Chapter 9
For two months after her first meeting with Master Bastian Lavelle, all Catherine would see when she dreamed was his face, looming over hers. She would wake with the sun streaming through the window, her body covered in a damp sweat, and her hand stretched out as if she were reaching for him. But during all that time, she did not see him again. Not once.
Not seeing Bastian wasn’t the only thing that worried her. Though Mary seemed to be doing fine, Rose had yet to return to them and Charlotte had started to grow even more distant. Charlotte only seemed interested in speaking with the older girls of the house and only made time for Mary and Catherine when they were cooped up together in their little shack. Mary didn’t seem to notice, but Catherine did. She didn’t want to ask her friend outright what brought about the change, but she had a feeling she knew already.
Charlotte and several of the older girls had their eye on the Master.
Not that Catherine could blame them. Rumors were going around the plantation of what Master Lavelle and the others on the island did for those they favored. Better housing, higher quality food and it was rumored that they could pick and choose their jobs.
However, getting on Bastian’s good side, or any side of any masters, was not at the top of her list. She’d spent the last two months trying to catch glimpses of her brother in the fields and failing. He worked during the long hours of the day and her time spent being out of the shack was only once the sun went down. It was nearly impossible to catch him. Mary though had managed to see him when she’d been sent to the fields right at the end of their time to help get them water and a good meal.
From the way she returned smiling on those days, Liam and Mary were growing quite fond of each other. That thought at least gave Catherine comfort. She wished that Dan was still here with them, perhaps he could have found some happiness as well. Her other concern was Michael. No one had said anything about the island to her and she didn’t have the nerve to ask any of the other slaves about what was really over there.
“Catherine, Catherine, you’re doing it again,” Mary said and Catherine shook her head.
“Sorry, just thinking about Michael.”
She reached over and grabbed her hand. “You’ll get some answers soon.”
“I hope so. At least I know that Liam is doing well.”
Mary giggled as she brushed her hair back with her fingers and finished tying on her skirts. “He may or may not have kissed me the last time I saw him.”
Catherine frowned, worried they would get caught but the look on Mary’s face was too precious to ruin. “As long as you’re careful,” she warned.
“It’s just a kiss, Catherine,” Charlotte muttered form the corner. “No harm in it.”
“I never said there was, but I don’t know how the overseers would react to seeing it. I don’t want my brother being whipped again.”
“We’re careful, I promise,” Mary said.
A knock sounded at the door and the girls turned. It was still early for them to be brought to the house. Catherine said they were decent and the door was unlocked.
“Rose!”
“Hello ladies,” she said cheerfully as she entered the shack, Maxine right behind her. “How have you been?”
They stared at their friend confused as she went to her bed, humming merrily, and started to unfold her clothes, shaking them out to try and get rid of the wrinkles.
“Rose is doing much better now and will be rejoining you at the house for work duties,” Maxine informed them. “Since it is so close to your time anyway, I will leave the door unlocked. You may find your way to the house right as the sun sets. Understood?”
The four of them curtsied and she turned on her heel and left.
“What happened to you Rose?” Mary asked. “We were so worried they’d sent you to the island.”
“What? Oh no, they took great care of me,” Rose said as she started to change. “It was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
“Being taken away from us?” Charlotte asked confused.
“No, being brought here to this tropical paradise,” she said as if in a dream then began humming again. As she finished with her skirts and started on her corset the other girls exchanged a glance. “Could you help me with this, Mary?”
As she went to help, Catherine and Charlotte moved towards the door and turned away. “What did they do to her?” Charlotte whispered. “This isn’t Rose. How could they change her like this?”
“I don’t know,” Catherine said. “Magic? How else do you change a person?” Charlotte was right. Rose was no longer standing before them. Where was the girl who hated being here, wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and disappear from the world? This girl…she was happy to be a slave. “I heard from a sailor who brought a package to the mansion, that there was dark magic out here,” Catherine whispered. “Voodoo and he said something else about dealing with demons.”
Charlotte stared at her wide-eyed then laughed. “Next you’re going to tell me you believe in fairy folk.”
“What else could do this?”
Charlotte’s smile faltered for a moment. “Torture maybe? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it was magic, Catherine. Really, what type of world do you think we live in?”
As she walked away, Catherine felt a sudden pang of anger towards her friend, but now was not the time to be annoyed. Rose had returned to them and no matter what had happened to her, she was safe and sound.
“What was it like?” Mary asked. “The house you were kept in?”
“Beautiful, much like the mansion except smaller and right on the beach.”
“And you just stayed there for two months and did nothing?”
“No, silly,” Rose laughed. “I did a few chores around that house, but they had a man there, a healer of the mind. He helped me accept my destiny and taught me how to bring out my inner happiness.”
Catherine met Charlotte’s eyes as she said, “A healer, really. That’s interesting.”
“He was a very kind man. And his eyes, I’ve never seen such light blue eyes,” Rose mused as Mary finished binding her corset. “It really was a wonderful two months. I now understand that it was always my destiny to come here.”
Catherine wasn’t sure how Rose could just accept the fact that she’d been taken far from her home, never to return, only to live out her days as a slave. Mary and Charlotte talked to her some more, but Catherine had stopped listening. Things on this plantation were strange and she was tired of not having any answers. Her brother was always the impulsive one and suddenly she wanted to take a page from his book, rather than simply accepting their fate.
A few days passed and Catherine had not come any closer to finding the answers she needed. Asking the overseers directly would just get her tied to a stake again, or worse, whipped. She wasn’t sure what to do when good news came...the following day she and all the other slaves would be enjoying a feast out in the courtyard for a solid harvest. Barely able to contain her excitement, Catherine curtsied to Maxine then hurried off to the kitchens.
Finally! It had been two months since she had spoken with her brother. She prayed she would have an opportunity to talk to him.
The cooks had been at work all day and she was tasked with helping to carry out the platters of fresh fruits, seafood chowders, large fish surrounded by tropical leaves, and breads fresh from the outside ovens. Everything smelled so wonderful, better than anything Catherine had ever eaten before. Tables had been set up and she joined the other house slaves behind them, ready to serve the men and women as they came in from the fields.
Everyone talked and laughed, enjoying the chance to eat a fine meal and relax after a long day’s work. Catherine served everyone who came to her with a smile, hoping that one of them would be Liam. She turned away, craning her head to try and see over the crowd when she heard someone clearing his throat. Standing to her right was Liam!
“Catherine!” he said joy
fully, and reaching across the table, he did the best he could to hug her. Overseers walked nearby and they quickly broke apart. “I’ve missed you, sister.”
She nodded in agreement as she stared at the young man that stood before her now. He had grown in the two months since she’d seen him and his hair was cut very short. The muscles in his chest and shoulders were impressive and she felt as if she were staring at someone else, not her brother. He had tanned too from the long days out in the sun. No wonder Mary had enjoyed spending her time with him.
“What? I might have changed a little?” She smiled as he shrugged
“You have grown up, Liam, it’s not a bad thing. Look at you, you are so handsome!” She glanced quickly up and down the table. “Once everyone is fed I’ll be able to join you.”
He took his food then and headed off to a shady spot in the courtyard. It didn’t take long for everyone to be served and she was able to grab a bowl of chowder, a hunk of bread then headed off to find Liam beneath a tree, sitting on a short stone wall.
“Are they treating you well?” he asked. “You look good.”
“I’m doing fine in the house,” she said, totally ignoring her food. “But it’s boring after a while. The place is already so clean. It’s nearly impossible to make it any cleaner.”
“Mary says the same thing.”
She laughed when she saw the light in his eyes and the way he smiled. “Yes, she’s said some things to me as well. She’s quite fond of you, just so you know.”
“I’m aware. We have a plan,” Liam whispered.
Catherine’s stomach twisted in fear. “Please don’t tell you’re going to try to escape.”
“No, nothing like that. I’ve heard from the others that if I impress the overseers enough, soon I will be able to have my choice of wife.” His voice was filled with hope. “Mary and I have talked about it. We’d get to live in our own private shack. Maybe have a bit of a normal life, despite being slaves.”
Catherine swallowed hard. A normal life. Marriage. She would have been married already, for nearly half a year if they hadn’t been stolen away.
“Catherine, what’s wrong?”
“Have you heard anything of the island, or Michael?” she asked quietly.
Liam glanced around nervously then scooted closer. “I doubt if it will do you any good to hear it.”
“Tell me, Liam, please. What do you know?”
She saw the war raging in his eyes. It faltered between lying and being honest before he sighed and told her all he’d heard. “No one knows what happens over there, not even the slaves that have been here the longest. When they get too old to work or they grow ill, they’re taken away in the middle of the night and are never seen again.”
“And no one knows what happens? Do they kill them?” she asked with a trembling voice.
Liam shrugged then looked around again. Catherine checked behind him. Dion was nearby, but he was watching the house slaves gathered at the other end of the courtyard.
“We don’t know…there’s only rumors.” He opened his mouth to say something else then quickly shut it.
“Liam, don’t keep it from me. I need to know.”
He hung his head and when he raised it again Catherine saw something she’d never seen before on her brother’s face. Fear. “I have taken bundles of cane down to the shore when they are ready,” he said quietly. “Sometimes…there are things in the water and on the sand. Limbs of bodies. Decayed bodies.”
Catherine swallowed hard. “You think that they kill them?”
“Maybe when they die they feed them to the sharks. I don’t know, but it’s strange. Everything about that island, and about this place…it’s not right.”
“It’s the same at the house,” she said. “I have only met Master Lavelle once, but Liam, he’s not normal.”
Her brother frowned. “What do you mean? Did he hurt you?”
“No, he’s strange. Quiet, very pale and his eyes, they’re so light they’re almost white.”
“That sounds like the others.”
“What others?”
Liam nodded towards Dion, warning Catherine to keep her voice down. “They come when the sun has not yet risen to inspect the fields sometimes. Dion and the other overseers bring them around. They all look like that.” He took her hands and gently pulled her closer so he could whisper in her ears. “Listen Catherine, I’m trying to find a way to get us off this island.”
“I thought you said you weren’t going to try?”
“Not now, but soon, when I have enough information. Just keep your head down and find out as much as you can.”
Dion made his way into the center of the courtyard and hollered. “Dinner is over everyone. All the field hands are to retire for the evening. Move. Now!”
“Remember Catherine, find out what you can, but stay safe. I love you.” Liam said, then kissed her cheek and hurried off with the others.
Catherine gathered their bowls and made her way to the table to start helping clear everything away. Her mind reeled with what her brother had learned. Dead bodies washed up on the beach? Rose returning to them appearing a completely different person. And the pale masters with their light blue eyes. She busied herself for the rest of the night, cleaning the dishes and the courtyard along with the kitchens. All the while she knew somehow she had to find a way to get answers before her brother did something reckless and got himself killed.
Slave to a Vampire - Book 1 Catherine Page 12