Chapter 22
Rhea
I don’t say anything. Nothing at all.
Samuel steps forward. “Perhaps another time. She’s anyway bruised to have any fun with us. Don’t you thin
Ezra drops my hair. “You’re right. Maybe tomwww night–it we don’t find someone better at the ball.”
The two of them laugh at me befine shining and disappearing hom my sight. I blink.
My body shaking with shock.
$36%
In order to come out. I have to drag myself a few yards till I can climb onto the bench. My head screams and my nose explodes. The taint taste of blood runs through my nostrils and out of my mouth. I grab my clothes with a shaky hand.
Every incrot my body is trembling as I fight back the tears, attempting to pull my shirt over my head. As soon as I finish, I stumble back into the pack house with whatever energy I’ve left inside me.
1 step into the washroom in the back to catch my breath. My hands are quivering, and there’s blood, but I’m not sure where it’s coming from. I grab a rag off the side and wet it before cleaning my legs. There’s no certainty whether some thing is broken or not, it simply just hurts.
There’s a sharp knock on the door. I quicken up and slip my pants down before opening the door to find Rachel
“Ah, here you are. She says, seeing me. “Well, you missed Ethel’s instruction so she told me to tell you before I leave. Basically, it starts at seven and it will end by eleven, or maybe later. There are some games arranged, dancing, music–all the same. There’ll be firework at ten and-”
She continues with telling me everything she came to know from Ethel. I stand still there, spacing out after every word she says. 1 hear it but I don’t register it. Not at all.
“That’s all” she takes a look at my face and expression changes, “Did you get it?”
I swallow hard and snap out from wherever I am. “Yes, Noted.”
“They’ll give you clothes in the morning. Come by two.
I nod again and with that, Rachel leaves the washroom. I don’t stay there for long. I leave a minute after her and grab my things before walking out of the pack house.
Everything after that is just a haze. My heart hasn’t calmed at all.
Eventually, I return home and slip quietly into my room and draw the curtains shut before falling straight on the bed. I lock my door from inside so I can’t get disturbed. That doesn’t matter. I feel like I am breaking inside and all I want to do is lay down and disappear.
In the darkness, it’s a little peaceful. If I didn’t know better, I would say that I was actually at ease, calm, perhaps
It’s not like they did anything to me and had me against my own will. Nothing of that sort but still…
I shouldn’t feel so disgusting, should I? Like my entire skin is crawling like someone is constantly touching it. I close my eyes and try to relax. I’m always going back in time. Remembering Ezra and Samuel and their eyes gleaming at me, at my naked
form.
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23:02 Fri, 11 Apr A.
Chapter 22
This doesn‘ feel good at all. At all.
An intense sickness comes up in my stomach and I burst up from my bed and run toward the door before sprinting to the bathroom. I throw open the lid and make my way to the toilet just in time. I release everything I ate today.
The sour taste is overwhelming. It doesn’t stop until long minutes. Until my throat is raw and torn from its insides. I almost think that I’m going to dry retch everything.
It hurts even more after the fact.
After a whole nine minutes, I try to compose myself.
I didn’t rinse out my mouth at all, too shaken up to even do that. I return back into my room and lay down.
I don’t when or how, but eventually, sleep took me over. I dreamt of nothing but noise. A noise so loud that it seeps through my ears, traveling across my neck and making its way straight to my heart. It’s blood curdling, making me scream. But all I could hear was me. Like my voice is stuck and that I’m screaming the loudest.
The next day, I reach the pack house by two. I don’t talk to anyone, I don’t say anything. I do what Ethel wants me to do and then I disappear into the back rooms until I’m needed again.
The rush in the house doesn’t stop. It doesn’t slow down. It almost continues throughout. By six, Ethel forces me to change
and I do.
I glance myself in the mirror, realizing I had forgotten all about the blueish purple bruises on my arms, shoulders, hips and my neck. My neck has to worst.
I quickly remove the dress and wear a turtleneck inside before putting the dress on top of it. This way, it covers up everything.
When I head back into the kitchens, I find everyone else there changed now. The staff is all wearing what they are told to. Mostly black formal clothes except for the cooks.
The servers head out, into the ballroom while I remain in the kitchen, helping out with the cooks and running up and down. the wine cellar to get what’s needed.
By eight, 1 head back down into the wine cellar to make a quick selection for the couples that have gone into the gardens and will go through this way soon. As much as I focus, my mind keeps straying elsewhere. And I hate it. My body is buzzing with an alarming awareness of everything around me.
He isn’t here and he isn’t coming.
“That’s a good selection,” Ethel says, looking at what I’ve gotten from the wine cellar. “Good. Now, give to Laine outside. And after that, you can have a little break, Not much left to do, considering everyone in there is dancing”
I nod and take the basket outside into the gardens. There’s a place organized for furthering the guests to drink and talk to
their chosen mates.
I drop the basket with Laine and then start walking back. The weather is unusually pleasant. The breeze is nice and light.
My head lowers as I pass the foyers and the hallways, going further back to catch my break. Soon, I will be called back, once the dances are over and people are starting to get hungry.
Suddenly, I feel a sharp, strong presence. It cuts through me and pulls my heart out.
Instinctively, I turn my head to the direction. The last guest of the night has finally arrived.
My heart stutters.
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23:02 H, 11 Apr
Chapter 22
It’s a perfect frame for a second. The foyer’s massive arch frames him from behind as he trails past it, the lights sec illuminate him. It’s not just the lighting, though.
It’s him, too
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