I glance at the finger that sits on the blades of grass. Leaning against the hot tub, I know I need to pick it up. Every shiver wracks my body.
Don’t be weak. It’s fake. It’s fake.
I crawl over on all fours. Tearing out two large doc leaves, I pick up the finger and try not to think, as I drop it into the wooden box and close the lid. My throat constrains with a need to cry. I can’t take this back to the room. I’m trying to focus on why Lucas had a finger in his wardrobe? Whose hand it belonged to? Did Lucas cut it off? My stomach squeezes. He had admitted to beating people who broke the rules. It terrified me that I hadn’t run away disgusted. It terrified me that I wanted to help him. What if he was a murderer? Would I still stay?
My mind buzzes with too many questions. I just know I shouldn’t take this box back to my room. Bending, I scout the area before standing fully. Lifting the tarp off the hot tub, I place the box wrapped in Lucas’s t-shirt on the seat and pull back down the tarp.
Opening my bedroom door, I want to bleach my hands. Bleaching my eyes might help get rid of the image of the finger.
“Jesus.” I clutch my chest and then drop my hands. “You need to make some noise,” I tell Jessie and Hannah as I close the bedroom door.
“Where were you?” Hannah is standing and she reaches for my hands.
“Don’t touch me,” I warn quickly and march to the bathroom so I can scrub a layer of skin off.
“Did Lucas or Master Andrew find you?” Jessie asks from the bathroom door where she and Hannah linger. Both of them look worried and it makes me slow down.
“What happened?” apprehension tightens my stomach.
“She doesn’t know,” Hannah says to Jessie. “You need to sit down.”
Hannah is seriously worrying me. “Just spit it out.” My heart can’t take much more.
“Master Andrew called us to his office. He knows we were all in the shed.”
I close my eyes briefly trying to stop the snowball effect that came from my stupid assumption that Vicky was dead.
“What did he say?”
Hannah is chewing on her lip, her eyes clouded. I can’t look at her any longer as fear grips me by the throat. “What did he say?” I repeat to Jessie. What did I bring upon them?
“We are all being presented as options for Henry to marry, instead of punishment.”
Saliva fills my mouth.
“We are okay with that.” Hannah smiles but there is no happiness in it, she looks terrified.
“Have you met Henry?” I ask, but I know she hasn’t.
“They have selected you, too,” Jessie says and I’m trying to wrap my head around what she is saying. I might have to marry Henry?
I turn off the taps.
“Lucas is marrying Sandra,” Hannah blurts out.
I look to Jessie who rolls her eyes. “Very tactful. But yes, it’s already been agreed.”
The towel on the rail is crooked. I straighten it.
“Ella?” Hannah’s soft word has me looking at her. “Master Andrew is looking for you, so is Lucas.”
I notice the dark circles under Hannah’s eyes. “You need to rest. You look tired,” I tell her. She glances at Jessie before her eyes revert back to me.
“You did hear me?” She chews her lip.
“Yes.” I had heard her, but I refuse to let those words sink in.
“Excuse me, Lady Ella.” A foreboding feeling settles in my bones as Mark calls me from the bedroom.
“They’ve found me,” I say to Hannah and force a smile as I try not to splinter the wall I’m building in my mind.
Don’t think. Don’t feel. I repeat as I step into the bedroom.
“Master Andrew requests your company.”
I move one foot in front of the other. I focus on the back of Mark’s head. His hair is peppered with gray. It’s brushed perfectly, the lines reminding me of when someone cuts a lawn in vertical lines, leaving the pattern behind. I wonder how many strokes it took to have his hair sit so perfectly.
He turns and opens a door. The first thing I see is rows and rows of books, from floor to ceiling. There must be a ladder somewhere so you could reach the top. Mark moves aside and a stunning mahogany desk dominates the top of the room. Andrew sits behind the desk, a smile in his eyes when he sees me. The wall cracks as I glance to the left, Lucas is standing with his back to me. He doesn’t move a muscle as I walk up to his father’s desk. He won’t look at me. The wall I’ve built is cracking too fast and I can’t let it shatter. Not here. Not now.
“Ella.”
“Master Andrew.” I give a small courtesy.
“I see you have learned some manners.”
His words ignite a spark inside me that I jump on. Don’t feel. Don’t think. I repeat. My eyes keep getting drawn to Lucas, but I force myself not to and just focus on Master Andrew.
The door behind us opens and bile claws its way up my throat as Henry steps into the room. He doesn’t look happy. He looks awkward in his black suit. He no longer wears glasses, his eyes land on me and he smiles. I swing around to find Andrew watching me.
“You are familiar with Henry?” He asks.
I peek at Lucas. Nothing. Henry steps to my right.
“Ella and I have met before,” Henry confirms.
Andrew cuts him a look before returning his gaze to me. “I asked you a question.”
“Yes, Master Andrew. I am familiar with Henry.”
His brows rise and he smiles. “Good, this will be a lot easier. You have been given the honor of possibly being Henry’s wife.”
He stands now as I try to swallow around a lump in my throat. He places his hands in his pockets. “To be honest-” He moves around the desk and he’s too close to me. “-I think you might be the one.” He pushes off the desk and walks over to Henry, fixing his tie like he’s a child. I glance at Henry and he is starting to hunch forward.
“Stand still.” Andrew barks and Henry’s spine follows the order. He glances at me and my stomach twists. He looks so much like them now. A younger version than Andrew, but an older one than Lucas. I glance over at Lucas, studying his side profile. A part of me wants to reach out. Maybe if I touched him he would snap out of his frozen state.
“You should congratulate Lucas on his upcoming wedding to Sandra.” Too many cracks coat my wall at Andrew’s words. I need to leave.
“Congratulations, Master Lucas,” I say and I see a slight reaction in Lucas. His jaw tightens, but I look away as my heart beats too fast in my chest. My legs grow weak as I stare into Master Andrews eyes. The devil's eyes. I want to ask him why he hates me so much. I want to shake Lucas and tell him to do something. That this couldn’t be real.
I find my body leaning towards Lucas, I need something from him. “Lucas,” I say his name with all the pain that fills me and he finally looks at me. His stare nicks my heart and penetrates right through me. I’m a stranger in his eyes.
“It’s done now. We had fun and it’s over.” His cold words have me stepping away from him. My vision wavers. I’m shaking my head. “No.”
His smile is a mirror image of his father. It’s cruel and I recognize this person. The one I first met. The one that would go to the bone just to get a kick off hurting you.