Doris was more than happy to oblige. After she ate, she rested for a few hours more before she dressed in warm clothes and met William outside the cabin door. It looked like it was still the middle of the night, but the crisp air was refreshing. She wanted to gulp it down and never go inside again.
William didn't look at her as they walked down a snowy path. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and she did the same. "It's lovely out." Doris said as she took in another deep breath. Her breath fogged in front of her and something about the sight made her happy. Perhaps she was just happy to be alive.
He didn't respond, she was only greeted with the sounds of their feet crunching through the snow. Doris wrapped her arms around herself and let out a longer breath just to see more fog. It was fine, he didn't like to talk much anyway. She didn't expect him to change just because he spent days at her side when she was sick.
"Those men I killed, were they the ones that kidnapped you?" He asked suddenly. The question was so abrupt, her steps slowed. He stopped completely and turned to look at her. His gaze was almost disarming, she didn't know what to say.
"No..." Doris said slowly. William's face darkened and she knew he wanted her to continue. "They... those ones tried to harm me when I came here after Enzo brought me here. Enzo cut out one of their tongues after the first incident but his friends joined in on the second one."
She knew the question on his murderous expression before he said it. "Did they-"
"No, but they tried."
William flexed his fingers and cracked his neck. Doris chewed on her lip as she watched his rage start to pile up. Did he wish he could kill them again? "Who was the one that kidnapped you?"
"Enzo said he took care of it-"
"Who?" William demanded a bit louder, Doris flinched and her need to do what he asked kicked in.
"I... their names were Jules and Darrell."
"Was it one of them who left the bite on your neck?" He growled as if his possessive side was starting to take over his mind and he couldn't possibly act any other way. Doris simply nodded. She'd honestly forgotten all about the mark on her neck opposite to the one William left. She thought the claw marks might have scratched through it but apparently not. He must have seen them at some point when she was sick but didn't want to mention it until she was better. No wonder he wanted her to take a walk so soon.
William grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him as he stomped through the snow. "Hey! Where are we going?" Doris asked as she tried not to trip and keep up with him.
He said nothing. William led her to the stables where his black horse was stationed and made her stand by it. "Stay here."
Doris watched him leave and looked around at all the other horses, confused. What on earth was he doing?
After about twenty minutes of standing in the cold stable, William returned pulling on black leather gloves. He looked determined and... handsome. She hated herself for thinking it, those thoughts would only lead right back to her dream where she had no business remembering.
"What are we doing in here? Maybe I should go back to bed and rest more-"
"I found where they are." He gripped her waist and lifted her onto the back of the horse before she could object and pulled himself up in front of her.
"What? William-" He gripped the reigns, Doris quickly wrapped her arms around his waist before he kicked the horse off into the night. She'd never been more grateful for wearing pants than she was in that moment. He was absolutely mad for doing this, she didn't want any part of it.
The horses hooves pounded loudly against the ground as he rode them towards the men that kidnapped Doris. That was where they were going, wasn't it?
Was he going to rip off their heads like he did to the other two?
The sounds of gallops were too loud for her to ask, she had no choice but to hold on as he rode as fast as he could through the night. She clenched her eyes closed tightly when the wind picked up. She'd never been on a horse before, the thought of enjoying this ride made her stomach turn. This was no where near fun.
How could he take her to do this? She just got out of her death bed less than a few hours ago. Even though it felt good to be up and out-this was not what she meant. This was the furthest thing from what she wanted. For him to be this insistent, he must have spent days spewing in his rage wondering if he'd gotten the men that hurt her or not. Why did he even care so much? She was his maid, not his lady. Whoever disrespected her never seemed to bother him before.
The horse skidded to a halt. Doris opened her eyes to see the cabin and flickers of her torture crossed her mind. All the marks they left on her. The way they yanked at her clothes and were so close to taking her innocence from her-
William slid off the horse and held his arms out for her. Doris hesitated before she allowed him to help her down. "William, this is absurd. I don't feel well, we should go back-"
"They deserve everything I'm going to do." William said and turned away from her. She pulled at his arm but he shoved her off him and kicked in the front door of the cabin without a single hesitation. Murderous rage was radiating from him, she wanted to scream at him to stop. She had seen enough suffering, she didn't want to see an ounce more.
"Hey!" Two men shouted. William went in without a second thought, Doris stayed right where she was and tried to stop her hands from trembling. "What the fuck!" One screamed, Doris covered her ears to block out the sickening sounds of bones cracking. Doris stumbled back when William came back out a few minutes later, dragging both men by their hair as if they weighed nothing.
The men were smaller than him, but still quiet large compared to Doris. Their faces were completely covered in blood and their noses were bent the wrong way. They held onto William's hands as he dragged them out. A trail of blood followed in their wake.
William dropped them by her feet and kneeled down to forced them to look up at her. "Are these the ones that hurt you?" He asked calmly, a little too calm for what he was doing.
Doris only spared a quick glance before she nodded. "William-"
"I didn't touch her!" Darrell screamed. William hit him hard in the face.
"If you don't apologize for what you did to her, I'll carve out your eyes and and rip open your stomach right here." William threatened and made him look up at Doris. "You first."
"I-I'm sorry for what we did to you-" William hit him again.
"I said for what you did." He growled.
Darrell had bloody tears streaming down his face. "I-I'm sorry for everything I did to you. Please forgive me, I'll never touch another woman that way again."
William dropped him and went to Jules. He kicked him in his side and then kneeled to force him to look at Doris. "Your turn."
"I-I'm so sorry for everything. You didn't deserve anything I did and I swear I'll never fuck up like that again-"
"Would you like to do the honors?" William asked through his teeth as he glanced up at Doris. He had their blood on his face and he looked deranged.
"Please, we're sorry-" William didn't let Jules finish. He stood and stomped his foot down on his head, smashing his skull in with his boot. Doris flinched when the blood splattered on her face. She gasped and stumbled back.
"Oh my-"
"Help me!" Darrell screamed.
"Do you want to punish your attacker, Doris?" William asked again. Doris quickly shook her head no and held out her hands as if to stop him. William grabbed Darrell and pulled him into the darkness. Doris covered her ears again when Darrell started to scream loud enough to send sleeping birds from their trees. And then... silence.
The air stilled, she tried not to look at the body in front of her but the blood pooled around the area quicker than it could melt into the snow. Flickers of her nightmare returned to her mind... what had he done?
When William came out, his face was coated in so much blood-she almost didn't recognize him. He stopped in front of her and lifted her chin to look up at him.
"No one is allowed to touch you but me."