THE WARNING.

Jessica stepped out in the corridor. 

John stood waiting patiently for her at the end.

He looked calm, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. He stood watching her like he owned her.

“Come here” he said. Not loud  but was loud enough for her to understand it was a command.

She walked. Each step felt like she was walking toward a cliff. When she reached him he tiltedher head up. “ You embarrassed me earlier,” he said calmly.  “ I was watching my mother being tortured” “you threatened me and you forced me into marrying you.” “ How is did I embarrass you ?” 

“ I wasn’t the one who abandoned you on your wedding day.” 

“ I saved you reputation, you should be thanking me instead of telling me that…..” before Jessica could complete her sentence. She heard aloud bang behind her. 

“ you should be thankful you are alive today. I saved your life.” “ and you will be living a good life thanks to me .” 

“What was that?” Her pulse spiked.

A scream echoed through the mansion.

Distant. Muffled. Jessica froze.

John didn’t move.

She looked toward the sound.

“What was that?”

Silence.

Then another scream. “Help!” “ Help me!!” 

Jessica’s skin crawled. John’s grip tightened on her chin.

“You hear nothing in this house,” he said softly. Her stomach dropped. “That was someone—”

“It’s not your concern.”

The same words.

Again.

Jessica shoved his hand away.

“I am not your prisoner!” She exclaimed 

John’s eyes darkened.

“No,” he said quietly.

“You’re my wife.” The corridor lights flickered.

The scream came again right  behind the wall.

Jessica stepped back.The wall wasn’t solid. It was hollow but someone was inside it. She pressed her palm against the marble.

It vibrated.

A weak voice scratched through the wall:

“Help me…”

Jessica’s heart slammed. She turned to John.

“What did you build this place for?”

He didn’t answer. Because the wall clicked.

A hidden door slid open. And a woman collapsed into the hallway at Jessica’s feet. Bleeding, crawling towards her, she looked as if her soul had already left her body.She grabbed Jessica’s dress.

“Run,” she whispered.

Guards flooded the corridor.

John’s face turned to stone.

The woman screamed—and a gunshot silenced her.

Blood splattered across Jessica’s wedding gown.

She didn’t scream.She didn’t breathe.She just stared.

The woman’s hand was still clutching her dress.

Dead.

Jessica looked up at John. His expression was unreadable. “This,” he said quietly,“is why you listen to me.”Jessica realized something in that moment. The mansion wasn’t a home. It was a cage. And she had just seen what happened to people who tried to escape.

Jessica didn’t remember falling. But she felt her body going down.

The gunshot echoed long after the woman’s body hit the floor.

The smell came next metal and smoke and blood. It soaked into her lungs. Into her skin. Into the white silk of her wedding dress.

Her hands were shaking. Not trembling. Violently shaking.