Thumbelina's Virtue

by Geri Glenn

  Mother greets me at the front door, her face sad. “I saw you kiss that man, Astor.”

  Sighing deeply, I take a step toward her and wrap my arms around her bony frame. “Mother, I love you, but I’m tired. It’s been an amazing night, and I’m going to tell you all about it, but not until tomorrow.” I ignore her pursed lips as I pop up on my toes and press a kiss to her cheek. “Good night, Mother.”

  Astor

  Something is shoved in my mouth, just before I’m yanked from my bed by my hair. The room around me is pitch-black, and strong fingers are holding me still as a rope ties my hands behind my back.

  “Quiet! We don’t want to wake her mom.” The words are hissed from behind me, just as something is placed over my eyes and tied behind my head. “Now move!”

  My breathing comes out in panicked, heavy puffs of air, while my heart races with fear as I struggle against my restraints. Before I know it, I’m lifted from my feet and thrown over a broad, wide shoulder. I kick and flail as best I can, but there’s no escaping.

  A giant hand lands on my rump, squeezing painfully, then a man’s deep voice says, “Quiet, bitch, or I’ll take this ass for myself.” I freeze, not daring to move another muscle as my blood runs cold in my veins.

  “This way,” the other voice whispers. Even in my state of desperation, I would swear it’s the voice of a woman.

  My body bounces and jerks as the man walks. I try my best to focus on evening out my breathing, but I’m on the verge of hyperventilating.

  Not now, Astor. You need to breathe. You need to get away!

  My shoulder is the first to hit when I’m thrown down from the man’s shoulder, but my cry of pain is muffled by the gag in my mouth. The next thing I know, something slams close to my face, and the night is quiet around me.

  I try to scream. I kick out with my feet, and they bang against a wall of some sort, making a loud thumping sound. Then a motor starts, and realization hits me. I’m in the trunk of a car. I was ripped from my bed in the middle of the night and thrown into the trunk of a car.

  Just as the car starts to move, I close my eyes and I pray.

  Astor

  A small cluster of my hair is yanked out when someone unties the blindfold, causing my eyes to water. The first thing I see is a stranger—a man. He’s short and broad, his belly slightly rounded. His eyes are set oddly wide and apart. Paired with his short stub of a nose, he resembles a toad more than a man. He grins a wicked grin that is much too wide for his round face, and my insides freeze in fear.

  “Your eyes are so blue,” he says with reverence. He looks to something behind me. “She’s perfect, Mama.”

  “I knew you’d like her, Tommy. Pretty little thing like that will make me lots of beautiful grandbabies.” My eyes widen as the woman steps into view. It’s Mrs. Todd from O’Neill’s—the one who was so rude to Cory’s mother. She’s smiling down at her son with pride, and my skin crawls when my brain registers her words. She wants me to make her grandbabies? With him?

  I slide my gaze back to Tommy, and confusion turns to horror as I see him staring at my chest; I’m still wearing the nightgown I’d gone to bed in. It’s one I bought that Mother never approved of. It’s cute and lacy, and slightly revealing. It’s also the most comfortable one I own. But right now, I’d give anything for a thick, ugly, hooded sweatshirt to hide my unsheathed breasts from this vile man’s gaze.

  He leans forward, inhaling deeply as he smells me. My body trembles with fear, rage, and disgust. Tommy’s hand comes up and lands on my cheek, his face coming even closer. Like a caged animal, I scream out, the muffled sound falling flat in the air around me. I pull my head back as far as I can, and just when it feels like my neck is about to snap, I slam it forward, my forehead colliding with his ugly little pug nose.

  “You bitch!” he screams, his hands flying up to cup his bloody face. “You broke my nose.” I glare up at him, anger winning out over the panic. Adrenaline courses through my veins, my entire body trembling with it. His open palm catches me on the cheek as he lands a blow that would have knocked me out of the chair if I wasn’t tied to it.

  “He was being nice,” Mrs. Todd snarls. “But not anymore. Hope you’re not afraid of the dark, little one.”

  The room around me plunges into darkness as the pair leave.

  Cory

  The last thing I expect to see when I show up to get Astor the next day is the array of police cars in the driveway. Officers are loitering about in the yard and along the porch.

  As soon as I get off my ride and head toward the front door, they’re on me. “What’s your business here, O’Neill?”

  I look up to see Officer Murphy—a cop I’ve dealt with on more than one occasion—coming out of the house, with Astor’s mother right behind him.

  “I’m here to pick up Astor. We have a date.”

  “Astor’s been abducted,” Murphy sneers. He keeps talking, but I don’t hear a single word after abducted.

  The whole time he’s talking, I can’t breathe. I keep trying to drag air into my lungs, but my chest feels heavy and tight. I ignore Murphy and look to Astor’s mother. “Who took her?” I ask, my voice feeling raspy to my own ears.

  “I don’t know,” she cries, tears dripping from her chin. “I woke up this morning and her room was like it always is, except for an overturned lamp, and her bed wasn’t made.”

  “How do you know she was taken?”

  Murphy begins to tell me off, but Mrs. Bloom answers me anyway. “Her things are all still here. Her purse, her car, even her shoes. My baby is out there somewhere, and she doesn’t have any shoes!”

  I push aside the images those words bring to mind and tighten my fists as I look at Murphy. “Any leads yet?”

  Murphy rolls his eyes. “You stay out of this, O’Neill. This is a police matter. There’s no way I’m letting you get the Bastards involved.

  Mrs. Bloom’s face falls a little, but I don’t have time to ease her worries. Every minute we stand here talking about it is another minute that Astor gets farther and farther away.

  Locking eyes with Astor’s mother, I make her a promise that I have every intention of keeping. “I’ll find her, Mrs. Bloom. I’m gonna bring her home.”

  I don’t stick around long enough to hear her reply, or to pay attention to Murphy’s protest.

  Astor

  I’ve cried so much since they left me in here, my eyes feel heavy and crusted over. I’ve prayed to God so many times in a million different ways, but I know in my heart that he’s abandoned me. Why would He let this happen to me? Mother has always taught me that everything is a part of God’s plan, but how is me getting kidnapped from my own bed and tied to a chair in the dark part of His plan?

  It feels like hours pass as I sit alone, crying, begging God, then cursing Him, but nobody comes back to the room. Part of me is thankful. The other part of me really has to pee, and I don’t know how much longer I can hold it.

  When the door finally opens, the light that pours in stings my eyes. I can’t make out the figure as they enter. The door only creaks open a fraction before it’s silently closed again. “Did he hurt you?” a soft voice whispers from the direction of the door.

  Pulse racing, I strain my eyes, desperately willing myself to have night vision abilities. “Who’s there?” I try to ask, but the words are muffled behind my gag.

  “Shh,” the voice warns, sounding closer now. “They’ll hear you. I’m not supposed to be in here.” A soft hand touches mine. “My name is Mia. The woman who took you is my mother.”

  As I peer into the darkness, I can vaguely make out the girl’s form in front of me. She isn’t very big, from the looks of her.

  “I just wanted to see if you were okay,” she whispers. “I know Tommy can be rough sometimes. You’re not the first girl Mother has brought home for him.” No, I’m not okay, but I can’t tell her that. I can’t speak with this stupid gag in my mouth. Just then, a loud bang comes from somewhere outside the room
and Mia gasps. “I have to go. They can’t know I was in here.” She squeezes my arm where it’s tied to the arm of the chair. “I’ll be back. Whatever you do, don’t anger him. Tommy isn’t right. He’s a bad man, and he will hurt you.”

  She leaves the room as silently as she came in. As the door closes behind her, my heart sinks. I’m never going to get out of here. Nobody will know where to even begin looking. I think of Cory and the way he spoke of Mrs. Todd. It was clear that he didn’t like her, but I don’t think he’d ever assume it was her who took me away.

  The tears come when I think of Mother waking up to find me gone, and I don’t bother trying to stop them this time. We hadn’t been on the best of terms last night when we went to bed, but Mother knows me. She’ll know I’d never just take off like that, without a word. She’d know I’d never leave her.

  Moments later, the door flies open, and the light from the hallway illuminates Mrs. Todd in the entry. “I hope you’ve had time to think about your situation,” she huffs, flicking on the lights as she enters. The sudden light burns my eyes, and I squeeze them shut. “I’m not a bad person, Astor. I love my son, and I want to see him happy, but I’m sure you’ve noticed that Tommy is…different. He doesn’t have it easy with women. When I saw you, I knew you’d be perfect for him.” I force my eyelids open and watch as she approaches. “If you are good to him, he will show you a lot of love.”

  I may be a virgin, but I know exactly what kind of love Tommy wants to show me, and the thought makes me shudder. I glare at Mrs. Todd, letting her know what I think about her idea of the love Tommy could have for me.

  She sighs heavily. Her chubby hand comes up as she hooks a finger under the fabric tying my gag in place. “I’m going to take this off now, Astor. Don’t you even think about causing a scene, though. Nobody is going to hear you, and anyone who does isn’t going to care. Are we clear?”

  I continue to glare at her as her eyes study mine. She must decide it’s safe because her finger tugs the fabric loose, and the material falls away from my mouth to rest around my neck. Using my tongue, I push the gag out from between my mouth and watch as one of my own socks fall to my lap. My mouth is dry, and I still don’t talk as I swish my tongue around, trying to moisten it with my own saliva.

  “Good girl,” Mrs. Todd beams. “I bet you need some time in the bathroom, don’t you?”

  I look up at her and nod. I do. I really, really do.

  Her motherly smile is a complete contradiction to the fact that she has kidnapped me and tied me up, but I don’t focus on that. Instead, I focus on the gun she pulls out of her waistband. “You be a good girl, and I’ll take you to use the ladies’ room. If you’re a bad girl, I’m going to have to punish you.”

  My wide eyes stay glued to the gun as I croak out, “I’ll be good.”

  “I knew you would be,” she smirks, causing the tiny hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. Mrs. Todd sets about untying my hands and feet from the chair with one hand, while the other points the gun in my direction. As each limb is freed, I stretch and flex as pins and needles race up and down, the circulation finally reaching the tips of my fingers and toes.

  Without a word, I follow her from the room and down a long narrow hall. There are several doors on both sides, yet too many to count as we walk. At the end of the hall stands the door to the bathroom. It’s large and modern, with a soaker tub and a glassed-in shower. The Todd’s have money, that much is clear.

  Mrs. Todd puts her hand on the handle and takes a step out of the room. “I’ll be right outside this door. You have five minutes.” With a final wave of her gun as a reminder, she closes the door behind her.

  The first thing I do is take care of business. When I’m finished, I move to the sink and look at my face in the mirror. I have a large bruise on my cheek from Tommy’s fist, but he didn’t break the skin. I look terrible. My eyes are wide with fear, my hair disheveled and frizzy. The color of my skin has somehow gone from a healthy glow to a pale, ghostly white in a matter of hours. That could have something to do with all my blood being used to pump my heart so fast all this time.

  After washing my hands and splashing cool water on my face, I glance around the room. There has to be something in here I can use as a weapon. Anything. A razor, a curling iron. Heck, at this point, even a plunger would at least let me attempt to get the upper hand against that miserable woman in the hall.

  I franticly open each drawer and cupboard, taking great care to be as quiet as possible. Every one of them are empty, until I open the medicine cabinet. That one is piled high with ovulation and pregnancy tests. Shivers run up my spine at the thought of what this insane family has planned for me.

  A hard knock at the door startles a yelp from my throat. “One minute.”

  “Time’s up,” Mrs. Todd declares as she pushes the door open. My heart climbs into my throat, and I quickly close the cabinet and grab a towel, pretending to dry my hands as if I’d just washed them. “Hurry up, child.”

  With one last glance in the mirror, I solemnly turn and follow my captor back down the hall. As we walk, I try to envision all the ways I could overpower her and make my escape. I could claw at her eyes and kick her. I could tear one of the picture frames from the walls and bash her over the head with it. I could shove her and run. The reality of my situation makes all of those possibilities a joke, though. I could never do any of those things. I don’t have the stomach for violence, and besides, Mrs. Todd has one large deterrent in her hand. There’s no way I’m getting away as long as she holds that gun.

  When we reenter the room they’ve been keeping me in, Tommy is standing in the center wearing a suit and tie, a bright red rose clutched in his hand. His eyes brighten as they land on me. “Astor, hello.”

  I can only stand there, gaping up at him in shock and fear. I don’t know how to respond. Mia’s warning floats through my mind. She had said he’d hurt women before.

  “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” Mrs. Todd says with a doting smile aimed at her precious Tommy. Suddenly, I want to grab her and beg her to stay. I want to cling to her leg and plead with her to never leave me alone with this man. But instead, I close my eyes and dig inside myself for a courage I’ve never had to possess before—a courage that will get me through this in one piece.

  As the door closes behind her, I turn to Tommy and level him with a glare. He obviously chooses to ignore my anger as he steps forward, the rose thrust out in my direction.

  “For you.” I stare at the rose in disbelief, and as I stare, Tommy’s fingers on the stem grow white as his grip on it tightens. “It’s rude for a woman not to accept a gift,” he declares.

  My eyes meet his. “It’s rude for a man to take a woman from her bed and hold her hostage. It’s even ruder of him to slap her face. You’re insane if you think I’m going to take that rose or anything else from you for that matter.”

  If storm clouds could form inside a room, this would be their chance. Tommy’s eyes narrow and gleam, filling with rage and hatred. “Mother said I should be nice to you, but you’re not a nice girl. You’re just like the rest of them.” His hand goes to his necktie and rips it off, revealing the clip beneath it. “I tried, Astor, but I won’t try again. You’re mine now, whether you like it or not. Tomorrow, when I come back, I’ll prove it to you.”

  The door slams as he leaves the room, rattling the window in its frame, making me nearly jump out of my skin. The room is empty, but for the chair I’d been tied to and a large bed in the corner. I try not to think about the purpose of that bed as I run to the window, desperate to get an idea of where I am.

  The view outside tells me nothing. I’m surrounded by sprawling acres of landscaped lawn, complete with water fountains and stone cherubs throughout. My window is high off the ground—possibly the third or fourth floor. Any hope I had for escape dies at that moment when I finally look at the bars I’m clinging onto inside of the window. Tears burn my eyelids as I slide to the floor in a crumpled ball of
sadness and defeat.

  “Astor.” The whisper is loud, coming from the other side of the door. “Astor? You there?”

  I take a deep breath and use the backs of my hands to wipe away the tears. Slowly, I climb to my feet and walk toward the door. “Mia? Is that you?”

  “Tommy took the key with him,” she whispers. “He looked angry. I told you not to anger him.”

  Pressing my forehead against the door, I allow more tears to spill down my cheeks. “Mia, I’m scared.”

  Mia is silent for several moments, and just when I’m sure she’s gone, she speaks. “I’m going to help you, okay? Just…just sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

  A little bloom of hope slowly builds in my belly. I don’t know what Mia’s planning, but at this point, I don’t care. I just want to get out of here before Tommy comes back.

  I wait for what feels like hours, my ears straining for any sign of her return. Twice, I hear footsteps. One of those times they pause at my door, but I don’t dare speak, my heart pounding wildly. After a moment, they continue on down the hallway without a word.

  It grows darker as I wait, the thin strip of light shining under the door fading. What little hope I had regained slowly dies. My stomach rumbles with hunger. The memory of the last time I’d eaten floats through my mind. Eating at O’Neill’s with Cory. That delicious cobbler. The way he’d chuckled when I’d choked on the whiskey he’d been drinking. It had only been last night, but it feels like an eternity has passed since I’d seen him.

  Another set of footsteps echoes down the hall, yanking me from my memories. When they stop at my door, fear grips my heart. The unmistakable sound of a key going into the lock sends ice shooting through my veins. I press my back against the far wall as I watch the door knob turn.