The shock must really be getting to him.
Someone appeared in the arched entrance of the function suites. It was one of the maids. Annaliese could tell by the woman’s green tabard.
“Finally,” she said, stomping towards the woman. “I need to call an ambulance and get my colleague somewhere comfortable. Do you have a key to the office? I need to perform first aid immediately.”
The maid said nothing. She just stood in the doorway and stared at Annaliese.
“Hey,” she shouted. “Can you answer me, please? I’m not kidding around here. Bradley is hurt.”
Still no reply.
The maid continued to stand, staring at Annaliese curiously.
“Look, if you can’t help me, can you at least go and get Shawcross?”
The woman stepped forward and Annaliese saw the blood in her eyes.
Just like the man outside that attacked me.
The maid screeched at Annaliese and raced across the tiles.
Annaliese was rooted to the spot for a second, not understanding what was happening, but survival instinct quickly took over and she leapt behind the reception desk, placing a barrier between her and the charging woman.
Bradley screamed out from his chair. “She’s like that guy outside. She’s crazy.”
Annaliese could make no sense of it, but she knew Bradley was right. The maid leapt over the desk and reached out to grab a hold of her. Without even thinking about it, Annaliese picked up the keyboard from the desk’s computer station and smashed it over the woman’s head. Several keys came loose and a bloody wound opened up on the back of the woman’s skull but, as Annaliese was now getting used to, the blow seemed to have no effect at all.
It’s like fighting a brick wall.
Time to try a different tactic.
She grabbed a handful of the maid’s tabard and pulled her across the desk, beaching the woman on her belly. Then she yanked the keyboard on its cord, releasing some slack. She quickly wound it around the woman’s neck and pulled the wire as tight as she could. Then she stepped away.
The maid tumbled from the desk and tried to straighten up, but she was held back by the tangled wire around her throat. The more she pulled, the tighter the bonds became, and she was unable to move more than a foot from the desk.
Annaliese grabbed the back of Bradley’s chair and started rolling him across the foyer. “What the hell is going on here?” she said. “Where the hell is everyone? And why are people acting like maniacs?”
Several more bodies appeared in the entrance of the function suites. Annaliese could tell right away that the strangers were all dangerous – all like the man outside on the lawn. They snarled and hissed like cobras ready to strike.
Guess that answers my question about where everybody is.
The mob was a mixture of both staff and guests. A waiter was amongst them, his crisp white shirt stained dark with blood and other fluids. Most of the rest of the group were young revellers, no doubt having come to Ripley Hall for a good time at their company’s expense. Somehow they had gotten more than they had bargained for. They were all now covered in blood and hanging chunks of their own flesh, and the flesh of others.
All at once, like a demonic choir, the mob screeched at the top of their lungs. Annaliese became immediately aware of more people behind her, at the top of the stairs. She peeked over her shoulder and saw that they, too, were covered in blood and snarling.
Bradley was weeping and cradling his head in his hands. “We are so screwed.”