Iris POV
Out of nowhere, Maria came back and her face looked very serious. “I discovered this,” she said as she extended her hand toward me showing a small leaf that she was carefully holding between her fingers which were covered by gloves.
“What is that thing over there?” Raf tilted his head to the side and looked at it very carefully his eyes focused and full of curiosity.
“It seems that the problem was related to the food we consumed. I am not entirely sure what exactly caused it but I have a few ideas and feelings about what it might be...”
“Why are you just standing there like that? You need to move Maria! What is going on with you?” Raf said sharply his voice filled with frustration and anger.
It felt like the air had become old and no longer fresh. It seemed to get heavier and more difficult to breathe as it surrounded us.
“I—I'm sorry!” Maria said her voice trembling a little as she spoke. A deep blush of shame spread across her cheeks making her feel even more embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to— I was just trying to—”
“Make sure to have it tested!” Raf ordered firmly keeping his gaze fixed on the leaf in front of him.
“Wait a moment!” I hurriedly ran over to Maria. “Can you tell me where you found that?”
“I discovered it was in the pasta. It probably got mixed in there while I was getting everything ready to cook.”
“Where exactly did this come from?” Rafaelle asked with a raised voice his eyes filled with barely contained anger that was visible.
“I… I don’t know.” I finally managed to say my voice sounding rough and strained. My throat hurt a lot and felt very raw and sore.
Rafaelle's eyes narrowed as he stared at her intently. “Please Iris don't try to deceive me!”
“I promise I'm not lying!” I said loudly and my voice shook a little because I was so anxious. “I honestly have no idea how this leaf ended up in the food. It's the truth I swear!”
“Let’s see what we can discover,” he said his voice as cold and unfeeling as ice. He walked confidently toward my room moving in a way that felt threatening and intimidating. I felt scared as I walked behind him the fear never leaving my side. Maria walked closely behind me sharing in the tension of the moment.
My room is normally a peaceful and safe place for me a sanctuary where I can relax and feel at ease. However today it felt more like a prison a restriction on my freedom and I couldn't shake the feeling that my future was uncertain and hanging by a thread.
The room itself is quite small and the few things I have in it are personal items that I was able to save from my previous life before everything changed.
In one corner of the room, I noticed a plant that Maria had told me about. Its dark green leaves seemed almost threatening even in the soft dim light of the room adding to the uneasy atmosphere surrounding me.
“It's coming from your room,” Rafaelle said his voice showing that he was both angry and accusing.
“I… I don’t know how that plant ended up there” I said softly my voice barely above a whisper. My thoughts were racing around in my head desperately trying to piece together any explanation that could make sense of why that plant was sitting there. But nothing came to mind.
It felt like I was trapped in a bad dream caught in a strange moment from my past that I just couldn’t remember clearly. The last few weeks had been a confusing whirlwind filled with anxiety and doubt it was as if I had been fighting just to survive every single day.
I started to wonder if I might have put the plant there without even realizing it. Maybe I might have thought to myself. With all the sleepless nights and overwhelming stress, my memory might have been affected.
Rafaelle looked at me in a way that showed he didn't trust what I was saying. It was clear that he did not want to accept my words as the truth. His facial expression was a complicated mix of intense anger and deep disgust making it easy to see how he felt. When he finally spoke his voice was filled with raw and powerful anger breaking the quietness around us and making it even more uncomfortable.
“Do you believe that I am foolish Iris? Do you genuinely think that I cannot recognize when you are being dishonest with me?” He moved in closer to me and I could see the intense anger in his eyes.
Suddenly in a quick and surprising movement, his hand flew out and struck my cheek with a loud and hard slap. The force of the hit made my head turn sharply to the side and I was knocked off balance stumbling backward as a loud ringing filled my ears.
“You are not telling the truth and I think you are very deceitful like a snake. Hugo go ahead and tie her up!” he shouted his voice filled with strong anger.
My vision became blurry as though I was seeing everything through a fog. My body was shaking all over because of the shock from the hit I just took and an overwhelming wave of fear rushed through me making it hard to breathe.
Everything around me felt like it was spinning out of control and my mind couldn’t keep up with the flood of accusations and anger that filled the air. Hugo was standing there with a flat expressionless face moving towards me without showing any emotion.
His hands stretched out toward me and everything was happening so quickly that I felt completely helpless. The world around me blurred together into a frightening mix of colors that made me dizzy.
My legs felt weak and unsteady like jelly and there was nothing I could do to escape the situation. I could only watch in fear as Hugo took a rope and wrapped it tightly around my wrists pulling it so that my hands were secured behind my back.
The ropes were digging into my skin creating a painful reminder of how trapped I was and how powerless I felt in that moment.
As Hugo guided me away from where I had been I couldn’t shake off the overwhelming feeling of fear that came over me. It was an unsettling sensation that I couldn’t ignore and it only grew stronger with each step we took…