Chapter 17
I learned the art of lies when I was still a little girl. I could see no one wanted the truth. I knew I had to learn how to lie to succeed. And not just to lie, but to actually believe the things I said. After all, if I can convince myself, I’d easily convince everyone else.
“Take the pills if the pain comes back. No need to bear it.”
Sana drew the catheter out of my left arm. A small drop of blood beaded on my skin until a band-aid covered it.
Sana had short hair, but it didn’t take away from her feminine look. Her haircut highlighted her gentle features, making her look younger.
I watched her gather her things calmly. I began to roll the ring with my left thumb mindlessly.
I was dragging my feet about it, but I had to try and find out, whose side she was on. Did she have a gun at her head like me?
“Have you been working here long?”
“No,” she replied without looking.
“Do you know, how I got this wound?”
She raised her tired eyes to look at me. They matched the color of her hair.
“You stabbed yourself with a knife,” she said flatly.
“He made me.”
She kept packing her stuff, like she never heard it.
“Can you help me?”
“I already have. ”
“Can I use your phone?”
She stood up straight in her ivory coat, bag in hand.
“Have a nice day.”
She turned around and left the room.
I sighed dejectedly, sliding my head down on the pillow.
No surprise there. He clearly told her not to talk to me but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take my side. I just needed to find out what he’s using against her. I could try to help her. We could team up and fight him together.
I would never make it out on my own. I needed allies. I needed someone to betray him. I did not believe everyone was here willingly.
I heard two knocks on the door.
“Come in.”
Marta entered the room.
She walked to the table quietly to take the tray with the dirty dishes away.
In the morning, she brought me breakfast, and then Sana paid me a visit to put me on a drip. That was my new daily routine for the first week of living in a cage.
“Master wants you to know he will be home for lunch today.”
Are we supposed to dine together? Why?
I’d rather not see him while I ate, at least. I was sure his aura would turn any food toxic.
I nodded silently. I still couldn’t figure out how to talk to Marta. I felt really awkward being catered to like a princess. My sense of importance was mixed in with a nauseating feeling of being stripped of my personality around him. Because neither my wishes, nor my life were worth a damn to him.
“Take your clothes off. I’ll wash them.”
“When will you bring them back? I don’t have any other clothes. I have nothing to wear.”
“You will find all your clothes in the wardrobe. ”
“But I need these clothes specifically.”
“Alright. I’ll bring them back tonight.”
“Thanks.”
I got up and went to the bathroom to get undressed. I wrapped myself up in a fluffy white robe. I’d been sleeping in my own clothes all this time. I’d been ready to get up and leave at any moment.
But I couldn’t escape.
Marta took my things and left, and I walked up to the cream-colored wardrobe. The wardrobe was full of dresses, blouses, skirts and shoes. Everything was new.
I wondered if there were any girls here before me. How many were there? Did anyone make it out?
As I looked through the clothes, I realized there were no pants, shorts or flat shoes. I pulled the bottom drawer out and saw sheer lacy lingerie. No casual underwear.
All the clothes were conventionally feminine. It made me mad, and I pushed the drawer back angrily, slamming it closed.
I walked up to the window and sat down, looking out at the gray fog over dense, dark woods.
I had to do something before the blood sea he inhabited drowned me.
Recovery gave me a head start, but for how much more?
I needed a phone. Everyone in this damn manor had one. I just needed to steal one. I could call dad and tell him everything. He’d take mom and skip town, moving as far away as possible.
I wasn’t sure they could transport mom while she’s in a coma, but they had to get out of that hospital. If they did it, if they moved to a safe place, I’d be free to run away.
I was going to get away from here, God damn it. I would escape and forget all about this god-forsaken place. About the reaper and his manor .
Did the police come to the university? Where was Bell? Was she alive? I needed the news. My room had no TV.
The scenery changed, but I was still locked up. I was cut off from the world.
Who was behind the university attack? The reaper? He killed one of them back in the grove, so did his bodyguard.
What about the girls? He took them from the university the night before the attack. Did this mean he wasn’t working with them? I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. But what’s the point in this? What’s the point in killing everyone in sight without thinking? To what end?
Endless flow of questions with no answers weighed down on me, driving me mad.
I hopped up, heading to the wardrobe.
I was going to act like I accepted the rules of his game to play on my terms instead.
I put on a silk dress with long sleeves and golden buttons, as well as a pair of kitten heels.
Putting on makeup felt awkward, but my pale face looked utterly pitiful. I put some mascara on, added a bit of blush and headed to his office.
With every step, my bravado was slipping away like a naughty kitten trying to hide from the mess it made.
I knocked and pulled the handle, but he wasn’t there. So I quietly closed the door from the inside.
I ran up to the desk and began pulling the drawers.
I sat into his large, cold armchair, and it sent a wave of fear through me. As if he was standing behind my back, watching me.
What was I doing? It was clear as day he wouldn’t leave his phone in the open, knowing I was after it. And he definitely told everyone not to give me a phone. I was just wasting my time. I’m everyone’s enemy now, and I had to become their friend .
My heels clicked on the steps monotonously when my gaze fell on a man with a cigarette sitting on the porch by the wide-open doors.
“Hello.”
The man was scrolling on his phone, smoking lazily like he was doing it more out of boredom than anything else.
“What are you doing?”
Still no answer.
“He’s not in his office. Where is he?”
“He left.”
“Can I go outside?”
“No.”
I went down a few steps and stood in front of him.
“Can you take me to the university?”
He smirked, putting his cigarette out on a moss-covered concrete step.
“Maybe I should just give you my car keys so you could make a run for it, and my phone to call the cops?” he replied, looking back at me.
That wouldn’t have been half bad.
“What’s your name?”
“Norman,” he answered, still staring at his phone.
“I’m Zoe.”
“I know.”
His people reminded me of him.
Every door has a key, and every man can be won over.
“What else do you know about me?”
“Everything I need to know.”
“How long have you been smoking?”
“For a while.”
“I’m gonna stay here for a while, too, and I’d love for my life to get more comfortable.
Do you get me? I want to make myself at home, to carry out my duties better.
And to make myself comfortable, I’m gonna need my stuff.
And it isn’t much. The dorm isn’t even far from here.
About a five-minute drive, if that. I want to get my stuff back.
My favorite skirt, blouse, things like that.
It won’t be long. And there shouldn’t really be anyone at the university.
The classes have obviously been cancelled, so I won’t get in anyone’s way. What do you say?”
“Do I look like an idiot to you?”
He placed the phone on his knees and gave me an annoyed look.
“No. Of course not. But maybe...”
“What?”
“Maybe this could stay between you and me? It won’t be any trouble, I’m not gonna run away. It’s not like I can, really. I’ve got stitches on my shoulder, and they hurt. I just want to get my stuff. That’s it.”
“No.”
“It’s not far.”
“No.”
I swallowed hard.
“I can do anything you want, and it’ll stay between us. What do you say?”
He lifted his gaze and let it dwell on me, lost in his own thoughts.
“You don’t have anything I want.”
A total failure.
There was no winning him over. He’s like a brick wall.
I needed more time to gain his trust, but I didn’t have any.
I got another idea, just as desperate as my attempts to escape.
“Call your boss.”
My voice sounded like an order. It was so cold I got a nasty feeling of doing something inherently wrong deep down.
When in Rome do as the Romans do.
I saw his body tense up. He wasn’t sprawled about anymore. He sat up straight. His whole body got tight like a string .
He tapped the screen twice and gave me the phone.
My heart was racing like crazy. I could feel the fear rising from the deepest pit of my stomach. My thoughts screamed for me not to do it. That it was a terrible idea and I needed to drop it before it’s too late.
But I wasn’t going to back down. I could only hope he wasn’t a vengeful type, since our last conversation didn’t go too well.
He picked up the phone after two dial tones.
“Speak,” he said in a low voice.
I didn’t know, if I should say hi or just get to the point. I was trying to get over my terrible awkwardness and anxiety.
“This is Zoe.”
I thought he hung up and had to look at the phone screen to see he was still listening.
“I know I was rude to you last week. I’m sorry.”
I was so nervous, all my thoughts got jumbled up and I didn’t even know where to begin asking him about it anymore. What leading questions should I ask him? What was it that I even wanted to ask?
“I’m sorry I yelled at you in your office.”
I wasn’t sorry.
“And for almost knocking down my office door?”
“That, too.”
“And for raising your voice at me?”
He really was vengeful.
“I’m sorry for that, too.”
“Now tell me what you’re grateful to me for.”
“Grateful?”
I could barely hold my sarcasm.
“Have you thanked me for calling Sana when you deliberately tore the stitches? I could’ve let you bleed to death, but I hadn’t. Or for Marta feeding you instead of letting you starve? For the clothes in your wardrobe? For your room? Don’t you want to thank me for that?”
I was gripping the phone, ready to chuck it deep into the woods, yelling out every swear word I knew.
“I’m thankful to you for everything,” I replied through gritted teeth.
“When you say everything, you mean nothing. Be specific,” he ordered coldly.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’m thankful to you for calling Sana in to fix my stitches. I’m grateful for Marta, who feeds me great food. Thank you for the things in my wardrobe. Thank you for the private room I got.”
“You’re most welcome, Zoe. I’m glad you appreciate my generosity.”
It took everything I had in me to keep my smart mouth shut.
“Now, get to the point.”
I felt like someone shook me and dropped me back down.
I opened my mouth but couldn’t remember what I wanted to ask about.
“Zoe, if that’s all you wanted to say, I’m hanging up.”
“No.”
I sighed.
“Sana’s put me on a drip. And she told me I should spend more time outside. This will help lessen stress and ramp up my recovery. Can I go for walks around the manor?”
Before he had a chance to reply, I quickly added,
“Norman will be with me. He’ll accompany me on my walks.”
Norman glared at me, not even trying to hide his frustration at the fact he’s going to be the one baby-sitting me.
He didn’t reply right away.
“Alright.”
“Norman is a reliable man, right?”
“Most reliable. ”
A long pause followed.
“Hurry up, Zoe.”
“The university’s closed today. There’ll be no one around. I’m sure the survivors went back home. And...”
I spoke so fast I was out of breath.
“Maybe you could let Norman and I go back to the dorms to pick up a few of my books and stuff?”
Norman clicked his tongue, looking annoyed.
There was a pause.
A long one.
I didn’t notice I’d been holding my breath waiting for his response.
“Pass the phone to Norman.”
My heart dropped.
I screwed up.
I slowly handed the phone back to Norman. He nodded his head to everything the reaper told him, then hung up the phone.
I rolled the ring anxiously.
What did he say? Well?
Norman lifted his head to look at me, narrowing his eyes.
“The fox has won.”
I bit down on my lower lip to hide a smile.
A small victory is still a triumph.