Chapter 55
CALISTA
Mother is such a funny word, isn’t it?
The woman who birthed you, the woman who raised you, the woman who loves you. It’s amusing, if not heartbreaking, how often these ideologies fall out of alignment. I suppose a few individuals are lucky enough to experience all three, but I’ve only ever known one.
“The story you told me. About the lost princess.”
Christopher’s voice sounds hollow as he looks at me, the only living evidence of my true identity held between his hands.
“It wasn’t really a dream, was it?”
I can see the mistrust bleeding through his eyes, the heartbreak waiting to happen.
“More of a nightmare, to be honest.”
He doesn’t laugh, but I didn’t really expect him to.
“When’s your birthday, Calista.”
My silence speaks volumes, but for once, he chooses not to listen.
“It’s a simple question.” Dark eyes bore into mine, pushing for an answer he knows already, “What. Day. Were. You. Born.”
“I don’t know.”
“Care to explain that?”
He’s hurting, but what Christopher doesn’t understand, so was I.
“My mother... Maleficent grew her fortune through child abductions. Kidnapping the children of wealthy families until a ransom was paid. Then she would set them free.” My words falter, the secrets these walls have held hostage finally falling free, “At least that’s how it was before she came across me. ”
Christopher stays quiet, just watching me with haunted eyes.
“She knew my birth mother. They had grown up in an orphanage together and had sworn to friendship. The kind of friendship that blossoms into love.” A hollow laugh escapes me, “Or so the story goes.”
His gaze drops to the photographs in his hand, the proof that my parents exist somewhere. Evidence that the people I longed for, the mother and father I waited for, have been on this earth while I’ve been trapped in this hell.
“She chose the prince over the villain.”
“And cursed her child the day she was born.”
A cruel, bitter smile hits my lips, “I hid in that godforsaken closet night after night. Waiting for the men to break into my bedroom. Hoping that this time, maybe this time, somebody will find me. Somebody will swoop in and save me so I can finally go home.”
For five years, I kept track.
Carved a line into the small wooden space to remind myself of how many days I’d been stuck here.
How many days had passed since anyone cared to come look for me.
By the sixth year, I stopped counting.
By the tenth, I stopped hoping.
“She told me it was punishment for my mother’s actions.
The punishment I had to reap in order for justice to be served.
I wasn’t supposed to survive.” A hollow sounds escapes my throat, “But I kept fighting. Kept pushing to stay alive until Maleficent Drache decided she could no longer deny such potential.”
“And kept you as her own.”
“You asked me what was in this vault.” Shaking my head, the last bit of the truth tumbles free, “I came looking for answers. I came looking for the birthday of a little girl who was stolen from her home. Searching for the names of the parents she never got to know.”
It used to be an ache I longed to fill.
The missing piece of me. The life I never got to live.
But the longer I stayed here, the more I realized there was no other destiny for me. Not after Maleficent brought out the monster that was inside.
And after that... well, there wasn’t anything worth keeping.
“Seven. Seventeen. Three.” His eyes flitter across my face, hunting for a sign of recognition, “She used your birth date as the combination.”
07.17.03.
A huff slips past my lips, “I thought for sure I’d be an Aries.”
Christopher blows out a shaky breath, the sound falling short of laughter.
“It’s a lot to take in.”
“I’ve had a few years to get used to it.”
Another laugh that doesn’t sound much happier than the first.
“Give me another minute and I’ll be caught up.”
“Intruder detected. Initiating lockdown sequence.”
The alarm blares through the room, it’s impeccable timing driving a sword through the tension between us.
Jumping into action, I grab a pillowcase from the bed and start throwing folders inside. The Dragon’s mountain of blackmail and trade secrets gets tossed inside her silk sheets as I race to empty out the rest of the safe.
“She’s really got to upgrade her security. We just robbed her blind and now the guards are stomping up here?”
“Let’s worry about that later.”
Christopher tosses me the last stack of paperwork and we go charging out the door.
Impossible to break it. Stupidly easy to break out.
“Up there!”
Boots echo up the spiralling staircase as I grab his hand and yank him down the hall. Sweat trickles down the back of my neck as we go sprinting through corridors, racing from one end of Drache Manor to the other until we hit the maid’s quarters.
Marginal bedrooms line the upper floor as we push past the laundry sector and tiny dining area. Our heels leave indents in the plush carpet as we run for the farthest door.
Ripping it open, a set of concrete stairs greet us. Heavy breathing fills the stark space as I pull out my phone and cast a flashlight around, slowly brightening our descent into darkness.
Round and round we go, dropping farther and farther until the cool drip of the basement pipes is above us.
“Access to the railroad is through here.”
Ducking past beams and steaming pipes, I train my eyes over the cracked concrete until the faint lines of chalk come into view.
The gritty surface of a manhole appears, a manhole I didn’t know existed until Christopher handed over the Hoffmann blueprints.
A grunt echoes through the stale air as Christopher slides the metal plate out of its position. Wooden beams stare back at us, the rickety frame of a minecart balancing precariously on top.
“Lock down all exits and make sure they don’t escape!”
I watch him drop through the opening and hold out a hand for me.
“You coming, darling?”
Slipping our fingers together, I feel his grip start to tighten.
Close around nothing but a piece of paper I leave behind.
“The offshore accounts I promised you.”
Shock shatters his features as Christopher stares up at me.
“You think I’m still doing this for the money?”
I stare at him, feeling my throat tighten with the sight before me.
“No.” A hideously vulnerable smile hits my face, “But we have to stick to the plan.”
“Fuck the plan. I’m not leaving you.”
Whatever parts of myself I thought were numb come blooming back to life as I watch Christopher struggle to climb out of an escape route.
Fighting to find a way back to me.
“You have to.”
“Get your ass down here. I’m not-
The metal plate slides back into place, muting the sound of his voice.
I silence the frustration radiating from the railroad beneath me. The thief who stole my broken pieces and brought a monster back into the light.
Back into the world I forgot I was missing.
By the time a ruddy-faced guard appears, I’m pacing back and forth, impatience snapping between the click of my fingers.
“What took you so long?”
“Miss Drache-
“Scrounge the neighboring forests. The thief escaped through the railroad. There should be a manhole not far from here.”
The furious snap of my teeth has the guard stumbling back.
“Ma’am, I was told there were two-
“Then what are you waiting for?”
He swallows, wide eyes dropping to the silk sheets clenched between my fists.
“Did you need something else, soldier?”
His eyes snap back to mine, “N-No, Miss Drache.”
I raise a brow, watching his cheeks flush under my stare. Mumbling another apology the guard backs away slowly, keeping his eyes trained on the floor before running the other way.
Stilettos in one hand, a pillowcase in the other, I use the maintenance exit to slip out of Drache Manor. Patter barefoot through the forest while crows swoop and scream around me.
Only once I reach the boulder, do I stop. Riffle through the contents of my makeshift bag until I find what I’m looking for.
Placing the stack of papers on the rock, I pull out my phone and listen to the sound of crashing waves in the distance. Inhale the sweet twang of saltwater infiltrating the breeze.
ME: The keys to Wolf Hollow belong to you.