"It started last 2 months ago. I was working as a janitress in the Hospital. I thought that everything was fine until they suddenly made an announcement that we weren't allowed on the 12th floor..." Alliyah started. Memories of the time kept coming through her head.
She was a lowly janitress who has been working at night so that she could save up enough money for her university. She was only 19 when everything happened.
She had to work for her brother who has been sick the whole time. Her parents died when they were still children, so at such a young age, she had to provide for her family.
Everything was fine. She was happy even if she was just a janitress who have been cleaning the rooms and bathrooms in the hospital. The pay was good and it could support her and her brother well.
Until that moment happened…
Tears started to pool in Alliyah's eyes. When it started to fall down, she placed her hands on her face, trying to cover it up.
Hugo felt pity for her. Listening to her story shows just how strong Alliyah was since the start.
He smiled to console her feelings. Hugo didn't know what had gotten into him. It must be because Alliyah looks like a crying child right now, who was looking for someone to comfort her.
Hugo stood up and sat beside her. He placed her hands on her back, lightly patting it. "You can stop here if you want." He tried telling her.
Alliyah shook her head as she dried the tears that kept falling from her eyes. "No… I've already said this far. I will just only waste my time if I stop here." She uttered.
Hugo nodded as he tried to give time until Alliyah calmed down. After a few minutes, Hugo tried to move to the side so he could give space to Alliyah.
"I will just get a cup of water for you." He smiled as he stood up to go downstairs.
Alliyah couldn't help but smile as she heard Hugo's words. 'I do not know why, but I feel comfortable when he went closer to me… It was as if my heart instantly calmed down when he went beside me.'
Biting the sides of her cheeks, Alliyah tried her best to stop herself from smiling too widely. She tilted her head to the side. 'No, I can't think that of him. He is my master! The only reason that I am here is that he saved me,' She reminded herself.
She had dreamt of a beautiful woman earlier. She said that her name was Thalia. 'I remember that the woman told us that we should treat this life like Hugo's life. That means we need to help him with whatever he wanted.'
When the door made a sound, Alliyah's thoughts were interrupted. "Here, you should drink this first before you continue with your story." Hugo gave her a cup of cold water.
"Thank you," Alliyah shyly accepted it. She drank all of it. It must be because she was crying, so she got very thirsty.
"Now, should we continue your story?" Hugo asked as he sat on his chair once again.
"Alright." Alliyah couldn't help but slightly move forward after seeing the distance between her and Hugo. 'Is he uncomfortable around me?'
When Hugo saw it, he moved her chair forward as well. 'She thought that I was uncomfortable with her alone in this room when I was just giving her space.' He chuckled.
He stayed silent when Alliyah spoke once again, continuing her story.
"So… It was night… I was cleaning the whole 11th floor when I noticed that there were unknown people coming into the side. I thought that they were just there because they had a relative or something that was confined in the hospital. But I was wrong…"
Alliyah ducked her head down. Her fist clenched as she thought of that scene once again. It was probably one of her regrets in this life.
"I tried following them to assist them in case if they were lost since I memorized the layout of the whole 11th floor while working in the hospital for almost 3 months. When I saw that they were taking the restricted stairs going to the 12th floor."
A loud sigh escaped from her lips. Her right hand had started to play with her hair, to calm her heart down. Just saying it right now… made her remember the fear and pain that she had suffered.
'Is that the stairs that I saw when I accidentally found the 12th floor?' Hugo thought to himself after hearing Alliyah's remarks.
She could understand why Alliyah choose to follow those guys. The pathway to the stairs was really weird, and it would make one really curious. Just like what happened to him when he saw it.
"I was following them silently, but I didn't know that someone would notice me halfway…" Tears started to form in her eyes once again. But this time her cry became louder that Hendrix and the others downstairs could not help but get worried.
They secretly got upstairs, trying to not make a sound. Hendrix helped them conceal their identities so, then Alliyah wouldn't know that they were there.
Hugo noticed them immediately. His forehead creased when he saw that the three of them were outside. He tried telling them to go away, but it seems like Alliyah couldn't see or feel them.
Alliyah's hands went into her body. She backed off as she hugged her knees. She placed her forehead on top of her knees and cried there.
"T-They molested me… t-they touched my body, and I was screaming for help, but no one came." Alliyah cried out loud like a little girl. Hugo couldn't even stand up to go beside her, since she looked like she was protecting herself.
"I tried to fight back, but their leader just punched me in the stomach. They made me smell something, and that was the last thing that I knew before I woke up inside the room." Alliyah paused for a while as she let out another cry.
"J-Julius… I thought he was a good guy… When he went inside the room, I thought he was there to save me! However, he went there with a grin on his face… he told me that if I said this to anyone then they would harm me and my brother." Alliyah's eyes widened when she mentioned her brother.
Alliyah quickly stood up and get off the bed. Hugo was startled by the sudden action of her.
Alliyah knelt on the ground. She hugged Hugo's legs and cried in there. "P-Please help me save my brother…" she begged, crying as if her life was at stake.
Hugo froze in the spot after hearing Alliyah. He does not know how to respond, but just the look of it, it seems like Alliyah was already desperate enough to save his little brother.
"I would do anything you ask me… Just please save my brother. I do not know what will happen to him! Julius said that they will protect and give my brother a good life, but I do not know if they were saying the truth!" She hysterically answered.
Hugo nodded. He understood her very clearly. "Y-Yes, I will try my best to do that." He answered, even if there were doubts and uncertainty in his heart.
Hendrix glanced to the side, asking Hendrix for help.
Hendrix sighed when he saw how Hugo looked at him. He quickly removes the spell that he cast to hide their identity.
Natalie immediately ran inside as she saw that both Hugo and Hendrix had given her permission to go.
"Can you comfort her for a while? I and Hendrix will just talk about something." Hugo asked as he turned his head to Alliyah, who was crying on the floor.
"Of course, master." Natalie nodded as she knelt on the ground to help Alliyah. Even if it was their first time to meet each other today, she had grown pity for the woman.
When Hugo saw that Natalie was taking care of Alliyah, he marched towards the door and went near Hendrix.
"Let's talk."
Hendrix nodded. He looked at Jimon, who has been staying on the side, and instructed him, "Guard them. If they need to do something, just do it for them."
"Yes, Master." Jimon nodded his head as he bowed down before going in. Jimon just stood up on the side of the door, unmoving.
Hendrix and Hugo went downstairs. They were both quiet as they sat in the living room.
"Do you think we could do what Alliyah requested?" Hugo asked Hendrix. He was wary with what he will say since he do not want to bother him. If he could do it alone, then he will. But he knew that it would be faster if he will ask for his help.
"I'm afraid that it would be impossible…" Hendrix uttered as he bowed down his head.
"Why?" Hugo's forehead creased when he saw regret written on Hendrix's face.
"Alliyah's brother has long died."
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Author's Note- Alliyah's story probably is one of the saddest backstories in this novel. Imagine being molested, getting experimented on, and losing her brother.
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