The Immortal Mark

by Amy Sparling

  I shrug and get to work buckling my seatbelt. It seems weird having something so technical and boring in such a luxurious seat. Finally, once the buckle is in place, I can’t hold back anymore. I have to look for him.

  Most of the seats are filled, and all of the guys are up front.

  None of them are Theo.

  I hear the engine start up, feel the wheels roll forward while our pilot taxis us into place on the runway. I glance behind me, toward the hallway that leads to the bathroom and bedroom.

  I didn’t realize until now how badly I’ve been wanting to see him. I’ve replayed our time together over and over in my head. How he’d passionately kissed me back and then hardened and told me to leave. The smart logical part of my brain knows he’s just a cheating asshole who was thinking with the wrong part of his body when he kissed me.

  But the crazy, lovesick, ardent part of me can’t let go of the fact that he seemed so genuine in those sweet moments we had. He didn’t seem like a cheater. Like some ass who only wants to get laid. He felt real.

  And I guess I’ve been anxiously waiting to see him again to see how he’d react this time. Maybe he’d be nicer. Maybe he’d apologize and say he’s glad I’m here working for the same company. Maybe I was wrong about everything and he really does still like me.

  Riley’s hand is cold as she places it on my wrist. “Don’t look for him,” she says quietly. “It’s not worth it.”

  I swallow. Leave it to my best friend to know exactly what I’m thinking. “I’m not,” I say, but it’s a lie and we both know it.

  There’s also another thing I know as the plane begins to take off, thrusting us back into our seats.

  Theo isn’t on this plane.

  And I’m probably the reason why.

  Chapter 15

  Flying is amazing. Once we’re in the air, it is unlike anything I had imagined it would be. Riley and I gaze out the window, absorbed in our own little world while we slice through clouds and watch the earth get small below us. It is almost beautiful enough to take my mind off the missing member of our group.

  Almost.

  The guys all keep to themselves up at the front of the plane. They have laptops open and an endless stream of whiskey filling their glasses. Just like Henry had said, we’re left alone for the entire two hour flight.

  It’s also pretty clear that the other three new girls don’t want anything to do with us, but they all seem to know each other already. That’s fine with me. Riley has always been my best friend and I don’t care to make room for more.

  Although we land at an Austin airport, our driver says we still have another hour to drive into the hill country before we reach our destination. The guys take off in their own car and the five of us new hires share a limo together.

  Luckily, there’s a television that drops down from the ceiling. Our driver says he only has the DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean, but we can send him requests for additional movies to keep stocked. I guess he’s our personal driver from now on, by the way he talks. I should probably learn his name.

  We all focus our attention on the movie instead of the awkward silence that stretches between us. There’s a clear animosity radiating out from the other three girls, and I’m not sure why. We’re all hired together, so what does it matter? It’s not like we’re still being interviewed, so we’re not in competition with each other.

  Riley leans over, resting her head on my shoulder. “Girls are weird,” she whispers.

  “Tell me about it,” I whisper back.

  Just when the movie starts getting interesting, our driver rolls down the wall that separates him from the back of the limo.

  “We’re here,” he says, grinning at us in the rear view mirror. “I think the view looks the best from the road, so you might want to take it all in.”

  And damn is he right. Riley and I look out the window toward the left, where a sprawling estate tops the hilly terrain. It seems to go on forever, the ground giving way behind it to reveal a beautiful valley below. There’s a long driveway with a gated entrance. Our driver opens the wrought iron gate with a remote on top of his visor.

  Even the snooty other girls in the limo shut up and pay attention as we make the drive toward the estate. I can’t exactly call it a house because that word is too trite for the mansion in front of us. It’s made of white and sand colored stone bricks with a charcoal gray roof. There are three circular peaks lined with little square windows rising above the rest of the house, and a four car garage off to the left, an archway you can drive through separating it from the house. Between the arch, you can see out into a glistening blue lake in the valley below.

  There’s a circular fountain in front of the estate with a massive black ball in the middle, seemingly hovering on the surface while water pours around it. The cobblestone driveway circles around the fountain, lined on the other side with thick green landscaping.

  Our driver pulls up to the front door and parks the car. As if she’d been waiting for us, a woman dressed in a black maid’s uniform steps out one of the double front doors that are made of a heavy dark wood with wrought iron detailing on the front.

  “Your bags will be brought in shortly,” our driver says while he holds open the door for us. The girls are the first ones out, Riley and I trailing along behind.

  The air smells fresh and like sunshine, a stark contrast from the rank smell of saltwater and dead seaweed from Sterling. I close my eyes for a moment, letting the sun soak into my skin. Whatever troubles I’ve had with Theo, they don’t matter as much anymore.

  I am home now. And I don’t ever want to leave.

  The housekeeper woman who greets us is probably about fifty years old, with dark hair that hangs in thick waves down to her shoulders. She wears bright red lipstick and a lot of mascara.

  “Welcome,” she says in a thick accent, stepping to the side while we all walk inside.

  The foyer is tiled in marble. While everyone else gazes up at the spiral staircase that unfolds in front of us, the ornate artwork on the walls and dark wooden ceiling beams that contrast to the white stucco walls, I notice something on the floor.

  Just inside the door, laid into the tile work is a brown tile banner, like a scroll that’s been unfolded.

  A castle for my love is engraved into the brown marble scroll. Beneath that it says: Established 1999

  My heart warms. Whoever built this house made it for his love. Though it is modern, the round turrets on the outside definitely remind me of a castle. How romantic is that?

  Riley takes my hand while we walk into the foyer, everyone gathering together near our new housekeeper. The guys are nowhere in sight, and honestly, it’s a bit of a relief. If Theo’s not here, I can just pretend he doesn’t exist.

  “Did you have a nice flight?” the housekeeper says, smiling up at us as she makes sure to make eye contact with everyone.

  “Yes, very nice,” Riley says, speaking before anyone else.

  “It was fun,” the tall girl with the killer hair says. She seems to be the leader of her group of girls, and now I guess Riley is the leader of ours.

  “Wonderful,” the housekeeper says.

  “Hello, hello!” another voice says. A woman appears from around the corner. She looks a little older than I am, but not by much. She’s wearing a beautiful but simple purple sundress and white ballet flats. She’s curvy, with darker skin and beautiful golden hair. But the first thing I notice is the bracelet on her wrist.

  It’s a thick silver cuff bracelet, with ornate curls of metal that wrap around a gorgeous light blue stone in the center. It sparkles in the light from the skylights above.

  “My name is Bethany,” she says, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. “For the last two weeks, I’ve been the only girl here, so I’m so glad you’ve all arrived! It’s been terribly boring.”

  “You have the same job as us?” Miss perfect hair says, leveling a judgmental glare at Bethany.

  “I do,” Bethany sa
ys, totally unaffected by the girl’s rudeness. “Before we begin, let’s go around and introduce ourselves. I was so overwhelmed when I arrived here a few weeks ago, so I don’t want anyone to feel left out.”

  She turns her sweet smile to Riley and then places a hand on her chest. “I’m Bethany, as I’ve already said. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  “Riley Winters,” Riley says, holding out her hand. “It’s super nice to meet you, too.”

  “Cara Blackwell,” I say when it’s my turn.

  I pay close attention to the other three girls.

  The bitchy one is named Jayla. In additional to being tall, thin, and gorgeous, she also appears to be wearing blue contacts to change her eye color.

  The second girl is a little gothic, dressed in dark clothes and wearing a nose ring. She has a lot of tattoos on both arms and brown hair cropped in an angled bob. The most noticeable thing about her is her huge boobs that are spilling out over her lowcut tank top. Her name is Nia and I see her smile for the first time when she shakes Bethany’s hand.

  Jayla and Nia, I think, trying to memorize their names with their looks. The third girl shifts on her feet and looks nervous as hell when it’s her time to talk.

  “I’m Olivia,” she says, waving to the group before she shakes Bethany’s hand. “People call me Liv.”

  She’s pale and thin, with hair so black it’s probably dyed because it doesn’t match her lighter eyebrows. She’s wearing black skinny jeans and a red flannel shirt with Converse shoes. She seems like someone Riley and I could be friends with, so I’m not sure why she’s hanging out with Jayla and Nia, who are both doing their hardest to look like stuck up bitches.

  “Now that we’re all acquainted,” Bethany says, bouncing on the toes of her shoes, “Let’s get to the fun part. The grand tour of your new home!”

  Chapter 16

  The estate has a Spanish style interior, with white stucco on the walls and arched doorways. I could spend hours just admiring the artwork and the sculptures positioned at various places in the house. It is all so breathtakingly beautiful that I feel like I’m in a museum. I actually have to remind myself not to let my mouth hang open in awe as we walk around. Rosewater Industries hired us to be pretty, not to be gaping idiots.

  There are several living room areas with huge leather couches and marble coffee tables between them. There’s two fireplaces that are as tall as I am, also lined with marble. I don’t see any televisions in these rooms, but with the view of the hill country outside, the large infinity pool in the back yard, and the game room, I don’t think I could ever get bored. Maybe you don’t need to watch television when you’re living in such a great house.

  Bethany shows us the gym, which is an actual basketball court upstairs from the four car garage. The wood floor is so clean it sparkles, and I’m not sure anyone actually plays basketball here because it doesn’t smell like the sweaty gym from my old school.

  Bethany leads us down a flight of stairs to another room off the back of the garage. “I’ve actually only been in here once,” she says with an embarrassed smile. “And that was on my first day when I got the tour. But we’re allowed to come here whenever we want, just so you know.”

  She pushes open a door and reveals a workout room. It has soft squishy mats covering the floor, mirrors on two walls, and every type of exercise equipment you can imagine. There’s even a rock climbing wall on one side.

  “Sweet,” Riley says, gazing around the room like a child in a toy store. None of the other girls seem too impressed with it, and I could go either way. I’ve never been to a real gym before, so I don’t know if I’d like working out. But the thought of getting strong, being able to fight my own battles, or run as far as I’d like sounds really good. Maybe I’ll begin a workout routine. I’ve heard the endorphins from a good workout can cure depression. I wonder if it works on heartache, too.

  We go back inside, using a side entrance that leads us to a kitchen I haven’t seen before. The main kitchen is huge, with dark wooden cabinets, sandy colored granite countertops, and top of the line stainless steel appliances. This one looks more like the one back at Good Grace, only it’s cleaner and newer.

  “This is the service kitchen,” Bethany says. “If you want food, just call down here and place an order and they’ll make it for you.” She pushes open a swinging door and motions for us to head out into a hallway. “But you can use the house kitchen if you want to do your own thing. I make cupcakes all the time. I also keep cereal in the pantry, but I don’t mind sharing if you guys want some. I’m obsessed with cereal with marshmallows in it.”

  She leads us down the narrow hallway that comes out at the first living room near the front door. “Some girls put their names on food they don’t want to share, and we all respect that.”

  “How do we buy the food if we’re not getting paid yet?” Riley asks.

  “You just place an order,” Bethany says as if it’s the simplest thing ever. “We don’t have to pay for anything here, Riley. It’s all provided.”

  “Clothes too?” Jayla says.

  Bethany nods. “Anything you want. Rosa, this girl who recently quit after her year was up, asked for a custom aquarium to be built in her bedroom and they did it. They didn’t even care. Our employers are awesome.”

  “They really are, aren’t they?” I say, gazing around the house. “This is insane.”

  Bethany takes my hand and squeezes it. “It’s amazing,” she gushes. “I don’t know why anyone would leave after a year. Living here is like being a princess.”

  “So, they really do treat us right?” Nia asks. Her eyebrows pull together in the middle. “It wasn’t some sham to talk us into coming here?”

  Bethany shakes her head. “No sham. Just a few rules that aren’t a big deal at all, and you get anything you want.”

  “What kind of rules?” Jayla says, folding her arms across her chest. “I didn’t hear of any rules.”

  Bethany waves a hand at her. “Totally not a big deal. Like, for example, they don’t want you going very far away. So, like, you can go to the mall, or a concert around here but they don’t want you flying off to Hawaii for the week or something.”

  Jayla rolls her eyes but doesn’t say anything. I look at Riley and know we’re both thinking the same thing.

  This is awesome.

  It’s not like I’ve ever cared to go to Hawaii anyway.

  “That doesn’t mean you can’t travel,” Bethany says as she leads us upstairs and toward the left. “The guys travel a lot, and if you ask them they’ll let you go. Rosa loved going to Mexico, and the guys knew that, so each time they went, they’d ask if she wanted to come. So, if there’s some place you’re dying to see, just let them know.”

  “Are the guys nice?” Olivia says. It’s the first time she’s spoken since she meekly introduced herself, so we all look at her. She shrivels back, clearly not a fan of all the attention.

  “Yeah,” Bethany says quickly. “I mean, none of them are rude or anything. Most just won’t talk to you because they’re busy doing their own thing. Alexo is super kind and he treats us all like royalty. You’ll see.”

  “Who’s Alexo?” Riley asks.

  “He’s the boss.” Bethany says. “He’s really nice. You’ll meet him later at dinner.”

  On the first part of our tour, we explored the entire right side of the house, so this is all new territory now. I try to memorize everything as we pass it so I don’t get lost once we’re alone.

  “This is my favorite room,” Bethany says, pausing at the arched wooden door in front of us. We’re in a hallway but it’s much wider than most normal house hallways. It stretches on to the far end of the house, with doors on both sides that are all closed, keeping whatever is behind them a secret.

  “Also, this is as far as we go here,” she says, brushing some lint off the front of her dress. “Everything past this room is off limits. It’s the guy’s private quarters, nothing scary,” she adds when she sees Oliv
ia’s panicked expression. “Okay, here we go.”

  The door opens into a dark area that’s only about the size of a closet. The walls are black, and it’s hard to see because the lighting is so dim. “Just turn right,” Bethany calls out behind the crowd of us.

  And then it all makes sense. This little square area just inside the door is meant to block the outside light from the hallway. When we turn, we’re in a movie theater.

  There are five rows of seats, each a comfortable recliner with its own armrests and cup holders. The floor is sloped downward to where a screen fills the entire wall. It’s not quite the size of a real movie theater screen, but it’s close.

  “Any movie you want to see,” Bethany says, her eyes alight with cheer. “Even movies in the theater right now, you can get them. You just type it in the computer over there and it’ll start playing it. They have some kind of deal with the movie companies where we can get all of them. I’m a huge move buff, so sometimes I spend all day in here.”

  Olivia and Nia walk down to the first row and sit, testing out the chairs. Jayla looks bored. Riley pulls me into the back row where we sit too.

  “The cook makes the best popcorn,” Bethany says. “It tastes just like real movie popcorn. They also have any candy bar you want so just call in your order before your movie starts and they’ll bring it to you.”

  Riley looks over at me, her face shadowy from the dim lighting. “How did we get so lucky?”

  “I have no idea,” I say. “Something tells me this year will go by entirely too fast.”

  I lean back in my seat and look up. The ceiling has been painted black as well, but there are tiny little dots of light scattered around like the night sky. It all hits me at once. The feeling of doom and dread that I’ve been holding back.

  I’ve been on edge since we walked in the front door. I’ve been expecting Theo to be around every corner, beyond every door. But he’s not. We’ve only see housekeepers since we’ve been here.