If I attack him now, Father will likely throw me into Hamilton as well. Then, I will be even further away from her.
No, I need to create some sort of diversion.
I need to buy time.
He has to be stopped.
From doing what exactly?
I know that he is capable of a lot of darkness, but will he do that on a date?
While everyone is watching? No.
He reserves his dark deeds for private moments.
Perhaps, going on a date with him is one of the safest ways that Everly could be with him. In public.
But then again, I managed to have alone time with her. I’m sure he could, too.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a solution.
Just a myriad of possibilities and outcomes that all lead nowhere good.
There is one thing I can do. I can warn her.
My walk turns into a trot and then an outright run.
I pick up my feet and race back to the main house. I run upstairs to her room and burst through the door without knocking.
It’s empty.
I try the other girls’ rooms.
They are empty, too.
Where did everyone go?
Chapter 33 - Everly
When I can’t escape…
My heart is beating. I’m sitting in a large recliner with my feet up. There’s a box of Milk Duds on my lap and one melting in my mouth. The room is dark and Teal’s face is bathed in a soft blue light coming from the screen in front of us.
I wish we were watching a movie, but we aren’t.
We are watching their date; Abbott and Catalina.
She’s the first one to go.
I’m next.
Teal is holding my hand, whispering that it will be okay.
All I can think about is all the ways that it will not.
Abbott is acting polite and cordial. Catalina looks beautiful and like she’s having a good time. Is she?
Abbott and Catalina don’t know each other, but he knows me. I don’t know what’s going to happen on my date with him except that I doubt that it will go as smoothly.
I can’t bear to watch their dinner any longer.
The long pauses.
The smiles.
The conversation about nothing in particular.
The room feels like it’s closing in around me. I jump out of my chair and run outside.
I try to gather my breath, but it seems to escape me.
When I was eleven, I tried to do a spin in the air off the monkey bars after watching the girls’ gymnastics team at the Olympics on television. I was so inspired that I just decided to go for it. I flipped up in the air, did half a turn and landed flat on my back.
Everything turned to black.
I couldn’t feel any part of my body at first except for my chest, which wouldn’t let me take a full breath of air.
Standing in this hallway, I feel the same way. It’s as if the wind got knocked out of me.
My thoughts drift back to Easton and the night that we had spent together. The closeness and safety that I felt just a little bit ago is gone.
Lying in his arms, I thought that everything was going to be okay.
But what about now?
Abbott is back and my dream of a happily ever after is shattered.
What if I make a run for it?
I could take off right now. I could just go, but where?
To escape from an island, I need things.
I need a plan.
I could hide out in the cave that Easton took me to, but for how long? I would need supplies there as well.
I don’t know anything about this island.
I don’t know how to drive a boat.
I don’t know where I should even go if I had a boat.
No, to escape this place, I need help.
No, if I’m going to make a run from this place, everything has to be thought out. And hopefully, Easton would be part of it as well.
“Are you okay?” Teal asks, coming out of the theater room.
I nod.
My heart beat has slowed down and my breaths are calm.
“It’s going to be okay, Everly,” she says.
“Yeah, I know,” I say with a nod. “I just got a bit freaked out.”
“He’s not going to do anything to hurt you. I mean, it’s all televised. Everyone is watching.”
I take a deep breath. She’s right.
One of the things that I hated the most about the place, the surveillance, is now going to be the one thing to keep me safe.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I say. “It’s all going to be fine.”
Mirabelle comes out into the hallway.
When Teal tells her that I’m just a little rattled by the whole idea of going on a date with Abbott, she says that it can’t be helped.
“The King is making some changes to the competition. I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen. This date isn’t exactly a planned event.”
Changes to the competition?
Easton told me about this, but he didn’t mention Abbott.
Why does it have to involve going on a date with him?
“I’ll be right back,” I say and start to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Teal asks.
“I have to find Easton.”
“You can’t,” Mirabelle says.
I stop dead in my tracks. What? Why?
“But my date with him isn’t for a while, right?” I ask politely.
My head starts to pound so loudly that I can barely think. All I can hear is blood rushing through my arteries.
“You’re next,” Mirabelle says.
I stare at her, dumbfounded. I hear the words that she is saying, but they don’t make any sense.
A door slams shut and Catalina emerges. She has a big smile on her face and a glow around her whole body.
“What are you doing here?” Teal asks.
“It’s your turn,” Catalina whispers and glides past us as if on a cloud.
“I don’t understand,” I turn to Mirabelle.
“These aren’t long dates like you had with Easton. They’re just meet and greets.”
I stand staring at her.
She takes me by my shoulders and turns me toward the doors leading to the dining room where he is waiting for me. With a strong nudge, she pushes me through them.
Whenever there’s anything you dread, it will inevitably come sooner than you think it will. My date with Abbott comes within a blink of an eye.
As Mirabelle pushes me toward the double doors, I raise my hands up to block them from hitting me in the face.
I hold my breath.
I don’t want this to happen.
But it’s too late to turn around.
It’s too late to run.
It’s going to be okay, I say to myself. Everyone is watching.
He’s not going to do anything to hurt you. Not yet, anyway.
When I open my eyes, I see Abbott. Dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans, he is eagerly waiting on the other side.
“Welcome! Welcome!” He says in an uncharacteristically exuberant manner. “I’ve been expecting you!”
Chapter 34 - Everly
When I go on a date…
I take a deep breath and step into the dining room. Abbott leans on the wall and looks me up and down. He is nowhere near me, but his gaze feels as strong as his touch. As he runs his eyes over my body, I feel myself cowering away from him. My body contorts and bends to create a protective cocoon around itself.
No, I say to myself, and straighten out my back, largely against my will. I stand up tall and raise my chin even higher.
“Come, sit, sit,” he says, showing me to the dining room table.
I take a seat across from him without saying a word.
It’s time to make a decision.
How will I react to him?
Should I go along and pretend like nothing has happened?
S
hould I play a role?
Should I confront him?
Fight him with words?
Abbott looks me up and down again. His gaze focuses on my breasts. I clench my jaw. When he licks his lips, it takes all of my will power not to grab the glass next to me and smash it over his head.
I’m not a violent person at all. I’ve never been in a fight. Yet, there’s something about Abbott that makes it difficult for to me keep myself contained.
“Aren’t you going to ask me how I am?” Abbott asks.
A question.
I didn’t expect that.
I shrug and look away.
I don’t cast my eyes away in fear, however. Instead, I look away as if I don’t care.
“Well, let me tell you anyway,” he says, leaning back in his chair.
I wonder if he has been practicing this.
“Hamilton was no joke.”
I don’t know what he’s talking about, so he elaborates.
“My father sent me there after our little…interaction.”
Nice choice of words, I want to say. But I keep my mouth shut and just listen. Not because he intimidates me, but because I don’t want to speak to him. Ever.
“Anyway, it was some sort of punishment, you know how my father is. Always trying to teach lessons. Even to adults.”
Just because you’re an adult in years doesn’t mean you’re an adult in maturity, I say to myself. I’m sure you could stand to learn a lesson or two.
“But anyway, this isn’t a sappy story about all that time I had to do hard labor, don’t worry,” Abbott says. “This is about something else.”
There’s a glint in his eyes. I wait for him to continue.
But he doesn’t. I don’t say anything.
If he wants to have this conversation with me, he can have it all on his own. It’s not that I’m not curious.
It’s a power thing. Not speaking to him is the only power I have at this moment, and I’m going to exercise it. It’s my resistance.
After a few moments, he takes the bait. The expression on his face tells me that he can’t hold back. The news is just too good.
“I saw Jamie,” Abbott finally says. “Remember Jamie? Oh yeah, I can tell that you do!”
There’s a pause.
I don’t know what to say, so I just wait.
The silence is killing me, but the alternative is even more scary.
But why is he there?
“Yeah, apparently, my father, in all of his wisdom, decided to send him there. Or maybe it was the decision of one of his many advisors,” Abbott says, as if he’s able to read my mind.
“He and I had a little chat about you. Apparently, you made quite an impression.”
My lips grow chapped, but I don’t dare lick them. I just sit there. Motionless. Not so much unwilling to move, but more like unable to.
“Do you have nothing to say?” Abbott suddenly roars at me.
There it is.
There’s the other version of him.
The scary version.
The impatient, weary, frightening one.
I lift up my head and meet his eyes.
I keep my lips closed.
Pursed.
“So, what are you just not going to talk to me now?” he asks.
I don’t respond.
“Oh I see, you don’t think I have enough of a reason to be mad at you. You want me to be even angrier?”
I don’t want anything, but for you to leave me alone. Just leave me alone.
I should say this out loud, yet I remain silent.
Abbott jumps out of his seat.
In a few steps, he’s right next to me. I can feel his breath on my neck. I turn my nose from his minty fresh smell. He had just swished his mouth with mouthwash, but it’s not enough to cut through his stench of cigarettes and liquor.
He’s leaning over me.
His face is nearly touching mine.
I remain motionless.
On the outside, I’m unfazed.
Calm.
Collected.
On the inside, I’m trembling.
“Jamie said he really wanted to fuck you,” Abbott whispers into my ear. “He said that’s one of his biggest regrets about being here. That he didn’t get the chance to fuck you. Hard.”
Shivers run down my spine, but the expression on my face doesn’t change.
“I promised him something,” he continues. “I promised him that I would do it for both of us.”
Whether it’s a threat or a promise, I’m not sure. But it’s enough.
I turn my head toward him and say, “Fuck you.”
“That’s the spirit!” Abbott exclaims at the top of his lungs and steps away from me.
I look down at my hand. Balled up into a fist, it’s ready for combat.
I’ve never punched someone before, but whenever I come in contact with him, it’s like my body gets ready before my mind does.
“I knew I could get some words out of you, Everly,” Abbott paces in front of me with an exuberant look on his face.
Chapter 35 - Everly
When he plays a game…
I’m angry with myself for letting him get the best of me.
“So, what do you think?” Abbott asks. “Do you think we’ll have a good time?”
I stare at him and again say nothing.
He got one rise out of me, and that’s enough.
I cannot control what he says, but I can control how I respond.
He can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do.
Not now, anyway.
“Okay, okay,” Abbott says in his mocking voice. “Don’t look at me like that. I know you have your hopes up, but you and I both know that we can’t exactly do anything like that right now.”
I shake my head.
Does he really think I’m sorry about that?
Is he that delusional?
No, he’s just mocking me.
“Hey, do you know the story of the whipping boy?” Abbott says.
His eyes light up in glee. I don’t respond, but I wonder where he’s going with this.
“Well, back in the day, whenever a prince or some high ranking member of the royal family did something wrong, he’d have to get whipped. That was the way you learned your lessons back then. But the problem was that the teacher or the adult who was to bestow the punishment on him was a lower rank than the kid. So, what did they do? Well, they would bring in this other kid, the whipping boy, who would take the punishment for him.”
The expression on my face doesn’t change, but my whole body is thrown into a cold sweat.
I had no idea that anything like this existed, but just the thought of an innocent boy taking someone else’s punishment makes my heart break.
“So, where am I going with this?” Abbott asks. “Well, that’s the thing. Just because I can’t have fun with you right now, doesn’t mean that I can’t show what I’m going to do you later.”
My heart jumps into my throat and I can’t breathe. My hands turn to ice and my whole body begins to shake.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s not going to hurt, yet,” Abbott says and laughs out loud. His laugh is loud and thunderous, echoing around the dining room.
The side door suddenly swings open and a girl I don’t recognize is brought in. She looks terrified. She is dressed in nothing but a tank top and a pair of white underwear. Her bare feet dragging on the parquet floor, makes her look even more naked and vulnerable. Two guards hold her by each arm so that she can’t get away.
“What are you doing?” I jump out of my seat.
“Oh, there you go! I knew I could get something out of you.”
I walk over to the girl to try to help her, but the guards pull her away.
Abbott jumps over to us and gets in between me and the girl.
“Get out of my way,” I say.
“Fine,” he says, taking a step back.
He raises his hands up to his shoulders so I can
see his palms.
He’s pretending to give up and surrender.
“What are you going to do now?” he challenges me.
I’m not entirely sure.
It takes me a moment to find my voice, but when I do, I walk right over to the guards and tell them to let her go. They do by dropping her, face first, to the floor.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, kneeling down next to her.
She starts to say something in another language, one that I do not recognize.
“C’mon, let’s go,” I say, helping her up and allowing her to lean on me.
I lead her out of the dining room, toward the other exit. But before we get to the door, Abbott intercedes.
“You see,” he says, putting his arm on my shoulder. “This isn’t how the story of the whipping boy, or in this case, the whipping girl, goes.”
I clench my jaw and try to walk around him.
This time, instead of simply blocking me, he grab’s the girl’s arm and pulls her away. Tired and spent, she falls to the floor.
“Now, go over there and sit,” he says. “And watch.”
I shake my head no.
“You do what I say, bitch,” he says, pushing me to the ground.
I get up, dust myself off, and stand before him.
Again, I shake my head.
This time, he grabs me by my arms and physically drags me over to the chair. He sits me down, by pressing really hard on my shoulders.
I wince in pain and try to get up again.
He raises his hand to me and slaps me right across the face. My cheek burns, as if something boiling hot was sprayed against it.
“You sit still and watch, or next time that will be a punch,” he threatens.
Somewhere out of the corner of my eyes, I see him wave to the guards.
My vision is still blurry from how hard he has slapped me, so I don’t see them well until they are right next to me.
I try to move, but I can’t.
Their hands are firmly planted on my shoulders, keeping me in place.
Then the girl begins to scream.
Her voice is so loud and piercing that it sends shivers down my whole body.
The spots in my vision start to disappear and I shut my eyes to not see what he’s doing to her.
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