Chapter 2 In the Bad Wolf’s Den
The letter of the day is W. W is for big bad Wolf.
The bed underneath me was so wide it seemed infinite. No matter how many times I turned in my sleep, I couldn’t find the end of it. Never could I have dreamed up the softness of the sheets and pillows. It was like sleeping on a cloud—so comfortable it lulled me back to sleep several times.
Once I woke and the fog cleared from my mind, I realized I was lying in a four-poster bed with green- and red-checkered fabric canopied around me.
There was no view to the outside world, no way of knowing where this bed was.
Maybe I’m dead, floating in space. I had never seen such a bed.
In my home, I either slept on a mattress Mum rolled out on the kitchen floor, or on the sofa.
Then it all came back to me. Images of the blood bath assaulted my mind. In a trance, I saw the dead bodies around me, recognizing them. Happy short memories of them broke my heart, like when my older cousins would carry me on their shoulders, play with me, or tickle me.
The blood and dead bodies were the only things I could see around me, and no matter how many times I squeezed my eyes closed, they wouldn’t disappear.
I stretched when I saw Aintin Margie, but my fingers couldn’t reach the blood-ridden dress to turn her over.
Uncle Roger lay right next to her. My throat locked.
Naaaanaaaaa! I screamed in my mind. I wanted to be with them, but I couldn’t leave Mommy alone. I heard my own breathing shaking as the cold pain spread through my chest. They killed them all. Everyone I’d ever loved and who’d loved me was dead.
The fire heated my face all over again, like it had the night before.
Sweat collected into fat drops on my forehead and a thin sheet of it covered the rest of my body.
I couldn’t escape the scene and stop wishing it to be part of a nightmare that never happened.
Every time my memory slid back to the bodies, a new horrible detail surfaced.
I needed to return to the previous minutes of peace when I awakened with brain fog and brief amnesia.
I wanted to run, to get off the bed, but the sound of gunshots and screams filled the room.
Shadows of men holding big guns walked around the bed.
With my hand spread on my chest, I tried to calm my breathing and my heartbeat.
Scared it was happening again, I dared not open the curtains.
It can’t be real. It was just a bad dream. Where’s Nana? Where did she go? It was extremely dark, so once the shots and screams stopped ringing in my ear, I sat up and parted the curtains to my left, then the merciless sun blinded me. In its rays, dust balls floated.
Using a footstool, I climbed down from the bed.
The window was narrow, with stained glass like those of a cathedral, and almost reached the ceiling which was so high I had to arch my neck all the way back to see.
Hanging on the wall across from the foot of the bed was an embroidered carpet depicting a forest full of different animals.
In the dark center, between the trees, stood a big black wolf.
It stared right at me, its eyes the only specks of red in the entire tapestry.
It drew me to search behind the carpet, but it mirrored the rest of the room, with brown wainscotting at the bottom and dark-green paint on the top.
A small wooden desk and chair drew me to the right of the room, bringing my attention to a door which led to a lavish bathroom with a luxurious shower and bath.
“Mum!” I called, wondering where they’d taken her, then hurried out of the room.
The long, carpeted hall matched my room, except hanging on these walls were landscape paintings with lavish gold framing.
With so many doors of the same color, the place was a maze and there was no way to know which room I’d come from.
At the end of the hall, I had no idea which way to go—left or right?
Listening as best as I could for any noise, I heard yelling in the distance and followed it.
“You will do everything exactly as I say when I say, or I swear I’ll kill him too!”
I ran toward the man’s voice, and even though I could barely hear her sobbing, I recognized it right away.
As I got closer, her weeping became more distinct.
“How could you do this to me? You’re revolting!
I don’t want to be involved with you or your disgusting business.
I never did. And now you’ve killed my family!
How can you expect me to feel anything but hate toward you?
” she yelled. There was a slapping sound.
“You’ll get over it. Time heals everything, my little oh-so-moral sister-in-law…” He laughed like a maniac. With the door slightly ajar, I could see my mother’s long, black hair, undulating in big curls, draping over the back of the chair she sat on. “We both know this is your doing, not mine—”
“What are you talking about? I’m married to your brother, Rick! Have you lost your mind?”
“You flirted with me, seduced me, drove me crazy with your smiles and that sparkle in your eye. Don’t act like you didn’t know what you were doing to me. And then… you chose him!” The last word almost echoed, but then he whispered, “Because you couldn’t accept that I was rich?” He scoffed.
“You’re a criminal who sells people into slavery! How can you expect me to accept that, Ricard? Either way, I always loved your brother and always will.”
“Loved, mo stór,” he corrected on a chuckle.
The two words shocked me, ripping everything from me.
In the silence, I could only hear my heart and breaths, but the world turned way too fast. There was no way I’d heard right.
I wanted to vomit, to die. Da was dead? My uncle…
had killed my father? All my dreams melted into nothing but garbage, yet there was no time to lament or mourn because we were in terrible danger in the big bad wolf’s den.
I had to focus on saving Mum and myself.
After all, she was the only thing I had left.
“You loved my brother. He’s dead, dear. I killed him too. There’s actually nothing I wouldn’t do and no one I wouldn’t kill... for you. To have you like this…” He pointed at her on the carpet and added, “All for me.”
His proud, smooth-toned admission hammered a nail into my coffin, but I had to stay strong. I had to keep quiet and gather as much information as I could so I could get us out of here somehow.
He grabbed her by her arm and sat her on a chair.
“I don’t want to be here.” Her words were full of defiance.
He hovered over her, his face inches from hers, and his hands on the arms of her chair.
His glare made her cower away from him, almost folding into herself.
“Rick, I’m not feeling well. I have a headache. ”
He chuckled. “This is going to be so fun. Already with the classic excuses?”
“You’ve lost your fucking mind!” she screeched, and minutes of silence passed.
“Also, your fault. Don’t worry. I’ll mold you exactly to what I’ve always desired, and you will obey me.
” His fingers caressed where her cheek had reddened.
“You should actually get on your knees and thank me.” He pushed himself two meters back.
“You think I want that little gobshite?” He gestured toward the door with his head while still looking at her and started unbuckling his belt.
“He’s your nephew. The only future of your family.”
“Are you still thinking I give a flying fuck?” He chuckled. It was hard to say if the laughter had been real since he was able to stop it so fast. “I don’t. Now get on your fucking knees and thank me for not killing your son.”
She wailed, and I didn’t know what he was planning, but with her reaction, I had a feeling it wasn’t anything good.
“Ricard, please. You need help—”
“Shut the feck up!” His violent yelling scared me. Da had never talked to either of us like that. He’d never made Mum cry.
I ran back to where I’d come from, where the hall split, and screamed, “Mum! Muuuuum!” I crept toward them, attempting to disrupt whatever he was going to do to her but also processing what I’d just heard.
My uncle had killed everyone I’d ever known because he was crazy and wanted my mother.
Once I forced the thought through my mind, my heart shattered.
Da is dead too. He killed him. This psychopathic asshole killed my father.
I crumbled, my knees hitting the carpeted floor before I could reach the room. It was too much. I wailed, “Muuuuum!”
After some indistinctive whispering, she burst into the hallway and kneeled to take me in her arms. I was no longer faking anything.
All my dreams had been obliterated. All the loss took hold of my bleeding heart and choked it.
With my wet cheek flattened against her chest, and hers on my head, we both wailed.
“Try to escape and you’ll face a consequence worse than death. Or you can live here in the prime of luxury.” Ignoring him, I hugged Mum tighter, not sure which of us was shaking. His sigh clearly carried his annoyance. “Feel free to ask the servants for a meal when the crying gives way to hunger.”
From the corner of my eye, I watched him walk away. It gave me a little bit of relief, but I sensed we were in the pit of evil. I just didn’t know how we could escape it.
Eventually, our sobs quieted into silent hiccups. Mum cupped my cheeks, and we stared at each other's swollen, wet red eyes. “It’s going to be all right,” she reassured, and nodded.
“How—”
“Just do as I say without questions, okay? And you’ll be all right. I’ll keep him away from you. He won’t touch you.” With furrowed brows, I looked at her, confused. This man was a monster. How would she tame him?
“Come. Let’s get you cleaned up, and then we will get something to eat.”