Chapter 77 Delilah
DELILAH
Idon’t know how long we’ve been driving for when I wake up in front of large wooden gates.
They must be at least twenty feet tall with a large steel beam at the top, connecting it to the other fence panels on hidden hinges.
We couldn’t prepare for our arrival when all the maps had blurry images of the land.
Kane takes a steadying breath as he rolls his window down to push the intercom buzzer.
We both look at each other when the gates immediately rattle, opening slowly without any confirmation of our identity.
He hesitantly inches forward as I stare wide-eyed at the acreage we’re trapped in.
The gates swiftly close behind us. Animals openly graze without any pens to keep them trapped other than another set of large wooden gates further ahead.
They automatically open like the first ones we went through, so he drives forward, ignoring the traditional farmhouse between the two sets of gates.
A goat bleats as it jumps up onto a wooden fence, following our crawl along the gravel driveway.
There’s even more fields, stretching further than I can see separated by neat hedgerows with a smaller fence in the distance.
And even more animals. Alpacas, donkeys, a horse, and cows with little horned goats happily bleating as they playfully jump on the other animals.
We continue following the gravel road until we reach a large house that doesn’t fit the scenery. It makes sense, considering this freak is the butcher for a cannibal, and I’m sure Helene has the means to give them risk pay, which they’ve clearly used on their land.
Kane moves his left arm like he’s done sporadically on the drive. But he pulls it back quicker than the other times as he uses his right hand to put the car in park. Without moving his lips he whispers, “Ready?”
“With you? Always.” I mean it despite the way my heart hammers in my chest. I’m tired, my body aching, yearning for the relief the vials bring, but I need to stay on his good side before I can ask for more.
I try to make as little noise as possible as I get out of the car and lightly press the door closed.
There’s a small gap where the latch hasn’t fully engaged, so I leave it.
He automatically threads his fingers through mine as we walk to the front door. I don’t know if his sleeve is annoying him, but he grits his teeth every time the empty cuff hits his thigh, so I tuck it into the pocket of his hoodie.
We pause at the front of the house, standing in front of the large wooden door on what I think is the most luxurious farmhouse in existence. There’s no signage to give the name of the people who live here as I lightly squeeze his hand.
No one will enjoy working for Helene when she’s a sadistic cunt, so we’ll make a deal with the butcher. If they don’t help us, we’ll kill them to hide in the next delivery.
I squeeze again as I raise my hand to knock on the door and avoid looking at the loose part of his sleeve tucked into the pocket.
He wouldn’t tell me how it happened, or when, so I don’t know if he’s still coming to terms with the loss, or if he’s ignoring it because it was so long ago.
Asking again will only make him less agreeable when I ask for drugs.
I have no idea who’s going to be on the other side of the door when it opens, but I’m not expecting a teenaged girl with the strangest silvery-blue eyes I’ve ever seen.
They almost appear purple with the sun shining directly on them.
Her dark hair swishes to the side as she looks between me and Kane, then assesses us from head to toe.
“Who are you and why are you at my house?”
She’s not very polite either.
Before I can match her attitude, a voice I haven’t heard in years calls out, “Be nice.”
“It’s not Dad,” she shouts back. “My name’s Seraphim.
What’s your name?” The girl rolls her eyes but I’m staring over her head as Ruby walks towards us, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.
My sister’s steps falter for a split second, then she’s nearly running at us.
She pulls the door wider, gently moving the girl to the side, and wraps her arms around me so tightly I’m going to have bruises on my biceps.
“Dilly,” she says on a breath as she warmly strokes Kane’s arm. “You’re okay. You’re both okay.” She pulls back enough to say, “Come inside.”
The disbelief on her face makes me uneasy after so many years of having no one.
There wasn’t any intercession on my behalf when she’s been here, living her life while Kane and I have been through hell.
I don’t know who the girl’s parents are, but she can’t be Ruby’s.
She was pregnant during the wedding, so the baby would be a toddler, not a teenager.
Her attitude is one hundred percent Scarlet though as she narrows her eyes at us.
Kane doesn’t let go of my hand as we enter the house full of light.
All the glass at the back of the open-plan space allows sunlight in.
It’s split in two with the kitchen at the back and a large lounge wrapping around the large wooden staircase.
There’s even toys strewn across the floor at one side of the lounge.
All of it is obviously normal and homely.
So is Ruby as she cups my cheek with tears in her eyes. “You’re alive, Dilly.”
“You sent her deliveries.” My voice comes out choked as I hold Kane’s hand tighter. “It was you. This is all yours.”
My mother said Ruby’s like them. I never thought it meant she was selling people to the orchestrator of my every nightmare. She doesn’t try to insult me by lying as she takes a deep breath then says in the same gentle tone as always, “We’ll talk later. You’ll be hungry.”
Kane avoids the girl as we’re led into the kitchen to sit at a curved booth island.
She doesn’t care though and slides onto the rounded seat opposite us while I look around.
Everything is normal, shiny. This is the life my sister has been living while I was literally forced to perform for my meals and the luxury of sleep.
The first thing to suggest it’s not normal is a large metal closed hook welded to the floor.
I can’t stop staring at it as Ruby fusses over Kane’s exhausted face.
There’s blood smeared on his cheek around the small cuts and bruises on his temple.
She checks him over in the way a mother would, tipping his chin up with the tips of her fingers as she winces.
“I’ll call the doctor. Would you like to get cleaned up before he arrives? ”
“Yeah, but if there’s hot water, I might not leave.” He smiles weakly.
“Follow me then.”
He kisses my temple as he stands before following her up the stairs. The girl, Seraphim, twists her head to see what I’m staring at, and nods knowingly as she shuffles around the booth to sit beside me. She lightly nudges me with her elbow, leaning in to whisper, “We get put there when we’re bad.”
I slowly move my head, keeping that barbaric hook in view.
Ruby is like them, torturing children, selling people while pretending she’s fucking better than everyone.
I open my mouth to give her a promise, but she folds in half as she bursts out laughing.
“You should see your face. How gullible are you?”
“Be nice, sweetheart,” Ruby warns as she soundlessly walks down the stairs.
“It was a joke, but she’s dumb.”
“Seraphim,” she says low in her throat the same way she would when Scarlet would do something outrageous. “Be. Nice.”
“This house is so boring.” She flings herself back. “I’m never allowed to do anything.”
Ruby sits opposite me and I mouth, Is she yours?
But the teenager scoffs, “See. I told you she’s dumb. She thinks I can’t see her mouth.”
“In personality or temperament?” My sister smiles. “Unfortunately, no. Child? Yes.”
“She reminds me of Scar.”
My niece smiles widely, sitting taller as Ruby sighs. “Well, Seraphim is who Scarlet wants to be when she grows up, so that’s understandable.” Turning to her daughter, she adds, “This is Delilah. Remember what I told you?”
“Oh? I shouldn’t have called you dumb because you’re my aunt. But just so you know, when someone is looking at you, they can see you mouthing at someone.”
“You know who I am?” I ask.
She stares at her mom, resisting the urge to question my intelligence again.
Ruby shakes her head. “Go, do your schoolwork or clean your room until it’s time to eat.”
“Is Dad going to be home soon?”
“Yes. Don’t bully your father.”
Leaning closer to me while directing her full attitude at her mother, she whispers, “See what I mean? It’s boring here.”
She climbs over the table, uncaring about dirtying it. Ruby simply shakes her head until her daughter has left the room then softly says, “I’m sorry about her. Somehow she came out slightly feral. I think it’s something she inherited from her dad.”
“When…” is all I manage to get out.
“She’s twelve. You were working in a diner and you’d begun dating again.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She takes a controlled breath, tilting her head to check her daughter isn’t eavesdropping. I don’t think there’s an explanation she could give me that would excuse her selfishness, but she makes no attempt to lie to me.
“I told you that I tried to save you,” Ruby whispers, stretching her fingers out on the table.
“That was true, but then…You had your own life, Delilah. I wanted the same instead of being trained to be Rowan’s wife.
I’d spent my entire life knowing my role, sacrificing everything for you and Scarlet to have a chance to live, so I made my own. ”
Ice invades my veins as she looks at me with a thin smile, tears shining in her eyes.
“Well, I wasn’t safe,” I spit, my voice cracking. “You just didn’t know what daddies do for their princesses.”