Chapter 42
Nothing scary ever happens in my life anymore. No danger’s lurking around the corner, I’ve got no enemies looking for me and no karma to catch up with. I couldn’t feel fear anymore. All the worst case scenarios have already played out in my head.
“A gift,” I uttered under my breath.
My body was paralyzed with fear and my mind went blank when I saw the rage in his eyes.
“From who?”
I looked down, pursing my lips.
“I’m asking you, who’s it from?”
Not daring to look up, I muttered,
“From August.”
“Take it off.”
“No, please! It’s just a watch. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Zoe, take the watch off or I will,” he hissed through gritted teeth.
I knew he’d not be happy with me if he saw it. Bewildered, I stupidly blurted out the truth outright.
I took it off and passed it to him.
He broke the watch in front of me and threw it into the burning fireplace.
I watched it get charred by the flames, mirroring my hopes for an escape.
Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring his frame as he walked away .
I caught up and angrily pushed him in the back.
“What’s your problem? What is it?”
He turned to me and I hit him in the chest.
“That was my watch. Mine.”
I nearly screamed as tears filled my eyes and anger built up in my chest.
He grabbed my wrists and shook me twice.
“You don’t have your own things, and you won’t have any.”
He let go of me and ran a hand through his hair, looking away.
“August. Why the fuck is he giving you gifts?”
“Maybe I sleep with him, too.”
He grabbed me by the throat roughly and I hit my head against the wall.
His eyes became a reflection of wrath.
“Come again,” he said, his voice cold as ice.
“He’s fucking me, too.”
I saw his chest rise and fall rapidly, his grip on my throat getting too strong.
He closed his eyes and opened them after a few seconds. When they met mine, I saw two chunks of black ice that sent a wave of fear into the very depths of my mind.
“Pray to your God, Zoe. Pray it’s not true.
Because if you really slept with him, I’m gonna tie you to my bed, put a chair with the bastard tied to it next to it and cut every part of his body right before your eyes.
And then I’m gonna fuck you in front of him.
I’ll keep going until there’s nothing left to slice off.
I’m gonna make sure neither him, nor you black out.
I will leave his eyes intact, to let him see who you belong to. ”
I was panting from the vivid images in my head that scared me to my core.
“The guests have arrived,” Marta said.
His grip loosened up .
I turned my head towards the voice and she shot me a judgmental look.
Eric didn’t move an inch.
He took his hand away from my neck and his thumb moved closer to my cheek.
I flinched. His hand stopped, and his thumb wiped away a fresh tear on my left cheek.
He stepped away and I began to wipe away the remaining tears.
I got to take two deep breaths before I welcomed Bell in.
I forced a smile when I saw Mortimer.
“The Roncallis, I’ve missed you already,” Mortimer lilted.
The scariest type of people was never those who openly hate and throw punches at you. It’s the ones that smile at you and try to please you while they’re sharpening a knife behind your back. A knife you’d never see coming until it’s too late.
We sat down at the table. Bell sat across from me, and Mortimer was across from Eric.
I tried to hold myself back from staring at Bell too much.
Mortimer was cutting a piece of meat on his plate and wouldn’t shut up.
“How did you two meet?”
I picked up my glass.
“In the woods,” Eric replied calmly.
I took a big gulp of wine.
“Zoe enjoys walks in the woods.”
I could barely hold my nervous giggle in.
“What an interesting encounter.”
Mortimer was smiling, chewing on a piece of meat.
“Do you work, Zoe?”
“My wife doesn’t work. She’s a housewife.”
I forced a smile, feeling the tension radiating from Eric’s tone.
“What do you do in your spare time, then?”
“The house’s big. A wife has plenty to do. ”
I didn’t understand why he was so curt with him.
If he kept going like this, Mortimer would get up and leave, dragging Bell with him.
I kicked Eric’s leg but he ignored me.
“How old are you? You look quite young.”
“My wife’s 27. Soon to be 28.”
“And do you...?”
I was about to ask a question when I saw Eric pull out my phone, placing it on the table.
Noticing my shock, he asked,
“Is something wrong, my love?”
I looked up at him with a small smile.
“No. Everything’s just fine.”
I began to straighten up the already neat-looking napkin in my lap.
“You got a new phone?”
“Yes. I’ve been looking for it for a while and found it in the corner of my drawer. Buried under a pile of papers.”
I smiled, still fixing my napkin.
I looked up and smiled at Mortimer.
“Excuse me, I’m going to have to leave you for a moment.”
Eric got up and left the room.
My eyes fell on Bell. She barely ate anything. She was picking at peas on her plate with a fork, looking at me from under her eyebrows.
“You have to excuse Eric. He’s a little grumpy today. We had a small fight before your visit. He takes it hard when we fight.”
“I get it. It’s fine.”
We continued eating, and I began babbling away like a TV reporter. Mortimer feigned interest, but I could see boredom in his eyes.
After a while, Eric finally came back.
“Sorry for the wait. ”
He leaned in and put a necklace on my neck. The same one I nearly paid for with my life.
“This is a very beautiful necklace. Looks expensive,” Mortimer said.
I wanted to tell him it really was expensive, though not because of its price, but decided against it.
Why did he give me the necklace?
I lifted my head to look at Eric and quickly forced a smile.
“Thank you,” I said under my breath.
He lightly touched my hair and sat back down.
“You look like a loving couple,” Mortimer remarked.
Eric rested his palm on my leg, squeezing and releasing it.
“And we are. Aren’t we, darling?”
I dug my nails into his hand, wishing to hurt him.
“Yes, honey.”
I turned my head, smiling at him and playing up to his sick game.
I felt like I was putting too much energy into small talk and that fake smile.
“I think we should leave you boys be so Laura and I can gossip a little in the guest room. Would you mind, Mortimer?”
I could see him getting tense. His smile was no longer as broad as it was a few seconds ago.
I felt that had Eric not been in the room with us, he’d have said no or simply brushed me off.
“Sure, but don’t go anywhere. I need to know, where Laura is.”
“Of course. We’ll be in the next room over,” I smiled.
Bell got up and kissed Mortimer mindlessly. I balled my hand into a fist to keep from grabbing a plate and chucking it at his head.
“Don’t you want to give me a kiss, baby?”
My head snapped towards Eric. I narrowed my eyes slightly and tried not to show anger in my expression with everything I had in me .
I leaned in towards him and our lips met in a quick kiss.
His right hand grabbed the back of my head and pulled my lips closer. He knew I wouldn’t resist him with Mortimer watching.
His lips covered mine. His tongue captured mine possessively, reminding me who was in charge here.
I wanted to convince myself I didn’t care, but that simply wasn’t true.
I wanted the kiss to go on, despite the oppressive feeling of guilt.
I pulled away and leaned closer to his ear.
“I hope to see you die.”
His smile grew wider.
“And I love you, too.”
I gave him a sweet smile back.
Bell and I left the living room.
We walked side by side.
“There are no cameras in the house,” I whispered.
We entered the guest room and I closed the double doors behind us.
We ran into each other’s arms and hugged tight.
“I’m gonna cry,” she said into my shoulder.
“If you start, I’m gonna cry, too, and it won’t stop.”
We sat on the couch, holding each other’s hands and choking our tears back.
I remembered my phone and felt my heart fall.
“The plan’s changed a bit. You will have to run alone.”
“What? But why?”
“Eric found my phone. He knew I had one, but never cared about it until today. I couldn’t call dad to tell him everything. If I run away, he’ll kill them.”
I could see panic in her eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere. I can’t do it alone. Not even gonna try. ”
“Bell. I know you’re scared. So scared it feels like you’re gonna die. But don’t let your fear turn into panic. Panic is our enemy. You have to fight and run.”
Bell shook her head.
“This is suicide, Zo. I saw what he did to those who betrayed him. He does not forgive. I’ll be tortured until there’s nothing left of me. I’m scared... I...”
Her body was shaking. She was staring straight before her, as if Mortimer already knew everything.
I took her by the shoulders and turned her to make our eyes meet.
“My dream is in your hands now. I dream of escaping this place. I dream of kissing my mom and hugging my dad. I want to run away from here and get my freedom and my life back. And I will do it. And I believe it. No losing streak lasts forever. Evil can’t come out on top all the time.
Luck has got to be on our side. Something good has to happen.
And if the good times aren’t coming, we’ll bring them around ourselves. ”
Tears were streaming down Bell’s cheeks.
I gripped her hands.
“But maybe you can still call them? Maybe we could find another phone?”
“No. They won’t have enough time to hide. The phone doesn’t matter at this point.”
Bell’s fingers were wiping my face. I didn’t even notice my tears falling down.
I flicked them away hastily.
“I’m gonna give you this necklace and tell you, where to run.”
“A necklace? What happened to the watch?”
“He found it right before you came. He broke it and threw the pieces in the fireplace. The watch was a gift from an acquaintance, a man he isn’t too fond of. He found out about it, and I lost my head and told him where I got it from. ”
“He’s jealous.”
“What? No. He’s not jealous. He doesn’t like me.”
Bell smirked.
“And the my wife talk? He’s jealous of you and Mortimer.”
“No,” I scrunched my nose, “he’s a sick bastard who thinks my life belongs to him. He only knows how to boss around and manipulate people as if he owns them. He’s incapable of feeling jealous.”
Bell fell silent.
“It looked like you’d had a fight and he was apologizing to you.”
I frowned.
“The necklace seems like an apology.”
I touched the necklace.
“No.”
“Then why did he give it to you?”
“If he wanted to say sorry, he could have just said it instead of making a show of his gift. He just wanted to flaunt it, show you how good of a family we are.”
“What if it’s his way of apologizing? Maybe, to him, showing off is the act of saying sorry?”
“What makes you say that?”
A smile tugged at my lips.
“The way he looks at you?”
“What way would that be?”
Bell was about to reply, but I cut her to it.
“He’ll definitely take his necklace back.
He knows I almost got killed over the damned thing.
Giving it was either a threat to me, or an attempt to show off in front of Mortimer.
He’s a good actor. Don’t trust him. And he’s got a girlfriend.
He goes to see her every day. And... it doesn’t matter anyway. ”
“Yes, sorry. I was just... surprised how different our lives were.”
“Now your life’s gonna change for the better. ”
“When are you going to escape, Zoe? You aren’t staying here, are you?”
“No. Once you’re out of here and you feel certain you aren’t in danger anymore, I want you to call my dad and tell him everything.”
“Then you’d escape?”
Mortimer’s bound to find everything out sooner or later. And I hoped it wouldn’t come too soon. But once it did, Eric would know I did it. That I helped her escape.
Then he’d have two options, to tell him or to hide it.
If he told Mortimer the truth, I’d be dead.
If he covered it, I’d survive but I’d never get to see them again.
I was ready to make the sacrifice. I wanted to free them from him.
“Yes.”
I gave her a small smile.
“Once I get out, I’m gonna call the police and send them here. I’ll reach out to press and make a huge fuss about it. I’m not...”
“Bell. Don’t.”
“Why?”
“You told me yourself Mortimer was a dangerous and influential man. They’re both psychopaths. They’d pay everyone off. And they’d be able to track you down through them. I don’t want you to give yourself away.”
“And what do you want me to do, Zo? Act like you’re doing fine? That you’re living the dream? Do you want me to keep living like you don’t exist?”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but couldn’t.
“Yes. I want that. This is the price of freedom. Freedom I want you to get back. Live for me. Do everything you’ve ever dreamed of, or don’t, just keep living, okay?”
“How are you so cruel, Zo? ”
A tear ran down her cheek.
“I’m sorry.”
I gave her a tight hug.
Tears blurred my vision.
Sniffling, I went on,
“I got you comfortable shoes. I don’t have any sneakers. Flats are the only heel-less shoes I’ve got here. Still, it’s better than running through the woods in high heels. I’ve packed you some food to get by for now and a knife.”
I saw a glimpse of fear in her eyes.
“You have to be ready for anything. I want you to fight. Fight for your life. Bell, choose yourself, not him. Choose your own life, not his. He wouldn’t choose yours. Do you understand?”
Bell nodded her head silently.
Fear was written all over her face, but I could also see a hint of determination now.
I left the room and headed to the living room to tell them that everything was fine and we were going to my room to try on some dresses.
I entered the room, but saw no one there.
I looked at the phone and saw the screen blink off. I tapped on it and saw ten missed calls from my dad.
The phone rang again, making me jump.
I picked it up and brought the phone to my ear.
“Zoe... Zoe, your mother... she’s gone.”
The phone fell out of my hand with a thud, hitting the tile floor and shattering into pieces.
Silence felt deafening. My whole body felt numb. I stared straight ahead, but saw nothing, like I was standing in a dark tunnel.
I could feel something coming. Something so horrible I would never outlast it.
I chose not to wait for it. I turned around and ran back to Bell.
The door opened, and I said,
“We’re leaving.”