Chapter Six :
Chapter Title : A Wrong Move
"If that's what you call ruthless..." She slowly lowered her leg.
"...then you've lived a very sheltered life."
The messenger coughed violently, struggling to fill his lungs.
Fear had finally replaced the arrogance in his eyes.
He looked at the woman standing before him and only one thought filled
This woman was dangerous.
Annalisa crouched before him, slowly and gracefully like a predator lowering itself before wounded prey.
She reached out jer fingers wrapped around his throat. "So listen carefully..." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Don't..." Her grip tightened "...push me to my breaking point."
The messenger clawed at her wrist as the air left his lungs his face quickly turned red, he opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.
"I don't enjoy repeating myself."
Her voice remained frighteningly calm.
"So if you insist on testing my patience..."
She leaned closer until only he could hear her. "...the next person carrying Liam's message..."
"...will be delivering yours." The footsteps outside the room made Annalisa pause.
Her fingers slipped from the man's throat.
The killing intent in her eyes vanished as though someone had blown out a candle.
Her shoulders relaxed. Abright smile spread across her face.
She clapped her hands together.
"Uncle, don't cry," she pouted. "You'll make Anna cry too."
The messenger stumbled backward, one hand clutching his bruised throat as he fought for air.
Before he could steady himself—
Creak...
The door swung open.
In that instant, everything changed and everything now made sense the reason the murderous chill surrounding Annalisa disappeared without a trace.
Her shoulders relaxed the coldness in her eyes melted away, replaced by innocent curiosity. She blinked twice before breaking into a bright smile.
"Oh!"
She clasped her hands together excitedly.
"Uncle, don't cry." Her voice was soft and childish. "If you cry... Anna will cry too."
The messenger froze, even after witnessing it with his own eyes the transformation was still unbelievable. She had changed so naturally that anyone walking into the room would think she had been like this all along.
The nurse entered carrying a tray of medication.
"Good morning, Anna."
"Good morning!" she chirped happily before her eyes landed on the tray.
Her face immediately lit up.
"Is it candy time?" The nurse couldn't help smiling.
"It is." Annalisa skipped toward him with small, cheerful steps.
"Candy!"
She clapped her hands before suddenly stopping. Then she pointed toward the messenger.
"My uncle looks sad."She puffed out her cheeks.
"Can Uncle have candy too?" The nurse chuckled.
"I'm afraid these are only for you."
"Oh..." She lowered her head in disappointment.
"That's okay."
"I'll share mine." The messenger's pupils contracted. He looked straight into her smiling face.
Only he noticed it.
For the briefest moment...
One corner of her lips lifted.
Not like a child and his heartbeat skipped.
She's warning me and it was clear as day "Don't stay, leave and now" the messenger forced a smile.
"Anna..."
"Uncle has to go."
"But..."
"I'll come visit you again."
Her eyes sparkled. "Promise?"He nodded.
"I promise." She stretched out her little finger.
"Pinky promise?" For a split second, the messenger hesitated something about that innocent smile felt wrong but still he hooked his little finger around hers.
"I promise."
She giggled.
"Yay." But as their fingers separated she whispered so softly that only he could hear.
"You should never make promises..."
"...you can't keep." The messenger's blood ran cold. When he looked into her eyes again the child was gone. Only for a heartbeat.
Then she smiled brightly once more.
"Bye-bye, Uncle!" He turned without another word. For the first time in years he was eager to leave a room.
The heavy steel door shut behind the messenger, silence settled over the room once more. The nurse remained where he was, his eyes fixed on the closed door.
Something didn't feel right. He turned back toward Annalisa.
She was happily unwrapping her chocolate, humming the same strange lullaby she always did.
"So..." the nurse asked casually, "was that really your uncle?"
Annalisa looked up with wide, innocent eyes.
"Mhm!" She nodded enthusiastically.
"Uncle came to play with Anna."The nurse smiled politely, but inwardly, his doubts only grew.
For five years and not once had a single member of the Laurel family visited her, not distant relatives, no one but yet suddenly...
Someone appeared claiming to be family.
It was too strange to ignore.
"I'll let the doctor know you had a visitor."
"Okay!" Annalisa replied cheerfully before stuffing another piece of chocolate into her mouth.The nurse gave her one last glance before leaving.
The door closed again, the cheerful smile remained on Annalisa's face...
Until the sound of footsteps disappeared down the hallway.
Then the smile vanished, her expression became completely blank she slowly walked toward the window.
Outside, the rain continued to fall, her reflection stared back at her.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.
"So..."
"Liam finally found me."
She traced a finger across the glass.
"Five years..."
"I wondered how much longer it'd take."
She closed her eyes for a brief moment.
"You're late."
Outside the room, the nurse walked briskly through the corridor, another nurse noticed his expression.
"Everything alright?" He hesitated.
"...Something feels off."
"What do you mean?"
"The visitor and Anna..." He frowned.
"For a second..I felt like she wasn't looking at me." The other nurse laughed.
"Who else would she be looking at?"
The first nurse looked back toward Room Seventeen.
"...Like she was looking through me." A chill crept down his spine he couldn't explain why.
But for the first time in years, he had the unsettling feeling that the patient everyone believed they understood...
...had actually been watching them all along.
The nurse stopped outside the room.
His hand hovered over the observation log.
Something continued to bother him.
He turned toward the senior nurse who was sorting patient files. "Can I ask you something?"
The older nurse didn't even look up.
"What is it?"
"Why doesn't Room Seventeen have surveillance cameras?" The older nurse's hand froze and immediately the file slipped from his fingers.
For a brief second...
His face turned pale.
"...Who told you to ask that?"
"No one."
"I was just curious." A long silence followed.
Then the older nurse sighed.
"Don't."
"What?"
"Don't ask questions about Room Seventeen."
The younger nurse frowned.
"But every high-risk patient is monitored twenty-four hours a day."
"Except her."
"Why?" The older nurse looked toward the end of the hallway where Annalisa's room stood. His expression darkened.
"...Because we tried."
Five Years Earlier...
A small black camera blinked quietly from the corner of the ceiling.
Inside the room Annalisa sat on the edge of her bed, hugging her knees, she slowly raised her head her eyes stopped directly on the camera.
She smiled, a small gentle smile.
Then she whispered,
"Please...Don't watch me." Outside the room two security guards watched the live feed.
One of them frowned.
"Did she just..." The other shrugged.
"She's talking to the camera again."
Back inside...
Annalisa lowered her head.
"I'll be good."
"I promise."
"So..."
"Please stop watching me." Yhe guards exchanged uneasy glances. The next night she did it again only this time she stood directly beneath the camera.
Her face filled the monitor.
"So many eyes..."
"They never blink." She reached out slowly...
As if trying to touch whoever was watching.
"...Are you lonely too?" One of the guards instinctively leaned back from the monitor.
"She's creeping me out."
By the fourth night, she no longer begged, she simply stared and for hours, without blinking, without moving. The camera recorded every second but no one could explain how but it always felt as though she was the one watching them.
Not the other way around.
Present
The younger nurse swallowed.
"...That's why the cameras were removed?"
The older nurse shook his head.
"No."His voice became even quieter.
"...That's only how it started."
He looked once more toward Room Seventeen.
"What happened afterward..."
"...was far worse."