Chapter 6 - If They Wanted Me Dead, They Should've Killed Me Outright!

My eyes snapped open to nothing but bubbles and a warped silhouette leaning over me.

A pair of hands crushed down on my shoulders, shoving me deeper until my spine scraped the porcelain floor of the tub. Water surged into my mouth. My lungs seized, burning as I could only taste soap and lavender.

Panic detonated in my chest.

I thrashed—kicking wildly, clawing at the fingers pinning me under. My back arched off the tile before slamming down again, pain dulled to nothing under the rising static in my head. The water roared in my ears, swallowing my scream whole.

Black spots bled into my vision.

Just when my body began to give out, the hands suddenly vanished.

I shot upward, breaking the surface with a violent gasp. Icy air rushed into my lungs. I coughed hard enough to fold over the edge of the tub, water streaming from my hair, eyes burning.

A low growl vibrated through the room.

I turned my head, still wheezing.

Snow stood rigid on the marble floor, fur puffed, tail lashing, fangs bared, shielding me from the maid who stood behind him, soaked to the skin. Her black-and-white uniform clung to her body like wet paper, hair dripping in tangled ropes down her cheeks.

“What the hell—” I grabbed the closest towel, dragging it around myself even though it instantly turned heavy and wet. My hands shook as I pushed to my feet, nearly slipping as water splashed onto the floor.

I stepped out of the tub, planting myself between Snow and the maid, jaw clenched.

“You tried to drown me?” I snarled, every word sharp enough to cut. “You seriously had the nerve to try killing me in my own damn bathtub?”

The maid’s whole body trembled, her gaze darting between Snow’s snarling teeth and my glare. Wet bangs clung to her cheeks, her bottom lip quivering like she was either terrified or two seconds from… smiling?

“M–Milady… forgive me… I thought—” She swallowed hard. “We always do this…”

A cold ripple crawled up my spine. “…What do you mean, we always do this?”

Her breath hitched. “After I… harm Lady Raven… Lady Raven would punish me…” Her voice dipped, and for a split second the corners of her lips twitched upward—like she was barely restraining a grin. “S... severely.”

I stepped back so fast my ankle smacked the tub behind me. Pain shot up my leg, but nope, that wasn’t what made my stomach drop.

Her eyes rose, wide and shining with some awful mixture of dread and eagerness. “Will milady… punish—?”

“No.” The word left my mouth before she even finished the sentence.

I yanked the towel tighter around myself, not that it did a damn thing when my entire body was shaking, dripping, freezing. “There is no way in hell I’m rewarding you for trying to drown me.”

Her breath came out in a shaky exhale… and she looked pleased. Actually, goddamned ecstatic.

Yeah. Absolutely not.

“Out,” I snapped, stabbing a finger toward the door. “Now.”

She bowed so fast her wet hair whipped forward, then scurried out, shoes squeaking against the marble like a startled rodent.

Silence fell in the room for approximately half a second.

Then Snow lifted his head, tail flicking with pure mischief. “So… keeping the towel? Very avant-garde. Very—”

“OUT!”

Snow practically yelped as he scampered from the room, leaving tiny wet pawprints in his retreat.

I let out a long, shaky breath and turned toward the mirror. Only a fogged blur stared back. I leaned forward and dragged my hand across the glass, streaking the steam enough to reveal myself. Sharp red eyes. Dripping white hair sticking to pale skin. A towel barely clinging in place, threatening to betray me with every breath.

A strangled laugh escaped me. “Safe at home,” I muttered. “I’m an idiot.”

Everyone in this world apparently wanted me dead, or punished... or both. I wasn’t going to give them either.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fingers knotting in the towel to stop them from shaking. The dream clawed at the back of my mind—the voice, that familiar warning. I tried to grab the memory, force it into focus—

A spike of agony shot through my skull.

I gasped and dropped to one knee, grabbing the basin before I face-planted into the marble.

“What the f—?” The words came out strangled as the pain slowly ebbed, leaving the world spinning in its place.

Not good. Something was missing in my head. Something important. But no matter how I tried to grasp the missing puzzle, it forever remained out of my grasp.

I grabbed the fresh nightgown the maid had left—a simple black lace thing—and tugged it on with shaky hands. Water still dripped from my hair and skin, but whatever. At least I wasn’t streaking through the hall naked.

And I needed to get out of that bathroom before the room tried to kill me again.

I rushed back into my room, still dripping, leaving a little trail of bathwater across the polished floor. My eyes skimmed the shadows, half-expecting someone else to jump out and try to kill me.

Instead, I found Snow sprawled across my bed like he owned the damn place.

“So,” he drawled, tail flicking, “remind me how ‘safe’ you are in your own home again?”

I grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it at him. “Shut up.”

He ducked. The pillow sailed over him and bounced pathetically onto the floor.

Yeah. My aim was garbage.

I stood there, fingers flexing, trying to swallow the knot rising in my throat. Words hovered on my tongue, refusing to push out.

Snow’s ears perked. “Something on your mind?”

I edged to the side of the bed, chewing at my lip. “Snow… is it possible they messed with my memories before throwing me into this simulation?”

He stiffened. His playful smugness evaporated. “Are you beginning to think you killed your family?”

“No.” The word burst out from my mouth in a rushed breath. “I’m thinking… I forgot something. Something important. Something I saw before…” I trailed off, unable to finish.

“Before you ended up here,” he said quietly.

I nodded. “Yeah. It feels like there’s a chunk missing. Like someone ripped pages out of my head.”

When Snow didn't say anything for a minute, I looked up.

He wasn’t meeting my eyes. Guilt flickered across his face—or, well, as much guilt as a fox could show.

My stomach dropped. “You do know something.”

He curled his tail around himself. “I’m forbidden from discussing anything outside the simulation.”

“Forbidden by who?”

He stood up, circled once, slow and restless, before settling again. “…I’m not allowed to say.”

That was a worse answer than silence.

Heat rushed into my face. My hands balled into fists. “So what does that make you? My ally? Or a spy waiting for me to break?”

Snow lifted his head, violet eyes steady and annoyingly calm. “There are things I cannot tell you. But inside this simulation? I’m your ally. After all," his tone went from serious to playful, “it would be a shame if you died on me.”

I glared. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Just tell me why you’re here!”

He sighed, a long, drawn-out one I'd never expected a fox to give, as if I were some unreasonable toddler. “I’m here to make sure you don’t do anything stupid and get yourself killed. And if you feel a memory is missing… trust that feeling. Don’t accept anything as truth unless it’s your truth.”

I let out a breath and flopped onto the bed, ripping back the blankets. The mattress was stupidly soft—like sinking into a warm marshmallow.

Snow padded up beside me. I tensed when he lifted a paw, but all he did was tap it gently against my head.

A head pat. Unbelievable.

“Keep playing by your own rules,” he said with a smug, knowing glint in his eyes. “You’ll find something good. Something planted just for you.”

A cryptic clue. Great. Exactly what I needed.

But maybe… maybe he wasn’t wrong.

If there were secrets buried in this simulation? I’d dig them out—every last one.

Just not tonight.

I slid under the covers, pulling them to my chin. The warmth soaked into my chilled skin.

Snow tilted his head. “What are you going to do now?”

I forced my lips into a smirk. “Get some sleep. I need to be rested if I’m going to claw my way out of this nightmare and take my life back.”

I closed my eyes. The mattress cradled me. Darkness took me gently this time.

My last thought before drifting under:

If they wanted me dead, they should’ve killed me already. They were going to regret making me the villain.