Carnage

by Sandra R Neeley

  “These two gentlemen found me, saved me and have been very kind and considerate as they escorted me to town. I promised them that you’d be so thankful to have me safe and returned to you that you’d pay them twice the reward you originally offered.”

  Abraham glared at her; she smiled sweetly back. “I assumed that you’d be overjoyed to have your only daughter returned to you and offered a reward for my safe return. Was I mistaken? Did I speak out of turn?” she asked coyly.

  Abraham’s eye began to twitch, “No. You are not mistaken. I will, of course, give them double the reward. How thoughtful of you to want to see to their reward personally.”

  “Yes, I thought so, too,” she said.

  Abraham went back to his place at the lunch table, “The sooner you take this woman off my hands, the better!” he snapped at Norris.

  Norris sat back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his full stomach, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, “She’ll be taken in hand soon enough. Don’t you worry about that,” he said to Abraham.

  “See that she is, but do not make a scene. And you be sure to treat her properly. Public opinion is very important to my position. Do not behave unseemly in any way that others will be aware of.”

  “Yes, sir. I understand,” Norris answered. “When do I get my money?” he asked.

  Abraham looked up from his plate sharply, “When you have her under control, and I am no longer burdened with her.”

  Abraham glared at Norris for a good while before he slowly returned to his meal. Norris only signaled the barkeep, “You got anything sweet? And I don’t mean just food,” he said, winking.

  Carolena turned off the water in the bathroom she stood in. She stepped into the water and sat down, allowing the warmth of the water to soak into her skin. Her heart hurt, her soul mourning. She pulled her legs up, allowing herself to sink down into the water and submerge her head. Eyes closed, she held her breath and stayed there for as long as she could before coming up for a breath. Water sloshed all over the floor. She sputtered with the water she’d inhaled when she spied a man standing over her as she rose from beneath the bath water.

  “Don’t choke or nothing. If you die, I don’t get paid,” he said.

  “Who are you? Get out! You have no right here! Father?! Father?!?!?” she called out rather loudly.

  “Quit your caterwauling! He’s not here. Besides, I belong here, just came to take a look at what I signed up for.” He smashed his lips together as though he was disappointed, had hoped for more. “Doesn’t matter really, you all feel the same when you spread your legs,” he said. Then already bored with looking at her body, “I’m your betrothed. You will be my wife, you will learn to behave, and you will learn not to order me about if you know what’s good for you. If not, you might not be too happy. Not my problem though, you’ll learn your place, be a good, quiet wife and perform your wifely duties just as I demand, or you’ll be punished.”

  “You will not strike me! You will not marry me! You will not touch me!” Carolena shouted at him.

  Norris laughed evilly, “Done deal, sweet. Already a done deal. As soon as we get back to your father’s home, we will be married. And you will be mine. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you in line.”

  Carolena, her hands covering her body strategically, watched him as he spoke, listened to his words and had no doubt that this was the man that her father had decided was best for her. He was a big man by human standards, but compared to Carnage he was small. He had big hands, was big limbed and had a cruel look in his eye. She had no doubt that he’d have no problem exerting any type of violence he thought he could get away with in order to secure her cooperation. And she’d never tolerate his touch. Only Carnage would ever touch her. She already found her husband, her mate. And no one would ever take his place.

  “I don’t want you. I will never accept you or your touch. Look elsewhere for your future, and leave my bathroom!” she shouted at him.

  He looked her over, her nude body on full display in the bath, as she tried in vain to shield the special places of herself. She was small, but not too small. She had curves, and it looked like she had soft skin. Her hair was brown, which was not exactly his favorite. He preferred blondes, tall, leggy blondes that knew how to take a spanking and how to drop to their knees when he commanded. This one, the one he’d agreed to marry in exchange for financial security and a job with her father’s company, was definitely not his type. “Look, I don’t care if you like me or not. I have more than enough women who appreciate me. And just to be clear, I will continue to spend as much time with them as I like. You, on the other hand, will learn to please me. You will learn to take instruction, and you will learn your place. Period. You’ll like it, or you’ll pretend you do. I don’t care which. I’ve got a contract with your father, and if I have to whip your ass daily to keep you in line, I’ll start my mornings with it and end my days with it. I have no problem with that. And if you want to wear bruises on your wedding day, I’m good with that, too. But for now, get your ass out of the bath, dry your mousy hair, and get to your father’s room. He is waiting.”

  Chapter 23

  Carolena waited until she heard the door slam and jumped from the bath. She dried hurriedly and threw on the same clothes that she’d been wearing when she was “found.” She toweled her hair dry as best she could and tied it back out of her way; then, she hurried to her fathers room just down the hall. Not because the brutish man her father had chosen for her had told her to, but because she was outraged and planned to make her feelings well known. She was not going to just settle for this. She knocked on the door, waiting for his invitation to enter.

  “Come,” her father’s voice called out.

  Carolena opened the door and let herself in the room. She recognized the cherry-scented tobacco he smoked in his pipe, and as she walked further into the room, was not surprised to find him seated and enjoying a drink and a smoke with the man that had invaded her bath.

  Norris smiled, rising from his seat, “Well, now. She is a pretty one, isn’t she?” he said to her father.

  “Oh, no, don’t you play that with me!” she shouted at him, “Father, this man just let himself into my bath. He stood over me as I sat in the tub and lectured me on what I will and will not do. He said I may wear bruises on my wedding day if I choose, but I will be married.”

  Her father pressed his lips together, and said quietly to Norris, “I told you not to make a scene.”

  “I didn’t. But I have a right to see what I’ve signed on for,” Norris answered.

  Abraham looked Norris in the eye, “I need a man who can handle her, not another soul that I need to handle.”

  Norris inclined his head one single time.

  Abraham glanced back at his daughter, “May I introduce Norris Sheffield, Carolena. I have hand-picked this man to be your husband. He is strong; he will make a good husband and addition to our family and our business.”

  “I will not marry him!” Carolena shot out.

  “You will,” Abraham said in a steely voice. “You agreed that you would come here for whatever little adventure you had in mind. If it didn’t play out well, you would return home and marry the man of my choosing. It didn’t play out well — I had to come rescue you.”

  “You did not rescue me. Frank and Mark did,” she snapped.

  “At my behest!” Abraham shouted. “Enough, Carolena! You will return home with us on the morrow. You will marry and become the woman your mother planned for you to be. You will do your duty.”

  “I will not,” Carolena said quietly, more in control now.

  “You will!” Abraham shot back, “and this very attitude is the reason Norris was chosen. He will keep you in line. A strong man is needed to keep a spirited woman in line and keep her knowing her place. Best you figure that out sooner, than later.”

  Then he seemed to notice her clothes. His nose scrunched up at the scent of the dirty clothes. “What are you wearing? Did you no
t just cleanse yourself?”

  “I did. Then I put my clothes back on,” she said stubbornly.

  “Return to your room at once and redress yourself. You smell,” Abraham told her disdainfully.

  “I will not, and I do not care,” she answered.

  Abraham watched her, grappling with his own self-control. How he’d have loved to leave the stubborn girl wherever it was that she’d been found. But again, his promise to his dear, dead wife rang in the back of his head. “You will. Or I will have your betrothed dress you,” he countered.

  Carolena took a step back, “You wouldn’t!” she rushed out.

  Abraham, tired of her insolence, answered, “Try me.”

  Twenty minutes later Carolena was dressed in some of the clothes that she’d left at the boarding house. They apparently had been collected by her father, or his people, and placed in her room. She declined his offer to join them at dinner by saying she was tired and still not feeling herself after her ordeal. It had actually been easier for her that neither asked her details about her “ordeal.” She didn’t have to lie or make up any details, nor did she have to relive the time she had actually spent with Bobby. Thankful for small reprieves, she lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. She’d locked her door securely and placed a chair under the doorknob to keep anyone from surprising her while she slept. She wrapped her own arms about herself, pretending they were Carnage’s, and cried herself to sleep, unsure how she’d manage to get out of this and back to Carnage, but with no doubt in her mind that she would find a way.

  The morning found her seated on the train, her father and Norris seated behind and beside her. She sat with her head leaning on the window, staring out into the gloomy, grey morning waiting for the train to take them back home, well, to her father’s home. There, they thought her future would begin. She knew that either she would run away and disappear into the city, to eventually make her way back to Carnage, or she’d die trying. She really hoped she didn’t die. She’d promised Carnage that she’d come back to him, and she didn’t want to have lied to him. She didn’t want him to spend his whole life waiting for her to come back if she was dead and in the ground.

  Lost in thought, staring into nothing, she didn’t notice the mist that had begun to swirl around the rails and the platform of the train stop.

  “Will you look at that?” Norris said to her father. “Never seen anything like it, fog actually looks purplish.”

  Abraham peered out of the window, “It does indeed. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the black of the locomotive making it appear that shade. So many uncivilized things in this part of the country… I cannot wait to get back home where proper folk live,” he finished condescendingly.

  Carolena watched the purplish swirling mist as it seemed to caress the train car she sat in. She wished that it would come to life and take her away. Little did she know just how close she was to her wish coming true.

  Carolena heard the whistle blow, her tears spilled over, and she’d have sworn she saw the mist swirl up to meet the window she leaned against as the train began to pull out of the station.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  More than a week later, Carolena looked around the bedroom she grew up in. All of her childhood things were still here, just where she left them. The entire third floor of her father’s mansion had been reserved for her, her nannies, her tutors. Even her playroom was up here. He’d had a back staircase installed, so they could go up and down the staircase without disturbing him when he was home. She’d loved it outside and spent many a day playing on the estate, but like most kids, ran inside and out, often. It annoyed him tremendously.

  She didn’t even take her clothes off. As soon as the servants left her bags inside her door, she closed and locked it, and went straight to the door that opened on the back staircase. She pulled it open, planning to go down those stairs and out of his house forever. She’d leave her clothes on a river bank and jump into the river. She was a strong swimmer. She’d come out the other side, everyone would think she’d died, and she’d make her way back to Carnage in any way she had to. But she was not prepared for the brick wall that greeted her at the opening of that door. Her father had walled up her access to the staircase. Why would he do that? It was obvious that her rooms were not kept. They were dusty and stale smelling, but walling up a perfectly good staircase?? It made no sense. Frustrated, she stalked around her room wracking her brain for a way to get out of the house without being noticed. Waiting until she was married, then running, was not an option. She could not chance having to endure Norris’ touch. She had to run beforehand. There was a knock at the door. She called out, “Go away. I’m resting!”

  A feminine voice called back, “Apologies, miss. I was told to bring you dinner.”

  “Just a moment, please,” she called back. She didn’t know the woman, but she was starving and was thankful that she’d not have to venture downstairs to find something to eat.

  Carolena opened the door and found a girl not much older than she was standing there holding a tray. “Hello,” Carolena said.

  The girl curtsied and dipped her head, “Where should I place it, miss?”

  “On the table over there, please. And, stop calling me miss. I’m not any older than you are.”

  “I’ll try, miss. I mean, I’ll try. But it’s part of my job,” the girl explained.

  “Well, if it’s just you and me, please don’t say it, just call me Carolena,” Carolena smiled at the girl.

  The girl nodded, having put her tray down, but wouldn’t look up to meet Carolena’s eyes.

  “What is your name?” Carolena asked.

  “I’m Rowan,” she answered.

  “I don’t remember you; are you new? Have you worked for my father long?” Carolena asked.

  Rowan shook her head, “I’ve only been here a short while. My father owes a great debt to yours, so they agreed that I would live here and work for him until the debt is paid.”

  Carolena couldn’t believe her ears — she even shook her head a few times, “Are you telling me that you have no choice? Your father traded you to mine for his debt?” she asked incredulously.

  “It’s not as bad as it sounds. I have a warm place to sleep, and I get regular meals, and in return I clean, cook, keep the house as he likes it. He does not demand anything else of me.”

  Still Carolena was flabbergasted, “For how long?!” she asked.

  Rowan shrugged her shoulders, “Until he decides that my father’s debt is paid.”

  “And what does your mother think?” Carolena demanded.

  “She thinks that as long as Mr. Ashlar requires nothing more than housekeeping, I should be thankful,” Rowan said, still looking down.

  “What is wrong with people?!” Carolena cried out. “How can you be thankful for working off your father’s debt as an indentured slave? It’s ludicrous!”

  “Miss…” Rowan started, but a look from Carolena had her correcting herself, “Carolena, we are immigrants. We cannot always find work. There are some days we don’t have enough to eat. There was a while that we had no where to sleep. No safe places. This is a good place for me. I work and in turn I get fed. My father’s debt gradually decreases, and my parents no longer have to support me. It is not the worst of situations.”

  Carolena watched Rowan trying to justify her position. She noticed that the girl was dark-skinned, she had lovely golden eyes and naturally red lips. A waterfall of long black hair fell gloriously down her back, and the most unique accent spilled from her lips each time she spoke. “I am not judging you, Rowan. Good, honest work is never anything to be ashamed of. I just think you should be paid rather than work for free so that your father’s debt is paid.”

  Rowan nodded, “I understand. But it is the way of things.”

  Carolena asked, “Where are you from?”

  “Romania, miss,” Rowan answered, then quickly, “I mean, Carolena.”

  Her father’s voice carried up the stairs, “Rowan! Wher
e are you, girl? We are awaiting our dinner!”

  “I must go,” she curtsied, “enjoy your meal, Carolena,” she said as she turned, hurrying from the room.

  Carolena locked the door behind her, then seated herself to have her meal. After she ate, she hurried to the window, thoughts of possibly using it as a means of escape playing through her mind. She threw the latch and tried to force it open, but it wouldn’t budge. She adjusted her grip and tried again, to no avail. Carolena leaned against the window and finally saw why she’d had no luck forcing the window open — it had been nailed shut from the outside. There was no hope of escaping from her bedroom. She’d have to wait until after the rest of the house was asleep, then she’d try to sneak away. She sat on the edge of her bed, a tear escaping her eye. The depression overtook her again, and she laid down once more. Sleep quickly came, and she was comforted with dreams of Carnage, Enthrall, and even Destroy. She dreamt of the Dragon tree and of a purple swirling mist as it gathered around the legs of a huge black Goyle that she immediately recognized as Murder. His eyes watched her closely as he said, “We are coming, Carolena. Hold on.”

  Carolena came awake hours later to a pounding on her door. “Wake, woman! Open this damn door, post haste! Do not ever lock yourself away from me again!” a drunken Norris slurred at her from the other side of her very solid, very locked door.

  “Go away!” she yelled back at him.

  “Open this door now! I will know my wife this night! Make yourself ready this moment!” he demanded. Suddenly he hit the door so hard that it shook. She slipped out of bed and ran to the corner of the room, not having anywhere else to go since her father had walled in the back staircase. The battering of the door continued. He must have been slamming a chair or some such thing into it to make the racket he was making. She cowered in the corner, her hands over her ears, praying the heavy, wooden door would hold against his assault, when just as suddenly as the battering and screaming started, it stopped. Not another sound. It was just gone. Carolena did not move. She stayed where she was for fear he may hear her moving around and start after her again.