Before he could react, she smashed the mug against his head.
He wailed, his hands patting frantically on the desk, trying to reach for something, anything. Alice was too late to notice he had pressed a button that sounded an alarm.
Alice released him, stepping back, chest heaving, her entire body vibrating with fury. Her blouse was rumpled and blood-streaked. There was blood on her, too. She didn't care.
He stumbled back like a broken puppet, crashing to the floor. He landed hard on his spine, gasping like a fish on dry land.
He looked up at her. Not with rage.
With terror.
His hands clutched his face, his nose a bloody, deformed mess. Coffee and blood dripped from his mouth and temple. He stared like she wasn't human. Like she was something unnatural. A beast he thought he had tamed, and now couldn't recognize.
Then, bang. Bang. Bang.
Knuckles on the door. Security, pounding. Trying to get in.
Locked. Just as he'd wanted.
His own prison.
Alice didn't move.
