by Vi Carter
“This is Sandra Crowley.” George continues as if nothing just happened. The only blond amongst us stands. She sits the minute he nods. She doesn’t try, like me, to shake his hand.
“This is Hannah Fitzgerald.” I don’t look at Hannah as she stands. “You can call me Ann.” She doesn’t sound as happy as she normally does and when I glance at her our eyes meet. Her plump red lips are turned down.
Hannah sits without looking at him.
“This is Jessie O’Connor.” The beautiful girl with the chocolate skin stands and then the final girl is introduced.
“This is Bernie Collins.” Bernie rises and quickly sits back down. Lucas doesn’t miss a beat, he’s out the door and the silence that is left in the drawing-room is suffocating.
CHAPTER FOUR
LUCAS
The lights are dim as I enter the basement. Chairs are being set up in a circle. Half of the floor is slated, the recent coat of fresh gloss is making my shadow stretch out in front of me.
A fresh coat of paint was recently given to the one wall that wasn’t stone. Yet, it still didn’t disguise the smell that I think would forever remind me of Declan.
George is here. He glances at me as I enter the room. He doesn’t speak. I was hoping we could avoid this painful conversation. George is old school and wouldn’t have liked how I treated the ladies. The servants, who are setting up the room, don’t raise their heads as I walk past. They continue to keep setting up the room, yet they stiffen as I pass. With my father not here, I was now their leader. Not everyone liked it, especially the older members, but they had no power to say otherwise.
George walks to the far side of the room. We don’t speak as I make my way to the back of the space. Taking the three steps, I climb up onto the podium and push the curtain that hangs on the wall behind it. Beyond the curtain is a room.
Bending down, I open the safe and remove the phone from it. Switching it on, I wait for it to power up. Once it does, I check to see if I have any messages from my father. Nothing. Turning it off, I place it back in the safe. I could have kept it on me, but I didn’t want anyone to know that I still took orders from my father. That kind of knowledge could undermine my authority and one day I would lead.
George enters the room, his timing perfect once I had the safe door closed. He must have been waiting outside until he heard the safe close.
I wash my hands slowly. Thirty seconds to be exact. Letting him wait a bit longer, hoping this conversation won’t happen. Turning to George, he is waiting with a red hand towel that I take and dry my hands. The cuts sting, but I ignore the pain.
“In life, there are only a few things we must do.” His words are low, they are meant just for my ears. No one else is back here with us, but years of being in our family had taught him to be careful. “One of those is respecting traditions.”
“I greeted them, didn’t I?” I hand the towel back to George, a part of me knows I have the power to end this charade with George, but I don’t.
“You terrified them,” George speaks with his back to me and I hate how old he has gotten. I hate how his fingers twist slightly inwards. The wrinkles on his hands remind me of his age.
I exhale and look away from him. “Why do you care, George? You did as my father requested. My reaction doesn’t affect you.”
He turns around, his smile is quick. “This isn’t about me, Lucas.”
I hate when he refers to me as Lucas, instead of Master Lucas. It meant he is serious. It meant he cares. Caring in this world is dangerous and foolish.
“This is about you, my boy. You will have to marry one of those ladies no matter what. So don’t make it so hard on yourself.”
I clap George gently on the arm. “When you retire, I’ll stop rebelling,” I tell him.
His smile is sad. He can’t retire, only my father can release him of his duties which he won’t do. George will leave this house in a wooden casket. The depressing thought has me stepping away from him. George gives a jerk of his chin like he sees the change in me, he tries to stand a bit straighter but his old body doesn’t do much. Yet, his eyes hold the youth I often see in him.
“The Lewis’s collected the body.” He informs me while opening a press and taking out large white pillar candles.
I rub my jaw. “I hope you gave our condolences.” It’s a messy situation.
“Of course, Master Lucas.” George places the pillar candles on the top of the wooden cabinet, before reaching back in and taking out a box of large matches.
“Has a verdict come back on what caused his death?”
I can still see him convulsing in the chair. He was choking on his own screams. We had stood and watched, unable to do much as his body slowly stopped jerking and he came to an abrupt stop. Smoke had filled the glass box and no one had spoken. When the shock wore off, everyone looked to me like I had an answer to what we had just witnessed. All I had thought about at that moment was my father. I would never live it down, even if it was an electrical malfunction. Somehow he would make it my fault.
“The electrician said the trip wire was removed.”
A part of me is surprised that the answer is what I thought. “So if it was removed, someone had to do it?”
George looks at me now with weariness in his eyes. “Yes, Master Lucas.”
Who? I didn’t think any of the other members held a grudge against Declan. I leave the small room and cross the podium. The chairs are set up in a circle. The servants are gone.
I walk to the left of the room where one large glass cube sits. It’s the judgment room. It’s fair. It’s always been the way of our kind. We didn’t get authorities involved in our troubles. We dealt with it ourselves. We just never had a punishment to go so wrong. Someone had to do that before the punishment commenced. Someone who had access to the back rooms, where the switchboard is.
It was meant to be five shocks of electricity. That was Declan’s punishment for disobeying my father. No more. No less. But the switch never kicked in. The current never stopped.
George stands beside me now. Both of us on the edge of the red rope that stops us from touching the glass cube. It’s a warning to everyone not to interfere with the punishment. Even if it was a family member or a lover, it didn’t matter; you had no right to stop it. In my lifetime I never saw anyone try to stop a punishment.
“There is something else, Master Lucas.”
I focus on George in the glass. I know he is going to start about picking a wife again. His intentions are good, but he has to know that it won’t change anything.
“It won’t matter, George. I can pick one if I want, but my father will always have the final say. Anyway, I have no interest in a wife.”
It looks like he’s smiling in the glass, so I glance at him but he isn’t. “It’s not the matter of you selecting a wife, Master Lucas. It’s the matter in regard to Declan Lewis’s remains.”
I wait and George faces me. “He seemed to be missing a finger.”
I rub my jaw, wanting to ask if he’s sure. “Would the force of the electrocution have done it?”
This is something that would bring my father home and I wanted him to stay away for as long as possible.
“That was my thoughts, Master Lucas, when I first heard but no. It was severed with a sharp object. Post Mortem.”
“What was the Lewis family told?” My skin prickles with the thoughts of who would do this. It must be someone who had access and my mind immediately jumps to Henry, with his little wooden box. Was the finger inside it? He hid it when I had arrived. Had he been admiring his handy work?
“They were told that it was due to the electricity.” George flickers a glance to the left before looking back at me. “They did request the finger. But we can’t seem to find it.”
“Does my father know what’s happened?” I cross my arms over my chest. I want to leave right now and find out if the finger is in the box that Henry has been playing with. I want it to be him so I can forget about this situat
ion, but another part of me doesn’t want it to be my brother, no matter how much I hate him. He had no dealings with this part of the family. So why would he hurt Declan? What punishment would my father give him if he is responsible? Would he turn a blind eye?
My main thought was why would anyone hurt Declan?
“Yes, and he said he is leaving it in your hands to find out who has committed this crime, and to punish them with how you see fit?”
I raise a brow at that I get to pick the punishment? That is a first. It is normally his rules, or should I say their rules that were read from a book passed down from one generation to another.
“Did he give any other instructions?”
George shakes his head.
“Like how creative I can be in delving out my punishment.”
“No, Master Lucas.” Worry worms its way around George’s words.
I need to find Henry and question him. If it is him, I get to punish him in how I see fit. A smile grows slowly across my face and when I glance at George, his worry has turned to dread.
I step away from the glass cube. “The meeting is at eight tonight, Master Lucas,” George calls after me like I might forget.
“I will be there, George.”
Taking the concrete steps two at a time, I open the doors that lead to the gardens from the basement. Henry favored a part of the garden. If he was to bury something it would be there. He isn’t stupid enough to still have the box after I saw it in the attic. And now is the time to strike when he doesn’t suspect I am looking for it. The soil would be freshly dug and easy to spot.
It’s warm out and I pull at the collar of my black shirt that feels restricting. The black sweatshirt over it isn’t helping. I try to ignore my discomfort and move quickly through the garden all the way to the back where the maze is.
Henry’s domain.
I’m standing on the edge of what I sometimes think is Henry’s mind. I hated this maze as a child. He loved it. Even now as a fully grown man, I teeter on entering. I know it off by heart. I had memorized the maze so I could never get trapped in it again. This was Henry’s playground. I just needed to take that first step and I would just move quickly. I wouldn’t let the memories of being lost flood me. I was just a child. A frightened child at the time.
Tightening my fists, I move, but voices to the left of the maze have me pausing. I leave the mouth of the maze and move carefully along the edge of the hedge.
Alex.
He is smiling while looking up at someone. His beige suit is stupid looking and hangs on his thin frame. It’s like something from the turn of the century. His blond hair is spiked all over his head. The smile displays the gap between his large teeth. A female laughs at whatever he is saying. I can’t see who but I don’t let my guard down for one second and take my eyes off Alex. He is the whispers in my brother’s ear. To my father, he is a fitting best friend. He is from good stock, so father would say.
The female’s hand appears as she touches Alex’s arm. A flash of emerald green. When she comes into view and sees me, her smile disappears. Alex’s face pales.
I grin. This is perfect.
CHAPTER FIVE
ELLA
After Lucas leaves the drawing room, the silence stretches and I’m fumbling with my hands. My mind is jumping from the picture I had painted of him to what I got. I glance at the other girls who don’t say anything.
“Has anyone any questions?” George asks, grabbing our attention. Questions? Did he not just witness what we all just went through?
“Yes.” I stumble across the word, swallowing. I peek at Hannah, feeling her eyes on me. Her cheeks are flushed and I wonder if I have that same lost look in my eyes that she does.
I stretch out my sore hand again. Had he meant to squeeze it so tight? He couldn’t have hurt me intentionally. I had done nothing wrong.
“You had a question, Ella?” George prods gently.
The fluttering in my stomach won’t settle and the room is starting to feel stifling. “May I get some fresh air in the garden?”
George nods. “Of course.” George looks over the rest of the girls. “Does anyone else have a question?” His voice holds a note of hope, that no one does and he gets lucky. Everyone remains silent and he excuses himself from the room.
I straighten my dress as I stand. My hands flutter across the soft material.
“Would you like some company?”
Yes. Company sounds wonderful. “No. Thank you.”
Hannah’s eyes widen like I’ve hurt her. Before I feel any more guilt, I leave the room and make my way outside to the gardens that I had seen from my window. I want to find the maze. I want to get lost and maybe like Alice I can fall down a rabbit hole. Maybe I already have. This isn’t how it was meant to be. My prince charming is mean and cruel and I have nothing to fight for. My chest tightens at the thought.
The day is warm outside as I pass several flowerbeds of beautiful plants. The colors are a little bit of salve to my soul. I find my chest loosening a bit the deeper I walk into the garden.
I flex my fingers again and glance down at my hand. His hand had been so large and warm around mine that was until he had squeezed it, my mind told me he had hurt me on purpose. He looked like he was enjoying it, but my heart refuses to believe that he would want to hurt me or anyone for that matter. What kind of person did that make him?
What would my mother think if I told her how he had treated me?
“Hello.”
I have been so consumed with my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed a man sitting on a brown bench amongst the flowers.
“Hello,” I say to him. Once again I question if I have fallen down a rabbit hole. He looks eccentric. I’ve never seen anyone like him before. A beige top hat is beside him and he removes it from the bench.
“A penny for your thoughts.” He taps the seat for me to join him. My mother had said I wasn’t allowed to make friends with the girls, she never said anything about other people here. Right now, having company would be nice. Stepping over the flowers I sit down beside him. He’s smiling, revealing a large gap between his front teeth.
“Only a penny?” I ask and his smile widens.
“Name your price.”
I exhale on a smile. “Tell me a joke.”
“Jokes aren’t my forte but for the beautiful lady in green I will try.” He gives me a wink and I smile again.
“What’s brown and sticky?” He asks.
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Clay?”
He shakes his head. “A stick.”
“A stick,” I repeat.
His laughter is musical. “I told you I was bad. Let me try again.” He sits and taps his chin with a long finger. “Ah, I got one. This will make you laugh.”
I raise both eyebrows.
“What do you call bears with no ears?”
“A deaf bear?” That sounds silly. “An earless bear?” That sounds even worse.
He laughs again. “B. Take the ear off the bear and you get B.”
“Okay, you are officially the worst person to tell a joke.”
“So are you going to tell me your thoughts?”
I didn’t know this man, so the answer was no. But I wouldn’t be rude.
“Yes, I’m looking for the maze.”
He picks up his hat and places it on his head. “I will lead the way.” As he rises, he extends his hand and helps me up. A lump forms in my throat. He is what I thought Lucas would be. Charming.
“Thank you,” I say once I’m standing. He holds his hat as he walks. The beige tailcoat is velvet and way too large for his frame, but when he glances at me and smiles I just find it all enchanting.
“My name is Alex.”
“Ella.” I offer as we walk.
“It suits you, Ella. Do you know what your name means?”
I shake my head.
“Ella means light or beautiful fairy woman.” We stop.
I laugh. “You’re making that up.”
He smiles. “No. It’s the truth.”
A large shadow casts across us and my heart stills as Lucas stands in front of us. As he glares at Alex, a slow devilish grin forms on his lips.
“What have we got here?” His question is directed at Alex. He has barely given me a second glance and I don’t want to be in his company.
“Lucas.” Alex’s voice has hardened and I take a peek up at him. The distaste for Lucas is evident on his face.
“Master Lucas.” Lucas says the correction with a tilt of his chin.
Lucas, who is all dressed in black, looks like a fallen angel. The light hits him perfectly, emphasizing all his angles, making him look harsh, yet beautiful. I don’t want to admire him. I want to say goodbye to Alex, but I don’t want to draw any more attention to myself. Maybe I will see him again in the gardens. I hope so. He is a bit of light in this dark place.
I take a soft step forward, then two. I’m nearly past Lucas when he reaches out. His large hand wraps around my wrist. I freeze at his touch, my eyes flicker to his dark ones that are pinning me in place.
“I never said you could leave.”
I pull away from his touch, but I don’t leave.
“Master Lucas. I was just speaking to Ella, she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Wrong? What was being implied?
“Ella,” Lucas tries my name out and a shiver weaves its way through my body.
“I have no idea what you two were doing out here. Rules are rules Alex.”
Alex takes an angry step towards Lucas. He releases his hat easily and it falls to the ground. “You know damn well nothing has gone on here, so don’t you dare accuse me of touching her.”
My cheeks burn. I’m at a loss for words.
“Your word means nothing to me. If I say you touched her. Then you touched her.” Lucas raises his chin.
My skin feels hot and sticky. I glance at Alex but he hasn’t looked away from Lucas.
“You’ve always had it in for me,” Alex says.