guess as to how I could try to escape. When Dolores took me to the bathroom that night, before bedtime, I knew it was my time to try. Dolores would hate me after what I was going to do, but I had no choice.

My plan was to grab the keys from Dolores, shove her in the room, lock her in there, and run. The only problem with the plan was that if Dolores screamed and was heard, someone could realize that something was wrong, and I needed enough time to escape.

I would have to knock her out. I knew there were a few guards around, but I didn't know how many. I was going to try to escape through the trees that were by the pool. It was the closest possible exit that I had been able to observe from the other bedroom.

But when the time came to assault Dolores, I didn't have it in me. Dolores had just given me a goodnight hug, and I could not bring myself to harm that woman—even to save my life. I was frustrated at myself, at my weakness, but I just could not push Dolores, let alone hit her. I had to find another way.

A few hours later, I heard someone at the door and quickly looked up. The door slowly opened, and I saw a man enter. This time, he didn't speak, but I had seen just enough of him earlier to know that it was Juan. He silently closed the door behind him. He was a lean but fit man with very square and harsh facial features and a deep scar on the left side of his face. All I could see were his eyes, filled with malice. Had Alejandro sent him to finally get the job done? Bile rose to my throat.

I quickly got up from the bed, but he got to me pretty fast and grabbed my arm. I pushed him away, but I was struggling to find my balance. He came at me again and grabbed me by the neck, pressing against it to choke me.

Terrified, I realized that if Juan had his way, I would die tonight, so I kicked him in his knee. He took a step back as he lost his balance. I knew this could be my only chance to escape. But as I moved toward the door, he grabbed my ankle, bringing me down to the mattress.

I managed to grab the heavy lamp on the nightstand, and as I turned around, I hit him on his head with all my strength. He let go of me as he fell on the mattress, in pain, unable to grab me again. I hurried off the bed, opened the door, and ran outside as fast as I could—barefoot.

This was not how I had planned to escape. Instead of utilizing the plan I had been thinking about all day, I was panicked, and my arm and neck were on fire. I was wearing the yellow dress, so thankfully, I was comfortable enough to run. I carefully crossed the kitchen and headed toward the pool. So far, no one had seen me. I finally got to the patio by the pool, under my previous balcony.

As I was about to stop and refocus on my next steps, I heard some noise in the house, as if someone was walking in my direction. I panicked and started running at full speed past the pool, hoping to get to the other side and then through the trees—anywhere but here, or they would kill me. My run came to a brusque halt when I saw Alejandro right there, staring at me, walking quickly, and dangerously closing the distance between us.

"Amelia, STOP!" he shouted.

My heart skipped a beat as I looked into his panicked gaze. The sweat going down my spine turned cold.

I pivoted to run back in the opposite direction, to get away from him and run toward the house—unable to process and with no time to do so. I felt myself trip on something, and I violently fell on the ground, I felt my bracelet break, and pain immediately seared through my head where I hit it on the cement before falling on my back into the pool.

"AMELIA!" Alejandro shouted.

He had probably come to finish what Juan had started, and I possibly had stupidly accomplished the task for him.

I heard Alejandro scream at the top of his lungs. I was trying to swim back up for air, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't reach the surface. All I could see was my own blood. I was panicking, my body growing weak very fast.

I could hear muffled noises and felt waves as someone jumped in the pool. My eyes were closing, my body unable to keep me above water. I felt arms go around my waist and pull me up. I was gasping for air, and when I saw Alejandro holding me, I started to panic again. Was he there to drown me? I tried to get away, but he was not loosening his grip.

"Por favor, mi ni?a, I'm not going to hurt you," he pleaded.

I stopped fighting when I heard his shaken voice. He grabbed my face to stabilize me so I could breathe better. I started becoming more aware of a painful, cold sensation on the right side of my head. I winced and brought my hand to my head.

"Don't move. Please don't move," begged Alejandro, his voice holding a slight tremor.

I searched his eyes, and I only saw fear and concern. I could no longer focus. My body felt weak and numb, and my eyes were closing.

"Amelia, stay with me! Stay with me! Call Doctor Rodriguez! NOW!"

Those were the last words I heard before I got lost in a haze. I could somewhat hear voices but couldn't focus on them or open my eyes. I heard a lot of commotion, felt myself being carried out of the water and moved to a drier, warmer place. When I tried to open my eyes, I saw glimpses of Alejandro's distorted face looking at me and calling my name with desperation in his tone. I saw a man I didn't know lean over me. I saw Dolores.

Finally, complete peace came as I lost consciousness.